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A Forever Christmas
Marie Ferrarella
An old, familiar ache tried to work its way into Sarah’s chest. She sure wished she could make Gregory see what his extra job was doing to his son Hunter. Surely if he saw the effect, he would quit. Why waste time working for gifts that would mean nothing to the boys after the first five minutes? What was truly important was time with family. Because it could be taken away at any time. She looked at her calendar and counted dated blocks.Twelve days until Christmas Eve and their pageant. Twelve days…. An idea began to blossom. She took a deep breath as she envisioned those empty blocks on her calendar and began to brainstorm ideas. But could she pull it off? It would take a lot of strength to spend that kind of time around Gregory. Strength she might not have right now. Hunter’s sad, angry face flashed through her mind. Yes, she had to do it. For Hunter.
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Her Gift Is Her Present
When Gabe Rodriguez took the job of deputy sheriff in the small town of Forever, Texas, he thought he’d be bored. So he’s shocked the morning he discovers a car teetering on the edge of a deep ravine with an unconscious woman at the wheel. Gabe makes a daring rescue, but when the woman awakes, her memory is wiped clean.
Gabe may call her his Christmas “Angel,” but in her eyes, he’s the one who is truly heaven-sent. Gabe’s given her a whole new life, and she is haunted by the feeling that this is the happiest she’s ever been. Though Gabe is trying to help Angel recover her memory, she’s willing to leave it all behind her and start fresh with him at her side. But when her past finally catches up to her, Angel could lose everything, including Gabe.
As she spoke, Angel drew nearer to Gabe.
She was so close that he could feel each breath she took as her chest rose, brushing against his. When she exhaled, he felt her breath along his skin.
His gut tightened in response as he struggled to hold himself in check.
Gabe wanted to believe her. Wanted so badly just to take her into his arms and not fear the ramifications and consequences that were waiting for them just beyond the night.
But there would be ramifications and there would be consequences.
Gabe gave it one more try. “I need to find the light, Angel.”
“It’s right here,” she whispered to him, rising on her toes, leaving her soft lips mere inches from his mouth.
Gabe could feel himself weakening. “Oh, damn, Angel, you could break a saint.”
“I don’t want a saint,” Angel told him, her eyes never leaving his. “I want you.”
Dear Reader,
Here we are, back in Forever, Texas. This time we’re visiting Alma’s brother, Gabe. Gabe is trying to deal with the sting of being dumped by a woman who felt she could do “better,” and by “better” she meant finding someone wealthier. Alma, in an effort to get Gabe to come around, gets the sheriff to offer him a temporary position as a fill-in deputy. Gabe accepts, but there’s not much to do in a small town like Forever—that is, if you don’t count saving a beautiful woman’s life by pulling her out of a car tottering on the brink of a ledge before it goes over—or bursts into flame (which it does, seconds after he rescues her). There’s a slight hitch with the rescue. The woman doesn’t know how she got there—or who she is. Impulsively, Gabe names her “Angel” because she looks like one to him (and because it’s nearly Christmas).
With nothing but time on his hands, Gabe takes Angel on as his private project, trying to help her remember who she is. But as the days go by, both Gabe and Angel grow more and more reluctant to unearth her past, especially since they are growing so close to one another in the present. Still, nothing goes smoothly, and someone from Angel’s past is looking for her—and he’s not looking for a happy reunion.
As always, I thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy this latest stroll through Forever. From the bottom of my heart, I wish you someone to love who loves you back.
Happy holidays!
Love,
Marie
About the Author
MARIE FERRARELLA, a USA TODAY bestselling and RITA® Award-winning author, has written more than two hundred books for Silhouette and Harlequin Books, some under the name of Marie Nicole. Her romances are beloved by fans worldwide. Visit her website at www.marieferrarella.com (http://www.marieferrarella.com).
A Forever Christmas
Marie Ferrarella
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
To Stella Bagwell, My Go-To Person For All Things Western. With Love And Thanks
Contents
Prologue (#ue8e1a651-2726-5353-b272-72ddeecaa816)
Chapter One (#u3bbfb978-732a-5ada-8d30-4c1a8e91161b)
Chapter Two (#uc59c62e9-ba74-5646-8f19-dcaf4ec5d34d)
Chapter Three (#u5aad1d2b-9920-5798-922b-ef33891304ba)
Chapter Four (#u68f77843-e476-5672-ad94-64a3ef0d6ccb)
Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Teaser Chapter (#litres_trial_promo)
Prologue
It was the rain that was ultimately responsible.
The rain and fear.
In their own unique way, they were both blinding. The rain came down in sheets, demanding that she pull over, or at the very least drive more slowly.
The sky was close to being as dark as midnight, despite the fact that it was in the middle of the day. But there was nowhere for her to pull over, no town, no gas station. Nothing.
Nothing but exposed space.
And she couldn’t risk being exposed. Even in this storm.
She didn’t know if she was still even in Texas anymore.
All she knew was that she had to keep going, had to put as many miles between her and Jake as she could. There had been murder in his eyes the very last time she’d seen him.
Her murder.
He was coming for her. She could feel it.
She’d raced to her car, soaked before she’d ever reached it. Once inside, her hand shaking so badly it was hard to put the key into the ignition, it took her three tries to get it to turn over. Tearing away from the house, she put her foot all the way down on the gas pedal and drove as fast as she could.
