1420135090 (R) by Janet Dailey Read Free Book Online Page A

human icicle!” she said.
    “I f-feel like one, too.” His teeth were chattering.
    Kylie laughed—the first he’d heard her laugh since they were in school together. He’d forgotten how much he used to like that sound.
    Back then, he’d liked a lot of things about Kylie Summerfield. She was pretty, she was smart, and she was nice to everybody. But she was the perfect girl—perfect looks, perfect clothes, perfect grades, perfect reputation—a girl who wouldn’t be caught dead with a troublemaking loser like him.
    So he’d stayed away. And he’d be smart to stay away now.
    Her hand brushed his arm. “You’re freezing! Aunt Muriel, where can I get a blanket?”
    “Try the hall closet,” Muriel called from the living room, where she’d gone to sit with Amy.
    Kylie flitted away and came back with a woolen Indian-style blanket, which she unfolded and wrapped over his shoulders. Shane tugged its warmth around him.
    “Can I make you something hot?” she asked. “Some cocoa?”
    “Sounds good.”
    “I’ll take some, too,” Amy called from the living room. “How about you, Aunt Muriel?”
    “You bet,” Muriel said.
    “Me too.” Hunter had finished the dishes.
    “Okay! Cocoa for everybody. We’ve even got marshmallows.”
    Wrapped in the blanket, Shane sat and watched as she gathered her supplies and began heating the cocoa. There was something cozy about sitting here, watching a pretty woman make something good. Kylie had changed since high school, he thought. She was softer, warmer—and sexy, damn it. Sexy in a way the perfect girl he remembered hadn’t been.
    Too bad he wasn’t in the market. Now that he had the chance to leave Branding Iron forever, the last thing he wanted was to get tied down in a relationship, especially with kids involved.
    “Mom?” Hunter stood beside her. “Can I have my phone back now?”
    She took the phone out of her pocket. “Here. But remember to behave yourself. If I have to take it again, it’ll be for longer.”
    “I’ll remember!” He snatched the phone, turned it on, and began texting, his fingers a blur.
    Kylie set out five mismatched mugs and dropped a marshmallow into each one. When the cocoa was hot, she filled the cups, set one down on the table next to Shane, handed one to Hunter, and put the rest on a tray.
    “Thanks.” He sipped the hot chocolate, tasting the marshmallow foam on his lips. He could hear the TV from the living room. Kylie walked through the open archway to set the tray on the coffee table. He found himself hoping she’d come back to the kitchen and keep him company, but she settled herself on the couch, next to her daughter, to watch the show. His only companion in the kitchen was Hunter, so absorbed in his phone that he might as well have been a robot.
    The storm was a real blue norther, and it wasn’t letting up. Wind clawed at the siding on the house. Snow hammered the windowpanes. Lulled by the sweet, hot cocoa, Shane was growing drowsy when, suddenly, from somewhere outside, there was a flash and a boom.
    The lights flickered and went out, plunging the house and everyone in it into blackness.

Chapter Four
    “O h no!” The wail came from the living room. Shane recognized the tween-age voice of Kylie’s daughter, Amy. “This isn’t fair! It was just getting good!”
    Shane pushed to his feet, leaving the blanket on the chair. “Is everybody all right in there?”
    “No!” It was Amy again. “It’s not fair! I want to watch my show!”
    “Stop being a baby!” Hunter spoke from a dark corner of the kitchen. “The power went out, that’s all. Who cares if you can’t watch your stupid show? Hey, at least my phone still works!”
    “Mom!”
    “That’s enough, both of you. If you can’t be helpful, be quiet,” Kylie said. “We’re fine, Shane. Just sitting here in the dark. Any idea what happened?”
    “There’s a transformer on a pole by the road. I’m guessing it shorted out, maybe blew over, or even got hit