A Cowboy Under My Christmas Tree by Janet Dailey Read Free Book Online Page A

morning at quarter to eight. She answered after several rings.
    “Hey, Sam.” He heard her say something else, but he didn’t catch it as her voice faded away.
    “Where are you?” he asked. There was a fair amount of noise in the background on her side of the call, people sounds. Then a loud bing-bong, followed by a whoosh and a clatter of footsteps.
    “On the uptown bus,” she said. “What’s up?”
    There was another whoosh as air brakes released. She must be standing near the exit door.
    “I was just thinking I could pick up coffee for you and the crew on my way. Five, right?”
    “No. Russ and Keith can’t make it. So get three black coffees plus a cup of milk and sugar packets. The guys can fix their own.”
    “Anything to eat?”
    She laughed. “You’re too much. I’ll take a bagel with cream cheese. Thanks.”
    The rolldown shades were in place when he reached the boutique, and the door was closed. Sam shifted the take-out bag with the coffees and extra bagels in case anyone else was hungry to his left hand, and tried the knob. It turned, unlocked. He entered and looked around for Nicole.
    She came toward him, not wearing shorts and tights today. Too bad. He really liked that getup. But the slim-fitting jeans she was sporting were nearly as cute. And the black turtleneck over them showed her curves better than the plain shirt.
    “Here’s your breakfast.” He held up the bag.
    “Thanks. That really was nice of you. I thought you were calling to cancel at first.”
    “I wouldn’t do that. What happened with the other two?”
    “They stayed late at Bob’s workshop, so their part of the construction is done. Then Russ got an emergency call from the owners of the Coney Island carousel.”
    “Runaway horses?”
    “Hah. The calliope is on the fritz. He does repairs for church organs. Russ is a big fan of Bach and Handel.”
    Sam didn’t remember Russ that well, but he was willing to believe it.
    “Anyway, I told him that was fine with me. He might stop by later to pick up his pay.”
    “Keith?”
    “He went to a party that ended when the sun came up. Dead to the world, according to Russ. Did I mention that they’re roommates?”
    “No.” He wondered if she had one. The subject hadn’t come up.
    She fished out the paper-wrapped bagel and put it on a radiator, taking one of the coffees next.
    Sam helped himself to another while she found a low-sided cardboard box. “Here’s a tray.”
    He dosed his coffee with milk and sugar and replaced the lid, walking over to the window, where he almost tripped over a pile of miscellaneous objects he hadn’t seen.
    “Careful,” she cautioned him.
    Sam looked down at what seemed to be a pile of junk, then up at Nicole.
    She was smiling like a little kid on Christmas morning. “I got lucky at the thrift stores yesterday.”
    It was kind of hard to tell what everything was, but he spotted a vintage record turntable missing its needle arm and knobs, and a crazy-looking lamp with Chinese dragons painted on its paneled silk shade.
    Nicole picked it up, spinning the shade. “Fabulous, isn’t it? It revolves. I’ve been hunting for a lamp like this for ages.”
    Sam looked at it. Fabulous? Not quite. The finial was missing, and some old lady’s cat must have hated dragons. There were claw marks all over the silk.
    “You did get lucky.” It was the only tactful thing he could think of to say. He had no idea how she could use the lamp in the new design. Or any design. Watch and learn, he told himself.
    Nicole set the lamp down and removed the shade, ripping off the painted silk, laughing at his puzzled look.
    “You’ll see.”
    Bob arrived, the down jacket he wore adding to his physical bulk. Hank came in a few minutes later, parking his skinny body by the radiator.
    “I’m freezing,” Hank complained. “Can we turn up the heat?”
    Munching on her bagel, Nicole shook her head and handed him the bag with the coffee. The younger man kept his jacket on