Read Online Snow One Like You by Kate Angell - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Kate Angell
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beauty of the moon and the stars; the snow
sparkling under the low-glare trail lights. The quiet night air
carrying the sizzle of the ski’s edges. The breathlessness and
exhilaration of reaching the base.
Rhys ran one hand down his face, said,
“I’ve free time on Friday. We’ll get together then. I’ll text you
once I’ve spoken to my parents about your shop. Hopefully before
noon.”
She nodded, accepting his heavy
schedule. They would have little face-time this week. No sex,
either.
A final light kiss, and he climbed
from the SUV. He tapped on the rolled up window, mouthed ‘Later.’
She drove off, as happy as she was confused. Her only uncertainty:
where she stood with Rhys. She wished she knew. Business associates
seemed imminent. Lovers, appealed greatly. Was there permanence
between them? Or had sex merely satisfied his curiosity.
They were good together, Allie
admitted. In bed and out. Their history strengthened their future.
She looked ahead now. Not back.
Her prediction of a mediocre business
day proved wrong. She was swamped, from the moment she opened the
front door. Townspeople and holiday visitors couldn’t get inside
fast enough. Allie got pinned against the wall. Her eyes wide. Her
heart pounding. She barely got the door closed before it swung open
again.
A flourish of shopping, and both the
after-Christmas specials and New Year’s Eve items flew off the
shelves. She rang up sale after sale, her fingers cramping on the
cash register keys. A phenomenal day for retail. Her inventory
would soon expand to cover two stores.
She took lunch at two
o’clock. Sneaking back into the kitchen for a ham and cheese
sandwich and slice of apple pie. She stood at the counter and
checked the messages on her iPhone. There were four. Two from Rhys.
Two from her parents. Those from Rhys caught her attention
quickest. Shop’s a go. Check it out,
anytime had her dropping onto a chair,
lightheaded with excitement. His miss
you warmed her heart.
She next called her parents and
brought them up to speed. Tears banked her eyes when they accepted
without question her desire to expand. They lent both family and
financial support.
Gave her their blessing. Her life was
close to perfect.
She closed Hartley’s at seven. A long
evening stretched ahead. Lonely without Rhys. She stuffed her
jacket pockets full of pinecones, and went to the barn. To check on
the twins. The scent of fresh foliage and hay tickled her nose.
Mylo from the horse stables down the road had mucked out the barn,
replacing the hay. He did so once a day.
The landscaping service had delivered
low-bush cranberries planted in enormous metal buckets. A moose
treat. Maynard had a sweet tooth. She’d been so busy with
customers, she hadn’t heard Bill Pritchard arrive. Or depart. The
twins had wandered outside, then back in, while Bill unloaded the
bushes. They’d tracked in snow.
The boys came to her. Snorting and
sniffing for pinecones. They picked her pockets clean. Then stood
and stared into space, as if expecting Rhys to appear. “Not
tonight, guys,” she told them. She spoke to them often, whether
they understood her or not didn’t really matter. “We may not see
him for a few days. He’s busy at the lodge.” She scrubbed them both
behind the ears with her knuckles. Scratched their muzzles. Then
headed back to the store.
She took a bubble bath. Read in bed.
Let the night envelop her.
Friday arrived, the scurry of the week
behind her. Tomorrow was New Year’s Eve. She didn’t have a date.
Not an official one, anyway. Rhys had called her every day,
sometimes twice. They’d caught up. There’d been no mention of a
celebration. Just a reminder of their Friday dinner
engagement.
She planned to arrive early, and check
out the game room. Rhys said the staff had cleared out the space.
The grand opening of her gift shop was set for the first of
February. She had a month to organize and inventory Alys. The name
of her store combined both Allie
sparkling under the low-glare trail lights. The quiet night air
carrying the sizzle of the ski’s edges. The breathlessness and
exhilaration of reaching the base.
Rhys ran one hand down his face, said,
“I’ve free time on Friday. We’ll get together then. I’ll text you
once I’ve spoken to my parents about your shop. Hopefully before
noon.”
She nodded, accepting his heavy
schedule. They would have little face-time this week. No sex,
either.
A final light kiss, and he climbed
from the SUV. He tapped on the rolled up window, mouthed ‘Later.’
She drove off, as happy as she was confused. Her only uncertainty:
where she stood with Rhys. She wished she knew. Business associates
seemed imminent. Lovers, appealed greatly. Was there permanence
between them? Or had sex merely satisfied his curiosity.
They were good together, Allie
admitted. In bed and out. Their history strengthened their future.
She looked ahead now. Not back.
Her prediction of a mediocre business
day proved wrong. She was swamped, from the moment she opened the
front door. Townspeople and holiday visitors couldn’t get inside
fast enough. Allie got pinned against the wall. Her eyes wide. Her
heart pounding. She barely got the door closed before it swung open
again.
A flourish of shopping, and both the
after-Christmas specials and New Year’s Eve items flew off the
shelves. She rang up sale after sale, her fingers cramping on the
cash register keys. A phenomenal day for retail. Her inventory
would soon expand to cover two stores.
She took lunch at two
o’clock. Sneaking back into the kitchen for a ham and cheese
sandwich and slice of apple pie. She stood at the counter and
checked the messages on her iPhone. There were four. Two from Rhys.
Two from her parents. Those from Rhys caught her attention
quickest. Shop’s a go. Check it out,
anytime had her dropping onto a chair,
lightheaded with excitement. His miss
you warmed her heart.
She next called her parents and
brought them up to speed. Tears banked her eyes when they accepted
without question her desire to expand. They lent both family and
financial support.
Gave her their blessing. Her life was
close to perfect.
She closed Hartley’s at seven. A long
evening stretched ahead. Lonely without Rhys. She stuffed her
jacket pockets full of pinecones, and went to the barn. To check on
the twins. The scent of fresh foliage and hay tickled her nose.
Mylo from the horse stables down the road had mucked out the barn,
replacing the hay. He did so once a day.
The landscaping service had delivered
low-bush cranberries planted in enormous metal buckets. A moose
treat. Maynard had a sweet tooth. She’d been so busy with
customers, she hadn’t heard Bill Pritchard arrive. Or depart. The
twins had wandered outside, then back in, while Bill unloaded the
bushes. They’d tracked in snow.
The boys came to her. Snorting and
sniffing for pinecones. They picked her pockets clean. Then stood
and stared into space, as if expecting Rhys to appear. “Not
tonight, guys,” she told them. She spoke to them often, whether
they understood her or not didn’t really matter. “We may not see
him for a few days. He’s busy at the lodge.” She scrubbed them both
behind the ears with her knuckles. Scratched their muzzles. Then
headed back to the store.
She took a bubble bath. Read in bed.
Let the night envelop her.
Friday arrived, the scurry of the week
behind her. Tomorrow was New Year’s Eve. She didn’t have a date.
Not an official one, anyway. Rhys had called her every day,
sometimes twice. They’d caught up. There’d been no mention of a
celebration. Just a reminder of their Friday dinner
engagement.
She planned to arrive early, and check
out the game room. Rhys said the staff had cleared out the space.
The grand opening of her gift shop was set for the first of
February. She had a month to organize and inventory Alys. The name
of her store combined both Allie
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