T. McClure - An Allegheny Homecoming

He laughed, a deep, rumbling laugh and suddenly she felt better than she had since he had pulled her from underneath the car. “You need the energy more than I do.” Crawling onto the floor just as she had minutes before, he stood. “I’ll see if I can find something to go with a single Hershey Kiss.”

Ten minutes later she sat on the chair, the quilt around her shoulders. Coffee bubbled in the glass top of an old-fashioned percolator tucked close to the fire. Using one of his gloves as a hot pad, Josh picked up the pot and poured each of them a coffee. “I have no idea how old this coffee is.” He walked over to where his coat hung on a hook by the door and reached into a pocket. When he returned he handed her a cookie and placed the bag between them.

Wendy picked up the mug covered with pink roses and sipped. “Is this your cabin?”

His mug was dark green with the words Army Mom on the side. “Belongs to my family.”

Funny, but she didn’t remember ever seeing the man across from her around town. She set down her cup, reached for a cookie and took a bite. “Not bad. Try one.” The man carried homemade sugar cookies around in his coat pocket. The treat reminded her of something, but she couldn’t recall what. Her mother certainly wasn’t a baker, even during the holidays. She watched the man, roughly her own age, she decided, devour his cookie in two bites. “You must be starved. You can have the rest. I’m still working on this one.”

“No, we share. That’s fair.” He reached for another cookie. “But I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone eat a cookie as slowly as you.”

“My father says I eat slowly because I like to savor my food.” She smiled, thinking of her parents’ exasperation with her dawdling over dessert as a child.

“Speaking of parents, aren’t yours worried about you? I grabbed your purse from the car. Maybe you should call somebody? A boyfriend? A coworker, even.”

Wendy laughed at the thought of calling Phil away from his family. Only then did Wendy notice her purse next to her boots. Reaching over, she searched the contents for her phone. She held the screen next to the fire to see. “Dead. I was wondering what time it is.”

“Oh dark thirty.”

Smiling at his response, she dropped the phone back in the purse. “No boyfriend. And my parents are away, not that they would notice. Dad is with his other daughter. His favorite.” She forced a smile and decided to change the subject. She held up the rose cup. “Seems like an odd choice for a manly man such as yourself.”

He laughed. “That’s my mom’s.”

She took a deep breath and felt a little better. Although plenty of serial killers had mother issues. “This has been quite the adventure.” She tilted her head toward the back corner of the room. “What’s behind that door?”

The man twisted to see where she was looking. “The bathroom. Green.”

“Green?”

“Compostable.”

“Oh. Well, at least there’s a bathroom.”

“I have my priorities.” His grin disappeared when he picked up the two remaining cookies. “You should eat these. Your body needs to manufacture heat to make up for your drop in body temperature.”

“I’ll make you a deal. I’ll eat one more if you eat the other.” She held up the Hershey Kiss. “And we split this.”

His teeth flashed behind the beard. “Deal.”

She picked up the tiny pyramid of chocolate, bit off half and handed her companion the remainder.

“Thank you.”

She shivered. The half of her body next to the fire was warm, but the other half was freezing.

“You should get back under the blanket. This cabin wasn’t intended for winter occupation.” Taking her empty cup with the roses, he carried both over to the counter.

Wendy slithered under the covers and rolled over so she faced the fire. She heard him use the bathroom, then walk over to the chair that she’d just vacated. A heavy silence filled the room. Military. Oh dark thirty was a military reference. She shivered again.

“Still cold, huh?”

“I can’t sleep,” she whispered.

“Me neither. Must be the caffeine in the coffee.” Josh shifted in his seat, staring at the fire. “I could go for a bowl of ice cream.”

Wendy rolled her eyes. “There’s a blizzard right outside that door, and you want ice cream?”

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.