Read Online The Sweetest Gift (The McKaslin Clan: Series 1 Book 2) by Jillian Hart - Free Book Online

beautiful, you can charm any pilot from here to California.”
    Had she heard him right? Reeling, Kirby turned to the window, her mind spinning. Had he called her beautiful? No one had ever said that to her.
    She was plain. She knew that. But the man meant to love her, the one God made especially for her, wouldn’t think she was plain.
    No. He would think there was something special about her. That’s the way true love went, right?
    So either Sam Gardner needed a serious eye exam or he was simply being charming or he earned another check mark on her list.
    “By the way—” he leaned close so his words were a warm tickle against her ear “—we’re going to the best bakery ever.”
    “How do you know? Have you gone to every bakery in the world?”
    His eyes twinkled at her. “Yes.”
    “Liar.”
    “You’re awfully sassy for such a nice girl. My aunt was all wrong about you.”
    “Why? Just because I question you doesn’t mean I’m a bad person.”
    “A good person would agree with me.”
    “You’re impossible—has anyone ever told you that?”
    “All the time, but I’ve got you laughing. You don’t look as sad as you did in the hospital. You have history with little Sarah, don’t you?”
    “Sarah’s been a patient of mine over the last few years. I’m doing shift work, whenever I can, until my new job starts, and I took care of Sarah in the peds unit. I also volunteer at the free clinic and saw her there, too. She’s had a hard time.”
    “But she has you to take care of her. She seemed happy to see you. You were a comfort to her.”
    “I was a friendly face.”
    Much more than that, Sam thought. He ached—his body, his heart, his soul. Not with a physical pain, but an emotional one. And how was that possible?
    How had Kirby gotten past the titanium walls protecting his heart? She was making him feel, and he didn’t like it. Life was easier when he accepted what was and didn’t try to look for the impossible. For the good.
    He was a faithful man. He believed in God, he believed in grace, he believed in heaven and the goodness there. But here, on earth? No, he was too disillusioned to even try.
    What about Kirby? What was she doing to him? And why was he letting her affect him?
    He hopped to his feet. He couldn’t sit still. He stretched in the wide aisle, the dozens and dozens of seats and booths empty as the ferry rumbled, ready to set sail.
    Outside, the endless blue waters of the sound gleamed—as perfect as a sheet of blue diamonds. Sam saw the amethyst mountains and emerald foothills and the crystal brilliance of the city where he used to live with his wife. When he’d believed he’d find a good life with the woman he loved.
    When he’d been captured, all he’d thought about, all he’d prayed for, the only thing that had kept him going was to see her again. To be with her. To hold her in his arms and never let go. To finally have a place where he belonged.
    The ferry bumped to a start, jarring him out of his memories, away from the dark and into the light of the present. The big bulky ship chugged as slowly as a tugboat away from the dock and into the impressive waters. Another ferry, packed with commuters, passed them by, ready to dock.
    Once they were on their way, the water stretched ahead of them like paradise.
    Paradise wasn’t meant for a man like him. Wasn’t that clear to him by now? After all he’d been through?
    “Come on, let’s see if we can spot any dolphins.” He didn’t look at her. He wasn’t sure she was following him.
    He led the way through the glass doors and onto the unprotected deck where the wind stung like ice, but it was such a wonderful and free feeling to cling to the railing and watch the ferry slice through the water.
    Sam hung over the railing just enough to see into the ocean far below. “No dolphins. Maybe once we’re farther out.”
    “I have this irresistible urge to give you a little shove.”
    He chuckled, straightened. His dark eyes