Page 54 of Cowboy Stolen Kiss for Christmas

“You didn’t do anything with it.” Her father moved silently across the room to join her and Lucy. “You left it on the table in the RV. Your mother and I found it and put it away for safekeeping.”

Laura pressed a hand to her chest in relief. “Oh, good! Where is it now?”

“With Sheriff Skelton, I’m afraid.”

“Why?” Laura was confused.

“Because it was stolen.”

“Stolen,” she repeated, quaking.

“Yes. And the last thing your mother and I wanted was for you to be accused of having anything to do with taking it — not after working so hard to leave that mess behind us.”

Laura nearly toppled off her stool. “What mess? What are you talking about?”

“It’s a long story. The short version is, I promised to call the police the next time I laid eyes on Brex Morrison. They’re on their way now to arrest him.”

A wail of sirens sounded outside the store windows. Laura scrambled down from her stool. She hurried to the front of the store with Lucy on her heels.

Sure enough, Brex was being held spread eagle against the side of a police cruiser.

“It’s over, my precious girls.” Akaya Lee materialized at Laura’s side and slid an arm around her middle. She held out her other arm to Lucy, who quickly joined their huddle.

“What’s over?” Laura still wasn’t clear about what they were witnessing.

“Brex is a jewelry thief. So are Oak and Trent Burgess. They’ll be going away for a long time. He won’t be bothering you anymore.”

“I can’t believe it.” Laura’s heart skipped a few beats at the realization that she’d almost married a criminal. A man she’d kissed. A man she’d once trusted with her life.

“I can.” Lucy’s voice was bitter. “There’s always been something about him that rubbed me the wrong way. I just didn’t know what it was until now.”

“Be that as it may, your father and I were taken in by him at first, too.” Their mother hugged them tighter. “You weren’t the only one, Laura. He talks a good game. Beneath all of his Old World charm, though, is a very dangerous man.”

Laura shivered, unable to deny what she was hearing. However, her horror was accompanied by no small amount of sympathy. “I wonder what’s going to happen to his grandparents now that?—”

“There were no grandparents,” her mother sighed. “Or any nursing home. He made up that story to keep you from reporting the theft of your toy designs to the police.” Her voice turned bitter. “And the reason he stole them was so he’d have a place to hide all those stolen pieces of jewelry.”

Laura drew a pained breath. “You mean inside the snowmen nutcrackers?”

“Bingo. It was so much easier to carry and mail the stolen goods around undetected that way.”

There were so many layers to Brex’s deception that it was difficult to keep them all straight. The one Laura still didn’t understand was where she’d fit into all of it. Had he truly fallen in love with her, or had that been just another layer of deception?

“I know what you’re thinking, Laura, and I wish I knew what to say to make you feel better.” Her mother’s voice was soft.

“Do you think any of it was real?” It certainly had been on Laura’s part. “Do you think he felt anything for me at all?”

“I do.” Regret echoed in her mother’s voice. “If he didn’t, I doubt the sheriff would’ve been able to link him to the tampered fuel tank on Ames’ airplane.”

Laura’s knees grew weak at the reminder of just how far her ex had been willing to go to get her back. He’d been willing to kill for her! She drew a shuddery breath. “How many more gypsy craftsmen were involved in the thefts?” She was almost afraid to ask.

“We’re not sure, hon.” Regret echoed in her mother’s voice. “All I can tell you is there were some bad eggs in that basket. That’s the real reason we cut ties with the group and moved to Pinetop. For years, we’d suffered break-ins to our cash box. We knew it had to be an inside job, because it continued to happen no matter how many state lines we crossed. When Brex followed us here and the thefts started up again, we realized he must be part of it. The moment Sheriff Skelton approached us, we told him everything.” She shuddered. “We should’ve gone to the law sooner. We thought we were protecting our family by keeping quiet. In the process, we almost lost you.” She hugged Laura tighter.

“But God had other plans for us,” Laura assured softly.

“But God,” her father echoed, joining them in front of the window.

It was a long time before any of them spoke again. They watched in eloquent silence while Brex was handcuffed and driven away, each adrift in their own thoughts.

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