Read To Thine Own Self Be True for Free Online Page B

her head. “You able to keep ahead of the snow here?”
    I stood, too, and moved to the window, where I could see flurries beginning outside. “We do our best.”
    She walked toward the door and opened it. “At least we won’t have people complaining about not having a white Christmas.”
    Just not having a merry one.
    She left, shutting the door behind her, and I watched until she made it out to her car, backed around in the space we’d cleared, and headed out the drive. I jammed my hat back on my head, zipped up my coveralls, and went to find Nick.
    We finished shredding the newspaper and broke for lunch, a short affair punctuated with Tess’ comments about Christmas and computer games. Lucy had sent her upstairs when the cops had arrived the night before, and we’d told her nothing about their visit. So Tess was still in the Christmas spirit, even if the rest of us were finding it difficult to cooperate.
    The remainder of our day was filled with transporting hay, filling feed bins, moving more snow, helping Doug with the milk truck—which arrived almost two hours late—thawing a couple of frozen water bowls, setting up space heaters at problem areas, and cleaning out the heifer barn and the soon-to-be-mother pens. All of which, of course, led us right up to the evening milking.
    Nick worked smoothly with me in the parlor, helping to feed the cows and taking his side of the aisle during the milking. By the time we’d cleaned out the stalls and re-filled them with new straw and shredded newspaper, he was yawning.
    “Come on,” I said. “Let’s see what Lucy’s cooked up for supper.”
    The fragrance hit us as soon as we walked in. Garlic, ginger, and steamed rice.
    “Oh, wow,” Nick said. “Will it taste as good as it smells?”
    “Better,” I said. Even my touchy stomach responded with a positive rumble.
    We hung up our coveralls, washed our hands, and greeted Tess, who held a kitten in her arms. She held her out to Nick. “This is Smoky.”
    Nick stroked the kitten’s head. “How old is she?”
    “Six months.”
    “Very sweet.” He looked at me. “The litter from this summer?”
    “Yup. You can tell how long it’s been by how big she is.”
    His chest rose and fell as he pondered this. I hadn’t meant it to be a dig at him, but he apparently took it as one.
    “Come on,” I said. “Let’s see if Lucy’s ready for us.”
    She was, and we almost did justice to her stir-fry chicken, followed by an incredible German chocolate cake.
    “Geez, Lucy, what is this?” I asked. “Gourmet dining?”
    She grinned. “Just thought I’d make a little something special. It’s not every day we have out-of-town guests.”
    Nick sat back in his chair. “Guess you wish I’d come around more often, huh, Stella?”
    I looked at him. “For the desserts?”
    He lifted a shoulder, his expression turning pensive.
    “Can-I-be-excused-Mom-thank-you-for-supper,” Tess said. “Nick, come look at my computer game. I just got to a new place.”
    “Tess—” Lucy said.
    Nick smiled. “It’s okay. I’ll be glad to see it. Thank you very much for supper.”
    He followed Tess into the living room, and I got up to help clear the table.
    “He’s nice, Stella,” Lucy said, watching him go. “Really nice.”
    I didn’t answer, concentrating on stacking plates in the dishwasher after rinsing off the most offensive food hangers-on.
    “Pretty darn cute, too,” Lucy said.
    I spun around. “He’s a developer , Lucy. He lied to me, working here under false pretences, and left. He hasn’t called or written in six months, and now he stops in here without warning? It’s not nice.”
    Lucy scraped rice into a Tupperware container. “So he stays until the roads are open, and goes home. You never have to talk to him again. Is that what you want?”
    I sank against the counter. “I don’t know what I want.”
    She opened the fridge and stacked the containers of leftovers inside. “Well, you have at least until