Second Chance (Cold Springs Series Book 1) by Nancy Henderson Read Free Book Online

certainly couldn’t blame her for that.  The little diner had always been the backbone of this town.  It was a place everyone gathered and talked about everything and everyone.  That certainly wasn’t likely to change.
    And you’re not likely to find anything but trouble around her either.
    Yeah.  He didn’t need any more trouble.  He’d gone through enough for one lifetime.
     
    ~ * ~
    Sam grabbed her cell phone from the counter.  “Hello?”
    “Samantha Stone?”
    “Yes.”
    “This is Mike from We-Move-It Movers.  We can’t find your house.”
    The call took Sam completely off guard.  They weren’t scheduled to arrive until two days from now, but she needed her things and she was more than willing to make this work. 
    “We just drove the whole length of Main Street.  We don’t see an address.”
    “How about if I stand outside and flag you?”
    “That’ll work.  We’ll make another pass.”
    Sam hung up and went outside to wait for the movers.  Excitement filled her.  It would be good to have her personal things around again, would feel more like her.  Not to say it wouldn’t feel more like home because strangely being immersed in Aunt Jean’s world was so like home it was almost surreal. 
    The October sky hung low with dark clouds threatening a thunderstorm.  The scent of fall loomed in the air, rotting leaves and the smell of burning firewood coming from the chimney on the house down the street.  This was what she remembered about Cold Springs, and it filled her with hope.
    Half an hour passed with no traffic whatsoever.  She called Mike again.  “Hi, this is Samantha Stone.  Where are you?”
    “We’re on Main Street.  Where are you standing?”
    Sam didn’t understand.  “I’m standing in front of the brick building.  I don’t see you.”
    “We don’t see you either.”
    “Okay…”  There must be some sort of mistake.
    She heard the sound of rustling paperwork coming through her cell.  “601 Main Street, Cold Springs, Virginia.  That’s where we are.”
    Disbelief smacked her in the face.  “Cold Springs, New York.”
    Silence on the other end. 
    “Doesn’t your paperwork say New York?”
    “Okay…well, this is a problem.  We’ll have to figure this out.”  More paperwork rustling. 
    “You’re not going to double charge me, are you?”
    “You’ll have to take that up with the office, ma’am.”
    “But I distinctly said New York.”
    “We’ll get back to you.”  The line went dead.
    “Hello?” Sam hit end on her phone and went back inside.  She went straight to scrubbing the oven, eager to take her frustration out on something physical.
    “Of all the stupid things…”  Great.  Now she was talking to herself.  What next?  If she started answering, she’d have real problems.
    The one immediate action which would take her mind off her problems, she was quickly learning, was cleaning, and Lord knew she still had plenty of that to do, especially in the kitchen.  Marching into the storeroom, she found a bucket, rubber gloves, and a box of scouring pads, and she thought she’d get a jump on the work ahead.  She started on the grill first. The grill top was black with old built up grease.  
    She put on rubber gloves up to her elbows, grabbed her bucket and scouring pads.  She didn’t know how many hours had passed before she started to see the actual grill surface. Perspiration beaded her forehead and soaked her hair.  She wondered when she’d last worked this hard outside of a gym.  Funny, she would never need use of one now with all the physical work running this place would take.  Not that Cold Springs had an actual gym anyway. 
    No matter, think of the money she would save. Satisfaction slowly surfaced as the grill top began to show through the grease.  When she was finished, she got down on her hands and knees and proceeded to scrub the front of the grill.  She scrubbed around a small stainless steel handle. Must be a