Read Online Forever Santa by Leeanna Morgan - Free Book Online Page B

Gracie didn’t drink a lot of coffee, but she’d never said the smell annoyed her. The coffeepot was always on, waiting to spit out the thick, black, tar she said would kill him.
    “What’s so important that you can’t come into town for baby-sitting duties? Chris said the girls don’t plan on being home late. Not with the weather the way it is.”
    “What’s happening tonight?” Jacob asked.
    Trent put his coffee mug on the counter. “Every Friday a group of us get together. One week the guys are kids free and the next Friday the girls get to have a night on the town.”
    “We’re on baby-sitting duties tonight,” Jordan said. “You have to come, Trent. Nathan and Adam can’t make it. I’ll be stuck with a houseful of kids.”
    “Ben, Sam, and Chris will be there. You’ll survive.” Trent grinned at his brother, then bit into another cookie. He needed to work on Gracie’s Christmas present. If he didn’t put in a few hours tonight he’d never get it finished in time. “And you have to go. You promised Gracie you’d take her.”
    “How many kids are you talking about?” Jacob rinsed his coffee mug in the sink and looked over his shoulder at Jordan.
    Sensing a willing victim, Jordan pushed the cookie tin closer to Jacob. “Six kids and as much pizza and ice cream as you can eat. We’ll be back here by half past eight. You could stay the night. Trent’s got plenty of room.”
    Jacob laughed at Jordan’s desperation. “I’ll come, but I’ll head back to mom and dad’s ranch afterward.”
    Jordon high-fived Jacob, and Trent breathed a sigh of relief. He had a couple of hours to work on Gracie’s present. As for Gracie, he just hoped she enjoyed the time away from the ranch.
     
    ***
    Gracie laughed at Tess. She was line dancing in the middle of Charlie’s Bar and Grill. Her blonde hair flicked out behind her. She turned to the right, grinning like a cat caught licking a bowl of whipped cream.
    “Why aren’t you out there with her?” Emily slurped the last of her drink through the little red straw in her glass. When Gracie didn’t answer straight away, she leaned across the table and stared at her. “You love line dancing.”
    “I’m letting my dinner digest.” The pasta she’d ordered was still chasing the side order of mushrooms around her stomach. And then there was the pop Emily had bought her. Combined with the pasta and mushrooms it was doing funny things to her body.
    “Is it the baby?” she whispered.
    Gracie didn’t know if it was her imagination, but the music in the bar seemed to dip at the pivotal word in Emily’s question. She looked at the booths and tables around them. No one sitting under the wrought iron lights seemed to hear what she’d said.
    She was sure there would have been at least one curious gaze if they’d heard Emily’s question. After all, this was Bozeman, home of emerging Facebook connoisseurs and the town most likely to get excited by the birth of a baby.
    She knew this from her conversation with Doris Stanley at Jake’s Hardware store this afternoon. Over cordless drills and chain saws, Doris had dissected the latest gossip going around town.
    As a lasting memento of some of the colorful blunders people didn’t want to remember, Doris had started her very own Facebook page. She’d developed a strong following among new parents and parents-to-be. Little photos of the latest additions to the population were published, drawing a large number of ‘likes’ each week.
    Emily pushed her empty glass away. She slid around the vinyl seat in their booth until she was beside Gracie. “You’ve been worried about something all night. Is everything else okay?”
    Gracie stared at the top of the table. “I called mom and dad before I left the ranch. They’re in Las Vegas.”
    “What are they doing there?”
    “Alex was competing in the National Finals. He had an accident.”
    Emily sat completely still. For a few minutes she didn’t say anything.