Page 42 of Cowboy Stolen Kiss for Christmas

There was something about his persistence that was impressive. And appealing. And all the other things she didn’t want to be feeling for a guy like him. “For the sake of this argument, let’s say you’re right,” she said slowly.

“We both know that I am, babe.”

Babe? She rolled her eyes at him. His cockiness knew no bounds. “Why should I even consider entering a relationship that is statistically doomed to fail? Long-distance romance works better in the movies than in real life.” She should know. She’d been there, done that, and gotten that t-shirt.

His blond eyebrows flew upward. “I don’t know what stat you’re quoting, because research shows that a whopping 60% of long-distance relationships succeed.”

She stared at him in astonishment. “You actually researched it?”

He faced her obstinately. “I’m trying really hard not to be insulted by that question.”

As they glared at each other in the moonlight, she could see the genuine hurt in his eyes. Her lips parted to apologize.

“Sounds like you two are arguing again,” a man drawled from the pavement beside the float. “Shocker.”

Lucy stiffened as she recognized his voice. “If you’re looking for my sister, she isn’t here, Brex.” Unlike Laura, she saw zero point in being nice to a jerk like him.

“Where is she?” he demanded, peering inside the float to verify her statement.

Though Lucy didn’t consider her sister’s whereabouts to be any of his business, she decided to tell him the truth,just so she could watch him squirm in misery. “She’s on her way to Dallas for the weekend with her favorite cowboy.” She wished she had some popcorn to shovel down while enjoying his reaction.

To her amazement, he dropped like a rock to his knees and started choking. Or sobbing. Or throwing up. Or some combination of those things. It was hard to tell in the darkness.

Lucy leaned over the side of the float, trying to decide if she should call for help.

Just as suddenly as he’d fallen, however, he shot back to his feet and took off running.

“Brex?” she called after him.

He didn’t turn around.

Flint moved to her side to stare after him. “That was weird.”

“Very weird,” she agreed, chewing on her lower lip. She’d been expecting Brex’s rage and maybe a bit of arrogance, not a complete emotional meltdown.

Only because she was standing so close to Flint did she hear his cell phone buzz with an incoming message.

He pulled it from his back pocket and scanned the screen. Whatever he read made his features grow abnormally pale in the moonlight.

She reached over to touch his arm. “Bad news?”

“It’s the airplane.” His voice was hoarse. “Ames and Laura are in trouble!”

Lucy felt her insides grow numb as he explained that they were losing fuel. Ames had only a couple of minutes to get himself and Laura back on the ground before it was too late.

She reached for the railing on the side of the float, gripping it with both hands. There was only one thing she could do to help his brother and her sister during the short time they had left. She started to pray.

CHAPTER 9: AFTERSHOCKS

Ames listened to the set of coordinates coming through the ears of his headset. “Copy that. I’m heading that way now.” A strange calm had settled over him during the past minute or two — enough to shoot off a hasty message to his brothers.

Plane is in trouble. Losing fuel. Please pray. Love, Ames

He’d added the love part in case he never got to see them again. Probably scared the bejeebers out of them, but there was no time to worry about that. Hopefully, they’d pray that much harder after reading it.

He could hear Laura praying on the floor behind him. Not weeping. Not acting hysterical. Just praying. He was surprised she wasn’t having another one of her panic attacks.

“All of our hope is in You, Lord.” Her soft, pleading voice surrounded him in the narrow space, buoying him from the darkness of his thoughts. “Whether it’s our time to go, or if You still have more plans for us, I’m grateful for every moment You’ve given me with my parents, my sister, and Ames.”

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