Read Online TAKE A CHANCE (Chance Colorado Series) by Melissa Mayhue - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Melissa Mayhue
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being locked in this place all by herself was much creepier than simply wandering around up here in the dark. “I’ll be down in just a few minutes.”
How long could it take to unstack these boxes and check the bookcase? Five minutes. Ten tops.
Dragging all the boxes to the center of the room where the light was best took considerably longer than she’d anticipated. Once she had them all down and within reach, she knelt in the middle of her newly found treasures and lifted their lids, one by one, pulling out books and sorting them into stacks.
Gone With the Wind, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre and…
“Oh my,” she breathed, carefully running her hand over the cover of one of her all-time favorites, Pride and Prejudice .
It had been years since she’d last read Elizabeth and Darcy’s story. On her lap, the book almost seemed to fall open by itself, and her fingers flipped the pages as if controlled by someone from afar. Her eyes flickered over the words, slowly at first, then more quickly as the story took on a life of its own.
Allie was over a third of the way through the book before she surfaced back to reality. Some sliver of noise had broken through her barriers and into the magical world in which she’d immersed herself. Some noise that snagged her attention and caused her to lower the book. Head tipped to the side, she listened. It had been a noise like…
Damn. She was normally so observant. This sort of thing only happened when she lost herself in a story. Her brain had definitely registered something out of the ordinary, but she wasn’t sure exactly what it might have been.
How long had she been up here, anyway? Her cramped muscles told her it had to have been quite some time. With the draperies pulled over the windows, she had no way of judging if any light was left outside. Maybe the twins had come back to check on her. She started to call out to them to let them know where she was but caution—and that familiar trickle of dread—held her tongue.
What if it wasn’t the twins?
Again she listened, holding her breath to eliminate any outside noise. That might have worked if her heart hadn’t been pounding so loudly in her ears that it drowned out everything else.
There! Another sound. A squeaking noise she recognized.
The stairs.
“Shit,” she whispered, clutching the book to her chest, where her heart thumped a quickening tattoo against her ribs.
It could be anyone! She’d told her cousin to leave the door unlocked, and from the looks of how far she’d read into the book, that must have been hours ago.
She fought the panic pressing against her lungs and forced herself up to her knees in spite of her left foot having gone to sleep where she’d sat on it. It was ridiculous giving in to a silly childhood fear this way. Of course she’d hear squeaks up here. The building was well over a hundred years old. If she’d been paying attention instead of being lost in her reading, she’d probably have heard all sorts of groans and creaks. She only heard it now because her foot had lost all feeling and was already pulling her out of the book.
Yeah. That was it. That had to be it.
Another squeak sounded, closer than before, followed by a thud that could be nothing other than a foot on the stairs. A big foot.
Her panic returned, so well reinforced this time that her throat closed off and the expletive she wanted to shout had no hope of passing her lips.
When a large figure filled the doorway, she drew back her arm and launched the only weapon she had at hand—her precious hardback book.
* * *
The coffee shop was dark when Logan pulled up, but he could swear he saw light flickering behind the window coverings on the second floor. He knocked on the door once and waited.
No response.
Allie’s car was still parked in the lot, so she had to be here. Either that or her car had died on her again and she’d walked home.
Only she wasn’t at home, so he refused to even consider that
How long could it take to unstack these boxes and check the bookcase? Five minutes. Ten tops.
Dragging all the boxes to the center of the room where the light was best took considerably longer than she’d anticipated. Once she had them all down and within reach, she knelt in the middle of her newly found treasures and lifted their lids, one by one, pulling out books and sorting them into stacks.
Gone With the Wind, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre and…
“Oh my,” she breathed, carefully running her hand over the cover of one of her all-time favorites, Pride and Prejudice .
It had been years since she’d last read Elizabeth and Darcy’s story. On her lap, the book almost seemed to fall open by itself, and her fingers flipped the pages as if controlled by someone from afar. Her eyes flickered over the words, slowly at first, then more quickly as the story took on a life of its own.
Allie was over a third of the way through the book before she surfaced back to reality. Some sliver of noise had broken through her barriers and into the magical world in which she’d immersed herself. Some noise that snagged her attention and caused her to lower the book. Head tipped to the side, she listened. It had been a noise like…
Damn. She was normally so observant. This sort of thing only happened when she lost herself in a story. Her brain had definitely registered something out of the ordinary, but she wasn’t sure exactly what it might have been.
How long had she been up here, anyway? Her cramped muscles told her it had to have been quite some time. With the draperies pulled over the windows, she had no way of judging if any light was left outside. Maybe the twins had come back to check on her. She started to call out to them to let them know where she was but caution—and that familiar trickle of dread—held her tongue.
What if it wasn’t the twins?
Again she listened, holding her breath to eliminate any outside noise. That might have worked if her heart hadn’t been pounding so loudly in her ears that it drowned out everything else.
There! Another sound. A squeaking noise she recognized.
The stairs.
“Shit,” she whispered, clutching the book to her chest, where her heart thumped a quickening tattoo against her ribs.
It could be anyone! She’d told her cousin to leave the door unlocked, and from the looks of how far she’d read into the book, that must have been hours ago.
She fought the panic pressing against her lungs and forced herself up to her knees in spite of her left foot having gone to sleep where she’d sat on it. It was ridiculous giving in to a silly childhood fear this way. Of course she’d hear squeaks up here. The building was well over a hundred years old. If she’d been paying attention instead of being lost in her reading, she’d probably have heard all sorts of groans and creaks. She only heard it now because her foot had lost all feeling and was already pulling her out of the book.
Yeah. That was it. That had to be it.
Another squeak sounded, closer than before, followed by a thud that could be nothing other than a foot on the stairs. A big foot.
Her panic returned, so well reinforced this time that her throat closed off and the expletive she wanted to shout had no hope of passing her lips.
When a large figure filled the doorway, she drew back her arm and launched the only weapon she had at hand—her precious hardback book.
* * *
The coffee shop was dark when Logan pulled up, but he could swear he saw light flickering behind the window coverings on the second floor. He knocked on the door once and waited.
No response.
Allie’s car was still parked in the lot, so she had to be here. Either that or her car had died on her again and she’d walked home.
Only she wasn’t at home, so he refused to even consider that
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