A Forever Christmas - By Marie Ferrarella Page 0,56

had disappeared.

There was an instant knot in his stomach, pulling so hard he couldn’t breathe. “Damn it, I lost Angel!” was all he said before dropping his two-way radio and racing up ahead.

For a second, he’d abandoned all his training—and came precariously close to going over the ledge that had ended abruptly without warning. He caught himself just in time.

Four feet below where he stood right now was another, far more narrow ledge. And Angel was on it. Angel and the now-shaking, very frightened and cold little boy who was clinging to it.

“We’ve got you, Jason,” Angel was saying to the boy. “It’s going to be all right,” she promised. She congratulated herself on sounding exceedingly calm, considering the fact that she’d just barely managed to hang on to this ledge when the other had suddenly stopped short and her misstep had sent her falling. Her heart still hadn’t regained its regular beat. She’d come very close to getting killed, she realized.

But at least she’d found Jason.

“Who are you?” Jason asked, staring at her wide-eyed.

She mustered the biggest smile she could for his sake. “I’m Angel.”

“A real angel?” he cried in wonder. “Does that mean I’m dead?”

“You’re not dead,” Gabe called out to the boy. “But she is a real angel.” He glared down at her, knowing she couldn’t make out his expression in this darkness. “Just one that doesn’t listen very well.” And one who almost gave him heart failure when he realized that she’d gone over the ledge, he added silently. Worst moment of his life ever, he emphasized.

“Told you I heard something” was all Angel said in her own defense.

The boy was shaking uncontrollably. Stripping off her jacket, she draped it around the boy’s shoulders and closed the two sides around him to try to keep him warm.

“Don’t move,” Gabe ordered her, moving back from the ledge.

“Wasn’t really planning on it,” Angel called after him.

Gabe doubled back to fetch the two-way radio. He needed help. Now.

It took him a second to locate where he’d dropped it. His own hands were shaking—not from the cold but from the thought that Angel could have easily died tonight.

Damn it.

Pressing down on the communication button, he hailed Rick. “We’re going to need a rope to pull the boy up from a ledge.” He was getting ahead of himself, he realized. “Angel found Jason,” he told Rick, feeling both proud of her and angry at the same time. Angry that she’d risked her life in order to get to the boy. One wrong move and he’d be putting in a call for a body bag.

He pushed the thought away, unable to handle it right now.

“Hang in there, Gabe, we’re on our way,” Rick told him.

“Hurry” was all he said before he made his way back to the edge of the ledge.

He wasn’t taking any chances. He needed to keep vigil, assuring himself that Angel was all right until they could get her and the boy back on ground that measured more than a foot across.

Chapter Fifteen

The people in town were still talking about it the following day, how Forever’s newest citizen had risked her life and saved Diane Lake’s little boy, Jason.

If Angel believed otherwise, those thoughts were quickly dispelled when she walked into the diner with Gabe at eight the next morning. Rather than just drop her off, the way he’d taken to doing on his way to work, Gabe had decided to come in with her for a minute.

The customers seated at the counter and occupying the tables all turned around, almost in unison, and broke into a round of heartfelt, hearty applause.

Stunned, Angel looked around, fully expecting the applause to be meant for someone coming in behind her.

Except that there wasn’t anyone behind her.

Flustered, she turned her head toward Gabe—away from the customers—and lowering her voice asked, “Why are they applauding?”

Gabe grinned, feeling so proud of her he could burst. “Because the only thing the people around here like better than a hero is a heroine,” he said honestly. He saw the color rising in her cheeks and tried to eliminate her growing discomfort. “Hey, you earned this, Angel. You risked your life—and damn near gave me a heart attack,” he added, “getting that boy off the ledge. Now you get to take a bow.”

“You might as well enjoy it, they’re not about to stop,” Miss Joan told her, coming around the counter and putting a protective arm around her. It was one of the few times that Angel