Read It's Not Christmas Without You (The Holloway Series) for Free Online Page B

taught them that trick. She’d seen him do it a million times. Focus on the person in front of him as if there was no one else in the world.
    Good thing she’d brought the thermos because this could be a long wait. She opened the shed door and heard the low rumble of voices. Not just voices, the familiar sound of football play-by-play.
    “Leave it to Austin to find a rebroadcast of the West Virginia game on the radio.”
    Shaking her head, she set the bag of plastic containers down on the makeshift office’s desk, along with the coffee and soup. She’d almost made it back out when Austin stepped inside, bringing a gust of frigid air with him.
    “Only a true fan would have the repeat game on when he can’t be in the room to listen to it.” She leaned over and fiddled with the knob on the side.
    “Hey, what are you doing there?”
    “Turning it off?”
    His eyes grew wide in mock horror. “Rebroadcast or not, touching that dial would be a criminal offense.”
    “I’ll settle for turning it down.” And she did before he could yell about it. “Go Mountaineers.”
    “Could use more enthusiasm since they lose this one to Pittsburgh, but better.” He blew on his gloved hands. “It’s going to snow.”
    “You could always tell.”
    “Not sure if it’s my innate ability to read the signs or the fact it started coming down a second ago.”
    She leaned in and glanced out the big window that overlooked the lot. “Ah, brilliant.”
    White flecks filled the near-black sky and landed on the tree branches. She inhaled and even through the walls could pick out the refreshing scent of pine, the same smell she associated with Holloway and hayrides and hours of racing around outside once the school cancellation announcement came across the crawl on the bottom of the television screen.
    If she closed her eyes she could blink her way back to the wooded acres surrounding Austin’s house and relive the last winter she spent there. The nights so deadly quiet except for the soft rustle of branches and slick click of icy snow as it fell and piled in feet-high stacks.
    Austin slid a thigh onto the desk and studied her. “What are you thinking about?”
    “Why?”
    “You’re smiling.”
    The memory filled her with the same comfort as a cozy blanket on a cold night. “Trudging through the snow until I could barely lift my leg and was so tired I almost fell over. Impromptu snowball fights and the rumbling sound of the snow blower.”
    “You’re kind of making me hot.”
    She coughed out a laugh and kept going until she doubled over and her stomach ached. When she opened her eyes again, he was at her side with that soft expression of amusement on his sexy mouth.
    He slipped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her body tight to his. “You okay there?”
    “You make me smile.”
    His hand tightened on her arm. “Good to know.”
    “Everything about you tempts me.”
    “Then I’ll stay quiet to keep from messing this moment up.”
    She turned in his arms, settling in and resting her palms against his chest. “You know this isn’t about you or my feelings for you, right? It’s never been a matter of being unsure about those.”
    He just stared at her.
    She rested her forehead against his. “You can talk, you know.”
    A long breath escaped his chest and blew across her cheek. She could feel every last inch of him tense under her fingertips.
    “Gotta be honest. The break-up feels like it’s about me. I’m the one you left. That you keep leaving.”
    The sadness in those blue eyes zapped her strength and left her weak and shaking. She searched for the right words to shift the blame back to her where it belonged.
    Fancy explanations and big psychology words filled her brain. She pushed it all out and went with the simple truth. “I don’t want to be my mother.”
    His eyes narrowed but his hands kept up their soothing brush against her back. “I don’t get it.”
    “Mitch and I have known for a few years that