Six months after his wife leaves him, Bob Jansen finds himself spending the holidays with his parents in the town where he grew up. With him is his seven year old daughter, Jenna, who sometimes seems to be handling her mother's absence better than Bob is himself. But he's worried that, in her letter to Santa, Jenna has asked the jolly old elf for something Bob knows he can't pull off. He's afraid she wants her mother back for the holiday.<br><br>While shopping for his daughter's Christmas presents, Bob runs into Dave Knarr, an old friend. They used to be best buds in high school, before Julia, Bob's soon-to-be ex-wife, came between them. The two men catch up over drinks, and before the evening ends, Dave makes his real feelings for Bob known.<br><br>If Bob is shocked to learn Dave has always been attracted to him, he's more surprised by his own reaction. Even if he's willing to take another shot at romance, what will his daughter think of his old friend?

A Present for Daddy

But she didn’t come home that night, or the next. I kept expecting Jenna to ask me where her mommy went, but she didn’t. Finally I asked herwhat had happened. “Mommy went away,” she told me. “She said she loves me but she couldn’t stay. When do you think she’s coming back?”


“She just up and left?” Dave asks, incredulous. “No calls, no e-mails, nothing?”


I shake my head. “Beginning of the summer, she walks out. Leaves me with a little girl I have to watch after, you know? It’s hard being the only parent. I had to cut back my hours at work so I could take her to school and pick her up, do the shopping, do everything. Then they made some cutbacks and I lost my job. I was on unemployment for a few months, but it barely paid the bills.”


Dave’s voice is low and vicious. “The bitch. I never did like her, you know.”


“No, really?” I laugh into my beer. “I couldn’t tell.”


Chapter 9