Page 12 of Enduring Christmas

CHAPTER FOUR

Xenobiavolunteered to finish up the kitchen while Luke ran Shiloh's bath water. It was late, and they all needed to sleep.

His stamina knew no bounds. Xenobia didn't think he'd sat down once besides to eat a small mountain of pancakes and four thick strips of hard-fried bacon. Was this the life of a single father? She needed a nap just watching cook, clean, answer a constant garage of questions, stoke the fire, refill the logs, feed the cat, respond to text messages, reposition storage bins. He really was a marvel to watch.

Shiloh and Meow, lay on their tummies in front of a hearth fire, eyes glued to the smartphone screen. They were so comfortable here, the three of them. She felt like an intruder, or worst, a lazy burden on a man who had a full To-Do list. Luke clearly could have managed dinner, the bath, and the bedtime routine without her. So, why did he push the kissing thing? Yeah, they both had enjoyed the encounter, but he didn't appear to be looking for more. Did he want a holiday fling?

"Mommy, MeMa Mira,” Xenobia heard Shiloh say. “Daddy has a girlfriend. And while she was sleeping Daddy took off her clothes and put her to bed. And he made us pancakes for dinner. Oh, and he saw under her shirt, and his hands started shaking, and he said dear Lord-"

“Oh my goodness,” Xenobia screeched, the dinner plate falling from her fingers, to make a splash in the tepid water. What the women on the phone line must be thinking. Is that how Shiloh, viewing the situation through the eyes of a child, interpreted Luke bringing Xenobia into their home?

"Shiloh," came Luke's voice, stern, and very much parental. “Put down the phone right now."

But the phone's speaker function had clearly delivered the message. To an observer, she and Luke seemed to be more than they were. Why had she allowed him to stop her from leaving? Her deviation from her pre-determined course of action where this man was concerned had caused this holiday storm.

"Do you have another woman in the house with my daughter?"

That had to the be stick figure blonde with the fake 'em if God didn't make ‘em boobs. Xenobia wasn't huge, but had always been well-endowed, her body drawing more attention than her experience since adolescence.

Luke took the phone for his daughter. He snapped his fingers and Meow scampered off ahead of his partner in crime. "To your room, Shiloh. Mom, hang up now before I or Cheyenne says something too upset you."

Obviously, Luke’s mother had been privy to heated altercations between her son and former daughter-in-law. Mira Cole uttered a few choice words that would have done Jennifer Holiday’s I’m Not Going proud. Xenobia’s had to smile at the woman’s sharp wit and defense of her son. Beneath the surface, she felt a swirling mass of energy, rising to Luke’s defense.

Cheyenne continued her attack. "I specifically asked for Shiloh to spend Christmas with Todd. Now you have some hillbilly trollop around my child."

Xenobia rolled her eyes at that baseless jab. She'd grown up in DC, then relocated to Florida. Not an ounce of hillbilly could be detected in her DNA.

"Don't go starting a dust-up over an issue that is clearly none of your business," Luke shot back, anger in his voice.

"Shiloh has a father," an older woman interjected.

"Stay out of this, Elmira. You did this on purpose, Luke. You're still hurt and jealous because I'm happy without you."

"Hurt," he snapped. "There are a lot of words I can attribute to you. Hurt is not in the top five hundred. Try grateful to be rid of you. There is nothing about a mother who abandons her child that warrants one iota of jealousy."

"Well, I'm not sorry. It's in the past and Todd and I deserve to be happy."

"And so do we. The woman I have in my life is off-limits to your commentary, Cheyenne."

"What woman in her right mind would want to be stuck in that shoebox you call a home while you work twelve hours a day?"

At the dual insults, Luke stiffened.

"Mommy, stop being mean to Daddy," Shiloh cried.