The Love of Her Life: A Christian Romance (The Callaghans & McFaddens Book 3)

by Kimberly Rae Jordan

  “Where am I going, Miss Maya?” Jeffrey’s voice interrupted her musings, and she looked to the front of the car and saw that they had reached the end of their very long driveway. He had come to a stop, awaiting further direction.

  Maya passed on the information that Makayla had given her to a venue located not that far from their house. She’d been there for a wedding a few years ago, and it had been beautiful. She was excited to see how they’d decorated it for Christmas.

  And yes, she was excited to see Gabe. Now that she was out from under the eagle eye of her mom, she could allow the smile she’d been fighting to curve the corners of her lips at the thought of seeing him again.

  Jeffrey had Christmas music playing softly over the radio as he drove, so by the time they reached the turn-off for the venue, Maya was in the Christmas spirit and very ready for the evening ahead. As they made the last turn to reach the entrance, she could see how beautifully decorated it was on the outside with lots of twinkling white lights while lighted Christmas trees stood in each of the floor to ceiling windows along the front. The driveway led to the porte cochère of the venue.

  After Jeffrey had pulled the car to a stop under the covered portion of the looped driveway, he got out and came around to open the door for her. “Would you prefer me to wait here or do you have a specific time you wish me to return for you?”

  Maya took his hand and exited the car. “You can go back home. I’ll text you when I’m ready for you to pick me up. It’s not too far away.”

  Jeffrey nodded. “I’ll wait for your text.”

  He accompanied her to the front door and opened it for her before returning to the vehicle and driving away. Maya hoped that no one had seen her arrival, but given the fact that there were a lot of large windows in the foyer, it was likely someone had.

  “Good evening, Maya.”

  She turned to the sound of the voice, her cape swirling out around her. There was no doubt that it was Gabe headed her way. He and Mitch may have been identical, but Maya had no longer had any trouble telling the two of them apart.

  His smile grew wider as he came to her side. “I was wondering when you were going to get here. May I take your coat?”

  Maya lifted her hands to undo the clasp on the neck then turned to allow Gabe to take it from her shoulders. She slipped off her gloves and reached to shove them into one of the pockets of the cape, clutching her purse in the other. “Thank you.”

  She didn’t miss the way Gabe’s gaze traveled over her. It took a similar path as her mother’s had earlier, but its impact was completely different. The appreciation in Gabe’s gaze for her appearance brought heat to her cheeks and a small smile to her lips.

  “Well, let’s get this hung up so we can mingle for a bit before going to our seats.” He laid a hand lightly on her back as he steered her to where someone was checking coats for the evening. After he had handed it over and given her the ticket which she slipped into her purse, he said, “I made sure that we were seated at the same table.”

  Maya gave him a quick look. “Is there assigned seating?”

  “No, but I asked Sammi to save us seats at their table.”

  “Sammy?” Maya asked, wracking her brain for the person associated with the name.

  “Sammi is one of my younger sisters.” Gabe gave her a curious look. “You don’t know much about my family, do you?”

  “Um…well, I’ve…I guess I haven’t really socialized with them much.” Maya gripped her purse. She had been invited to join them on a few different occasions, but she’d declined each time. She’d been afraid of having to reveal too much about herself if she became social with them instead of just maintaining an employee/employer relationship.

  “After tonight, you’ll have no excuse not to. The family business has needed to expand beyond just family members, but we like the employees to feel as if they’re part of our extended family.”

  Maya had seen that but had resisted being drawn in. She had a feeling that all of that was going to change that night. As they moved through groups of people in the foyer area, she recognized a few faces, but most were unfamiliar to her.

  “You look beautiful, by the way,” Gabe said as he guided her toward where Mitch stood with a couple of people she didn’t know.

  “Thank you. It took me far too long to decide what to wear.”

  “Well, it was definitely worth the effort.” Gabe looked down at her and smiled.

