The Sweetest Gift (The McKaslin Clan: Series 1 Book 2) by Jillian Hart Page A

signing up to be her guardian angel as we speak.” Karen’s gentle chuckle was a good sound. A hopeful one. “We’re not alone, Kirby. You’re not alone.”
    She ran her fingertips over the embossed title of her devotional. “I know.”
    “I hate to see you so unhappy. I think you ought to stop working so hard. Now that you’re finished with your master’s, you need to schedule in some fun time. Maybe some dating time?”
    “I’m not going to date Sam Gardner. Stop. I thought you were on my side. Don’t turn into Michelle on me.”
    “I am on your side. Always.” The bell above the door jangled as more customers crowded in from the blustery May day. “Oops. Gotta go.”
    Kirby sipped her coffee, opened her devotional and flipped to the bookmarked page. Karen’s words lingered. And so did her message. She’d never understood why bad things happened. She used to think if she tried to be a good enough Christian, then she would be protected from the bad things that seemed to happen to other people.
    And then the accident had happened to her. Sometimes hardship happened. And where did that leave her?
    Struggling.
    She laid her devotional on the table, and a folded piece of notepaper caught her eye. That paper sure looked familiar. It was the lavender stationery with the flowers and cross she liked so well. And at the bottom in embossed gold, “We live by faith and not by sight.”
    Across the top she’d scrawled in glittery purple gel pen, “My One True Love.”
    It was her list for the perfect man. She’d written it last winter, when she’d picked up the devotional at the bookstore. It had been right before Christmas and she’d been making Christmas and birthday lists, since her birthday was in December. Why not make up a list for what she truly wanted? she’d rationalized at the time.
    “A faithful man. Handsome. Kind. Handsome. Has a great job. Handsome.”
    Had she really written that? She blushed, embarrassed. Looks were important, but she’d made it sound as if it was the most important part. Pleasing looking, that would be better, she decided, and dug a pen out of her purse. She crossed out all those handsome s.
    That left only three more attributes. “Honest. Loves animals and children. Will love me, anyway.”
    Where was she going to find a man like that?
    As if the angels had heard her and tapped her on the shoulder, she looked up and there he was on the street outside. Climbing out of his pickup and tugging his baseball cap lower to shade his eyes from the bright sun.
    Leo bounded out of the truck, too. Obedient and well trained when he wanted to be, the big dog stuck to Sam’s side as they made their way along the sidewalk and disappeared into Corey’s Hardware.
    Sam. Her heart rose until she felt as if her entire being were floating somewhere near the ceiling. And how was that possible, when she was clearly sitting very firmly in the chair? How could one man affect her so much? And why?
    He wasn’t interested in her. He didn’t look at her that way, the way a man did when he was truly interested.
    Or did he?
    Either way, her time was up. She’d better get going so she wouldn’t be late for her last day of work. Times had been so tough when she’d first decided to go back to graduate school, and slowly things had worked out. She’d found private nursing work, and then landed a swing shift at the hospital and had enough extra money to buy her own house. Her life was turning out fine.
    Maybe this sadness she carried and the loneliness of being single would work out fine, too.
    There was Sam again, striding with that easy athletic gait of his heading back from the hardware. A small bag in hand. Leo at his side. Unaware of her, he opened the door and waited for Leo to leap into the cab.
    For one brief second he hesitated. Windblown and sun kissed and as handsome as temptation. Then his gaze swung toward her and stopped at her table. Could he see her? Did he know she was watching him?
    His