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“But Santa is magic so he can make it happen,” Mathew insisted.
Prepared to die on this hill, Tristan reached for Mathew’s hands, but Dianna cut him off.
“One year I had this beautiful little pig. She was the runt and she got really sick. I asked Santa and prayed to God that my pig would get better.”
Mathew’s eyes had turned red and he wiped at his nose with the back of his hand. “Did she get better?”
Dianna met Tristan’s eyes briefly. “No. My pig died.”
A tear tumbled down Mathew’s face. “But Santa is magic. And God is supposed to answer our prayers.”
“And sometimes they both have to make a hard decision. My little pig was suffering. She needed to go live with God in heaven. He knew that was the right thing to do even if I didn’t agree with him.”
“Why can’t I have a mom?”
“One day you might,” Dianna insisted. “You will never know until it happens. But not even Santa or God can make people do something they’re not ready to do. Like when you didn’t want to talk to me right away. That was your choice. When you finally do get a new mother, she’s going to be made just for you. And you’ll meet her right when God thinks you’re ready, not a second sooner.”
“How do you know?”
“Because she’llchooseyou. She’ll love you so much that she won’t be able to bear living without you.”
Tristan gaped at Dianna. This conversation had taken a turn. Should he be upset that she’d turned this into a spiritual lesson? Was he impressed that once again she’d handled a situation that could have turned ugly? Both thoughts passed through his mind as Mathew rubbed his eyes.
“I want a mom now, though.”
“I know, kiddo. It’s hard to be patient. But you know what else? If you can be patient right now, you’re developing strong muscles. And I bet when youareready, you’ll be able to show off those muscles to whoever is lucky enough to earn your love.”
He gave her a funny look. “I can’t show those kinds of muscles.”
She laughed. “Okay, you got me. But you could draw her a picture and show her just how wonderful you are from the inside out.”
9
Dianna
Dianna tossed her hat onto her bed and collapsed onto the mattress with a groan. Constance looked up from where she sat at her desk on the other side of the room, then returned her focus to the book she was flipping through.
An exaggerated groan escaped Dianna’s lips and she rolled over onto her stomach to get a better view of her sister.
Without looking up, Constance said, “Let me guess. You need me to ask you how work went today with that hot guy and his kid.”
“Their names are Tristan and Mathew.”
“So I was right,” she said dryly.
“Yeah.”
“Okay. What happened?”
“You’re not even paying attention,” Dianna said, dropping her head onto her arms. “I listened to you complain and talk about James when you were sneaking around with him. Now you have to give me some advice.”
Constance lifted a brow, her gaze darting to Dianna briefly. “From what I recall, you didn’t like hearing me talk about my romantic exploits any more than you wanted to share yours.”
“I didn’thaveromantic exploits,” Dianna said, a groan following.
“And now you do?”
“No,” she drawled, lifting her head up to look at her sister. “I mean, I don’t know. Yes?”