  Warmth crept through her at his compliment. Aside from the odd compliment given her by her parents or Elisse, Maya wasn’t used to people showing their appreciation of her appearance. It was something she found that she enjoyed, knowing that she’d made an effort and someone had appreciated it. Or rather, not just someone but Gabe.

  The thought made her pause, totally unaware of the conversation going on around her. This man’s opinion was coming to mean too much to her too soon. They’d only known each other such a short amount of time. That thought scared her a bit. What if she started to feel more and more drawn to him while the connection was just a bit of fun for him while he was there for the holidays?

  Was this her time to fall in love and experience her first heartache? Or was it possible for her to just keep it light? A crush that never developed into anything more?

  Finally, a sliver of rational thought intruded on her crazy mind meanderings. Just because it was the first in real life crush she’d ever had, she didn’t need to be heading them toward marriage already. She’d had celebrity crushes before, but they hardly counted since Chris Hemsworth and David Tennant were both married, and in David’s case, a little too old for her. However, now that she was experiencing this stirring of feelings for Gabe Callaghan, she could see that her celebrity crushes had been nothing but admiration for the men who starred in her favorite movies and TV shows.

  Okay. So she sort of felt like there was a fork in the road for her. Which, when she thought about it, was kinda deep for a Christmas party, but still it was there. Did she just roll with how this might go with Gabe? Accepting that heartache might be waiting for her? Or did she keep her distance and wait for a man who engaged her emotions but was also able to be present in her life?

  “Why don’t we go on in?” Gabe suggested, his low voice close to her ear.

  She had to take the risk. Her life had been all about someone keeping her safe and protected, but this…she couldn’t not take the chance. If it was time for her to experience her first heartbreak, then so be it.

  Maya smiled at Gabe and allowed him to guide her into the large room that was set up for the dinner. All the tables that ringed the outside of the room were covered in white tablecloths with large green and red centerpieces that included a candle in the middle of each. There were a ton of twinkling white lights draped around the room and hanging from the ceiling. Gas fireplaces were spaced along the walls, and at the far end of the room there looked to be a setup for a string quartet. A huge tree was in the opposite corner, decorated with more twinkling lights and green, red, and gold balls and bows.

  Bing Crosby’s White Christmas drifted through the large open space that somehow managed to feel cozy in spite of its size. Maya found herself humming along as Gabe walked with her to a table near the Christmas tree.

  She couldn’t stop smiling as she took it all in. Christmas was her absolute favorite time of year. When she’d been younger, Christmas was when her parents had relaxed their protectiveness enough to allow her to be out in public more. She’d been able to attend parties at her friends’ houses or Elisse would accompany her to parties put on by her mom and dad at venues away from the house, and just for a little while, she was a young lady enjoying life instead of living in fear of what cancer had done to her and the threat that would always hang over her head.

  “This is my sister, Sammi,” Gabe said as he gestured to the young woman seated at the table already. “Sammi, this is Maya. She’s taken over for Grace while she’s off.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, May
a,” Sammi said with a friendly smile. “I’ve heard lots about you, but I don’t get into the office much at all these days so we’ve never had the opportunity to meet.”

  Maya immediately saw the similarity between the woman and Makayla. They both had dark brown hair as did Bennett. She knew that they were a blended family, so it wasn’t surprising that they didn’t all look alike. What she found most interesting though was how the step-siblings interacted with each other. As Gabe bent to slide his arm around Sammi’s shoulder to give her a hug and drop a kiss on her cheek, Maya could see that there was an easy affection between them.

  “Nice to see you again, Jayden,” Gabe said as he straightened and looked at the man seated to Sammi’s right.

  Maya’s immediate thought was that he looked like he belonged on a beach in California. He was tanned which was a striking contrast to his light blue eyes. His hair was blonde with even lighter highlights in it. The smile he gave them as Sammi introduced him to Maya was stunning, showing off his even white teeth.

