Free The Christmas Angel by Jim Cangany Page A

Northern Indiana winters. As she pulled into the
parking lot behind Joe's 24 Hour Coffee House, Kaitlin glanced at the thermometer.
    "It's only forty degrees in the sun. Sure you're going to be warm enough?"
    "I'll be fine." Dani opened the passenger door and stepped out. She leaned back in and
gave Kaitlin a wicked grin. "I've got some hi-tech thermals on underneath this. It'll be fun having
someone help me get them off."
    Kaitlin eased herself out of the car and watched Dani, the yin to her yang, head into Joe's.
When the coffee shop door closed behind Dani, Kaitlin popped the hatch and pulled out their
parade watching supplies--two fold-up lawn chairs with cup holders and two heavy wool stadium
blankets. She hummed a holiday tune about letting it snow while she made her way to their spot on
the parade route. By the time she had the chairs unfolded and blankets spread across them, Dani
would be along with two tall cups of steaming hot chocolate.
    She rounded the corner onto Lincoln Street, where the parade would pass, and came to
an abrupt stop. Three guys were standing in the exact spot from which she and Dani had watched
the parade for years. She turned to see Dani coming up the sidewalk. Before taking the hot
chocolate being offered to her, Kaitlin pointed at the interlopers.
    "They took our spot."
    Dani's eyes grew wide. "Ooh, a couple of them look cute. Let's hope they're single. Come
on."
    "Dani, hold on a sec, please." Kaitlin's shoulders sagged. She knew her friend meant well,
but surviving her first holiday season without her parents was proving to be hard enough. She
didn't need the added stress of meeting people right now, especially a group of potentially single
guys.
    Not after what Lance had done to her.
    * * * *
    Michael Weatherby wrapped his arms around himself and stamped his feet. He cursed
himself for not wearing something heavier as the cold seeped through his running shoes. It hadn't
been his idea to come to the parade. His buddies, Seth and Kal, had talked him into the hour's drive
into town for a day to blow off steam before knuckling down for finals.
    Have a few beers. Maybe meet some girls. As a fifth-year senior, a break from studying
for his last round of finals sounded great. Intentionally or not, Kal hadn't mentioned anything about
standing out in the cold all afternoon watching the locals parade by.
    "Are we really going to stand here and watch a dumb Christmas parade?" Michael
grumbled.
    "Dude." Kal slapped him on the back. "Give it a chance. I've been going to parades since I
was a little kid. It's really kind of fun and it's a great way to meet chicks. Right, Seth?"
    The third member of their group nodded as he flipped up the collar of his hunting jacket.
"Yeah, I mean, I did meet Amy at the Indy 500 Parade a couple of years back, and well..." He took off
his left glove and held up his hand to display the gold band on the third finger.
    "Whatever." Scanning the assembling crowd, Michael saw nothing to convince him that
this was the place to pick up women. If they were interested in striking up a conversation with a
six-year-old dressed up in an elf costume or a middle-aged woman operating a video camera, then
they were in business. Single girls their age? He had his doubts.
    Kal nudged him in the side and nodded behind them. "Don't make it obvious, but we got
two prospects coming this way."
    Bending down to re-tie a shoe that hadn't needed re-tying, Michael looked in the
direction Kal had indicated. His jaw went slack and he had to shake his head to regain enough focus
to finish with his shoe. A tall blonde, who looked like someone straight out of a Christmas holiday
movie, was walking toward them. She was chatting with the absolutely cutest brunette he'd ever
seen in his life.
    They were moving at a snail's pace. With the wind blowing, he couldn't hear the
conversation, but from the way the blonde kept smiling and the brunette, who had to be six inches
shorter, kept shaking her head, it