“Well, as you can see he’s mending fences with Tess,” Gabriel said. Greg had his arm around his wife as they stood and talked to Matthias, Phil and Sandy.
“So their settlement meeting went well,” Shirley murmured.
“Really well,” Mercy said, grinning widely. “Okay, okay, so I joined them for a few minutes. Trust me, the meeting went better than either of them expected.”
“They’re getting back together,” Gabriel continued, “and are determined to make a real effort to give their marriage another chance.”
“Do they last?”
“With ups and downs over the next few years, but they always manage to work things out. They both decide that love, like most everything else in life, is a decision and they’ve decided to stay together.”
“What about the winery?” Shirley asked.
“Greg does replant with the vines Matthias sells him, and in a few years Bennett Wines will once again be known as some of the area’s best.”
“Matthias and his grandson?”
“The boy makes a full recovery and Matthias takes frequent trips to California. When the grapes mature, Greg gives Matthias a percentage of the profits as a means of thanking him for his forgiveness and for his help through the early years. That small percentage is enough for Matthias to retire completely. And Gloria meets a good man, a new assistant winemaker hired by Greg. They eventually get married.”
“I’m glad,” Mercy said. “For all of them.”
“What about Greg and Edward?” Goodness asked. “Does he ever find out that Greg’s his biological father?”
Gabriel shook his head. “Edward doesn’t change his mind about not wanting to know him, and Greg respects his decision. However, he is deeply grateful for the opportunity to have met the son he fathered.”
Mercy smiled sadly as the carolers began singing “What Child Is This?” Shirley nodded in understanding.
“Now, are you three ready to return to heaven?” Gabriel asked.
Goodness and Mercy agreed, but with obvious reluctance.
“Can we come back next year?” Goodness asked as they drifted upward.
“We’ll have to wait and see,” Gabriel told her.
“Yes.” Shirley linked hands with her two friends. “We’ll just have to see who needs our help most,” she whispered to Goodness and Mercy.
Debbie Macomber is a number one New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author. Her books include 1225 Christmas Tree Lane, 1105 Yakima Street, A Turn in the Road, Hannah’s List and Debbie Macomber’s Christmas Cookbook, as well as Twenty Wishes, Summer on Blossom Street and Call Me Mrs. Miracle. She has become a leading voice in women’s fiction worldwide and her work has appeared on every major bestseller list, including those of the New York Times, USA TODAY, Publishers Weekly and Entertainment Weekly. She is a multiple award winner, and won the 2005 Quill Award for Best Romance. There are more than 100 million copies of her books in print. Two of her MIRA Christmas titles have been made into Hallmark Channel Original Movies, and the Hallmark Channel has recently launched a series based on her bestselling Cedar Cove series. For more information on Debbie and her books, visit her website, www.DebbieMacomber.com.
We hope you enjoyed this Harlequin ebook. Connect with us for info on our new releases, access to exclusive offers, free online reads and much more!
Subscribe to our newsletter: Harlequin.com/newsletters
Visit Harlequin.com
We like you—why not like us on Facebook: Facebook.com/HarlequinBooks
Follow us on Twitter: Twitter.com/HarlequinBooks
Read our blog for all the latest news on our authors and books: HarlequinBlog.com
ISBN: 978-1-4603-1474-6
Shirley, Goodness and Mercy
Copyright © 1999 by Debbie Macomber
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.
www.Harlequin.com
Shirley, Goodness and Mercy Page 9
