Three Nights before Christmas by Kat Latham Read Free Book Online

only imagine.
    “Anyway, I’ve been trying to get your attention for a couple minutes. In case you hadn’t noticed, we’re not Gallaghers, and we don’t sell trees. Our stand’s the one with the picture of Santa and his elves, and we’ll be selling a magical experience to last a lifetime, not a tree that dies and sheds needles all over the living room floor.”
    “Ha ha.” Austin chanced one last glance at Lacey, whose jerky head movement convinced him she’d been eavesdropping. Not that it would be difficult to do, given that he and Gabriel were just a couple feet away. Partly out of politeness and partly to annoy her, he said, “Ms. Gallagher, good luck with sales today.”
    She gave him no response except a brief scratch of her head—with her middle finger. Gabriel’s mouth fell open, and his delighted gaze shot to Austin, who just rolled his eyes and walked away toward his own stand.
    Gabriel fell into step next to him. “Not a fan of yours, huh?”
    “Feeling’s mutual.” Or at least it should’ve been. But a strange mix of admiration and amusement mingled in his chest, two emotions he’d never experienced with other ex-offenders. As far as he could see, she kept her head down and did her job. Generally, when he came across ex-cons, it was because they were in the forest acting like dicks. Drunk and disorderly. Threatening other campers.
    Not Lacey. She worked her ass off.
    “There’s got to be a story there, if she hasn’t fallen for old Golden Balls.”
    Austin cringed and stopped dead in his tracks. “Shit. I thought that name had died a death.”
    “I’m resurrecting it unless you tell me what happened between you and Miss Congeniality.”
    Sighing, Austin sat at the table Gabriel had set up. “Can’t. Sorry.”
    Gabriel’s brows rose knowingly. “Ahh, one of those.”
    Shaking his head, Austin tried to head Gabriel’s assumption off at the pass. “Not like that. Not even close.”
    “Then what?”
    Austin glanced at Lacey, but she was busy helping the two guys she was with create a magical mini forest, all lit up with blue twinkle lights. Gabriel had been in a godforsaken war zone when the Copper Mountain drug bust had gone down, so Lacey’s name wouldn’t mean anything to him. For Lacey’s sake, Austin wanted to keep it that way. As much as he detested her crime, the parole board had decided she deserved a fresh start. He was trying his best to respect that. “She’s just someone I met at work. That’s all. Don’t ask any more questions unless you want me to dig my nose into your private life.”
    “Hey, my life’s an open book.”
    Austin gave him a disbelieving look, and Gabriel returned a wry smile. “These days, anyway. But fair enough. Everyone’s entitled to their secrets.”
    That they were, but the secret in this case was Lacey’s, not Austin’s, and it wasn’t so secret in this town. Still, that didn’t mean Austin had a right to spread it further. “Tell me what you want me to do.”
    Gabriel handed him a shoebox full of tickets that had clearly been made by his kindergarten-teacher fiancée, Molly, and her eleven-year-old son, Josh. The box had been covered in red felt and had puffy white stuff glued around the edges, as if it had been made of Santa’s hat. The tickets themselves were an explosion of clip-art—dancing elves, a ruddy-faced Santa, mistletoe and ivy—and laminated to protect them from Montana’s December weather. They were such a labor of love that Austin grinned as he flicked through them. “You’re a lucky man, bro.”
    “You have no idea. Molly and I are taking Josh to see Santa at the Graff, and we’ll slip away for the tree-lighting ceremony, but we’ll come back here in between to give you a break.”
    “You don’t have to do that.”
    Gabriel made a face. “And you don’t have to sit here all day selling tickets for us.”
    “I know I don’t have to. I want to. What are uncles for?”
    Gabriel’s smile started slowly,