Read Snowflakes and Coffee Cakes for Free Online Page B

shoulder, noticing her walk over wearing a green dress and bomber jacket. He wonders where she’s coming from, dressed up like that. “They’re live traps. Cages. So we can transport the animal elsewhere after we catch it.”
    “Thank goodness. Because I really need to get in there and start cleaning it out.”
    “No problem,” he answers, turning up the collar on his cargo jacket and glancing at the gray sky.
    “Did you see my dad on TV this morning, predicting the winter weather?”
    “Never miss Leo Sterling’s Addison Almanac. He may be right about the snow this year. I feel it in the air.”
    “It could snow every day and he’d be so happy.” She pulls a magnifying glass from her jacket pocket. “He gives me these all the time, to look at snowflakes up close. Says you’ll never get bored snow-watching, it’s nature’s artwork.” A cold wind lifts off the cove water and Vera looks up to the widow’s walk on her house roof. “I’m thinking I’ll have a bird’s-eye view of the snow this winter. You can see all the way out to the Connecticut River up there, which must’ve been the sea captain’s intent when this house was built.”
    Derek looks up to her roof and zips his jacket against the wind.
    “Come on inside and warm up. I’ll put on coffee.”
    He glances out toward the sea captain’s view of the water, then back at Vera who apparently isn’t taking no for an answer, already headed quickly toward the side door into the house. “Sure, that sounds good,” he calls after her.
    “Be careful.” She points down at one of the steps on the short flight of stairs. “That one’s creaky.”
    He sets his boot on it and the soft wood gives beneath a little pressure. The edges are showing signs of rot, too. “You should add it to your list. I’d hate to see you hurt yourself if it gives out.”
    “Okay, but for now, I’ll be stepping around it. At least until my cash situation improves.” She unlocks the door and they go into her kitchen. “Which, I’m happy to say, will be soon. I got a job today,” she tells him with a little curtsy, then sets her purse on the counter.
    “Well, congratulations,” Derek says as he first looks back at the slamming screen door that needs a new spring, before slipping out of his jacket and draping it over the back of one of the distressed-white wooden chairs. A pendant light hangs over the round table from the painted beadboard ceiling and a collection of red ceramic apples lines the countertop.
    “It’s not much, but it’s a start. Writing for the Addison Weekly .”
    “Hey, not bad.” He pulls out the chair to sit, watching as she puts coffee grounds into the coffee pot. “At least you’re on familiar territory.”
    “I am. My first assignment is to write about the Holly Trolley. You know, before the Christmas season gets into full swing.” She pulls two mugs from the burgundy cabinets and turns to him. “Speaking of which, I know it’s not an easy time of year for you. Brooke told me about Abby, and I’m so sorry about your loss. It can’t be easy.”
    “It’s not, really. It’s just something that’s there. That we deal with.”
    After a quiet second, Vera asks what most people don’t want to mention. “What happened, Derek?”
    He hesitates, then turns up his hands. “You know kids. It got really cold for a few days that December and the water froze early on the cove. She was walking home from school with a couple friends, it was a Friday. And seeing all that ice, I don’t know, I guess they got excited and wanted to test it. For skating.” He waits while Vera fills his mug with hot coffee. “But it had just frozen and wasn’t very thick. I got a call at work,” he says while pouring cream into the cup. “To get to the cove right away.” He folds up his shirt cuff and glances at his watch. “When I got there, they’d just found her.”
    “Oh, Derek.” She sits across from him at the table and reaches over to give his arm a