A Forever Christmas - By Marie Ferrarella Page 0,47

pitch-black by the time they reached his house.

Easing the tree down from the roof, they then carried their prize into the house with Gabe doing his best to take on the brunt of the weight without letting her realize it.

Once they got the unwieldy tree inside, he thought about just leaving it lying on its side where it was, in the hallway. Tomorrow was plenty of time to place the tree upright in the stand that Angel had surprised him with.

But one look at Angel’s face and he knew that waiting until tomorrow wasn’t going to be an option. She was already moving around the living room, trying to decide where best to place the tree in order to show it off to its maximum advantage.

“Christmas trees don’t have a ‘maximum advantage,’” he told her, doing his best to hide his amusement. In a way, it was like watching a child preparing for Christmas for the first time.

He supposed, in a way, Angel actually was.

“Sure they do,” Angel insisted. “Unlike fake ones, real Christmas trees are not the same from all angles.” She lowered her voice a little, as if sharing a confidence with him. “Our tree has a couple of barren spots.”

It was getting harder and harder not to laugh, but he didn’t want her thinking he was laughing at her. “If you say so.”

She looked at him, surprised. “Didn’t you notice them?”

“Nope,” he admitted freely. “I was too busy being completely dazzled by the angel standing beside me, issuing orders.”

She shook her head. Now he was just pulling her leg. “Very funny.”

She started to go to the kitchen to get some water for the base of the tree after they finally got it into the stand. Catching her by the elbow as she went by, Gabe pulled her into his arms.

“Not really,” he told her. “Actually, it all seems very serious, at least to me.” Holding her to him, he gave in to the urge that he’d been wrestling with all the way home. He kissed her. Then, as he drew back his head again, he shook it, utterly mystified. “What the hell have you done to me, Angel?” Affection laced every word. “What kind of spells do they teach you to cast in your world?”

She was incredibly content. Too content. And that worried her. She was afraid that something would happen to steal all of this away from her.

But for tonight, she’d pretend that this would go on forever and that this was paradise.

Because it was.

She threaded her arms around his neck, savoring the moment. Savoring him.

“The same kind they teach to cast in your world,” she answered quietly just before she pressed her lips against his.

They got around to putting up the tree and decorating it a great deal later than Angel had initially anticipated.

The delay was well worth it.

* * *

DESPITE THE FACT that only small bits and pieces of her previous life started to fall into place—she had a preference for Mexican food and was able to create minor miracles in the kitchen—Angel found that she was less and less focused on trying to remember the life she’d had before coming to Forever.

That was largely because she was happy here, happy in a town that had accepted her so readily. And far more than just “happy” with the man who had come into her life, a man who continually placed her wants and needs above his own each and every time.

For all intents and purposes, she’d been a clean slate when Gabe had rescued her. As the days slipped into one another, she felt the desire to find her past lessened bit by bit. If she never found out who she was or why she’d wound up here, well, that was all right, too. As long as she was allowed to remain here, with Gabe, for the rest of her life.

She had an underlying fear of what any sort of “discovery” about her previous life would yield. Although she was inexplicably certain that she didn’t have a husband waiting for her somewhere, Angel began to suspect that if she did remember all those pertinent pieces of information about herself and her world, she wouldn’t be too happy with what that discovery would yield.

So, banking down what she assumed was a natural strain of curiosity, Angel stopped asking Gabe if he’d found out anything when she saw him at the end of each day.

Instead, she focused on the evening ahead, whether that involved just the