Snowfall on Haven Point by RaeAnne Thayne Read Free Book Online Page B

skateboarding and another time backcountry snowboarding with friends in the mountains east of Haven Point.
    Considering all the crazy things he used to do with his brothers and Cade, it was a wonder he came out of childhood with only those few battle scars.
    His mother would freak when she found out he’d been struck by a hit-and-run driver.
    Charlene was a fretter, of the highest order. She had always been overprotective, wanting to keep all her children tucked safely under her wing like a hen with her chicks, but she had gone into overdrive after Wyatt’s tragic death and then his father’s life-altering injury.
    The shooting at Andrea’s house earlier in the year had only made her worse.
    That he was injured on the job as well, while trying to meet a confidential informant, would probably send her over the edge. Good thing Elliot worked in Denver with the FBI or she would be camped out on his doorstep every day, making sure he came home safely from work.
    He took one more bite of shortbread from the tin Andrea had brought, which automatically sent his thoughts zooming back to his neighbors next door and the problem he didn’t know what to do about.
    He was still mulling his options when he drifted to sleep and dreamed of headlights coming toward him in the silvery twilight of a Lake Haven December.
    * * *
    F URTIVE WHISPERS AND the sensation of being watched woke him out of tangled dreams.
    â€œIs he dead?” Marsh heard a nervous little voice ask.
    â€œI don’t know,” another one answered. “Maybe we should poke him to see.”
    â€œYou do it,” the first voice said.
    â€œNo, you.”
    â€œNobody’s poking anything,” a more mature voice interjected quietly. He opened his eyes a crack and saw Andrea Montgomery walk inside the room with a stack of mail that she set on the table beside him.
    Her cheeks were rosy from the cold and she looked pretty and soft and more delicious than all the shortbread in Scotland.
    He blinked, wondering where the hell he came up with that thought.
    â€œLeave the poor man alone and let him finish his nap,” she said to her children in a low voice.
    â€œI’m not napping,” he growled—though he had been doing exactly that. He must have slept all afternoon, like some old geezer in a nursing home with nothing better to do.
    â€œIf you weren’t napping, why were your eyes closed?” Will Montgomery said, his tone accusatory.
    â€œJust checking for holes in my eyelids,” he answered, which had been his father’s standard answer when one of his kids caught him dozing off in church.
    The little girl, whom he had seen only briefly the day before when she slipped in and out of the room like an afternoon shadow, gave a little giggle. The sound seemed to take her by surprise because she quickly clamped her lips together and looked down at the ground.
    â€œSorry we woke you,” Andrea said, her tone brisk. “I have your groceries. I also brought you some chicken casserole and a couple pieces of spice cake.”
    â€œI thought you weren’t coming until later.”
    â€œWe have something tonight and I’m not sure how long it will go, so this time worked best.”
    â€œIt’s a party and my friend Ty is going to be there,” her son announced. “It’s at my mom’s friend McKenzie’s house. She has a dog who’s my friend, too, and her name is Paprika. Only, we call her Rika.”
    With his mom’s auburn hair and a scattering of freckles, the kid was really cute, Marsh had to admit. Too bad he wasn’t very good with kids. His uniform had always seemed to make them nervous around him—like the boy’s sister was acting.
    â€œI know that dog,” he admitted.
    Will took a step closer to the recliner. “Rika is funny . She licks my hand and it tickles. Guess what? We have a dog, too. We’ve had her for two whole weeks and her name is