Sounds Like Forever Read online

  Carefully and quietly, she removed all of the ornaments then dragged a larger tree out from the hall and began the tedious task of decorating it. She made sure to put all of the Hutchison’s ornaments in front, then filled the rest of the tree with adornments from her own home.

  With that job done, she stood back to look at the lovely tree, finding pride in the flashing lights and bright, cheerful decorations. Sighing excitedly, she stooped and began to pull wrapped gifts from a bag she had brought. When she was finished, there were at least fifteen presents under that big tree, and Gloria felt several giggles well in her chest as she thought of the thrill they would bring Bradley.

  Chancing a glance at her watch, she saw that it was nearing five-thirty, and she hurried to fetch her last bag. She knew that if Bradley were anything like she had been when she was a child, he would be waking up at the crack of dawn for Christmas morning.

  She cleared off their small dining table, then draped it with a red and green table cloth. Gingerly she set up her mother’s old nativity scene in the center and placed the cherry pie she had baked the night before right in front. She’d planned to enjoy it all by herself, but she couldn’t deny the pleasure it gave her to think of Hart and Bradley digging into big, hearty slices.

  Finally satisfied with the way the apartment looked, she picked up her three empty sacks, and backed out into the hall. A shaky breath escaped her as she closed the door, wishing she could be there to see the excitement of Christmas morning at the Hutchison house. Shaking her head to herself, she practically ran out of the building and to her car.

  Once behind the wheel, she sat and wondered what in the world had come over her. Bringing her cold hands to her heated cheeks, she felt excitement course through her veins. She’d stolen the address to a patient, broken into his home and left his family a Christmas surprise. Not only was it unethical and illegal on some level, it was completely out of character for her.

  Gloria giggled, turned the ignition and yawned before driving back to her home to jump into bed, an enormous smile on her face.

  CRYSTAL SIGHED WHEN the song of the nightingale ended, and she knew that Gloria had finally finished preparing a perfect Christmas for Hart and Bradley. A nightingale is, of course, the sound of selfless giving, and the song had lasted the entire time Dr. Winters had been in the apartment.

  BRADLEY GROGGILY SLIPPED from his bed, his blanket clutched in one hand and debated whether to step out of his room. Fear that Santa Claus had not been to visit his house filled him, but doggedly he walked away from his bed and peeked around his door.

  A high-pitched screech filled the air, and he jumped up and ran to the shining Christmas tree. He was just opening one of the finely wrapped presents with his name on top, when his daddy ran into the room.

  THEN AT SIX TWENTY-three precisely, a loud trumpet filled Crystal’s angel ears, and she knew Hart Hutchison had just caught sight of the marvelous gift Gloria had left him and his son. The realization of love is the only thing that can cause the blasting of a trumpet.

  HART THOUGHT HE MUST be dreaming. Shaking his head to reject what his eyes were clearly seeing, he backed into his room and considered jumping back into bed.

  “Daddy! Oh my gosh, Daddy, look!” Bradley cried out again, then ran to his father with a brand-new Jurassic World dinosaur figure in his hand.

  Hart couldn’t help the wide grin that split his face when he saw the utter happiness in his son’s eyes. It was the first time since Jenny died that he had seen that sort of unfettered joy. It was the first time that he had felt it. He let his son drag him to the tree, and he was astonished by the sight of it all.

  “Santa brought you something too, Daddy. Here, Daddy, open it!”

  “But Santa Claus...”

  He looked into Bradley’s bright green eyes, eyes so much like his own, and nodded. “All right, I’ll open it.” With that, he began to tear the wrapping.

  Inside the box, he found a worn-out looking football helmet. A confused grin on his face, he turned the thing around, and a note drifted to the floor. He looked to Bradley, almost as if asking permission to read the letter, but his son was already involved in opening another of his gifts.

  Maybe if you wear this outside you might never have to see my annoying face again. Merry Christmas!

  He placed the unsigned note back into its envelope, then saw that there was also a gift card for one hundred and fifty dollars inside. He knew exactly who it was from and exactly what it meant. Dr. Gloria Winters was the one who had done all of this for them. Unsure what to think of that, he bent down and retrieved the present his son had wrapped for him.

  Under several layers of tape and paper, Hart found an assortment of drawings of a man who was obviously supposed to be him. Each picture showed him working, sweat coming from his face and written on the bottom of each was, “My daddy luvs me these much!”

