Sage's Christmas Miracle...

By Heather Mar-Gerrison

When Myles goes off to university, seemingly never looking back, Sage is heartbroken, bitter and resentful and determined to never speak to him again.
The next two years are hard for Sage; what with his mother dying, leaving him to bring up his baby sister all on his own.
His neighbour, Pearl is his rock, lending a hand every time he needs someone to look after his baby sister, Chelsea, all the while chattering on about her grandson...
Since they never mention his name, neither Pearl, nor Sage realise that her grandson, and Sage's ex-best friend are one and the same person...
But then Myles returns, back from uni - possibly for good, determined to rekindle at least a friendship with his most favourite person in the whole world and turning Sage's world upside down in the process.
At first, Sage is suspicious of Myles' attempts to befriend him again but slowly, he starts to realise that Myles is absolutely genuine in his desire to win his heart back....
Is this Sage's time for a Christmas miracle?
With a little help from his friends, he's hopeful that finally, it might be...
This is a standalone gay Christmas romance. It's full of festive cheer, two cute guys, an adorable little sister and a gran that doubles as a fairy godmother. Find a cosy corner, a glass of something festive, eat too much chocolate and enjoy...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Heather Mar-Gerrison
• Release date: Dec 20, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463949429

Heather Mar-Gerrison

I love to write M/M romance and as a sucker for a HEA, you're guaranteed one in my books. #happyheatherafters

Book preview

Sage’s Christmas Miracle

(A Gay Christmas Romance)

Smashwords Edition

Heather Mar-Gerrison Copyright 2019

Awesome front cover design courtesy of Shutterstock

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronically or mechanically, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except where permitted by law. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead is purely coincidental. The Author holds exclusive rights to this work.

Prologue

Sage

I’m so sorry to bother you, Mrs Reid, but do you think you could look after Chelsea again?

Sage hated to ask but he was desperate. He’d been offered another shift at the up-market restaurant he waited at and also played piano at and he really needed the money, what with Christmas being just around the corner. There was no way he could not provide decent gifts for his little sister, even if it did mean going hungry for most of January and probably half of February too, if his fortunes didn’t turn around soon.

He gazed at his neighbour hopefully. Would she be kind enough to help him out again? He felt as if he put on her far too much, already even if it was adorable that Chelsea considered her as a pseudo-grandmother.

It made him feel guilty because it wasn’t even as if he could really repay her in any way for her constant kindness. He was next to useless at DIY… Hell, he dreaded getting anything like a blown fuse or a plumbing issue. He shuddered inwardly at the thought. Thankfully, the tiny apartment he and his baby sister lived in was relatively new and therefore, the chances of anything major going down were slim.

Mrs Reid smiled, Just a minute. She said to whoever she was on the telephone to and held it to her chest, Sorry about that, Sage. She said, My grandson is on the phone to me – wishing me a happy Christmas, her eyes twinkled as she mentioned her grandson, she clearly adored him, and, trying to convince me to put him up between now and the new year. He’s coming home for Christmas and he gets on well enough with his parents but, well, you know how it can be. She rolled her eyes, Anyway, come in, come in.

She stood to the side and Sage squeezed his rather larger frame past her and stood awkwardly as she finished up her conversation with her grandson.

Sage? she asked, Has Chelsea had her dinner?

He shook his head, swallowing nervously. Christ, he was useless. It occurred to him that his dad had been right about that – before he left him and his mother without a backwards glance at the tender age of nine years old. That was a long time ago now, though. Now he was an orphan, with both parents gone – and even if he was twenty years old, he still felt the pain of it.

Mrs Reid smiled, It’s a good job I’ve just baked a lasagne then. She said warmly, I must have known I was going to be in for some delightful, female company. Go and get her, son.

Sage smiled gratefully, I’ll make it up to you somehow, Mrs Reid. He said.

Please, Sage. She said patiently, Call me Pearl.

There was no way he could do that. Calling her by her first name would change their relationship to something closer – and as much as he would like to, Sage didn’t do close. Mrs Reid was a lovely older woman. Old enough to be someone’s grandma, certainly, since she was talking to her grandson – but young enough that he was sure he could rely on her helping him out with his little sister for a fair few years to come – well, hopefully, anyway…

He nodded. Okay. He said, flashing a rare smile, I’ll uh, I’ll be right back.

Bring her PJ’s. Mrs Reid shouted after him, She’s welcome to stay over. I’m guessing you’ll be back late again?

He nodded again, Thank you so much. He rasped, emotion beginning to get the better of him. He darted to the door and closed it behind him. He hated people seeing him lose control of his emotions. He generally kept them buried deep where no one could see them but Mrs Reid’s unwavering support of him, since the first day he’d moved in with his practically new-born sister, had got him feeling all warm inside and that always ended up making him all choked up.

Steeling himself, he took a deep breath and got himself under control again. It didn’t do to let people get close. Letting people in ultimately led to heartache. Better to keep them all at arms-length – that way, the hurt wouldn’t creep into his heart in the dead of night when he allowed himself to wonder why everyone he’d ever loved, had ultimately left him.

Chapter 1 – Gran’s mystery neighbour…

Myles

Hey Grandma! Myles Jackson greeted his maternal grandmother enthusiastically, Happy Christmas!

Pearl laughed at his gushing voice and wished him the same, How are you, darling? she asked, Any nice new men on the horizon?

