Melting Snow. Leora Gonzales

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      LYRICAL PRESS

      Kensington Publishing Corp.

      www.kensingtonbooks.com

      Copyright

      Lyrical Press books are published by

      Kensington Publishing Corp. 119 West 40th Street New York, NY 10018

      Copyright © 2017 by Lenora Gonzales

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

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      First Electronic Edition: November 2017

      eISBN-13: 978-1-5161-0688-2

      eISBN-10: 1-5161-0688-1

      Printed in the United States of America

      Dedication

      Richard, you are the best partner in crime I could have ever asked for.

      Chapter 1

      “Winnieeeeeee!”

      Winter rolled over in her cozy bed and squinted at the alarm clock.

      “Go away, Jasmine!” she yelled, her voice still groggy with sleep. “And stop calling me Winnie!”

      “Winnie!” This time the yelling was followed by a solid thump to the cheap door holding her roommate at bay.

      “What did you do? Run into the fucking door?” Sliding from her fuzzy blankets, Winter stumbled to the door and swung it open.

      “You don’t have to be a bitch. I wanted to bring you dinner in bed and give you your Christmas present before I left for my mom’s,” Jasmine grumbled as she pushed past her roommate to drop a bag of takeout Chinese onto the bed.

      “I’m sorry, Jas. I guess I just napped harder than I thought I would.” Winter slapped her cheeks lightly to help herself wake up.

      “Winnie, you need to take it easy.” Digging into the bag, Jasmine pulled out an eggroll. “These part-time jobs are gonna kill you if you keep it up.”

      “I told you to stop calling me that.” Winter snagged the eggroll out of Jasmine’s hand and took a bite. “If you keep calling me that, I’m gonna start calling you Minnie. Then we’ll be Minnie and Winnie,” Winter threatened with her mouth full.

      The women had been instant friends from the moment they’d met. Winter was older than Jasmine by five years but seemed to be behind her in life. When Winter had answered an ad for a roommate one year ago, it had been one of the best things she’d ever done. Jasmine was only twenty-two but extremely dependable and hard-working. Going to nursing school during the day, she had the help of her well-off family to take care of her living expenses as long as she did well in her classes.

      Winter’s situation was completely the opposite. She’d been working full-time since she graduated high school. College had been put off since she didn’t really know which direction she wanted to go in. After working in an office for years and getting passed up for promotions, she knew the time had come to get a degree or find herself treading water for the rest of her life. Unlike Jasmine, Winter didn’t have a wealthy family as a fallback for help. Living off school loans, a small scholarship and part-time jobs, she made ends meet. Having sold her car, she rode the bus. Instead of living alone, she found an apartment with a roommate. It actually was working out amazingly well except that she was exhausted all the time. Going back to school at twenty-seven was going to possibly kill her if she didn’t catch a break soon.

      Winter was startled out of her thoughts when Jasmine tossed a fortune cookie at her chest.

      “Do not call me Minnie! I’ll stop. I promise.” Jasmine glanced around Winter’s room as she spoke. “This place is a mess. Are those all dirty clothes?” Jasmine seemed horrified at the size of the fabric mountain in the corner.

      “Don’t judge me! I haven’t had time to do laundry in two weeks. Finals kicked my ass.” Chewing for a moment, Winter scanned the large calendar on the wall by her door. “I have Christmas off so I’ll hit the laundromat then.”

      “That’s fucking depressing.”

      “Gee thanks.” Winter shrugged. “I decided to quit my job and go back to school. Welcome to my new reality.”

      Jasmine passed over some more food from the bag, giving her a sad look. “I still wish you could’ve taken a few days off. You СКАЧАТЬ