The Christmas Angel (3 page)

He'd always been comfortable with who he was and where he fit in the world. He didn't
mind being around people, and he had a lot of friends. But there had never been anybody he felt he
couldn't live without.

Until now.

He pulled the pin back out of his pocket and wrapped his fingers around it tight. He
didn't know why, but something in his head told him Kaitlin needed it back tonight. And his heart
told him he needed to figure out a way to do just that.

"You coming, man?"

Michael had been so wrapped up in his own thoughts, he hadn't noticed they'd made it
downtown and were parked in front of a place called The Golden Harp. Over dinner, Michael came
up with a plan. It was crazy, the longest of long shots. But it was also very simple.

To Michael, simplicity was beautiful.

To Michael, Kaitlin was, too.

* * * *

"Dammit, dammit, dammit!" Kaitlin lowered her head and closed her eyes. There were
no tears. They'd probably come later, in the privacy of her bedroom. For now, there was only bitter
disappointment and self-recrimination.
If only I'd left the brooch at home. If only I'd worn a
coat
.

Dani flipped off the little emergency flashlight Kaitlin kept in the car. "I'm so sorry,
honey, but we've been over this area twice and it just doesn't seem to be here."

Kaitlin stood stock still as Dani put an arm around her. "I meet a nice guy and then
manage to lose both him and Mom's brooch in one fell swoop. This has turned into the crappiest
birthday ever. I just want to go home and crawl in bed and stay there forever."

Once they got home, Dani got Kaitlin a glass of wine, and then headed for her bathroom,
claiming she wanted a long bath to warm up. Kaitlin was pretty sure Dani was giving her some time
to be alone with her thoughts.

By the time she was halfway through the wine, she should have been feeling a little
drowsy, or at least a little relaxed. Her mind was too agitated and her soul was too badly injured to
allow that, though, so she changed into her favorite wintertime pajamas--an old sweatshirt and
coordinating cotton sweatpants.

When the late news ended, Dani announced she was going to bed. Kaitlin put her empty
wine glass on the table and started flipping through an interior design magazine.

"Must be caffeine-infused wine," she said to the television screen, as her agitation kept
getting worse. After making three laps around the couch and coffee table, she got dressed again,
grabbed her keys and slipped out the door while she was wrestling her coat on. She had to look one
more time.

It's gotta be there
, she repeated over and over on the drive back to the parade
spot.
I'll widen the search area
.

A light snow had just begun to fall when Kaitlin parked the car. She got out, her heart
hammering away. About fifty yards from the spot where they'd watched the parade, she pulled up
short. Someone was leaning against a nearby light post.

Alarm bells went off in her head. The self-defense class she'd taken told her to turn
around and come back tomorrow, but something compelled her forward. She dug her phone out of
her coat pocket and dialed 911. If things started to go badly, she'd hit the send button.

With her thumb hovering in position, she approached the leaning figure one tentative
step at a time, hoping her presence would spur him to move on. At thirty yards away, she
manufactured a cough. The figure--she was certain it was a man--pushed himself away from the
pole and turned to face her.

He kept his hands in his pockets, but didn't say anything. The snow obscured his
features. A shiver went through her and she was about to turn around when he finally spoke.

"Kaitlin?"

* * * *

Practically frozen to the bone, Michael stared at the person approaching him through
the fluffy snowflakes. The height looked about right, but then again, after he'd been shivering in the
cold for what seemed like eons, maybe his mind was playing tricks on him.

"Michael? Is that you?"

His stomach did a backflip as his nearly frostbitten lips curled into a smile. "Yeah, it's
me."

Kaitlin stepped out of the shadows and into the light cast by the street lamp. She pushed
back her hood to reveal a warm smile. His heart caught fire at the sight.

"What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you."

Her forehead creased in apparent confusion. "Waiting for me? Why?"

"To give you this." He pulled the pin out of his pocket and held it out to her. "It must
have come off when you got knocked down. By the time I saw it, you and your friend were long
gone. I tried to find you and when I struck out, I came here."

Kaitlin looked into Michael's eyes. Instead of accepting the pin, she took her mittens off
and wrapped her hands around his. The heat of her hands flowed from her to warm his entire body,
and his soul.

"Lord, you're nearly frozen." She drew him right up to her. Her foresty scent filled his
nostrils, sending a good chill down his spine. "How long have you been here?"

"I don't know. A couple hours, maybe?"

"Just to give me this?"

Michael chuckled. "I could tell it's old, so I figured it was special to you. And something
told me that you needed to get it back today. Am I right?"

Kaitlin nodded and closed her eyes. Despite the smile, a tear escaped and ran down her
cheek. "It originally belonged to my grandmother. It was given to me this past spring after my
mother died. It's a Christmas Angel and today was the first day I'd ever worn it."

Michael parted his hands. The golden angel shone like a tiny sun in the lamplight. "I
didn't have my tools, but I was able to fix the clasp partway, at least. Here, you should put it
on."

She unzipped her coat. "You put it on me."

With hands shaking partly from the cold and partly from being so close to Kaitlin, he did
as instructed. When he finished, she took his hands in hers again.

"Today's my birthday. You've just given me the most wonderful gift ever." She hesitated
for a moment, as if trying to see inside his head, and then cupped his face with her hands and
brought her lips to his. The tenderness of the kiss sent wave upon wave of tropical warmth through
him.

When she released him, her breathing was heavy. "Thank you, Michael. You're a true
angel."

He nodded, breathing a little heavy himself. "My pleasure. Anything for you."

She looked up and down the street. "Your friends...they left without you, didn't
they?"

"Yeah, they had to get back."

"Yet you waited for me." Kaitlin tapped her finger on her chin a few times, evidently
mulling something over. She glanced toward Joe's, where the lights were always on. "Can I buy you
a cup of coffee? I'd love to hear the story of what you did trying to find me."

Michael took her hand. "I'd like that, but only if you tell me why you ended up coming
back here."

"Deal." Her eyes were a little watery, but she was grinning from ear to ear. His grin
matched hers as they began the short stroll to the coffee shop and the long walk through life
together.

A lifelong resident of the State of Indiana, Jim Cangany is proud to call himself a Hoosier.
The youngest of eight children, he grew up in a household full of books and people. Thanks to the
influence of his older siblings, Jim gravitated toward fantasy and sci-fi when looking for something
to read. He wrote his first story at age fourteen. A school project,
The Magic Coin
was a
fantasy that involved a king, some bad guys, and, not surprisingly, a magical token.

These days, Jim writes romance on the sweet end. If you ask him what is a guy like him
is doing writing romance, he'll reply, "Those are the stories in my head." A believer that the world
has enough doom and gloom, he likes stories with a happy ending, regardless of genre. He lives in
Indianapolis with his wonderful wife Nancy and his two sons, Ryan and Aidan.

* * * *

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