Gabriel kept an eye on Arabella — he couldn't think of her as Susan quite yet — and every time she tried to edge away, the family would pull her back in. The kid didn't realize what she was up against with the whole platoon of his family fighting to keep her with them.
Hope's daughter and her husband and their two-month-old daughter arrived from California.
Cooing ensued.
Pepper and Dan and their kids arrived on another rush of cold wind, and while Pepper was embracing Gabriel, she murmured, "The rest of the family just pulled up and Mrs. Kaya is getting out of the car."
The adults and the older children were smiling, vibrating with anticipation.
The younger children picked up the excited atmosphere, and they bounced around the huge room as if they wore pogo sticks on their feet.
Gabriel called, "Arabella! Come and see what we got you!"
Surprised, she looked around. When she saw everyone watching, she frowned, wary and worried.
He went to the double front doors and flung them wide.
The cold wind blew in, rattling the branches on the Christmas tree, setting the silver bells to chiming.
For a moment, all he could see was a great mass of beaming faces. Then the crowd parted, and a woman, a thirty-year-old version of Arabella, stepped forward. This was Mrs. Kaya. This was Arabella's mother.
She saw Arabella.
Arabella saw her.
They looked at each other. Just looked at each other.
No one moved. No one breathed.
Then Arabella burst into tears and ran to her mother.
Mrs. Kaya met her halfway.
Mother and daughter hugged, kissed. Bits of sentences burbled forth. Words overlapped words. "Love you." "I'm sorry." "Scared me to death." "I was so scared." "We were doing okay, weren't we?" "Never ever again." "My fault. I should never have said…" "So sorry. I should never have said…" "Love you." "Always." "Together." Both of them were crying. Mrs. Kaya dug in her coat and pulled out a wad of tissue — did mothers automatically come equipped with tissues? — and mother and daughter wiped their eyes and blew their noses.
Then they embraced again, and rocked back and forth in silent joy.
Gabriel looked around, blinking at the mist that may have gathered in his eyes.
His family watched the affectionate reunion, then turned to each other and hugged each other, mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters.
Gabriel stood apart, happy and yet … a little alone in the crowd.
Suddenly Arabella looked around for him, and when she located him, she tugged her mother over to meet him. "Mom, this is my friend, Gabriel Prescott. He fed me, and he … he helped me think about stuff."
Mrs. Kaya took his hand and pressed it in both of hers. Her eyes were damp and her voice broke as she said, "Mr. Prescott, I can't thank you enough for what you've done for Susan."
Susan said, "Mr. Prescott, you can call me Arabella."
He grinned and ruffled her hair. "You will always be Arabella to me." To Mrs. Kaya, he said, "I just kept her safe here until you could arrive."
"You did so much more than that. You and your whole family." Mrs. Kaya looked like she was going to cry again. "I will always keep you in my prayers. Always."
"You'll join us for Christmas, I hope," he said.
"We c…couldn't impose." Mrs. Kaya's voice wobbled.
In his beautiful, Italian-accented voice, Roberto said, "It is no imposition. Guests are a blessing on our family!"
Arabella sighed in adoration.
Like her daughter, Mrs. Kaya looked at him and promptly fell in love.
Gabriel nudged Arabella. "Hey. What about me? I rescued you."
Arabella nodded solemnly. "Mom, he fed me the best chili in the world. He told me it was the best."
The family laughed.
She took his other hand. "And he talked to me about … stuff. Important stuff."
"We have a lot in common," he told her.
"We do." She crooked her finger at him. He leaned down and she whispered, " I think you'll make a great father."
He thought about it, about the things they'd discussed and how he'd handled this emergency. He thought about how much he liked children — he loved them, too, but he liked them, learned from them. And he thought that as long as he remembered to listen…
When he met Arabella, he had recognized the opportunity for what it was — a chance to help a mixed-up runaway.
Yes, he had helped her. But she had helped him, too. The truth was … she had been God's Christmas gift to him. He nodded. "Thank you," he said to her. "You're right. I will be a good father."
Roberto cleared his throat meaningfully.
Gabriel straightened.
Gabriel looked at him, looked at all the sly grins directed at him, looked back at Roberto.
Roberto tilted his head toward the open doorway.
The family crowded there moved aside.
The bells on the tree chimed in the wind.
And there she stood, bags in hand: his Hannah. Smiling at him.
His heart leaped. "My God," he said; a prayer of thanksgiving. He walked forward, arms outstretched.
