SNOWFIRES by Caroline Clemmons Read Free Book Online Page A

"Go into the
bathroom until you thaw. It's the warmest room in the house." She
shooed him with a spatula. "I'll call you when breakfast is ready.
The furnace can wait until after you've eaten."
    He offered no protest, but tossed the
borrowed gloves and cap on the clothes dryer before he left the
room. She heard a crash.
    "Ow, same damned table." More mumbled curses
followed while he made his way through the darkened house. As if
his diatribe were not sufficient, a glance at the kitchen table
told her he’d forgotten to take a candle or the halogen lantern
he’d used on his way to the well house and back.
    When everything was ready, she held a candle
in the doorway to shed a soft glow across the living room before
she called him to breakfast.
    Trent entered the kitchen and sniffed
appreciatively. Her pleasure at his approval surprised Holly. She
watched as he slipped the jacket from his shoulders and hung it on
the back of a kitchen chair.
    "Well, well. I've never had breakfast by
candlelight."
    "You'd better enjoy it. Grandma sent lots of
ham, but these are the last eggs and bread." She passed him the
toast.
    "We have a source for eggs, remember?" Even
in the candlelight, she saw the pleasure in his expression. "Wow. I
haven't had real toast in years. This looks great." He sunk his
teeth into the bread.
    "You mean toasted under the oven broiler
flames instead of in an electric toaster?" She hoped he skipped any
comment on the crispy corners of the heavily buttered toast.
    He took a bite of the toast and closed his
eyes as he chewed. "This is great. Only thing better is cinnamon
toast."
    "Oh, yes, when the sugar and cinnamon melt in
the butter and get sort of glazed?"
    He looked at her with surprise and their
gazes locked. For just a few seconds time ceased to exist. Such a
small matter, but a kind of mutual understanding passed between
them. Even through their differences, they shared similar
feelings.
    She flushed again at the memory of their
simultaneous dreams last night. If she had not fully wakened when
she did, they would have shared much more than a dream. Even the
memory of the pleasure his touch evoked sent tingles zinging
through her. She licked her lips and recognized the same memory in
his eyes.
    He placed the toast on his plate and shifted
uncomfortably. "Yeah," he answered the question she had already
forgotten. His eyes focused on his plate as he cut his ham.
"Where’d you learn to cook?"
    She reached for her juice, grateful for the
cool liquid, and took a sip before she answered. "I do most of the
cooking at home. My sister...my half-sister Angela helps me." Poor
Angie would be stuck with all of it in Holly’s absence.
    “ Figured you’d have a lot of servants
to do the mundane things. I remember an older woman answered the
door when I called.”
    “ Our housekeeper, Marnie Parker, lives
in. Linda and Nell come weekdays to help clean. Marnie is better at
cleaning and organizing than cooking and she’s getting on in years
so I prepare most meals.”
    He glanced up with a frown. "What about your
stepmother? Doesn't she help?"
    Holly carefully controlled her voice and
face. "Geneva is not exactly Suzie Homemaker. She skips breakfast
and dines out whenever possible."
    "And your other half-sister...sorry, don't
mean to pry."
    Echoing his words of the previous day, she
said, “Yes, you do."
    When he smiled, her heart caught in her
throat. Against her will, she returned his smile. "It's okay.
Marnie’s visiting her daughter in Fort Worth. Geneva and the girls
went to her parents in Frisco for the weekend, but were due back
Sunday. If they’d stayed at home, Angie would have cooked."
    "So Angie is the oldest sister?" He shrugged
his shoulder. "I spoke with your stepmother several times, but
never met her daughters...um, your sisters."
    Holly would bet a week's salary Geneva had
made a pass at Trent at least one of those times. Her stepmother
saw every good looking man as a challenge. This man