Page 22 of Cowboy Stolen Kiss for Christmas

“I don’t know.” Laura truly didn’t know how they’d ultimately ended up in his hands. “I showed them to him. That’s all I can tell you. After he broke up with me, I couldn’t find them. I was in such a bad headspace after that, I sort of forgot all about them. Until now.”

“We can’t let him get away with this,” Lucy seethed. “There has to be something we can do.”

“There most certainly is.” Ames sounded grim. “We can report him to the vendor oversight committee and get him booted from the craft fair.”

“No.” Laura straightened on her stool. “Let me handle this.”

Ames’ hand slid away from her back.

Lucy stared at her, aghast. “How?”

“I’m going to confront him.” She wanted the truth, and this might be the only way she was ever going to get it.

“Not alone you’re not,” her sister snapped.

Laura sought out Ames’ gaze again. “Do you feel up to doing a little more pickup riding?”

“For you?” He cocked his head at her. “Always.”

His words filled her with warmth, chasing away some of the coldness created by his latest revelation about Brex.

It was with a heavy heart that Laura explained to her parents where she was going and what she was going to do when she got there.

Haruki Lee’s mouth tightened with disapproval. “I’ll go with you.” He laid down the carving tool he’d been wielding.

“Ames has already offered to,” she assured quickly.

Her father speared him with dark, angry eyes. Then he slowly nodded. “Go.”

Ames drove her in silence the short distance to the Pinetop Civic Center. He didn’t speak until he found a parking spot. Then he turned to her, looking resigned. “You ready for this?”

She nodded, though it was hardly the truth. How was a person supposed to prepare for a confrontation with their ex, in which they planned to accuse them of theft? There was no precedent for a situation like this. It felt like she was living out her worst nightmare all over again.

Ames opened the door and exited the truck, reaching up to give her a hand down. She refused to let his hand go, keeping a tight grip on it as they strolled toward the sandstone building.

A red and white balloon arch marked the entrance doors. Classic love songs lilted out of the speakers mounted on both sides of them.

Only when Ames held open the door on the right for her did she drop his hand. Pinetop was a small town where people needed little provocation to start rumors about who was dating who. She was in no mood to feed that beast. She was a woman on a mission — to get some answers at long last.

As she and Ames approached Brex’s booth together, he slowed his steps. “Since you asked for a pickup rider, I reckon that means you want me to hold back for now?”

“I think that would be best.” She gave him a beseeching look. “Just don’t go far. Please?”

For an answer, he pressed a hand to his heart.

“Thank you.” She clung to his gaze for an extended moment. Then she reluctantly let it go.

It felt like one of the longest, hardest walks of her life to finish the last twenty to thirty steps toward Brex’s craft booth. She walked right up to the table and stared pointedly at him, waiting for him to notice her presence.

He was speaking with a customer, accepting payment for one of his snowmen nutcrackers.

It gave her time to get an eyeful of the snowmen. Her heart sank a little further with each detail she took in. There was no denying it. As she’d feared, Brex had stolen her designs.

She could sense the moment he noticed her. The professional smile he had pasted on faded as he finished the transaction and faced her.

“I can explain.” It was three short words, but they were as good as an admission of guilt.

“Please do.” Her voice shook.

---