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She’d been the first of his regrets Matthias was the second And then his mother…

Matthias Jamison was his father’s cousin and an e’s parents had divorced when he was in high school, and he and Phil had spent suer of the two, Greg was the one who’d been drawn to the fa everything he could about wine and wineunder his wing What John Bennett didn’t teach Greg about wine et a business degree, and he’d been right Several years later, when he died, Greg bought out Phil’s half to beco the winery

The wine had always been good What the business needed was an aggressive advertising can People couldn’t order the Bennett label if they’d never heard of it The difficulty with Greg’s ideas was the huge financial investe ads and placing thehout the world--it had all costto pay off when Matthias ca a loan

Mary, Matthias’s wife of many years, had developed a rare forht save her life wasn’t covered by their health insurance The cost of the s were gone and no bank would lend hi the olderknew he owed Matthias that andBennett Wines was just beginning to gain recognition; sales had doubled and tripled But Greg’s plans were bigger than that He’d wanted to help Matthias, but there was no guarantee the treatment would be effective So he’d turned Matthias down Mary had died a few months later, when conventional treatments failed, and a bitter Matthias had left Bennett Wines and e friendships He tended to believe that friends took advantage of you, that they resented your success It was every ’s view Still, Matthias had been the best friend he’d ever had Because of what happened, the twocould have used Matthias’s expertise in dealing with the blight that had struck his vines, but he was too proud to give him the opportunity to slam the door in his face To refuse hio

No, Greg definitely wasn’t church o into this place, seek solace here, he couldn’t fathom

He was about to turn ahen he noticed that the church doors ide open Had they been open all this time? He supposed theyinvited inside… He shook his head, wondering where that ridiculous thought had come from Nevertheless, he sloalked in

The interior was dim and his eyes took a e, with ts of pews facing a wide altar Even the church was decorated for the holidays Pots of red and white poinsettias were arranged on the altar, and a row of gaily decorated Christ suspended fro with a sectioned space for the choir Greg hadn’t stopped to notice which denoh hishad hated it, found it ious stuff up, just like theirbusiness for him "The door was open I came inside You want me to tell you I made a mess of my life? Fine, I screwed up I could’ve done better Is that what you aiting to hear? Is that what you wanted me to say? I said it Are you happy now?"

His words reverberated, causing him to retreat a step

And as he did, his life suddenly overwhels, hishih the years The force of it was too ht of his past impossible to bear He leaned forward and buried his face in his hands

"Can you forgive me, Mama?" he whispered brokenly "Is there any way I canthere for you? When you neededto hiet a loan, if he lost the winery, it would be what he deserved All of it

Greg wouldn’t have recognized his words as a prayer But, they wove their way upward, past the church altar, past the suspended crucifix, toward the bell tower and church steeple Once free of the building, they flew heavenward, through the clouds and beyond the sky, landing with a crash on the cluttered desk of the Archangel Gabriel

"Well, well," the archangel said, a little surprised and more than a little pleased "What do we have here?"

Two

The Archangel Gabriel arched his white brows as he reviewed Greg Bennett’s file A very thick file "Well, it’s about time," he muttered, and dutifully recorded the prayer request

"I certainly agree with you there," a soft female voice murmured in response

Gabriel didn’t have to look up to see who’d joined hielic voice was all too fa, and where Shirley was, Goodness and Mercy were sure to follow His three favorite trouble to ask, he knehat she wanted The trio had been pestering him for three years about a return trip to earth

"Hello, Shirley," Gabriel said without much enthusiasm The truth was, he’d always been partial to Shirley, Goodness and Mercy, although he dared not let it show Their escapades on earth were notorious in the corridors of paradise and had created an uproar on more than one occasion

"We’ve decided you see up next to her friend She rested her ar hi beside the other two

"And we’re here to help" Shirley walked around the front of his desk and gave hi look

"We feel your pain," Goodness told hihed outright He was still tempted to tell her to cut the psychobabble, but knew that wouldn’t do any good As it was, he sighed and leaned back in his chair

"So--what can we do to help?" Mercy inquired with a serenity feould question

"Help?" he asked "You can help ain this year"

"We’ve already done that for three years," Goodness co her arms "It’s just no fun to be one in a cast of thousands"

"We want to go back to earth," Shirley explained Of the three, she was the most plain-spoken Gabriel knew he could count on her to tell him the truth She did her utmost to keep the other two in line, but could only hold out for so long before she succumbed to temptation herself

"I love huly toward earth

"Me, too," Mercy was quick to add "Where else in the universe would anyone assume God is dead and Elvis is alive?"