  “This is Jayden Murray,” Sammi said, turning to smile at the man.

  Jayden gave her an affectionate glance before he looked up, holding out his hand to Gabe and then to Maya. “Good to see you again, Gabe, and nice to meet you, Maya.”

  Gabe pulled out the seat next to Sammi and looked over at Maya with a smile that lifted one corner of his mouth. “Would you like to have a seat?”

  Maya settled onto the chair, impressed by Gabe’s manners. He took the seat next to her, resting his arm across the back of her chair as he leaned forward to talk to Sammi and Jayden.

  Gabe was looking festively handsome himself dressed in black slacks and a white long sleeve shirt under a dark green and red plaid vest. It made Maya smile to see that he didn’t have a problem embracing the colors of the holiday. It wasn’t every man that would do that. In fact, Jayden was dressed in a long sleeve, light blue shirt with a dark blue tie. Nothing even remotely Christmassy about his attire except for the woman on his arm. Sammi looked elegant in a deep red dress with a wide neckline.

  “How’s work going?” Gabe asked Sammi. “Are you enjoying your new job?”

  Sammi relaxed back in her chair, leaning into Jayden’s side, her hands resting in her lap. “Yes. While I did enjoy working at the hospital, I find the stable hours at the nursing home much easier to work with.”

  “And what do you do, Jayden?”

  Maya hadn’t really interacted much on a personal level with the Callaghan-McFadden family, so she found it interesting meeting the members of the family who weren’t part of the business. She just hoped that they didn’t have the same curiosity about her life.

  “I’m working part-time as an assistant youth pastor at the church and also helping my dad out at his car dealership.”

  “Youth pastor and car salesman?” Gabe asked, arching an eyebrow. “That’s quite a combination.”

  Jayden smiled. “I know, right? But you gotta do what you gotta do to make ends meet. I want to be in the ministry, but right now there isn’t a full-time position available for me.”

  “So you guys met at church?”

  Sammi nodded. “Yeah, I volunteered as a chaperone for a lock-in for the youth since Sierra and Danae were going. Jayden was there too.”

  Maya listened as they discussed the church, enjoying the way Gabe’s arm on the chair pressed against her back. It made her feel included. Part of the group.

  “Are you saving these seats?” Tristan stood at the chair beside Gabe.

  “Hey! Nope. It’s all yours, bro,” Gabe said.

  Soon Mitch joined them at the table, and then a few more people appeared that the others obviously knew, but Maya didn’t. Bennett and Makayla and Ethan were seated at another table with Steve and Emily Callaghan. The rest of the tables were gradually filling up, and the noise level increased, almost drowning out Jingle Bells that was being played over the sound system.

  Once the majority of the tables had filled, Steve Callaghan got to his feet and with Bennett at his side, made his way to the microphone at the front of the room.

  “Good evening, everyone,” Bennett said. “If you haven’t found your seat yet, I’d like to invite you to do so now.”

  Even from this distance, Maya could see the strain on Bennett’s face. Though he hadn’t been outgoing in the way that Gabe seemed to be, Bennett had always had a ready smile when she’d spoken with him, but lately, his smiles had been few and far between. She didn’t know exactly what had transpired, but it seemed that it had something to do with Grace and her new baby.

  “Thank you for coming to the C&M Builders’ Christmas party. We are grateful for another wonderful year of great projects and growth for our company which makes this our biggest party to date. If this is your first year with us, we hope that it won’t be your last.” Bennett paused as applause swept the room. When it had died down, he leaned toward the microphone again. “And now I’d like to ask my dad, Steve Callaghan, to say a prayer for our evening.”

  Maya looked at the older man as he stepped forward and slid an arm around Bennett’s shoulders. “Let’s pray.”

  She was part of a family who attended church sporadically, although that hadn’t always been the case. At one time, they had attended more regularly, but now it was just at Christmas and Easter.

