Read A Christmas for Hope for Free Online

cocked a brow.
     
    Lucas winked.
     
    “Fine.” She sighed.
     
    “Were you jealous?” He folded his lips in to keep his mirth contained.
     
    “Of all the questions…”
     
    Lucas watched as a hint of red crawled up her neck and a giddy feeling rushed through him. Her mouth opened and closed, yet she didn’t say another word. He tightened his grip on the tree branch to prevent himself from taking her into his arms. She narrowed her eyes and he could no longer stop the silly smile he was sure had erupted on his face.
     
    “Ahh, there you are. I thought I’d lost you two. I see you found a tree?” The southern Santa-look-alike stepped out of the shadows.
     
    “Yeah, she likes this one.” Lucas pounded it on the pavement to make sure the needles didn’t all fall off. “It’s a little thin but if Hope likes it…how much?”
     
    The old man scratched his beard and pursed his lips, rocking on his toes. He folded his arms across the top of his belly before bursting out in laugher that seemed to shake his whole body. “Son, since you’re my first customers of the season, consider it a gift.”
     
    “Oh, thank you.” Hope beamed brightly at the elderly gentleman and Lucas.
     
    “Sir, I have the money.” Lucas dug into his back pocket.
     
    “Call me Nick and it’s my pleasure.” He waved his hand, staring at Hope as he did so. Nick took the tree and started to walk away, stopping long enough to look over his shoulder. “You kids coming?”
     
    Without thinking Lucas grabbed Hope’s hand and tugged her next to him so they could trail behind Nick. Once out of the maze of pines, he escorted her to the car and helped her into it. He headed back to the men and Nick pushing the tree through netting to wrap it tight. The old guy handed some twine to one of his workers and they took the tree from him, taking it to the car. As Lucas walked away from Nick, he placed a weathered hand on Lucas’s arm.
     
    Lucas turned and looked down at the restraining limb before raising his eyes to meet the twinkling blue gaze of Nick. “Did I forget something?”
     
    “This is just an observation but any woman who can put a smile on your face the way she does from just being around her is a keeper.” Nick handed him a red and green base to water the tree and keep it upright.
     
    Lucas wrapped his hand around the metal contraption and turned to stare at the car. “She is amazing, isn’t she?”
     
    “Anyone you feel that strongly about is worth fighting for. But again this is just the mutterings of an old man.”
     
    Lucas turned back to question the wizened man to find he’d disappeared. He twirled in a circle and realized except for him and Hope everyone had vanished. The small tree was strapped to the car. Rolling his shoulders, he dismissed the odd experience. It was time to get his girls home. His step faltered and he stood rooted in place at the realization that he considered both mother and baby his. Lucas wiped a hand across his chin and chuckled.
     
    Ever since he helped with those forms scattered across the floor of her workstation he’d been drawn to her. She brought out a protectiveness in him he thought he’d lost with his calf. The more time he spent with her the less he focused on his shortcomings. She didn’t allow him to feel like less than a man and wouldn’t let him wallow in his own self-pity. Hope made him feel like he could take on the world and win. He didn’t want to lose that, he didn’t want to make a mistake and lose her. Now he just had to convince Hope that she was stuck with him.
     
    § § §
     
    Hope slept through the remainder of the ride, only to wake up to the sound of scratching on the automobile’s roof. She shouldered the door open and swiveled in the seat, setting her feet on the pavement. Covering her mouth with her hands, she yawned, stretched, and stifled a second yawn looking around for Lucas. She found him walking down the stairs of her apartment building. His