  He looked up, tears stinging his eyes, and watched his little boy open present after present, laughing at the ecstatic screams and exclamations each new discovery brought. Then, when the child got down to the last gift, Hart held his breath.

  Bradley quickly tore the paper from the rectangular box and found beneath it found a wooden plague, ornately decorated. Depicted on the front were Jenny, Hart and Bradley, an old photograph of the three of them.

  Young Bradley looked up, crying, then jumped up to hug his daddy. “Now we’ll always be together, huh, Daddy?”

  Hart nodded into his son’s shoulder. “We always were, son,”

  When they were both done crying, Hart spanked Bradley’s bottom affectionately. “Now go get dressed. We’re going to see someone.”

  “Who, Daddy?”

  “It’s a surprise, so hurry up!”

  Hart too was fast to get dressed, then he began to pack up the decorations on the table. He had just finished carefully replacing the nativity into its box when his son came running out of his bedroom. He took his boy by the hand, and the two of them loaded the things into his truck and hit the road.

  IT WAS APPARENT BY the shocked look Dr. Winter’s gave them when they appeared on her doorstep that they had surprised her. She stuttered as she told them to come in and smiled with astonishment at Hart.

  “How did you...” she started to ask, but Hart held up the envelope. It didn’t have her name, but the return address was printed on the back flap. She laughed and rolled her eyes. “It was after midnight when I wrote that. I didn’t even think about my address being on that envelope.”

  When they made their way through her house and to her living room, Hart saw some broken pine needles and icicles in the corner of the room, proof that the tree at their home had been hers. She motioned to her sofa, and sitting down, the two adults stared at each other as Bradley rambled on about all of the gifts Santa had brought him.

  “Would you like some apple cider? I just made it.”

  “Sure!” Bradley exclaimed, then he did a double take when he saw the giant snowman in her back yard. “Did you build that?”

  Gloria laughed. “No, the boys down the street did. They said my snow was better than theirs.”

  “Can I go out and see it?” He looked to his father with pleading eyes.

  “Go ahead, but put your coat and mittens on... and don’t get too wet!”

  Hart turned to her and Gloria felt her cheeks heat under his intense gaze. “Do you mind if I help you?”

  “With what?” she asked, confused.

  “The cider.”

  “Oh, of course. Right this way.”

  “That last time I saw you, you were full of words, and now you’re quiet as a mouse.”

  She poured two cups of steaming apple cider and smiled a little sheepishly as she handed him one. “I never expected you to come here. I thought you would probably be angry that I had done it... your pride and all.”

  “I have pride,” he admitted between sips. “But it’s been a long time since I’ve seen that look on my son’s face, and I have to thank you for making
his Christmas so... special.”

  “He... touched my heart... and though I don’t even know you, from all he’s said about you, you touched me, too.”

  “Thank you for giving us Christmas.”

  Gloria grinned and took a drink. “Believe it or not, by coming here you’ve given me Christmas, too. It gets lonely in this big house during the holidays.”

  “You don’t have any family?”

  “They’re all the way across the country, and this year I’m on call. I’ll be with them for New Year’s.”

  “Daddy!” Bradley’s voice broke their conversation, and Hart and Gloria both bolted toward the patio doors in response. Just as she stepped outside, a ball of snow hit her squarely in the chest. After the initial shock of it, she stooped to dodge another ball, then threw one back in his direction.

  “Where did you learn to throw?” Hart asked his son, as he put on the football helmet he had brought along with him. He motioned with his hand to Gloria, a cocky grin on his face as he modeled the old headgear. Another snowball narrowly missed him, and both he and Gloria ducked behind a chair.

  “That was part of your present too, Daddy!” the boy screeched in excitement.

  “He has a whole arsenal over there,” she commented when she saw the stack of snowballs Bradley had set out in front of him.

  “That’s my boy!” Hart chuckled, then began to return the fight in full force.

  Gloria grabbed two hands full of compacted snow and began to run around to get a better aim at him. Just as she was preparing to throw one at him, several other boys appeared from behind the trees and also began to toss balls of snow. Hart ran at her then, and tackled her to the ground, all the children giggling at them.

  Gloria was pinned beneath Hart, still laughing, when she looked up and peered deep into his eyes. “Did you like the present Santa brought you?”

  He grinned. “Tell, me, Dr. Winters, do you make a habit of giving presents to all of your patients and their children?”

