Enchanted (34 page)
She continued nodding. “I don’t want to be away from you, either.”
“And last, but certainly not least, I’d like to have more children. I’ll always love Julie, but I’d like a McKenna, Jr., too, and maybe a few more for good measure.”
Kathleen grinned.
“Can we start tonight?”
“Why do you think I bought the rocking horse? We never got to fully try it out last weekend.”
“Mac?”
“Yes?”
“You’re on bended knee. Do you plan to propose again?”
“You turned down my last proposal. This one’s binding. If you say yes, I’m holding you to it.”
Kathleen took his hands in hers. “I’m waiting.”
“Kathleen Flannigan, I give you my love, my life, and” —he laughed—“my job. I ask nothing from you in return, except that you love me for the rest of your life. Will you marry me?”
She nodded. “Yes,” she whispered and slipped into the loving warmth of his arms.
He held her tight, closed his eyes, and said a prayer. “Thank you, Lord.”
McKenna O’Brien stood at the window and watched the light snow falling outside. Snow had come late this year, but Christmas Eve morning had dawned with blue skies and sunshine, and a thick blanket of snow that had fallen during the night. They had used Julie’s new toboggan for the first time, singing Christmas carols as they slid down the hill, Kathleen standing at the top, cheering them on, her voice also joining in the merry refrains.
Together they had strung popcorn and cranberries to hang on the massive tree that stood in the grand hallway of McKenna House. Even Mac’s mother and grandmother had joined in on the fun. Oh, how they loved having a child around the house. He loved it, too. After five months he couldn’t remember even one day where he had regretted his decision to step down as president.
He looked toward his bed, to the beautiful woman whose long auburn hair spread across his pillow. His wife, the mother of his unborn child, whose movements he had felt for the first time that night when they lay quietly in each other’s arms. Kathleen had pressed his hand to her slightly rounded belly. He nearly cried when he felt the kick of the miracle they had created. The past six months had been nothing but miracles, and he felt truly blessed.
Outside, he heard the sound of bells, an odd, light tinkling noise. He looked again through the window but saw nothing, only the snow. Kathleen stirred in bed. He sat beside her and pulled the down comforter under her chin, and lovingly kissed her forehead. He heard the jingle again, then a tapping noise on the roof. A squirrel, maybe, hopping from the branch of a tree and scurrying across the shingles.
He started to climb back into bed, but listened intently to noises down below. Maybe Julie had gotten out of bed to take an early peek at her Christmas presents. He quietly went to the bedroom door, opened it, and went to the stairs. For a moment he could have sworn he saw a bright light flash around the tree, then up through the chimney. But it was only his imagination.
He crept down the stairs. The rocking chair moved slightly, back and forth. The tray of cookies on the table beside it was empty, the glass of milk only half-full. He looked around for Julie, or possibly his mother, placing some last-minute gifts under the tree. But he saw no one. Nothing except a red envelope sitting in the rocker.
Merry? Nicky?
He smiled. He had never told Kathleen about his truly miraculous housekeeper. She probably would have believed his story, for she did believe in miracles. But he wanted to keep Merry to himself. A special woman who would always be close to his heart.
He picked up the envelope, lifted the flap, and pulled out the note. A tear came to his eye, along with a smile for the lady who had given him back his life. He read her words.
Keep Christmas in your heart, young man, and your life will be enchanted, and your dreams will surely come true
.
—
The End
—
Follow the further adventures of Merry Nicholas in
Wishes Come True
!
ther books by Patti Berg
Enchan
t
ed
(A Merry Nicholas Christmas Tale - #1)
A Christmas story for those who believe when love is involved, anything is possible. Mac O'Brien is wealthy and powerful--but since the death of his father, the magic has gone out of his life. So he makes a wish for happiness, and Merry Nicholas, his new housekeeper, breezes into his world. Merry, with twinkling eyes, rosy cheeks, and snow-white hair, reminds Mac of Mrs. Claus, and when she pulls knitting needles from her candy cane-striped carpetbag, she weaves an enchanted spell around Mac, leading him to happiness, and to the woman he's destined to love
Wishes C
ome True
(A Merry Nicholas Christmas Tale - #2)
Guardian angels don't always come with wings or a halo. Merry Nicholas, aka Mrs. Claus, came with rosy cheeks and a feather duster for spreading magic, and the little old lady who delighted readers in my first romance, Enchanted, is back.
Merry's in Bunch Gulch, Montana, this time with sophisticated romance novelist Laurie Langtry, who knows all about fictional love but nothing about the real thing. Running from bad times in New York, Laurie settles in the town she ran away from as a child and soon learns old memories don't fade away. Wishing for a hero to save her from her fears, she gets much more than she asked for--three rambunctious boys pop into her life along with their down-on-his-luck rancher dad, Jake McAllister, who's the spitting image of every Olympian-god hero she's ever created.
