Gift-Wrapped Family. Lois Richer
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A Family for Christmas
Twenty-three-year-old widow Mia Granger is shocked to learn her late husband fathered a child out of wedlock. Now the handsome lawyer representing the young orphanâs adoption agency is pressing Mia to meet the girl. Sheâs touched by how deeply Caleb Grant cares about the five-year-old, especially given his own harrowing past. But with all the betrayals in her life, Mia is scared to open her heart to anyone. When she learns she owns a lovely ranch she never knew existed, Mia wonders if itâs a home meant for a family of threeâjust in time for Christmas.
âYou said Lily is five?â Mia hiccuped a sob.
âThat means my late husband and his secretary were together about as long as we were married. Why stay married to me if he was in love with someone else?â She dashed a tear from her cheek. âWhy not marry her? Create a family with her?â
âThereâs no way weâll ever know.â Caleb refused to restate the obvious lure of Miaâs money. He wasnât sure she knew how much her mother had left her, but his sources told him the number was high, very high.
âHe said he never wanted to have children.â
âJudging by the amount of attention he paid Lily, Iâm guessing that part was true.â
âI wish I could have a child.â She began to weep as though her heart was broken.
Caleb watched helplessly, thinking what a wonderful mother this caring woman would make. Somehow he knew that Mia was cut from the same cloth as his mother had been. Mia would welcome a child, make him or her feel loved, the most important person in her world. Mia would intrinsically know how and when to give a hug.
Things Caleb lacked. Because of his father.
LOIS RICHER loves traveling, swimming and quilting, but mostly she loves writing stories that show Godâs boundless love for His precious children. As she says, âHis love never changes or gives up. Itâs always waiting for me. My stories feature imperfect characters learning that love doesnât mean attaining perfection. Love is about keeping on keeping on.â You can contact Lois via email, [email protected], or on Facebook (LoisRicherAuthor).
Gift-Wrapped
Family
Lois Richer
You shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
âDeuteronomy 6:5
Contents
âThis canât be the place.â
Lawyer Caleb Grant matched the address on the paper in his hand with the crooked numbers on a small bungalow that had seen better days in this Canadian neighborhood of Calgary, Alberta, and grimaced.
âAre you sure you gave me the correct address?â he asked into his phone. Having confirmed his location, he opened the rickety gate.
The serious disrepair of the house contrasted with the garden in front, which bloomed in a riot of color. Mia Granger must be a dab hand with plants. How could a woman with this tender gift for gardening ignore his plea to help a bereaved child?
Before Caleb could reach the end of the cobbled path, the weathered front door opened. A slim woman with masses of strawberry blonde hair tumbling around her shoulders stepped outside and reached for the mailbox. Her hand stilled when she saw him.
âC-can I help you?â she asked in a voice so quiet he barely heard it.
âIâm looking for Mia Granger. Does she live here?â Caleb watched her ivory skin pale.
âIâm Mia. Are you another bill collector?â she said in a breathless voice. âIâm sorry butââ
âIâm a lawyer with Family Ties. Itâs an adoption agency in Buffalo Gap.â He saw no recognition on her face. âSomeone called you about me.â
âNo one called,â she murmured in a scared voice, golden-red hair shivering in the wash of sunlight sneaking through a few dappled leaves left on a towering poplar tree.
âThey should have.â Caleb frowned. Mayor Marsha had talked him into coming here. Sheâd also promised sheâd notify widow Granger of his arrival. When a flicker of worry widened Miaâs emerald eyes, he