  From conversations she’d heard, Maya knew that the relationship this family had with their church was much different than hers and her parents. It was just one more thing that she was curious about. From the first time she’d heard Bennett pray at one of their staff lunches, she’d been intrigued. And Steve’s prayer was much like his son’s had been. They weren’t the recitation of prayers like she was used to hearing. This seemed much more familiar, as if he had an intimate relationship with the God he was praying to.

  Though she had prayed over the years—it was hard to face death and not find oneself praying to whatever deity out there that might be listening—it had never been the way Steve Callaghan prayed. He even included Grace and her baby, Olivia, in the prayer.

  It was different. Intriguing. And something she wanted to know more about.

  Once the prayer was over, servers began to file into the room, plates balanced on their steady arms. Conversation ebbed and flowed as they worked their way through the courses of the meal. Maya found the food to be as good as any she’d ever had at any other Christmas party.

  After they had finished a delicious chocolate mousse dessert, the string quartet took the stage and started to play Christmas music. She smiled as the first song they played was Deck the Halls. Because her mom had insisted that she have a well-rounded education, she’d taken music lessons and had learned to play both piano and violin. That had been before cancer had entered their lives and changed her mom’s outlook on Maya’s life.

  Maya pulled her thoughts back from that path, focusing instead on the people who had begun to spill onto the large open floor that was ringed by the tables. She found herself swaying in time to It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas, grinning as she watched couples attempting to dance to the song. Most Christmas music wasn’t really intended for the type of dancing people did at parties these days, but several seemed determined to give it a whirl.

  When Silver Bells began to play, Maya turned to Gabe who had shifted to sit more closely to her, his arm resting across the back of her chair as he leaned back in his.

  “Do you dance?”

  Gabe’s gaze flicked to the dance floor before looking back at her. “No, I don’t.”

  Maya’s shoulders drooped, and her disappointment was no doubt clear on her face. Dance lessons had also been a part of her life at one time. She’d learned the fine art of ballroom dancing at a young age, her mom wanting to make sure she wouldn’t embarrass herself if she would one day attend functions where dancing might be required.

  Sadly, by the time she would have been old enough to attend those parties, dancing had been the last thing on her mind. Maya frowned, clenching her hands toge
ther in her lap. Why did the memory of her cancer keep invading her thoughts? Tonight was a magical evening for her—she didn’t want it marred by the memories of that horrible time.

  A hand covered hers, taking hold of one as her grip loosened. Gabe got to his feet, pulling her along. She looked up to find him smiling down at her.

  “Let’s give this a try,” he said before leading her through the maze of chairs to reach the dance floor.

  Releasing her hand, he turned and held out his arms, an expectant look on his face. After a brief hesitation, Maya slid her right hand into his and stepped close enough that his other hand could settle on her upper back, and she could rest her hand on his shoulder.

  He held her there for a moment in that position before he began to move, leading her through the steps for a waltz to the slowed down version of Silver Bells that the quartet was playing. For someone who’d said he couldn’t dance, Gabe was doing a pretty good job of leading her around the perimeter of the dance floor.

  “I thought you said you couldn’t dance,” Maya said, looking up at him in the subdued lighting.

  “Oh, I didn’t say I couldn’t dance, I said I don’t dance—although clearly, I made an exception for you.” Gabe’s smile widened, and Maya’s heart skipped a beat at the expression on his face and at his words. He’d made an exception for her. The words made her feel special. Like she was worth doing something he didn’t enjoy. “I was part of a wedding where the bride insisted that all members of the entourage had to learn to waltz. It’s just that my family isn’t really much into dancing.”

  “But your dad includes it in the employee party,” Maya pointed out.

  “I think Dad figures that since he’s not providing alcohol, the least he could do is give people the opportunity to dance if they so desire.”

  “Why no alcohol?” she asked as they paused in the dance before moving again when the next song started up, thankfully still with a waltz beat. She was also thankful that the music was soft enough to allow them to carry on a conversation.