The Sweetest Gift. Jillian Hart

      Kirby knelt, petting the dog, her blond hair falling all around her face and her shoulders and tumbling down over her nape.

      “Good dog, Leo,” she said. “Good boy.”

      Sam’s heart seemed to stop beating as he watched her with his dog. He’d never seen such gentle hands. She looked like kindness personified, and it hit him deep in his soul. Leo gazed at her with adoration, and Sam did the same.

      There was something endearing about Kirby. With her head bent forward, he could see the careful part of her hair, perfect—not a hair was out of place.

      For one instant, one millisecond, he wished he had the heart to try to love again. He wished he could travel back in time and change his life so he could stand here now and believe true goodness could exist in a person, and that love never ended.

      So he could kneel down, lay his big, callused hand on hers and ask her to dinner. Ask her to a movie. Ask her to step into his life….

       JILLIAN HART

      makes her home in Washington State, where she has lived most of her life. When Jillian is not hard at work on her next story, she loves to read, go to lunch with her friends and spend quiet evenings with her family.

      The Sweetest Gift

      Jillian Hart

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      But the greatest of these is love.

      —1 Corinthians 13:13

      To two of life’s sweet blessings:

      My cocker spaniel, Jessie, and her friend Sam,

      the rottweiler, who inspired this story.

      Dear Reader,

      I first met younger sister Kirby when I was writing His Hometown Girl (LI #180) for the Love Inspired series. I had so wanted to tell her story and was thrilled when I got the chance. Kirby’s story is about a good-hearted woman who finds her greatest love in her unlikely next-door neighbor. It is also the journey of a woman who tries hard to live her faith every day.

      Thank you for choosing The Sweetest Gift. Love is one of God’s sweetest blessings. I wish so very many sweet blessings for you.

      Contents

       Chapter One

       Chapter Two

       Chapter Three

       Chapter Four

       Chapter Five

       Chapter Six

       Chapter Seven

       Chapter Eight

       Chapter Nine

       Chapter Ten

       Chapter Eleven

       Chapter Twelve

       Chapter Thirteen

       Chapter Fourteen

       Chapter Fifteen

       Epilogue

      Chapter One

      “Sister dearest, you look as though you need a café mocha with extra whipped cream.”

      “Boy, do I.” Kirby McKaslin sagged against the coffee shop’s counter. “Could you make it a double?”

      “Gladly.” Older sister Karen’s diamond wedding ring glittered in the overhead lights as she began working the espresso machine. “Come around and help yourself to the leftover cookies. Gramma made chocolate chocolate-chip—”

      “Say no more.” Kirby dropped her purse on the counter and swung around the corner. Gramma’s soft, chewy chocolate cookies were heaven on earth. There were only two left in the display case and she grabbed both of them.

      “What about the job?” Karen set the double mocha with a froth of whipped cream on the counter, her voice affectionate and understanding, as always.

      Kirby couldn’t hide her smile a second longer. “I got it. I’m the new nurse practitioner at the Three Forks Clinic. I start in two weeks.”

      “Kirby! That’s fantastic!” Karen circled the edge of the counter, arms wide. “I’m so proud of my little sister.”

      “It’s too good to be true. My very own clinic. I’m totally in charge, and I know I’m going to love it.” Kirby stepped into her sister’s hug. “I’m going to get my own patients. I still can’t believe it.”

      “I can. I’ve had faith in you all along.”

      There was nothing like a big sister. Kirby gave Karen an extra-long hug, careful of the growing tummy beneath her loose T-shirt. Married and expecting, with a new house and a booming business, Karen had it all.

      Kirby was glad for her, but, well, it would be great if that kind of future was ahead for her, too. Not that there were any prospects, but you never knew when a handsome stranger with a loving heart would walk into your life and complete it, right?

      She felt optimistic as she sipped melting whipped cream and hot, rich mocha. Things were finally working out in her life. She felt great. As she pushed through the shop’s front door and burst onto the sidewalk she couldn’t remember being this happy in a long time.

      She’d head home. Let her dog out for a run. Maybe treat them both to their favorite drive-through hamburgers…

      “Kendra!” a woman shouted out from beneath the awning across the street. “Kendra!”

      Kirby didn’t need to look up from the sunshine falling on the concrete in front of her to know her excellent mood was about to take a nosedive. Doom was the cheerful former cheerleader across the street, holding tight to her newborn with one hand and waving frantically with the other.

      “Kendra, I’m so relieved I finally found you.” Janice Bemis turned on her charm. “What luck! I’ve been looking for you. You just have to join the class reunion committee.”

      “I’m not interested, Janice. And it’s Kirby, not Kendra.” Someone she’d gone to school with since kindergarten ought to know that sort of thing. That was the problem with being the plainest girl in the family—and the middle girl. No one could remember which one she was.

      “Goodness,