She dropped her bags with a thud and walked into his embrace. He kissed her, long, passionately, and reveled in the knowledge that, once again, he held the woman of his heart close at Christmas. When he lifted his head, she laughed and gasped. "So you're glad to see me?"
He leaned his forehead on hers and looked into her eyes. "Always. You didn't have to operate?"
"That girl woke up wanting pizza and her mommy. We're not going to have to do surgery. She's going to be fine." Hannah glowed with satisfaction. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tighter. "All my Christmas prayers are coming true."
"I think you're right." He lifted his head and winked at Arabella, then turned back to Hannah. "All of your Christmas prayers are coming true … Mommy."
"Really?" She caught his face in her hands. "Are you sure you're ready to become a father?"
"I have it on good authority I will be a great father."
Hannah took a long breath. "I know you will. What do you think? Shall we try for a baby? Or would you like an older child?"
"If we get a baby, we could name her Arabella. But we'd have to wait for a baby. Maybe we should start with an older brother or sister."
"Maybe we could get a baby and its older siblings. A little family that needs us."
They smiled at each other, then faced the relatives. "Congratulate us," Gabriel said. "This year, we are going to be parents. We are going to adopt our own child, or two, or three!"
And at last, Arabella smiled.
Christina Dodd here: Thank you for enjoying GABRIEL'S GIFT: A Lost Hearts Christmas Epilogue, and I hope you'll take this opportunity to join my mailing list, http://christinadodd.com so I can keep you informed of books sales and new releases.
Gabriel is featured in the Lost Hearts series, which I published in e-book enhanced it with bonus material: synopses, new chapters and author commentary exclusive in these e-book editions. The three Lost Hearts books are:
JUST THE WAY YOU ARE
Mystery and misery scarred their young lives. Three sisters and their foster brother, torn apart by tragedy and scattered across the country to grow up alone, without the loving family they had known…
As Hope Prescott searches for her family, she gathers friends around her, including Griswald, gruff old butler for wealthy Zack Givens. Meeting Griswald is a shock; he is neither gruff nor old, but a powerful, handsome man. In fact, he is Zack Givens, cold, heartless — and charmed by the artless young woman who falls in love with the humble man she imagines him to be. When she discovers Zack’s secret and faces his betrayal, she leaves him without a backward glance. How far will Zack have to go to prove he is the man of her dreams?
ALMOST LIKE BEING IN LOVE
Witn
ess to a brutal murder, Pepper Prescott flees to the only place she’s safe—a small mountain town & the arms of the man she left behind. But Dan’s time in the Special Forces has left him wounded, body & soul, & harboring a dangerous secret. Can they learn to trust—and love—before murder & treachery finds them?
CLOSE TO YOU
When Kate is threatened by a malicious stalker, she hires a bodyguard, but the cool, blade-sharp intensity of Teague Ramos both menaces & attracts. When her own relentless investigation unlocks dangerous secrets, she & Teague go on a high-stakes chase that may lead to the family she has never known—or into the trap of a ruthless killer.
Gabriel is also featured in the Fortune Hunters series. The four books are:
TROUBLE IN HIGH HEELS
A crazy family, a wild affair…and the jewel heist of the century.
TONGUE IN CHIC
Breaking into Devlin Fitzwilliam’s mansion to steal a priceless painting is a dangerous move. Getting caught and pretending to have amnesia is madness. Outsmarted, outmaneuvered, and in danger, Meadow must decide who to trust … with her life.
THIGH HIGH
Two eccentric aunts, a series of quirky bank robberies, the madness and forbidden pleasures of Mardi Gras … Nessa can handle all that. Then Jeremiah MacNaught comes to town. He takes too many chances. He asks dangerous questions. And when he goes to Nessa for the answers, they discover an attraction that defies all sense.
DANGER IN A RED DRESS (Gabriel's story):
Taut suspense unites and concludes both the Lost Texas Hearts and the Fortune Hunters series in one exhilarating climax!
For you collectors, enjoy LADY IN BLACK,
a full-length romantic suspense about a straitlaced lady-butler, a powerful billionaire, and kidnapping, conflict, and steamy sex in the shower…
Margaret Guarneri has found sanctuary managing the home of a rich, elderly man…until the day he receives a threat of kidnapping. Enter Reid Donovan, dynamic, wealthy in his own right, and suspicious of the gorgeous young widow who so diligently cares for his grandfather.
Distrust, extortion, and the shadows of the past drive Reid and Margaret apart. Wild, uninhibited passion brings them together. They must learn to trust each other before they can vanquish a killer…and in the process, they discover a passion more powerful than anything either of them could imagine. But has love come too late for the handsome billionaire and his lady in black?
