Authors: A. C. Arthur

Holiday Hearts (8 page)

It was the man with the beard. He was dressed in dark slacks and a red jacket and skull cap. His beard was a scruffy gray mess, his eyes dark yet happy.

“Can we help you?” Ian asked.

The man reached for Keysa’s left hand the moment he saw her and smiled down at the diamond ring Ian had given her the night before.

“You already have,” he said with a big smile. “You already have.”

The man was turning to leave when Keysa asked, “Who are you?”

The man turned, pointing to the black letters scrawled on his jacket. “You can call me Jasper,” he said, then pulled his jacket tighter and walked off.

***

Through the cloudy gates Jasper walked with a new pep in his five-hundred-year-old step. All around him bells chimed a familiar Christmas melody.

“Another success,” a booming voice said from above.

Jasper nodded. “My heart swells with each one.”

“And the bells ring even louder,” the deep voice said. “It’s good work you’re doing, Jasper, very good work.”

“’Tis the season,” was Jasper’s happy reply.

The Donovans

By A.C. Arthur

www.acarthur.net

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