Her Christmas Wish. Cindi Myers

town at least once and none of them had sparked any real feelings in her. Her sisters were happily married with homes of their own, and Alina wanted that, too. Since she hadn’t found the man of her dreams in her hometown, she reasoned it was time to be a little more daring and try something new. Some place new.

      But she only had three and a half months left before her work visa expired, and her dream man had so far failed to materialize.

      Maybe Baka Fania had been wrong. Or maybe old-time prophecy didn’t apply in the twenty-first century.

      “Some friends and family are getting together tomorrow afternoon for a barbecue at my house,” Eric said. “You should come.”

      She started to say no. With only a few months left in the States, she had no business starting anything with a new man, no matter how handsome he was. But Eric’s smile made her forget common sense and she found herself nodding. “Yes, I’d like that,” she said.

      “Great.” He patted his pockets. “Do you have a piece of paper? I’ll write down the address.”

      She searched her purse until she found a flyer about upcoming emergency training at the hospital and handed it to him. He scribbled an address and a few lines of directions. “It’s really easy to find,” he said. “Show up around two. It’s going to be fun.”

      “All right.” It would be nice to get to know him better.

      “I’m looking forward to seeing you again,” Eric said, his eyes locked to hers.

      She nodded, struck dumb by the intensity of his gaze and surprised at the strength of her attraction to someone who was so unlike the man of her dreams.

      

      ERIC LINGERED SO LONG at the Vinotok celebration he was almost late for his shift with Gunnison Valley Emergency Medical Services. As he clipped on his radio, his friend Maddie Ansdar emerged from the office. “I was beginning to think you weren’t going to show up,” she said.

      “I stopped by Vinotok,” he said.

      “How did it go?”

      “Silly as usual. Zephyr stole the show with his turn as Sir Hapless.”

      “What about Max?” Maddie asked. “Wasn’t he the Green Man?”

      “I thought so, but Jack Crenshaw took his place—and then proposed to Tanya Bledso, right there in front of the burning Grump.”

      “How romantic!” Maddie’s expression took on the soft, goopy look women wore at the mention of weddings, babies or other such subjects. Eric’s sisters were no different. And Maddie was probably more susceptible than most, since she’d been married only a few months to Eric’s fellow ski patroller, Hagan Ansdar.

      “It’s crazy if you ask me,” Eric said. “What if she’d turned him down?”

      “He must have been pretty sure she wouldn’t,” Maddie said. “Besides, women like men who take risks, didn’t you know that?” She grinned.

      “And here I thought it was just my ski patrol uniform that attracted them.”

      “Hey, Eric, Maddie.” Marty Padgett, one of their coworkers, strolled in. Over six feet tall with unruly blond curls, Marty had the sweet, round face of a cupid on a wrestler’s body.

      “Hey, Marty, how’s it going?” Eric asked.

      “I’m beat.” Marty sank into a chair at the table in the center of the employee locker room. “I was up late studying last night. Greek and Hebrew.” He made a face. “I’m terrible at languages.”

      “I have a cousin who’s a priest,” Eric said. “He’s always studying. Very brainy.”

      Marty looked even more unhappy. “I really just want to preach and help people,” he said. “I never thought getting a divinity degree would be so hard.”

      “If you need to hide back in the ambulance bay and study, we won’t tell,” Maddie said. “If you’re lucky, it’ll be a slow night.”

      Marty shook his head. “A Saturday night? Not likely. I’m off tomorrow. I’ll study then.”

      “You’re both coming to my house tomorrow afternoon, right?” Eric asked.

      “Sorry. Hagan and I both have to work,” Maddie said.

      “I’ll be there,” Marty said. “I’ll hit the books after.”

      “Good. There’s somebody I want you to meet.”

      “Oh?” Maddie looked at him curiously.

      Marty laughed. “It’s a woman, right? I can tell by your voice.”

      “Alina Allinova.” Her name had a musical quality that delighted him. “A little Croatian respiratory therapist from the hospital. I met her at Vinotok tonight.”

      “I know the one you’re talking about,” Marty said. “Very pretty. Sexy voice, too.”

      “You’ve talked to her?” Eric felt a pinch of jealousy. Everybody liked Marty—especially women. They were always hanging on him and flirting with him, though he always said he was too busy with school and work to date much.

      “Just in passing. She seems nice.”

      “Croatian, huh?” Maddie said. “How did she end up in Gunnison?”

      “Some exchange program with the hospital.”

      “And you just met her tonight and persuaded her to come to your family’s party?” She laughed. “You work fast.”

      “We really hit it off,” he said. He didn’t know how to explain what had happened: one minute he’d been laughing at Zephyr’s antics and the Vinotok play, the next he’d spotted Alina in the crowd. Everything around him had faded—his sight became fuzzy, sounds muted—as he stared at the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

      She wasn’t supernaturally gorgeous, the way a fashion model or actress might be, but the petite brunette with the heart-shaped face and violet eyes glowed with an inner beauty that drew him like a magnet. Though he rarely had trouble talking to anyone, he’d been a little tongue-tied around her at first. But when she’d smiled at him, his nervousness had evaporated.

      “You really are into this girl, aren’t you?” Maddie grinned at him. “I’ve never see you like this.”

      Eric blinked, and worked to assume an expression of indifference. “She’s cute, and I think she misses her family in Croatia, so I thought she’d enjoy hanging out with mine for an afternoon. That’s all.”

      That’s all he could afford to think anyway. He liked Alina and looked forward to spending more time with her, but no matter how great she was, he wasn’t going to get serious about her.

      As if reading his thoughts, Maddie asked, “Does she know you’re going to be a doctor?”

      “We didn’t really talk that long.” He didn’t start medical school until next fall anyway. What were the odds he’d still be seeing Alina then? He’d never dated any other girl that long, but the thought that he and Alina might not last sent a pang of sadness through him.

      “Your parents still giving you a hard time about that?” Marty asked. “Should I not bring it up at the barbecue?”

      “Don’t bring it up.” The good mood Eric had brought to work was evaporating as he thought of his murky future. “It’s not that they don’t want me to be a doctor—they’re worried I can’t afford it.” Immigrants who had raised their standard of living while avoiding debt, Eric’s parents thought he was aiming too high.

      He couldn’t get serious about a woman right now. He had to concentrate on his studies and medical training. Once all that was out of the way in eight or nine years he could think about settling down.

      “Alina