Daniel and the Angel (9 page)

Epilogue

It is said by those who ought to understand such things,

That the good people. . . are some of the angels

Who were turned out of Heaven,

And who landed on their feet in this world.

—William Butler Yeats

AND TEN YEARS AFTER THAT CHRISTMAS, DANIEL STILL
heard bells whenever he kissed his wife. They still lived in the huge house on the corner, but inside the house had changed.

Gone were the priceless art and porcelains. Gone were the collections. Instead, the walls of the Stewart home held simple drawings from children's unskilled hands and portraits of Lilli with his daughters and his sons.

She had named their eldest daughter Florida, the twins Cherubim and Seraphim—Cheri and Sera, for short—and then his sons Peter and Gabriel, saying she was naming them after old friends, very, very old friends, to whom she owed a debt.

Gone now were the French antiques and stiff-backed chairs. Comfortable and colorful furniture filled every room, some of it nicked and snagged from children and pets. But it was warm and welcoming and real, and it made Daniel's house a home.

There was not a whistle in the entire place. But there were bells everywhere, on tables, near doorways. There were dinner bells and sleigh bells, breakfast bells and door bells, chimes and clock bells, tea bells and Chinese gongs. Jingle bells tingled from toddlers' shoes and puppies' collars. A cow bell called the family together.

At a place of honor on a table in the foyer was a set of glass bells. Whenever someone slid down the banister they rang one of them.

For you see, Daniel and Lilli Stewart had given their children a wonderful gift: the ability to believe in things magical and whimsical and heavenly, to believe in people and, most of all, to believe in things that can't be proven—to know in their hearts that every time a bell rings . ..

An angel gets its wings.

JILL BARNETT enchants readers with her signature blend of love and laughter.
Publishers Weekly
called her latest book,
Dreaming,
"hilarious ... Her characters are joyously fresh and her style is a delight to read—a ray of summer sun."
The
Detroit Free Press
named
Bewitching
one of
the Best of 1993, cheering, "Barnett has a wicked way with a one-liner and she makes the romance sizzle." Her other books have all won critical acclaim:
Just a Kiss Away
was voted Favorite Book of the year by the readers of
Romantic times,
and was the winner of both its Reader's Choice and Reviewer's Choice awards;
The Heart's Haven
garnered both a Persie Award and
Affaire de Coeur's
Silver Pen Award; and
Heartland Critiques
called
Surrender a Dream
"delightfully funny." Jill is a native Californian and currently lives near San Francisco with her husband and daughter.