Free An Angel for Christmas by Heather Graham Page A

still held back until they’d been seeing each other for a few months, and the time had been right, and she’d believed that they both really cared about each other. She had to admit to herself, though, that they hadn’t used the all-important four-letter word yet—love.
    â€œHand over A1 there, will you?” Gabe asked. “The body of the beast!”
    She did so.
    â€œYour brothers are really good guys,” he told her.
    â€œLove them to pieces,” she said. “I just wish that…”
    He looked up at her. “What?”
    Morwenna looked back at him for a moment, wondering how he managed to make them all talk about things that they wouldn’t share often. With each other. With anyone. If they spoke to each other, they fought. And they weren’t really into airing private grievances with others.
    She laughed suddenly. “You’re reminding me of how it was when we were kids. I could be ready to throttle Shayne or Bobby, but if anyone else said something about them, I’d be ready to throttle that person.”
    Gabe grinned. “I guess that’s the way it should be.”
    â€œI think that Shayne’s current situation is just terribly painful. He really loved Cindy. I don’t think he was a great husband. I mean, he’s so dedicated to his patients. Oh, he adores his kids, but Cindy was the one who was with them most, and I think he’s as happy as can be that he does have them for Christmas, but without Mom and Dad or Cindy, I don’t think he remembers how to do Christmas.”
    Gabe found the “screwdriver included!” bag and nodded as he divided his attention between her and his task. “The most intelligent people in the world can usually look around and figure out what would fix things for someone else, and yet struggle with their own situation,” he said.
    â€œGenevieve broke my heart tonight. In her prayers, she basically asked God to put her parents back together.”
    â€œThat’s natural.”
    â€œAnd probably impossible. Cindy, I’m sure, thought long and hard before she left my brother.”
    â€œNothing is impossible while we’re drawing breath, kid,” he said lightly.
    â€œThen you believe in miracles, huh?” Morwenna asked him.
    â€œIf you think about it, life itself is a miracle. Sure, I believe in miracles.” He grinned at her, pausing for a moment. “Just like your little play—miracles are out there. We have to make them happen.”
    â€œWell, you’re just like Little Miss Sunshine, Pollyanna and a ray of light, all rolled into one,”Morwenna said. “Life isn’t like that. It’s all messy, and complicated, and I’m sure that Shayne tried to fix things. Sometimes, when things are broken, they’re shattered, and that’s that.”
    He laughed and sat back for a moment, staring at her. “Wow! From what I can see, you all have a really good life going here. The three of you grew up with parents who really love you. They have their personalities and their opinions, but they love you, and it’s obvious that every move they’ve ever made was with your best interests at heart. Shayne is doing what he loves for a living. You have a good job, even if it’s not what you planned, and if you had any balls, you would do what you really wanted. Your problem with the fellow your brother referred to as lover boy or boy toy is probably the fact that you decided you needed someone, even if he wasn’t the right one, and you’re really not happy with yourself, so you’re playing the game of trying to assemble the right pieces. Bobby—”
    â€œYeah, go on, pick on Bobby, the dropout!”Morwenna said, angry and about to get to her feet and leave.
    â€œI was about to say that Bobby is the one on the right track. He knows what he wants—and he’s going to go after it. His biggest fear is hurting those