Finally Satisfied by Tori Scott Page B

even
with such a huge change, no panic attack symptoms had appeared. No
racing heart beat. No hyperventilating. No chest pains. Not even
the idea of spending her normally quiet, peaceful Christmas with
Mitch had sent her running to hide. No, she’d run to fix herself up
instead.
    A smile spread across her face. Mitch was
coming for Christmas! And she was actually happy about it.
    Her smile faded. Was her son having Christmas
with his family? Could they afford gifts? What was he into now? Did
he have his driver’s license? Would they give him a car for
Christmas? She could never compete with that.
    You don’t have to compete, remember? He
doesn’t even know you exist.
    She thought about what she and Vanessa had
talked about last week. It was okay if her son didn’t know about
her. All that mattered was that he was safe, happy, healthy.
Vanessa had guided her through the steps of registering with
several sites that reunited adopted kids with their biological
parents. If he was looking for her, he’d be able to find her now.
All she had to do was wait. And pray.
    She took special care with her makeup, dried
her hair and pulled it back into a ponytail, then wasted precious
time going through outfit after outfit before she finally decided
on leggings, a long sweater, and boots. Casual without being
sloppy, but also without looking like she’d given a lot of thought
to her clothing choice.
    She took Mitch’s gift from the closet, added
some ribbon and a bow to the plain red paper, and found a gift tag
to attach to the front. Then she sat down at her computer to see
what she could do for Reggie and Sam. She’d had an idea a few days
ago, then forgot it in all the hustle and bustle leading up to the
holiday. She’d thought she’d have a couple of days to work on it
after Christmas. Well, it wouldn’t be perfect, but she thought
they’d like it.
    She finished wrapping it as the doorbell
rang.
    ***
    Mitch stood a few feet behind the others, wondering
what he was doing there. He hadn’t seen Angel since the night he’d
kissed her. Though she’d stayed long enough to help him with the
wrapping and to drink a cup of hot chocolate, he could tell he’d
pushed her too far, too fast. She was itching to go from the moment
they’d left his bedroom.
    Since then he’d stayed away, busy at work
with sick kids and older adults thanks to a fast-moving flu. His
arms were full of gifts for everyone, Angel included, but his real
gift to her was still in his car. It wasn’t something he wanted to
spring on her in front of an audience.
    Mrs. Kensington opened the door, a big smile
on her face. “Come on in out of the cold. Mitch, it’s good to see
you. How is your family?”
    He murmured a response and slipped past her
into the house before she could question him more closely. He
looked around the living room. A fire burned brightly in the
fireplace, a large tree twinkled in the corner. The dining room
table looked ready to collapse under the weight of food and candy.
But Angel wasn’t there.
    He shouldn’t have come. He never would have
agreed to come with Gray and Cara if not for the chance to see
Angel. Where was she?
    A door closed upstairs and he looked up.
Angel appeared at the top of the stairs and his heart skipped a
beat. She looked beautiful in a bright red sweater and skinny black
pants. He moved to the foot of the stairs as she took the first
step. Her boot slipped on the carpet and she flailed her arms in
the air for a moment, nearly dropping her packages, before she
grabbed the rail and caught her balance. By that time he was
halfway up the staircase.
    “Are you okay?”
    “Yeah, just feeling a bit foolish. Thanks for
coming to my rescue.”
    He lifted a hand to her cheek. “You seem to
be doing a pretty good job of rescuing yourself.”
    A blush spread across her cheeks and she
ducked her head. “We’d better join the others.”
    She held the rail with one hand and he kept a
hand under her elbow just in case she