Christmas on 4th Street. Susan Mallery

true. She’s not as good as Consuelo, but she has skills.”

      He studied her for a second. She felt the heat of his gaze and hoped he was thinking how he’d like to rip her clothes off and have his manly way with her. Then he leaned close and kissed her on the cheek.

      “Thanks for not running me through with the umbrella. And for the nap.”

      “Anytime,” she murmured, holding in a sigh. Apparently Gabriel found her very resistible. Just her luck.

      She walked him to the front door and was about to say she hoped to see him again when an older lady called for help by the glass ornaments.

      “Be right there,” she said and turned back to say something to Gabriel.

      But he was already gone.

Chapter 3

      “Great view,” Gabriel said, tipping his beer bottle toward the darkness beyond the deck that wrapped around his brother’s house. During the day the side of the mountain was visible, but now there was only the outline of trees and the starry sky above. A little light spilled out from the house. Enough for him to make out the man sitting next to him and the railing of the deck. But beyond that was only the night.

      Dinner had been more comfortable than he’d expected. Carter had done most of the talking. He’d asked a few questions, then gone on about his day and his friends. He was a good kid, Gabriel thought. Well-adjusted and friendly. Felicia had kept the conversation going, as well, but she’d been carefully watching Gideon, as if concerned this was all too much for him.

      After the meal, she’d shooed the brothers out of the kitchen to “get caught up.” They’d come out on the deck, where it was cold and quiet.

      “I like the light,” his brother said.

      Gabriel thought of all the skylights in the house. He only knew the broad brushstrokes of his brother’s imprisonment, but suspected he’d been held somewhere indoors. It made sense to want to see as much sky as possible after that.

      He sipped his beer, conscious of the constant throbbing in his hand. Later, when he was ready for bed, he would take something. Over-the-counter only, he amended, thinking that Noelle would mock him if she knew.

      “Sweet setup,” he said. “You’ve done well.”

      “I got lucky. I didn’t plan to settle here when I came to visit. Hell, I wasn’t planning to stay anywhere. But then I saw the radio stations for sale and I figured I might as well give it a go.”

      “Because you know so much about radio.”

      Gideon grinned. “I learned. I like what I do.”

      “Oldies.” Gabriel shuddered. “Why?”

      “It’s real music. Not everyone wants to listen to LL Cool J.”

      “Then they’re missing out. Carter prefers my music over yours.”

      His brother leaned his head back. “You’re guessing.”

      “Maybe, but I’m right.”

      “Everyone has flaws.” His brother turned toward him. “He’s impressive, isn’t he?”

      “Yeah.”

      “I want to take credit, but I can’t,” Gideon admitted. “It was all his mother. She did better than I ever could have. Then she got sick. That forced him to grow up fast.”

      “Does he talk about her much?”

      “Some. Felicia’s fine with it. She encourages him to make sure he has her picture around and that he tells stories about her. Keeping the memories fresh.”

      “She’s great, too.”

      Gideon nodded. “I can’t explain why she loves me, but she does. She’s fiercely loyal. Determined. When I was ready to give up on being part of a family, she wouldn’t. She was willing to take Carter and raise him herself.” He sounded impressed and a little in awe. “I didn’t want to let her in, but I couldn’t help myself. And once I stopped trying to fight her, it was easy to admit how much I loved her.”

      Gabriel understood the concept of family. He’d been in one, had friends with families. He got that people loved each other. Some bonds couldn’t be avoided, but romantic love? It wasn’t worth the trouble. Life was tenuous. It could be over in an instant, so why bother?

      “You’ve come a long way,” he said instead.

      “I didn’t think I could make it,” Gideon told him. “But this damned town healed me. I can’t say how, but it did. I started to get involved.” He chuckled. “There are festivals practically every weekend. Wait until you see how they celebrate Christmas here. It’s an eye-opener.” He turned to his brother. “I know you only came because you got injured, but I’m glad you’re here.”

      Gabriel was having trouble keeping up. As a kid Gideon had been open and friendly, but his time in Special Forces had changed him. The adult Gideon he knew was a taciturn soldier—a man who would rather cut off his right arm than discuss his feelings. Yet here he was, talking about belonging and love and connection.

      “I should check the back of your neck for some kind of pod,” he mumbled.

      Gideon laughed again. “I haven’t been taken over by aliens. I’m who I always was. Before everything else happened.” His humor faded. “Sometimes it’s hard, but Carter and Felicia are patient with me. I get through.”

      Which sounded rational, Gabriel thought. Not like his brother, but healthy. “What happens next?” he asked.

      His brother took a swallow of his beer. “We survive the parents’ visit.”

      Something Gabriel didn’t want to think about. “How long will they be here?”

      “Through Christmas. They have a vacation rental in town. They won’t be living here.”

      “That’s something.” He couldn’t take too much of their old man.

      “How you feeling?” Gideon asked.

      Gabriel was about to point out that not everyone wanted to share at this meeting when he realized his brother was looking at his hand.

      “It hurts.”

      “What happened?”

      Gabriel settled deeper into the chair. “A bunch of nineteen-year-olds got drunk.”

      “It always starts that way.”

      “You know it. My patient and his buddies got in a fight and one of them went through a plate glass window. They drove him directly to the hospital, which saved his life. There was a large piece of glass and I forgot I didn’t have superpowers and pulled it out bare-handed.”

      The move had been stupid. He knew it and everyone in the E.R. had known it, too. One second he’d been a rational doctor, doing what had to be done to save his patient, and the next he’d been spurting blood everywhere.

      Gideon raised his bottle. “We all have moments.”

      “Not like that.” He’d tried to keep working on the teen, but there was no way. His team had stepped in and another doctor had seen to the kid. Gabriel had stabilized his own bleeding until the crisis was over and he could be looked at without endangering anyone. Unfortunately, he’d lost more blood than anyone had realized.

      “I ended up having to be admitted myself,” he grumbled, then swore. “What was I thinking?”

      “You weren’t,” his brother reminded him. “You were reacting.”

      “Not well and not in the right way.” There was no point in reliving a past he couldn’t change. “I was lucky—there’s no permanent damage. It hurts