With a touch of magic and the power of belief, Jake's able to save Laurie from the nightmare that's haunted her. Being a hero's one thing, loving Laurie is another. Jake's not interested in being the husband she wants--until he needs a wife.
Laurie's found that every tale needs a happy ending, and her own love story is no exception. She's woven the plot so carefully that nothing can go wrong, and when Jake proposes, another one of her wishes comes true. Deep inside, though, she wonders if the end justifies the means, and she hopes Jake never learns what dastardly deed she fabricated to get what she wanted.
Filled with warmth and humor, Wishes Come True is about friends, families, and sticking together when high-tailing it out of town seems like the easiest road to travel. It's about following your dreams, taking chances, and letting your heart believe.
A hundred year old love that refuses to end.
A murder.
A mystery.
A cantankerous ghost who wants revenge.
An artist who has found the woman of his dreams.
A schemer who’ll stop at nothing.
And a woman caught between three very different men.
Each wants something from her,
b
ut who should she trust?
Trevor Montgomery was more handsome than Tyrone Power or Cary Grant; more dashing and daring than Errol Flynn; he was a man every woman desired and all men envied. He was a movie star who’d enthralled millions in the 1930’s—and then he disappeared.
Adriana Howard is rich beyond imagining, but her life has been cloaked in scandal, and she’d rather love a man on a movie screen—a 1930’s idol and maybe a murderer—than face the real world.
He’s suspected of a brutal murder in his own time, but all he remembers is the blood, the knife, and the smell of death.
He’s a womanizer, a drunk, and she should kick him out of her life—but he’s traveled 60 years through time in answer to one of her wishes, and she can’t resist his charms. Now she’s willing to risk anything to prove his innocence and win his love.
Sometimes the most unusual things wash up on the beach, but nothing stranger or more exciting than the cutlass-wielding pirate Kate Cameron finds on her own treasure island.
He was a mystery man...
"Bloody hell!" Morgan "Black Heart" Farrell can’t believe the hurricane whisked him from the deck of his galleon straight into the twentieth century--and into the arms of a honey-haired siren. What he does believe is that Kate’s tempestuous spirit and emerald eyes could entice him away from a swashbuckling life at sea. But the widow’s charms can’t erase Black Heart’s desperate need to get back to his own time--until he learns he may have brought danger with him from the past. Morgan might be a scoundrel, but he’s not about to leave while Kate needs a man to comfort and protect her.
Who swept her off her feet
It’s been ages since Kate had a man in her life, and she’s pretty much decided she doesn’t want another. But the moment Black Heart is thrust into her world, she finds herself falling for the dangerous, sexy looking stranger. By his own admission he’s pillaged, plundered, and taken one or two lives. But Kate has a knack for looking beneath the surface and soon realizes that maybe, just maybe, Morgan’s heart isn’t as black as the history books claim. In fact, he just might be the hero she’s looking for.
Wife For A
Day
(Remington and Wilde Family Escapade #1)
The last thing millionaire rancher Jack Remington wanted was a wife. Hell, he'd just been dumped by his fiancée and was feeling rather relieved to no longer have a noose around his neck. But Jack had one huge problem--he'd flown to ritzy Palm Beach to attend his baby sister's highfalutin' engagement ball and he'd promised her he'd be bringing his wife-to-be. There was no way Jack would let her down on the biggest night of her life.
When a beguiling, flame-haired enchantress breezes into his hotel room with a tux and a seductive smile, Jack's sure all his troubles have come to an end. All he has to do is hire the beautiful tailor to masquerade as his fiancée.
Samantha Jones is sure the sexy cowboy is out of his ever-lovin' mind. She's never been to a ball, never worn a fancy gown, and has no idea how to act like a socialite. She can't possibly pose as his wife-to-be, but...
Just that morning Sam's life had gone from not so good to absolutely dismal. She'd been fired from her tailoring job at Antonio's For Men, and before the evening was over, the cops would probably be hot on her trail for "borrowing" the tux she was about to tailor for the gorgeous millionaire. On top of that, Johnnie "The Shark" Russo had been threatening to make her fish bait if she didn't pay back the money she'd borrowed. Suddenly Jack's offer sounded like something she couldn't refuse.
Besides, it was only for one night...
Born to Be Wild
(Reming
ton and Wilde Family Escapade #2
)
Coming Soon!
The last thing millionaire rancher Jack Remington wanted was a wife. Hell, he'd just been dumped by his fiancée and was feeling rather relieved to no longer have a noose around his neck. But Jack had one huge problem--he'd flown to ritzy Palm Beach to attend his baby sister's highfalutin' engagement ball and he'd promised her he'd be bringing his wife-to-be. There was no way Jack would let her down on the biggest night of her life.