Snuffed Out (Book 2 in the Candlemaking Mysteries) by Tim Myers Read Free Book Online

I parked the truck
and walked around the mostly empty grounds until I came to the
water’s edge. There was a shop there that rented canoes and kayaks
that I hadn’t seen before. I found a woman in her late twenties out
front working on an old wooden canoe.
    “ Getting your rentals in
shape?” I asked as I watched her sand through layers of
paint.
    She looked up and laughed as she brushed an
errant strand of black hair out of her face. “I wouldn’t dream of
putting this out for rental. This one’s going to be all mine.”
    “ So you work at this shop
and restore boats, too?”
    She smiled. “What can I say? I’m a woman of
limited interests.” She stuck out a hand and said, “I’m Erin
Talbot.”
    “ It’s nice to meet you,
Erin. My name’s Harrison Black.”
    She nodded, then ran her fingertips across
the patch she’d been sanding. As she worked, Erin asked, “Have you
ever been out on the water?”
    “ I canoed at summer camp,
but that was a long time ago. Do you get many folks who want to
paddle the Gunpowder?” The river was a little too wide and fast for
my tastes.
    “ It’s protected here, though
how they ever had the nerve to call this Gunpowder Lake I’ll never
know. I do most of my own serious paddling in the
mountains.”
    “ What rivers have you been
on?”
    “ Let’s see, I like the
Nolichucky, the French Broad, and the Nantahala the best. They’re
all drivable from here, so I can shut the place down and do it as a
day trip.” She gestured to her rentals and asked, “Why don’t you
take one out?”
    “ A canoe? I don’t think so.
Unless you’d care to join me. You can even steer.”
    She laughed. “As tempting an offer as that
is, I’ve got to stay with the shop. If you don’t want to canoe by
yourself, why don’t you try a kayak? I’ve got some that are lots of
fun.”
    I raised an eyebrow as I said, “Fun is in
the eye of the beholder.”
    “ Come on, Harrison, give it
a try.”
    “ Why not?” I found myself
taking a quick lesson on dry land, and before I knew what was
happening, I was in an open kayak on the water.
    “ Use the paddle like a
windmill,” Erin called out to me, and I was amazed to find myself
slicing through the water with a great deal more ease than with the
remembered canoe. “Hey, this is fun.”
    “ I told you so,” she laughed
as I sped away.
    I was tempted to go all the way up to
River’s Edge, but I was afraid my muscles would be too sore if I
pushed it that hard on my first time out, so I drove myself
upstream, then drifted lazily back to Erin’s shop. What a sense of
freedom being out on the water gave me. I could look down and see
fish darting below me one second, then see a wedge of sandbar the
next. Where I’d fought with a canoe paddle as a kid, drowning my
companion as I switched sides, I took to the kayak instantly. What
great fun to glide across the water.
    Erin was waiting for me when I slid silently
up to her dock. The effect was spoiled somewhat when I failed to
stop in time and scraped the side of the kayak on the pier.
    “ Sorry about that,” I said
sheepishly as I climbed out.
    “ These things are designed
to take a beating,” she said. “Have fun?”
    “ That was excellent,” I
said. “I will absolutely be back!”
    Erin nodded as she settled up my account.
“I’ll be here. Unless it’s a day I head to the mountains.”
    I walked out of the rental shop, surprised
by the stiffness in my shoulders and the tightness on my face. Next
time I’d have to use sunscreen before I went out on the water. The
only thing I knew for sure was that there would definitely be a
next time. Erin intrigued me, and I had to admit that it would be
more than the kayak rental that would bring me back to her shop.
She was a woman I wanted to get to know better.
    It was still too early to head back to
River’s Edge, so I decided to stop in at A Slice of Heaven, a pizza
place Heather had introduced me to, and grab a bite to eat.
    I started