GABRIEL'S GIFT: A Lost Hearts Christmas Story Read Online Free PDF Page B

she got a phone call, a hang-up, from Texas, and figured her daughter had to be in Texas."
    "Arabella tried to call her."
    "Arabella? Her name is Susan Kaya."
"Susan. Yeah. Of course. Susan." Nice, plain name. "You better tell your kids not to call her Susan, or she'll know we know…"
    "I told my kids you had a young girl visiting you, that she was far from home, that it was the holidays, and they should treat her like a friend."
    "You have good kids."
    "I do." Kate whipped out her phone and sent a text. "There. Now everyone knows they should call her Arabella."
    Kate never wasted time. She always got things done.
    Kate continued, "Mrs. Kaya flew to Dallas. About the time she was landing, Mac found Susan's photo in missing persons and traced Mrs. Kaya. He had to pull some strings, but of course, being Mac…"
    With a sense of growing relief, Gabriel said, "He succeeded."
    "Right now, she's landing in San Antonio with Hope and Zack and their kids, and Devlin and Meadow and their kids."
    Something tense inside him relaxed. "All we have to do is keep Arabella around until she gets here."
    A huge crash sounded upstairs.
    "The twins probably just broke both her legs. That'll keep her here." Kate stepped to the bottom of the stairs and shouted, "Don't make me come up there!"
    A chorus of voices. "No, ma'am!"
    Loud and clear, she said, "If you're not unpacked when your cousins get here, you can't help decorate the tree!"
    No answer.
    "I can't hear you," she yelled.
    "Yes, ma'am!"
    She turned to face Gabriel, all sweet-faced and graceful, and in his toughest Texas drawl, he said, "You look like such a pleasant li'l thing."
    Kate batted her eyes at him. "I am. I'm also a television reporter who covers national politics and, even worse, Texas politics. Don't kid yourself, Gabriel. I eat nails for breakfast."
    Gabriel's extended family was packed with successful people, all determined to get their own ways. It caused some almighty loud battles occasionally, but when the dust settled, everyone was still friends, and the children were all well-loved, bright and happy.
    "I have to start dinner." Kate headed into the kitchen.
    He followed. "I made chili."
    "Oh, no!" She walked more quickly. She stepped into the kitchen, stopped and looked around in amazement. "Who cleaned up for you?"
    She didn't even for one moment imagine he had cleaned up after himself. "I could have done it."
    She ignored that. "Must have been Susan. Arabella. She's a good kid."
    He gave up. He wasn't going to win this one. "She is."
    The front door swung open. The cold wind rushed in. The bells on the tree chimed. A babble of voices and a clatter of footsteps brought another rush of family into the house.
    Gabriel headed out into the living room and collided with Roberto and Brandi and their children. Brandi and the kids screamed with excitement and he got hugs and kisses. Roberto embraced him and kissed his cheeks, too — Roberto was an Italian count and Gabriel's half-brother — then faced the stairs where Kate's children were launching themselves at him. "Bella bambini!" He kissed and hugged, then turned to Susan who lingered on the last step. He took her chin and looked into her face. "I don't remember you, and I always remember a beautiful woman. You must be this friend of Gabriel's I have heard so much about."
    She nodded, her jaw dropped, her gaze fixed on Roberto, as she fell in love for the very first time. Without even trying, Roberto had that effect on women from newborns to 100 years old. Gabriel knew it was okay; Roberto was a good, safe crush for an adolescent.
    They barely got the luggage into the living room when Mac and Nessa and their kids arrived. More cold wind. More bells. More greetings. More laughter. More open affection.
    They got the luggage in and the big double doors shut, and as Nessa hugged Gabriel, she said in a low tone, "Mac got me a full-length down coat for Christmas, for Philadelphia when we visit, and I convinced him it would be