Gateway to Heaven Read Free

precarious balance.
    Christian Lasher was standing at the top of St. Cat’s steps. Most people would have said his posture was casual as he stood with his long, jean-clad legs slightly spread, his arms crossed loosely over his chest, his back resting lightly against the limestone entryway. But for a reason Megan couldn’t name, she knew that estimation would have been dead wrong.
    She sensed the tension in those long, corded muscles just as she instinctively knew that the expression in his blue eyes was as intense as ever even if now they were alight with… anger? Or was it disappointment?
    Why?
    Megan had no answer to that as she watched him lift one booted-foot and kick the wall behind him to lever himself forward. He sauntered toward the entryway with a loose-hipped swagger. Even as she spoke to Emily in a bright voice she wondered at the feeling of regret that flooded through her.
     
    Christian let the door that led back into St. Catherine’s fall shut without entering. He muttered a few choice curses, all self-directed. He knew there were a dozen reasons why he shouldn’t turn around, only one of them being Father Gregory’s enigmatic statement as they’d watched Megan Shreve fly lightly down the front steps a moment ago.
    The priest had had a whimsical expression on his face as he watched her but his eyes looked sad.
    “ We’re lucky to have her. The students love her. Megan is such a…special girl.”
    “ She’s hardly a girl, Father.”
    Father Gregory had glanced up in surprise at the quiet conviction in Christian’s voice. “Of course she’s not. She’s a young lady now. No doubt of it. There’s always been something fragile about her though. Those that love her have always been a little protective of her and I suppose I’m no different.”
    “ What do you mean fragile ? Is she sick?”
    Father Gregory looked taken aback at the sudden tension in Christian’s voice. He seemed to come to an abrupt realization of what he’d been saying…to whom he was speaking. “Of course not, Christian. She looks hale and hearty to me.”
    The priest had clapped him on the back and made an obvious attempt to change the subject. Christian had politely given an excuse and made his exit.
    His stomach had knotted when he saw Megan in another man’s embrace. He watched while the couple looked into each other’s face and shared laughter.
    It didn’t matter.
    He had been confident of his complete disregard for about three seconds after he’d watched the man drive away, leaving Megan and the child on the sidewalk.
    He damned himself for a fool but what the hell? What kind of a heel would allow her to struggle, weighed down as she was with luggage and a child? Surely he’d absorbed something from of his parent’s moral upbringing and his strict Catholic education?
    Hadn’t Father Gregory said she was fragile?
    “ That’s right, Lasher, you’re a real boy scout,” Christian muttered drolly to himself.
    His self-recriminations didn’t stop him from reaching out to touch Megan Shreve. He cupped her shoulder and squeezed gently. She turned, clear, green eyes wide in surprise.
    “ Let me help with that,” he said.
    “ Christian…oh, that’s okay. That is, maybe…if you’re going home too?”
    He didn’t bother to answer her but matter-of-factly eased the bag from her shoulder. She shifted Emily to her other hip and smiled in relief. “Thanks, it was pretty heavy.” She glanced down at Emily who was eying Christian with a mixture of anxiety and curiosity.
    He noticed the little girl’s wariness and lightly brushed the tip of his finger across her perfect nose. “Hi. You must be Emily.”
    He chuckled, not at all offended when Emily shyly buried her face in Megan’s breasts. Curiosity prevailed over her fear, however, and Emily peered cautiously up at Christian through tousled blonde curls. The mischievous smile that ghosted the little girl’s lips suggested that she and Christian were two of a