Read Jillian Hart for Free Online Page B

remember my mother much." Mary rubbed dark curls out of her eyes. "Did Ma put up stockings, Pa?"
    "She did." It hurt to remember, but in a good way. Those were happy times too, but so far away, impossible to touch. "And she decorated the tree every year and played the piano. She loved Christmas carols. There was always music and presents piled beneath the tree."
    Mary lifted her gaze, resonant with longing. "That's why I asked Santa to bring me a mother. I don't need no presents."
    "Not even a doll?" Connie asked.
    When Sara's eyes brimmed, his chest tightened, kicking up a new sense of longing with every beat of his heart. Not for times past, but for those yet to come.
    "Not even a doll." Mary's solemn tone seemed at odds with the merry laughter somewhere else in the diner, with the exciting anticipation lingering in the air like the scent of cookies and pine, for the holiday was only days away. "Pa and me are real lonely. Other girls have got mothers to sew their dresses and tuck them in at night."
    "I tuck you in at night," Gabe protested, reaching for his glass of cider before the emotion tight in his chest sounded raw in his voice. "I'm a pretty darn good tucker-inner."
    "Yeah, but, Pa, a ma would be good too." Mary's gaze flicked to Sara, stormy eyes luminous. "Did you ever get a new mother, Sara?"
    "Never. I would have liked one." How wistful her voice.
    Gabe considered the little girl she must have been, kept home from school to take over the bulk of her mother's work. Her father, a stern, unbending man who took no pleasure in life. "Surely you celebrated Christmas when you were married."
    "No. We were wed in February and he fell off the barn roof late that summer. He died soon after." The grief had passed, but its shadow remained, keen and spellbinding. "We would have had a wonderful holiday if Andrew had lived. But some things are not to be, I guess."
    "Is that when you moved back home to your father?" Connie asked.
    Sara nodded. "And later, when I was on my own, I would decorate a small tree, but that was all."
    "Then I'm glad you'll be with us, at least to share some of our fun." Connie's gaze warmed out of sympathy for the woman and her past.
    "So am I." Sara kept her head bowed, maybe shy, maybe just uncomfortable that her feelings showed. "I will remember this time spent with you always."
    Gabe could not stop looking at her, drawn by a beauty that grew with every moment. A gentle, radiant beauty, the kind that only came from within.

    "It's starting to snow again." Mary spread her arms wide and spun in circles, the ends of her scarf and the hem of her blue dress twirling right along with her.
    Entranced, Sara missed a step and nearly slid off the boardwalk.
    "Careful." Gabe stepped down after her, his words rumbling with care.
    She blushed, feeling foolish. Ice crackled beneath her shoes, where the day's brief sun had melted the snow, which had frozen again.
    "Hey, Pa!" Mary skidded, almost falling the same way Sara had. "Oops."
    "Yeah, oops. It's slick, angel." Gabe's gentle teasing could not hide his protective nature. He watched the traffic on the busy road, where horses and sleighs rushed by.
    Sara blinked against the thick flakes batting her face as she turned at the intersection. Packages rattled as Gabe strode beside her, wide shoulders braced against the north wind.
    "Mary, stop goofing around. You're going to end up on your fanny," Connie tsked. "Goodness, look at that sheen of ice. It's going to be a cold one tonight."
    "Mary." Gabe's warning sent Sara turning.
    "Oh, Pa. I don't fall. Much." Mary skipped up to take her hand. "Sara, do you like snowmen?"
    "I haven't met one I haven't liked." How that button smile warmed the darkest places inside. Sara took a careful step, even as Mary, in her exuberance, pulled her along.
    "Mary, you're going to wind up on the ground and take Sara with you." Gabe sounded breathless as he gazed over the top of the packages he carried.
    His dark blue gaze sparkled, rare