Chapter
8
The entire Carter clan arrived in Orlando two days before
Christmas. Those two days were hectic for
Nick, as he busied himself with settling his family in and preparing for
Christmas Day.
Christmas came and went quickly, but Nick enjoyed every minute of
it. He found that ever since his
operation, and before, he had been getting along much better with his family,
his mother especially. He knew part of
the reason for that was because he had broken up with Mandy, of course. His mother had never liked his old
girlfriend, and she had been the reason for many of their arguments.
But Nick had nearly forgotten Mandy and all the pain she had
caused him. He had moved on, and so had
his mother, both of them forgetting their past disputes and focusing on the
future.
***
Two days after Christmas, Nick’s phone rang during breakfast.
“Hello?” he said, putting the phone to his ear.
“Hi, Nick, it’s me, Angela,” came her now familiar voice.
“Hey, Angela!” Nick greeted.
He saw his mother frown from the corner of his eye and quickly ducked
out of the dining room and into the empty kitchen. “Are you here in Orlando?”
“Yup,” she replied. “I got
here last night.”
“Cool,” he said. “Did you
have a good Christmas?”
“Sure did,” she replied.
“How was yours?”
“It was good,” he said.
“That’s good,” she said.
“So, do you want to get together with me today?”
“Of course,” Nick said.
“Okay, cool,” she replied brightly. “What should we do?”
“Um… I dunno, how about a movie?” Nick suggested.
“Okay, sure,” Angela replied.
“Um… do you think I could meet you at your house instead of you coming
to pick me up? I don’t want Lynn to see
you.”
“Oh, sure,” Nick said. “Let
me give you directions to my place.”
He gave her the directions, and they picked out a movie playing at
two. They made plans to meet at his
house at one thirty.
“Okay, sounds good, Nick,” Angela said. “I’ll see you at one thirty then.”
“Okay,” Nick replied. “See
ya, Ang.”
“Bye,” she said, hanging up.
Nick hang up with a smile and went back into the dining room to
join his family.
“Who was on the phone?” Jane asked, as he sat down at the table.
“My friend Angela,” Nick replied casually.
“Hm… Angela. I don’t think
I’ve ever met her, have I?” Jane asked, eyeing Nick curiously.
“No, you haven’t,” Nick replied.
“I just met her a little while ago.”
“Oh,” Jane said, raising an eyebrow. “Well, are you… you know… involved
with her?” Jane asked.
“No,” Nick said quickly.
“We’re just friends, Mom.”
Jane nodded, but she didn’t look as if she totally believed him.
Oh well, Nick thought with a sigh. Let her believe what she wants.
***
