Untangle My Heart (Tangled Hearts) by Maria K. Alexander Page A

Father. This is a wonderful idea,” Carmen said. “And I’m sure both Kate and Vicky will be able to help.”
    “Of course,” Kate said with a glance at Lucas. He had sat back down and was swinging his little legs that hung over the couch but didn’t quite reach the floor.
    While her mother started her barrage of questions, Kate slipped over to sit next to the boy. His faded jeans had a hole in one knee, and he wore a Star Wars sweatshirt. His sneakers were scuffed and had seen better days. Kate watched him tense when she sat on the couch, careful not to get too close to him.
    “Are those Star Wars characters?” she asked, pointing to the figures of Luke Skywalker and Han Solo.
    Lucas nodded and grasped the toys tightly.
    His small hands reminded her of another pair of tiny hands she remembered all too well. Her stomach clenched at the memory.
    “My brothers used to have figures like that all over the house when I was growing up. My sister and I would hide them in our Barbie house. It used to drive them crazy.” More like pissed them the hell off, she thought, and wondered if any of that stuff was still up in her parents’ attic. Her mother was a notorious pack rat.
    Lucas sat staring at the figures and swinging his feet. Kate struggled to find a way to reach out to him.
    “What do you think about the Christmas party? Would you like to help us? I’m sure you could give us some good ideas.”
    At the question, he raised his head. Large brown eyes gazed up at her from behind a dark fringe of lashes and studied her intently. His hair was light brown and shaggy with long bangs that were badly in need of a trim. She placed him somewhere around five or six, but his eyes appeared much older, as though he’d already seen too much for his age.
    “Will Santa be there?” he asked.
    “I’m sure he will. Santa loves all little boys and girls,” Kate replied.
    “I’m not sure he likes me very much. He didn’t get me everything on my list last year.”
    Kate smiled because he reminded her of her nephew who said pretty much the same thing every year.
    “Well, Santa can’t give every boy and girl everything they want or he won’t have enough gifts.”
    He shrugged and she hoped her answer satisfied him.
    “How old are you?”
    He sat up straighter. “I’m six. I’ll be seven on my next birthday. But that’s not until May.”
    “Mine’s in August.”
    “Do you have any kids?”
    Her heart lurched whenever she was asked this question. She studied his face, pondering whether to tell him the truth or not. His eyes drew her in and she couldn’t help feel a tiny part of her that she’d closed off to the world open a bit.
    “I had a son named Tony. He died when he was two. He would have been your age.”
    “I’m sorry he died,” Lucas said. “Did you love him a lot?”
    Kate couldn’t help the tears that welled in her eyes. “I loved him very much. I was very sad when he died. I still am.”
    Lucas nodded like he could relate to her grief. “My parents and big sister died when I was four. There was a car accident. I wasn’t with them or I probably would have died, too.”
    His words lacked emotion, as though he were telling her about characters in a book. Her heart ached for his loss and made her want to wrap her arms around him but figured that would scare him away.
    “I’m sorry about your family. I’m sure they loved you very much.”
    He didn’t reply and went back to playing with the figures.
    She wiped at the tears on her face. “Would you like to be my special helper for the party?”
    “What would I have to do?”
    “Nothing too hard. Help make decorations and flyers, hand out presents.”
    His eyes lit up. “Do you think Santa would let me help give out the presents?”
    The anticipation on his face tugged her heart open wider. “I may be able to convince him.”
    “Cool.”
    She held out her hand. “Come, let’s go see what we can get started on.”
    He looked down at her hand and