A Small Miracle Happened by Mari Donne Page A

very patient with her. He looks good in that shirt too. Did you pick it out?”
    Dan rolled his eyes, but he had bought the blue shirt, which distinguished itself from most of the clothes in the big man’s previous wardrobe by actually suiting him and fitting properly. Fortunately, Chris hated shopping for everything except groceries and was perfectly happy to cede that chore to Dan.
    “I like him.”
    “Chris?” Dan turned to her. “I’m glad. Because I’d never have met him if it wasn’t for you.”
    That finally dragged her attention away from her great-grandchild. “What do you mean?”
    “When you sent me the menorah and cookies last year, the postman delivered the package to his condo by mistake. Chris came over to ask if it was mine, and that’s when we met.”
    Her sharp, dark eyes glinted with humor. “If that boy lived within five miles of you, he’d have found a way to meet you, Daniel. More than five miles. His eyes were made to look at you.” She turned back to watch Chris and Arielle again. “He’s been writing, your mother says.”
    “Don’t tease him about it. He started with a blog about cooking, but now he’s writing stories. He lets me read some of them.” Dan shifted as he realized someone else was listening.
    “He’s a nice young man. Respectful.” Uncle Aaron side-eyed Dan as he pulled up a chair. “Unlike some others in the family.”
    Dan reminded himself it was a good thing Chris and his uncle got along, unexpected as that was. But maybe he shouldn’t have been so surprised. Uncle Aaron was full of stories, and there weren't many things Chris loved more.
    He knew Uncle Aaron dreamed of converting Chris, and that wasn't going to happen. Because it wasn’t faith Chris was looking for. It was love and family, and he had that already.
    “He likes his new job too.” Dan would do his best to keep the subject off Judaism in general and conversion in particular. “And his boss and I have convinced him to sign up for some library science courses.”
    When Dan realized the company he worked for was about to fold, he’d found a job closer to his family. He agonized over asking Chris to quit his job, but Chris had put his hands on Dan’s shoulders and smiled directly into his eyes. In a firm, deep voice, he’d said, “Whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge.”
    Dan knew those words, of course. They were from the Book of Ruth, and he’d heard them before in various translations. But this time, they’d made him cry.
    He needn’t have worried the move would be hard on Chris, who had found a job in a library. He was hired for his tech skills, but what better surroundings could there be for someone who loved books as much as he did? He always smiled when he came home in the evenings, but these days he looked happy when he headed out to work in the mornings as well. Dan took a lot of pleasure in knowing he’d helped bring about that change, however inadvertently.
    His uncle nudged him in the ribs. “You need to get your courage up. You’re twisting yourself into knots like you always do. Go.”
    But Dan was only nervous because he was looking for the right words. He knew he wouldn’t lose his nerve. He never did these days. The knowledge that Chris would be there for him, solid and calm, kept his emotions from spinning out of control. And the one time Chris needed him because he’d had a bad case of the flu, well, there had just been too much to do that week to panic.
    Either Chris was there for him, or he needed to be there for Chris. Those two options left no room for anything else.
    His mother said he’d finally grown up. When he retorted that falling in love was really responsible, she’d replied, unanswerably, that learning to maintain an adult relationship was a good way to grow up.
    But if there was no panic, there were definite butterflies in Dan’s stomach. He got up, then went to join his lover.
    CHRIS PICKED ARIELLE up so she could see