Just drove. The destination didn’t matter. She had to save herself.
It was her own fault.
She shouldn’t have come back. She should have known he’d be watching the house, waiting for her to show up.
Jake.
The man who was the reason why she’d taken off to begin with. Why she’d changed her name, changed her appearance, changed her life. Changed everything just to get away from him.
And she had.
But when she’d learned, by accident, of her mother’s death, she couldn’t stay away from the funeral. Her heart ached too much not to say goodbye one last time.
She should have realized that his obsession would have had him watching the cemetery, watching the house. She’d thought she was careful, waiting for everyone to leave before she’d paused at the cemetery. Before she’d slipped into the house. She wanted to get the album of pictures her mother had kept. Pictures from a happier time. That, and her mother’s locket, those were the only two things she’d wanted—almost needed—to see her through this awful period.
Securing them would have only taken a few minutes. In and out. But even just a few minutes were too many.
He’d been watching for her.
Waiting.
And the moment she was in the house, he’d closed in. If that floorboard hadn’t squeaked when it had…
But it had and she’d bolted after throwing the jewelry box at him, hitting him squarely in the face. Bolted even as he heaped a barrage of curses at her through his bloodied lips. Curses that were drowned out by the whine of the bullet that tore by her head.
Missing her by inches.
Her heart hammering so hard she was sure it would burst, clutching the album in her arms and the locket chain woven through her fingers, she had thrown herself into her car and drove. Drove like the devil was after her.
Because he was.
She had no idea how long she’d been driving. Time and space all merged into one formless entity. Her gas tank had been full when she’d begun and now the needle was shivering around Empty.
She kept driving.
She hadn’t seen his headlights—or any lights at all—in her rearview mirror for a while now, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t there. She knew Jake, knew how obsessed, how focused, he could be. His superiors thought of it as his dedication. They didn’t know the man beneath the facade. Only she had been exposed to him. Jake would think nothing of turning off his lights and driving without them even in this storm if it meant being able to catch her off guard.
She was tired. Frightened and tired. Maybe death was the answer. If she had been the one who’d died instead of her mother…
No, damn it, she wouldn’t give him this final triumph over her, she wouldn’t, she thought angrily. She wouldn’t let him steal her life from her.
She—
The tree came out of nowhere. It was far too close for her to avoid even if she swerved to the right. She swerved anyway.
She could hear the high-pitched sound coming from her tires. The car was fishtailing, spinning out of control. She vaguely remembered something about driving into the spin even as everything else told her to turn the wheel in the opposite direction.
A scream tore from her lips a second before she hit something. The tree? Something else?
There was no time to identify it. The impact had her head hitting the steering wheel. Trying to raise her head, she blinked several times before she saw the edge of the ravine yawning before her.
And then the darkness mercifully swallowed her up even as another scream tore from her throat.
Chapter One
The rain was finally subsiding after coming down in buckets all night.
For a while there, it had been a toss-up between using his 4x4 or debating using a canoe to get back to town this morning. Gabriel Rodriguez shook his head as he laughed shortly to himself. It figured that he’d wind up facing this deluge just when he finally decided to drop by to visit his father on the family ranch. What with everything going on in his life lately—or not going on, he thought ruefully—he’d come up with one excuse after another for not taking his father up on the invitation.
His father, Miguel Rodriguez, wasn’t the type to shout or make demands. Rather, the father of six merely nodded his head and accepted whatever excuse he’d given him. That was the way the man had always been. And his soft-spoken approach had always been far more effective than shouting or giving angry ultimatums. Everyone always came around sooner than later. Though he was quick to deny it, Miguel Rodriguez knew just how to wield guilt as if it were a finely honed rapier in his hand.
The old man always got the results he was after, too, Gabe thought. They all complied, he and his five siblings. Some a little faster than others—Alma could really dig in when she wanted to—but no one was ever immune to their father’s sad brown eyes or quiet demeanor for long. The man had a very easygoing personality, unlike Miguel Jr.—Mike to his friends—who had a highly volatile one.
Mike liked to call it being passionate, but whatever term was given to it, Miguel Jr. was definitely explosive whereas Miguel Sr. was not.
“Senior” also got what he wanted far more often than “Junior” ever did.
Given the monotony of the scenery around him, Gabe’s mind drifted as he drove to town and his relatively new job as deputy to Rick Santiago’s sheriff.
He hadn’t meant to stay as long as he had last night. Initially, he’d planned on leaving by nine, but things hadn’t quite worked out that way.
Dinner had been good, the conversation even better, and somehow the time had just managed to slip away. Suddenly it was way past nine and his father was telling him that his old bedroom was still right where he’d left it—upstairs, down the hall—if he wanted to stay the night rather than taking on the elements.
By then it was raining so hard, it was as if someone had ripped open the sky.
So he’d stayed.
Besides, there was really nothing pressing in town that required him being there by dawn’s early light. Forever, Texas, was one of those sparsely populated towns that really needed law enforcement officers only to settle verbal disputes that sometimes got too heated and testy. On occasion, the sheriff or any of his three deputies might be called upon to rescue the town drunk from himself—or from his less-than-contented wife who, all things considered, was the dangerous one of the two.
