Read Online Angels at Christmas by Debbie Macomber - Free Book Online

friend’s effort, but it simply hadn’t worked.
    â€œI think I was more optimistic than I should’ve been,” Mercy said when Shirley came and sat next to her.
    â€œI thought everything went very well.” Shirley seemed undeterred by Julie’s lack of cooperation—or Roy’s. She continued to stare at her portrait with an appreciative eye.
    â€œHow can you say that?” Goodness cried. In her opinion, Julie wasn’t the only one who needed instruction in romance. It was evident that Shirley had difficulty recognizing what worked and what didn’t. That staged accident certainly hadn’t.
    Shirley sighed. “I had real hope when Roy took her to his own physician.”
    â€œBut then he dumped her there.”
    Mercy nodded vigorously. “The least he could’ve done was wait long enough to make sure she wasn’t injured.”
    â€œHe did pay for her taxi ride home,” Shirley said. “They were getting along so well, too.”
    Goodness gaped at her friend and wondered if Shirley had lost all touch with reality. “They did nothing but argue!” She’d witnessed courtroom battles with less antagonism. Roy Fletcher and Julie Wilcoff were completely unsuited as a couple, but no one wanted to listen to her . As far as she could see, the two of them didn’t even like each other.
    Goodness might never have been in love—romance was for earthly beings—but she had an instinct for matchmaking, if she did say so herself. She’d successfully guided men and women toward each other a time or two, but none of that seemed to matter.
    â€œYes, they were arguing, but I was well aware even if you weren’t that they like each other,” Mercy insisted.
    â€œI don’t think so.” Goodness hated to discourage her friends, but she didn’t see it. The spark just wasn’t there. She suspected Julie had become so discouraged about her prospects of finding a husband that she’d lost the ability to attract one. Goodness had wanted to shake the young woman for joking about her weight. A lady never discussed such things! Julie should know better. And Roy—he was one of the walking wounded. He didn’t seem capable of feeling anything, except bitterness and cynicism.
    â€œWhat are you suggesting?” Mercy asked.
    Goodness knew it was one thing to criticize and another to offer an alternative. But she figured they’d better face up to the truth sooner rather than later. “We should give it up and search elsewhere.”
    Mercy folded her wings tightly, a sure sign she wasn’t pleased.
    â€œWe did our part. Now it’s up to the two of them. Agreed?” Goodness gave her friends a stern look.
    â€œJust who do you think would interest Roy?” Shirley asked.
    â€œJust who?” Mercy parroted.
    They had Goodness there. “I don’t know—yet,” she said. “But we’ve done our part. Agreed?” she said again.
    The other two nodded with unmistakable reluctance.
    â€œNow I say we leave them alone, and if it’s meant to be, it’ll happen without any help from the three of us.”
    Mercy seemed about to argue, but then she sighed loudly. “Oh, all right, but I still have a strong feeling that Julie’s the answer to Anne’s prayer.”
    â€œAnne,” Shirley whispered. As if she’d suddenly remembered something, the former Guardian Angel announced, “I’ll be right back.”
    Goodness was having none of this. “Where are you going?”
    Shirley glanced over her shoulder. “I’ll only be a minute.”
    Goodness exchanged a look with Mercy and both of them followed Shirley. The other Ambassador didn’t go far. She crept into Anne’s bedroom and saw that the older woman was in bed, eyes closed.
    â€œIs she asleep?” Mercy asked, floating above the bed.
    â€œNot quite,” Shirley answered with