Once Broken by D.M. Hamblin Page A

you.”
    “I’m not buying it, Jackie.” Tony sat on the coats with his arms folded.
    “Oh my God, you’re jealous!” She chuckled. “Don’t be jealous.” She took his face in her hands and kissed him. He melted into her kiss for a minute and then pushed her away.
    “Jackie, this is serious. This is the only other guy you’ve had sex with. You ran into him after what you guys went through and it was nothing? What happened?”
    “Nothing. We went for one drink.”
    “You went for a drink?”
    “It was two old friends catching up. It was good to see him. I love David. I always have and I always will but not in the way that I lo — ” She caught herself before she divulged her true feelings.
    “What? What were you gonna say?” Tony’s voice was softer.
    “Uh… not the way I like you.”
    A smile spread across his face. “That’s not what you were gonna say. You were gonna say you love me.” Jackie blushed. “Ah ha!” He took her hand in his. “It’s okay, Jack, I love you too.” Hugging her, Tony lay back on the pile of coats. Jackie straddled him as they shared a hot, deep kiss. A knock on the door reminded them where they were.
    “Sorry to interrupt,” said one of Tara’s guests, as she peeked in the room. “I need the keys from my coat so someone can move my car.”
    Back in the kitchen with Tara, she flashed a wide smile and whispered to her friend, “He loves me!”
    “That’s awesome,” Tara whispered back.
    *
    Jackie and Tony agreed to spend Christmas Eve with Jackie’s family and Christmas Day with Tony’s family.
    Christmas Eve, enough snow fell to create a festive atmosphere. Tradition at the Martins’ was a celebration of the seven fishes or festa dei sette pesci as Lucille referred to it. Lucille’s sister and brothers came with their kids, who were all in their late teens or early twenties. Jackie met Tony at the door wearing a black chiffon V-plunge neckline minidress with a fitted waistband, and silver-strap heels. Taking a bag of gifts from him, she planted an impetuous kiss on his lips. “Oh, how I’ve missed you!”
    “Hey, you did that just to get control of the gifts,” Tony said in jest, handing her his coat. “No cheating. No opening your gifts until we’re alone.”
    “Why, what the heck did you get me?”
    “Oh, nothing like that. I want to be alone so I can get the appropriate appreciation.”
    “Then we’ll open them in my bedroom after everyone leaves.”
    “Can’t wait! That dress is amazing.”
    “Thank you.” She twirled for his inspection. “I can’t wait either. But for now, you have people to meet. She smiled, grabbed his hand, and led him into the living room where her uncles sat discussing pipe tobacco. She made introductions to Uncle Jim, Uncle Louie, and Uncle Tony. Then she led him to the kitchen where Lucille and her sister Mary, and Lucille’s sisters-in-law Amy and Rose, were making fried calamari, fried smelts, shrimp cocktail, broiled scallops, baked stuffed lobster tails, linguini with clam sauce, and seafood fra diavolo, reminiscing about what “Ma” used to do.
    “Merry Christmas, Lucille.” Tony greeted her with a kiss on her cheek.
    Lucille put her arm around Tony’s back. “This handsome guy is my daughter’s boyfriend, Tony,” Lucille announced.
    They listened to a few stories of Christmases past before Jackie led Tony to the dining room, where she introduced her cousins Bunny, Lulu, Rita, and Rosie, who were chatting and snacking on Lucille’s famous antipasto. They lingered at the dining room table, nibbling on some cheese balls, before going into the sunroom where her brothers, Karen, and more cousins—Peter, Jimmy, Dom, Johnny and Dave—were chatting and listening to Christmas carols.
    *
    That evening, after the relatives left, the kitchen was clean, and Lucille retired to her bedroom, Jackie and Tony sneaked into hers. She put on Christmas carols and they settled on the floor with their backs against the