And this was why he loved her so much. She was so accepting of him being gay. It was so different from the way his other grandparents, his paternal ones, treated him – a little like he was a freak that they tolerated, rather than actually liked. To be honest it was pretty much the way his parents treated him too, although they never said anything about his unnaturalness in front of him…

He’d always felt awkward around his paternal grandparents. Even when he was small they’d somehow or other always made him feel wrong. Still, that was their loss. He hadn’t seen much of them since he was eighteen and was able to make his own decisions about who he allowed in his life – and he preferred to keep them well and truly at arm’s length.

His mother wasn’t too bothered about him refusing to see them but his dad could never quite let his disappointment not show on his face. As much as he tried his best to accept his son for who he was, he was never going to embrace his sexuality. Still, he wasn’t going to think about any of them right now. Right now, he wanted to talk to his favourite grandparent – and ask her if it was okay for him to stay with her over the Christmas period rather than having to endure the others.

I haven’t heard from you in a while, honey. Grandma said without any sort of accusation in her voice that he should keep in touch more often, Something or someone has to have been keeping you busy?

He chuckled, Well, yeah. He agreed, I’ve had a few dates but nothing serious. I’ve actually been throwing myself into my studies this year – and actually, that was what I was calling about…

Oh, just a minute, honey. Grandma said, There’s someone at the door.

Myles waited patiently, listening on the line while his gran answered the door.

He heard the rumble of a guy’s voice and then his grandma answering him. Come in, come in.

Myles frowned. Who the hell was she letting in and sounding so familiar with? He pressed the phone a little closer to his ear so he could hear their exchange.

His heart started to beat a little faster as he realised that he actually recognised the voice. Sage McCarthy? What the hell was Sage McCarthy doing round at his grandma’s house? He pressed his phone a little closer to his ear and listened even more keenly.

Bring her PJs? What the fuck? Whose PJs? What the hell was going on? Since when did Sage McCarthy have a kid? His heart sank down to his boots…

Oh, God. This was the worst news. Sage must have moved on pretty quickly in his life since they went their separate ways. He closed his eyes. They could have stayed friends when he left for university – if he hadn’t been such a wuss about being honest about the way he felt. Shit. It had all been so avoidable. If only he had been more honest about his feelings for Sage…

But then again, no. That wouldn’t have ever worked anyway. Sage wouldn’t have wanted him to be anything more than friends. Sage was quite clearly straight or he would have fought harder to stay in touch instead of just letting him go without so much as a by-your-leave. He had to have been straight… Well, of course he was. Definitely, now that he was a father, too.

Myles swallowed down the lump in his throat that had appeared out of nowhere. He hadn’t thought about Sage for ages? Hell, it had to have been close a couple of hours at least. He sighed. It was fair to say that he constantly thought about him, of what they used to have, which wasn’t much but at the same time, was absolutely everything…

Hey, Sage. With his heart in his mouth, Myles slipped into the music room, where his heart’s desire was always to be found at lunchtime.

Sage looked up as Myles sneaked in, trying to look inconspicuous and sighed, even though his lips twitched, as if the sight of Myles made him want to smile – well, Myles hoped so, anyway. You’d better be ready to leave soon, Sage rumbled in his deep voice, Markus and Steve will be along in a few. He added to let him know that it wasn’t he who minded having him around.

Myles’ already beating heart fluttered madly in his chest. He shrugged and nodded, I’ll get going when they arrive, he said. Markus and Steve were okay, but they liked to make fun of Myles and his campiness, How are you?

Sage raised an eyebrow, I’m okay. He said, Why? What’s it to you? he smirked as Myles felt his face going red to the tips of his ears.

This was what was so maddeningly attractive about Sage. He made out that he couldn’t stand Myles – and yet Myles knew deep down inside that he really did like him – or at least, liked him enough to put up with him hanging around like some sort of groupie.

Just being polite, Myles mumbled, "I was actually after an interview for the school magazine.’

Sage rolled his eyes, No. he said, I don’t want my band featured in the stupid school magazine, thanks. It’s full of shit and no one reads it anyway.

Myles rolled his eyes, Well, yeah. He agreed, "No one reads it because there’s never anything in there worth reading – but if I interview you…" he widened his eyes at Sage hopefully, resisting the urge to flutter his eyelashes. All the girls in their year adored Sage with his wavy, dark hair, thick, dark eyebrows that arched over his eyes absolutely perfectly and his incredible dark blue eyes with those oh, so long eyelashes. He was gorgeous with a capital G and his penchant for wearing black and being grungy and sexy and unapproachable, made him absolutely irresistible. Everyone loved a bad boy after all – including Myles.

Sage’s dark eyes stared into his across the room. Eventually, he sighed, I dunno. He said, I’ll talk to the others. I’ll see what they say and I’ll let you know.

Myles smiled and darted across the room to give Sage a grateful hug, You won’t regret this. He said enthusiastically, This is gonna put your band on the road to stardom…

As it turned out, it hadn’t put his band on the road to stardom, but that was more to do with the band breaking up when Steve and Markus had a massive fight over a girl they were both dating, breaking their friendship beyond repair and ruining any chances of the band ever getting anywhere.

Sage hadn’t wanted to go it alone, even though it had been the songs that he’d written that they’d played. Sage had loved his little band but he’d lacked the drive necessary to go it