  “Maybe,” she answered.

  He nodded. “I think I like that.” He leaned down to peck her on the cheek. It was a swift, sweet kiss. But it meant something. It was the slow, special start of something wonderful.

  CRYSTAL WAS A BIT NERVOUS when she was called from earth to appear in the Great Hall. When she entered the gates, she found the Father, Jesus, Tylie and Gabriel all standing and waiting for her. The Father motioned her forward, and so, on trembling legs, she came directly before him.

  “Where is your halo, Crystal?” he asked, his voice gentle like a caress.

  Her brows came together, and her face became a little pale. Holding her chin high, she answered, “I sold it, Father, to pay for my charge’s medical bills. It was my fault he was hurt, and even though... I believe I did the right thing... well, I had to pay for it, Father.”

  A long moment of silence passed as the four sets of eyes looked critically at her, then suddenly the Father let out an enormous laugh. “Well done, my child. From the day you were christened with the name Crystal, you were given a specific destiny, and today you will fulfill a part of that destiny.”

  “Merry Christmas!” Jesus embraced her.

  Still confused, Crystal’s face pulled into a frown. “My destiny?”

  Tylie stepped forward and put out her hand to Crystal. She looked nothing more than a cherubic child, but she was the angel in charge of some of the most difficult Earth assignments. The types of assignments Crystal could only dream about.

  “Welcome aboard,” Tylie said.

  Before she could ask any other questions, Jesus suddenly put his hand to her shoulder. “Shh,” He pressed His finger to His lips. “Listen.”

  That was when she heard it. The beautiful tones echoed through the ends of Heaven. Suddenly, a bright light forced Crystal to close her eyes, and when she opened them, she looked up and saw a shiny golden halo above her head. Her status as an angel had been raised.

  Crystal twirled in the air and danced, the music filling her angel ears. Every joyful sound known to man, woman, angel, and God had joined together to form the loveliest sound she had ever heard.

  Below them on Earth, Hart kissed Gloria, and in that moment, the seed of love was planted by the terrestrial music that is only heard when a predestined match has been made.

  The angel heard... forever.

  About the Author

  Olivia Hardin always realized how strange she was to have complete movie-like character dreams as a child. Eventually, she began putting those vivid dreams to paper and was rarely without her spiral notebooks full of those mental ramblings. Her forgotten vision of becoming an author was realized when she connected with a group of amazingly talented and fabulous writers who gave her lots of direction and encouragement. With a little extra push from family and friends, she hunkered down to get lost in the words. She’s also an insatiable crafter who only completes about 1 out of 5 projects, a jogger who hates to run, and is sometimes accused of being artistic, though she’s generally too much of a perfectionist to appreciate her own work. A native Texas girl, Olivia lives in the beautiful Lone Star state with her husband, Danny, and their corgi pup Bonnie and their brand-new hound Heidi.

  Website | Mailing list | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

  Also by Olivia Hardin

  Bend-Bite-Shift

  Witch Way Bends

  Bitten Shame

  Tell A Soul

  Shifty Business

  By Blood & Benevolence

  One Bite Paradise

  Sweet Magic Song

  Transcend the Past

  A Dangerous Season

  Witch Like Legends (Next Gen Season 1: Episode 1)

  Dirty Old Magic (Next Gen Season 1: Episode 2)

  Black Blood (Next Gen Season 1: Episode 3

  End of Magic (Next Gen Season 1: Episode 4) (Coming Soon)

  Love & Found

  What I Wasn't Looking For

  Lost Along the Way

  The Way You Drive Me Crazy

  The Lynlee Lincoln Series

  Trolling for Trouble

  Tangled Up in Trouble

  This Spells Trouble

  Reaping Trouble

  The Werevamp Diaries: Moon Beam Dream

  The Trouble with Vows

  Escaping the Ashes

  The Newbie's Guide to Magic & Mistletoe

  The Rawley Family Romances

  All for Hope

  Justice for All

  All for Family

  All in the Takeoff

  All in the Landing

  All the Wrong Reasons

  All in One Night

  Volume

  The Bend-Bite-Shift Collection

  Standalone

  A Bundle of Trouble

  The Bend Bite Shift Omnibus

  The Rawley Family Romances Volume I

  The Rawley Family Romances Vol II

  Sounds Like Forever

  Watch for more at Olivia Hardin’s site.