Bet on a Mistletoe by Yvette Hines Read Free Book Online Page B

town holiday party.”
          Lorna
slowly sipped from her coffee and wondered if Tasha had seen more behind the
bar than she knew or perhaps had seen the kiss.
          “Before
you try and deny it. Remember who you’re talking to.” Tasha warned. “I know
better than anyone about your feelings for Richard, even before he kissed you
during spring break. You talked about it for a month. I kept waiting for the
moment you’d pass out in the hall if he smiled at you.”
          Damn,
she was caught. “Thank goodness he didn’t know it was me.” Setting her cup
down, she confessed, “Fine. My feelings for Richard are still there. But,
that’s it. We haven’t talked about anything else. Maybe once I figure out the
rest of my life I’ll think about it.”
          “Girl,
you can’t make love wait…again.”
          “Look,
Tasha, I don’t even know if he’s seeing someone.”
          “That’s
easy. He’s not. In February he broke up with his last girl friend, Mindy
Cooper, who up and married someone from Winston-Salem this summer and moved
away. She’s due in January.”
          Lorna
laughed at her friend’s report.
          “Small
town remember.”
          “Yeah. Well, I’m not committing myself to anything. I’m not
going to rush things. If he brings it up, then we’ll see.”
          “Good.
Well, as lovely as this has been, I need to get to the store to pick up the
supply for holiday crafts tomorrow.”
          “You
and your parents still do crafts for Christmas Eve?”
          “Every year. With the girls it’s an adventure.”
          Tasha
grabbed her purse and the now empty salad dish and headed to the door.
          “How
about lunch for the New Year?” she asked.
          “Great.
I’ll host this time.” Tasha agreed.
          “Good
then I’ll--”
          “The
hell you will cook.”
          Lorna
laughed. “I was going to say bring sweet tea and a fruit tray.”
          Smiling
Tasha said, “Perfect. It is good to have you home.”
          She
hugged Tasha, then watched her pull away.
         

           “Good night, Mr. Huntley.” Lorna stepped
off the porch of the Huntley’s green and white L-shaped rancher and pulled her
bomber jacket tighter around her neck. The temperature had dropped in the
thirty minutes she’d visited with the older couple and collected her parent’s gifts.
          “Be
careful on your way home the snow has started.”
          Lorna
noticed as her boots made prints in the light covering on the ground as she
headed to her car. “I will.”
          Getting
into her car she started it up and backed out the drive way. It was just beginning
to get dark when she pulled up, now it was pitch black. The last thing she
wanted was to end up in a ditch.
          Once
she reached the rode she honked her horn as she drove off.
          The
snow was coming down steady and sticking. Mr. Julian most likely was sitting in
his front yard with his snowplow already warming, waiting for enough to
accumulate so he could clear the roads.
          Even
with them in the mountains it very rarely snowed at all, then not enough to
plow. She remembered when he bought it her senior year and everyone laughed.
          “Well,
you got the last laugh, Mr. Julian.”
          The
Huntley’s lived at the very outskirts of the county and with the current
weather conditions it seemed even further. The weatherman had predicted snow
but when she headed out she hadn’t conceived that it would be this bad.
          Thirty
minutes later she was still trudging along miles from home. She knew she’d have
to pull over soon at a neighbor’s house until Mr. Julian got the roads clear.
Her parents would be worried and she would need to use a house phone. Cell
phones rarely worked in her county.
          At
least she didn’t have to worry about her car conking out on her,