Joy to the Wolves (Red Wolf #1) - Terry Spear Page 0,120

at the shop.”

“I don’t have one. I’ve never worn a Christmas sweater.” Josh supposed he could wear the red sweater his brother had picked up for him.

“Hold on.” Brooke grabbed a package from under the tree, returned to the bedroom, and handed it to Josh.

He was already wearing a pair of jeans, and he smiled. “Then I need to give you a Christmas present early.”

“Sounds like a great idea.”

He opened his present while she pulled on her own sweater of a Christmas tree with lights that said: Get lit. His was blue and white, with a picture of a reindeer skiing down a slope wearing ski glasses.

“I love this.” Anything reindeer was perfect. Why hadn’t he thought of that before? He gave her a hug.

“Are you sure? We could always give it to Maverick as a Christmas present.”

“No way.” Josh pulled the sweater over his head and sat down to put on his socks and boots. “I’ll get your present in a minute.”

She had just put on her boots when Josh returned to the bedroom with a present for her. She eagerly opened it and laughed. The sweater of a reindeer had a big red nose and Christmas lights tangled in his antlers. “I. Love. This.”

“You’re part of a reindeer family now, besides being part of a wolf family.”

She switched sweaters and hugged and kissed him. “I love my sweater, and I’m so thrilled to be part of the reindeer family.”

“We need to get one for Maverick too.”

“I did. I just didn’t expect you to get me one. I love it.”

* * *

After they had an early breakfast of pancakes and sausage with Lucas and Adam, Josh and Brooke headed over to the shop while Adam went to work and Lucas updated Brooke’s website at the house. She was so excited because she’d received a text saying the men were coming to pick up the imperial vases. Having that done would be such a relief. Once the money cleared, she and Josh would be well off—secure if the shop didn’t do well or the reindeer ranch fell on hard times.

She’d barely opened the shop when the men arrived to pay for the Chinese vases and take possession of them.

“I’ve got to handle this transaction,” she told Josh.

“Do you need my help?” He looked like he wanted to be her bodyguard detail, which, after all that had happened, she totally understood.

“Yes, if you’ll watch the shop while I do this.”

“I’ll sure do that.”

“Thanks.” She led the men to her house and served them wassail and tea cakes, then retrieved the imperial vases for them to see. She couldn’t believe this was really happening, and she was thrilled.

Lucas seemed fascinated while he enjoyed the wassail and tea cakes too.

The Chinese antiquities expert verified they were authentic. Yes! Then he paid Brooke the funds in a wire transfer. She was glad to have had the vases for a short while and gladder still to give them to someone who would share them with the world instead of keeping them sealed in a steamer trunk in a dusty attic. And to have all that money! She wanted to dance around the room and howl.

She couldn’t be happier to thank the men and see them leave with the vases in hand. All smiles, she escorted them back through the shop and out through the front door where they strode off with their treasure. She joined Josh behind the counter and hugged him, not caring that he was trying to check out a couple of ladies’ merchandise.

“All done?” he asked, smiling down at her.

“Yeah. I’ll cancel the insurance on them. The buyer will have to insure them now.” That was what she was doing when the door to the shop opened. It was the mail carrier with three boxes.

“I’ll get them,” Josh said, handing over the register to Brooke.

As soon as he signed for them, he nodded to Brooke. They were the ones Daisy had to be after.

Her customers left the shop with their packages in hand.

Josh and Brooke moved the boxes to the office, and Josh immediately called Adam. “The boxes are here. Okay. See you soon.”

She was already opening the first of the boxes and was going through the stuff as quickly as she could. “Ohmigod.” She smiled to see the Steiff mohair Christmas reindeer, the tag saying its name was Renny. He was just adorable.

Josh glanced over at her.

“Nothing. Just…don’t look.” She slipped it into a sack and set it aside for Josh