Buy LADY IN BLACK for your Kindle!
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Amazon UK
Amazon Australia
In 2014, with THE LISTENER, Christina Dodd introduced you to the world of Virtue Falls, Washington and its wonderful, eccentric characters.
If you knew someone was going to commit a murder, what would you do?
Order THE LISTENER: A Virtue Falls Short story, only 99 cents!!
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Enjoy an excerpt of VIRTUE FALLS, the first full-length novel in Christina Dodd's acclaimed Virtue Falls series.
Twenty-three years ago, Misty Banner was slashed to death in her home in Virtue Falls, Washington. Her husband was convicted of the murder. Their four year old daughter Elizabeth witnessed the crime, but has no memory of the killing. Now, two decades later, Elizabeth is back, her ex-husband, Garik has followed her, and trouble is about to find them…
Elizabeth looked into his face. She pushed his hair off his forehead, and whispered, “Garik.” She wanted to say more: take me, love me, need me. And she knew he would do all those things. But talk to me? Not so much.
“In my truck,” he murmured, “there’s a blanket. We could put it on the seat, and I could take off your clothes and kiss you here” — he touched her mouth — “and here” — he touched her breast — “and…here.” He slid his index finger between her legs and put slow, hot pressure on her clit.
She tilted her head back, seduced, tempted, on the verge of coming, shuddering with … No. Wait. She opened her eyes, saw the green pines trembling against the blue sky — and realized that wasn’t the earth moving for her.
It was moving.
“Earthquake,” he said hoarsely. “Earthquake!”
She jumped up, scrambled away from him, gave him room to stand.
He vaulted to his feet, too, his mouth tight with tension, his hands held at ready for battle. But what would he battle here and now? If the walls of the canyon came down, he could do nothing about it.
The walls did fail: plumes of dirt rose up and down the river as landslides bore witness to the instability of the region.
The shaking increased.
Roughly he pulled her close, watching, prepared to move on a moment’s notice.
Two great boulders ripped off the canyon rim and plummeted down the slope. One boulder missed them by twenty feet. The other, smaller boulder bounced into a nearby massive pile of brush. Dust rose. Twigs and branches clattered and broke. The boulder hung there like a bird’s egg in the middle of a nest, then subsided, sliding out of sight and all the way to the ground.
The shaking became trembling, then ceased altogether.
She clung to him anyway, and she remembered the other thing she had so loved about him — when he held her in his arms, she felt safe and cherished.
Then he pushed her back, and looked down at her accusingly, no doubt remembering her assurances about the aftershocks and how she was safe here.
She glanced around, prepared to defend herself … when she saw it. Sprawled on the pile of brush, revealed by the broken branches.
She freed herself, and walked closer, hypnotized by the sight of … bones.
Bones … shattered secrets revealed by this day’s disaster. Bits of flesh clung to these bones, and clothing … a flowered dress, marked by mud and a dark, ominous stain.
Elizabeth knelt by the outstretched, skeletal hand.
The ring was gone from the finger, but she recognized the material of the dress. She recognized the body.
In a calm voice that seemed to come from a great distance, she said, “This is my mother.”
Order VIRTUE FALLS for your e-reader or, for you collectors, in hardcover!
Who is Christina Dodd?
Readers become writers, and Christina has always been a reader. Ultimately she discovered she liked to read romance best because the relationship between a man and a woman is always humorous. A woman wants world peace, a clean house, and a deep and meaningful relationship based on mutual understanding and love. A man wants a Craftsman router, undisputed control of the TV remote, and a red Corvette which will make his bald spot disappear.
So when Christina’s first daughter was born, she told her husband she was going to write a book. It was a good time to start a new career, because how much trouble could one little infant be?
Quite a lot, it seemed. It took ten years, two children and three completed manuscripts before she was published. Now her fifty New York Times and USA Today bestselling novels — paranormals, historicals, romantic suspense and suspense — have been translated into twenty-five languages, recorded on Books on Tape for the Blind, won Romance Writers of America’s prestigious Golden Heart and RITA Awards and been called the year’s best by Library Journal. Dodd herself has been a featured author at the Texas Book Festival and a clue in the Los Angeles Times crossword puzzle (11/18/05, # 13 Down: Romance Novelist named Christina.) Publishers Weekly praises her style that “showcases Dodd’s easy, addictive charm and steamy storytelling.”
Christina is married to a man with all his hair and no Corvette, but many Craftsman tools.
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