A Christmas Spirit by Cindy Miles

here,” he whispered. “The emptiness is once more gone.” He pulled back and looked at her. “Come. Let us begin enjoying our Yule, aye?”
    Paige smiled and nodded. She wanted so badly to throw her arms around his neck, press her mouth to his, and feel the pressure of his strength as he squeezed her into a warm, enveloping hug. Instead, she lifted a hand and grazed the line of his jaw and smiled.
    She couldn’t think of a single thing to say.
    And somehow, Gabriel seemed to sense that. His smile widened, as if he knew she was happier now than she’d ever been, and that he was responsible for it. Together they walked through Gorloch’s front entrance and up to the room she’d leased. Setting her things on the floor in a corner, Paige turned and glanced at Gabriel.
    “Can you ice-skate?” he asked.
    She smiled. “I haven’t since I was a kid.”
    Gabriel inclined his dark head. “Then come. Your wee feet look as though they’d fit right into a pair belonging to Craigmire’s wife. They’re in the mudroom, behind the larder.”
    Paige grinned. “And how will I skate through days of snowfall?”
    “Och, a smart lassy you are. The family from the next estate just had it scraped for their wee ones to use on the Yuletide, so we’d best use it now whilst we’re still alone.”
    “Clever,” she said. “And what will you wear?”
    As they hurried down the passageway, Gabriel chuckled. “I dunna need blades, Paige MacDonald. I can float.” He wiggled his brows. “Ghost, remember?”
    How could she ever forget?
    The funny thing was, she couldn’t care less.

    “Okay. No laughing,” Paige said, a mock frown stretching over her pixielike features. “I mean it.”
    Gabriel stared down at the lass who’d come to mean more than life itself, and in such a short amount o’ time.
    ’Twas miraculous at best.
    He couldna take his eyes off her . . .
    Wearing Craigmire’s bulky wool coat, Paige had Mrs. Craigmire’s ice skates laced up, a pair o’ those fetchin’ jeans that hugged her in the most intimate of ways, and that crazy multicolored hat pulled down over her wee ears. Above two black-a nd-purple moons, blue eyes shown brightly back at him.
    He thought she’d never looked so endearing.
    “Well?” she repeated, and pushed off the bench she’d sat upon to lace up the skates. “Deal?”
    Gabriel grinned and stroked his jaw. “Nay, lass. I canna make such an agreement.” He shrugged. “I suspect ’twill be too much to laugh at. I willna be able to help myself.”
    Paige scowled, and Gabriel chuckled. Then she eased from the bench and stepped onto the small, freshly scraped frozen pond, just behind the castle’s west wall. Large drifts of snow sat pushed up on the edges.
    With arms out like a bird, she glanced at him. “I hope I don’t break anything else.”
    Gabriel moved out onto the ice with her, keeping his eyes locked with hers. “Take it slow, lass. Mayhap with your wings spread as such, you willna fall.”
    Together they moved in a slow circle round the pond, and after two passes, Paige stood upright and elegant, gliding just as smoothly as a ghosty herself. A slight billow of white puffed out before her lips with each breath, and when she smiled at Gabriel, he thought the beauty of it would melt the whole bloody pond. He couldna take his eyes from her for nearly an hour.
    “Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked.
    Gabriel swung in front of her, moving his big booted feet over the ice as though skating. He faced her, and grinned. “Because you are beautiful, what wi’ that wee red nose.” No’ to mention he’d seen more o’ her and hadn’t been able to get that eve out o’ his head.
    “Hmm,” she answered, and the she smiled. “Oh, look. It’s starting to snow again.”
    Gabriel glanced at the sky. “Aye, so it is.” He pulled closer, and looked down. “It will be dark soon. Have you skated enough?”
    With a graceful twirl, she stopped, the blade of her skates