[Kate's Boys 03] - Mistletoe and Miracles Read online

  “Perfect, right, you already said that.” He smiled at her, disarming her agitation.

  “The only thing that has to be perfect is you and you already are.”

  How had she gotten so lucky? “Oh God, Trent, how do you always know the right thing to say?”

  He grinned. “It’s a gift.”

  And then he raised his eyes upward. He’d trapped her in the doorway leading from the living room to the dining room. A doorway that he’d just finished decorating in an effort to remain out of Laurel’s way. Recovering from being trampled was not the way he’d hoped to spend this evening.

  “Mistletoe,” Trent told her, as if sounding an alarm.

  Her head was going in a dozen different directions at once. “What?”

  Trent raised his eyes again, this time in an exaggerated fashion. She followed his gaze. “Mistletoe,” he repeated.

  “Oh.” She stared at it, a slight frown furrowing her brow. “I don’t remember putting that up.”

  “That’s because you didn’t. I did.” It was the last thing Trent said before kissing her. The kiss lingered until he felt her melting into him. Only then did he draw his lips away. “Better?”

  “Better.” The word came out in a sigh. “But I still have to—”

  “Come with me.” He didn’t let her finish. Instead, he suddenly took her by the hand and led her over to the tree. “Notice anything?” he asked her. She stared blankly at the tree that had taken Trent, Cody and her over five hours to decorate. It shimmered and glittered beneath tons of tinsel and ropes of silver garland, as well as too many ornaments to count.

  “You put on more tinsel,” she guessed.

  She was humoring him, he thought. “No, I hung an extra ornament.”

  It seemed as if every inch of the spruce tree was covered with ornaments. To notice just one was an impossible task.

  “I’m afraid I don’t—” And then she stopped. Because she suddenly did notice. In the center of the tree, just at her eye level, there was a dark blue velvet box. It was just sitting on a branch, between Cinderella dancing with her prince and Tinker Bell preening over a mirror at her feet. Her heart stopped beating for a second. And then launched into double time. Laurel held her breath as she reached into the tree and drew out the box.

  “Can I open it?” she asked in a whisper.

  “You’d better.”

  Pressing her lips together, she raised the lid and for the second time in as many seconds, her breath halted. The lights from the Christmas tree skimmed along the multiple surfaces of the pear-shaped diamond ring. As she tried to take the ring out, her hand trembled. Badly.

  “Here, let me,” Trent urged, taking the ring out of its box and then slipping it on her finger. “There, now, it’s official. We’re engaged,” he told her. Just then, the doorbell rang. “Looks like the first wave is here,” he said.

  “They can wait,” Laurel told him, wrapping her arms around his neck a heartbeat before she kissed him. He grinned, applauding her. “Now you’re learning.” And then his lips met hers and all words were temporarily tabled. END

  Dear Reader,

  Welcome back to KATE’S BOYS, the saga that actually began more than twenty years ago when Bryan Marlowe hired yet another nanny for his four rambunctious sons, only to lose his heart to her.

  Trent is the son who followed his stepmother, Kate, into the child psychology field. Warm and sensitive, he enjoys working with children. But he is in no way prepared for the woman who comes to him, begging that he help her son, Cody.

  “She” is the woman who, seven years earlier, vanished from his life after he proposed to her. Trent soon discovers that he doesn’t have all the facts, not about Cody, and definitely not about Laurel Valentine. Reluctantly agreeing to take on her son as a patient, Trent begins a journey into self-awareness that will, in the end, leave none of them untouched.

  Thank you for returning to read about Kate, one of my favorite heroines, and the family she came to mean so much to. As ever, from the bottom of my heart, I wish you someone to love who loves you back.

  Marie Ferrarella

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-2526-2

  MISTLETOE AND MIRACLES

  Copyright © 2008 by Marie Rydzynski-Ferrarella

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Silhouette Books, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279 U.S.A.

  Visit Silhouette Books at www.eHarlequin.com

  Published by Silhouette Books

  America’s Publisher of Contemporary Romance

  Books by Marie Ferrarella

  Silhouette Special Edition

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  Husbands and Other Strangers #1736

  §The Prodigal M.D. Returns #1775

  °Mother in Training #1785

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  §§Remodeling the Bachelor #1845

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  °°Falling for the M.D. #1873

  ~Diamond in the Rough #1910

  ~The Bride with No Name #1917

  ~Mistletoe and Miracles #1941

  Silhouette Romantic Suspense

  *In Broad Daylight #1315

  *Alone in the Dark #1327

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  ~~The Heart of a Ruler #1412

  *The Woman Who Wasn’t There #1415

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  +Colton’s Secret Service #1528

  MARIE FERRARELLA

  This USA TODAY bestselling and RITA® Award-winning author has written over one hundred and fifty novels for Silhouette Books, some under the name Marie Nicole. Her romances are beloved by fans worldwide. Visit her Web site at www.marieferrarella.com.

  To

  Hermine Katarina Hirsch,

  who, according to her loving daughter, Terry,

  is the best mother in the world.