The Cottage on Juniper Ridge. Sheila Roberts

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СКАЧАТЬ back to admire her handiwork. The table looked lovely if she did say so herself. Her centerpiece was simple—an elegant Fitz and Floyd pitcher shaped like Saint Nicholas and filled with red carnations she’d purchased at Lupine Floral and surrounded with holly taken from the bush in their backyard. Very festive, she thought with a smile. Every woman should own something by Fitz and Floyd.

      The doorbell rang and she hurried to welcome the first arrival. There on the porch stood Cass Wilkes, bearing her signature contribution, a plate of gingerbread boys and girls. She and Stacy were close in age and, as with Stacy, Father Time and Mother Nature were conspiring to put extra pounds on Cass’s hips. Of course, owning a bakery probably contributed to the problem.

      “You seem tired,” Stacy observed, stepping aside to let her in.

      “Tired doesn’t begin to describe it,” Cass said, handing over the plate. “Every year I say I’m not going to be so busy, but every year I get busier. I’m up to my ears in orders for gingerbread houses. Both Amber and Willie want to have Christmas parties, which they expect me to bake for.” She shook her head. “I’ve got to get those two more at home in the kitchen. Dani was always my right-hand woman and I’m afraid I let it slide with the other two.”

      Cass’s oldest daughter, Dani, had worked in the bakery with her for years. But when Dani married she’d moved away. It looked as if Cass was still trying to pick up the slack, both at work and at home. A business to run, two teenagers and a dog—no wonder she was tired.

      “Speaking of Dani, how’s she doing?” Stacy asked.

      Cass’s face lit up. “Great. She loves culinary school. And she and Mike are coming home for Christmas.” Cass sighed. “I hope I can manage to get my Christmas shopping done before they get here.”

      “At least you don’t have a wedding to plan this year.”

      “No, but my ex and his family had such a good time last year they’re all coming up for Christmas again.”

      “Tell me they’re not staying with you.” Cass had wound up turning her house into a B and B for her ex-husband and his new wife when they came to town for her daughter’s wedding. Somehow, before she knew it, all her former in-laws had descended on her. They wound up having so much fun, they’d decided to stay on and celebrate the holiday at her place. Apparently they were making that a tradition now. Poor Cass.

      “No,” Cass said. “This year I was smart enough to book ahead. They’re all staying at Icicle Creek Lodge. But the whole mob’s going to be at my place for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.”

      She was still talking when Charlene Albach (Charley to her friends) arrived. Tall and slender in her stylish jeans and boots, her red wool coat and black beret, she could’ve been in a shoot for a winter edition of some magazine.

      “Hey, gang,” she said, and gave Stacy a bottle of wine. She studied Cass a moment. “You look more tired every time I see you.”

      “Nothing a week in the Caribbean wouldn’t fix,” Cass joked. “You look great as always. Love must agree with you.”

      Stacy hoped so. She hadn’t known Charley before Juliet Gerard started the book club. She did know that Charley had endured a rough couple of years. Her skunk of a husband had left her for another woman, then returned last Christmas, asking her to try again. Stacy wasn’t sure what had happened. All she knew was that things hadn’t worked out, and he beat feet back to Seattle. On top of that her restaurant had burned down and she’d had to rebuild. But now the restaurant was better than ever. So was Charley’s love life.

      Juliet came in right behind Charley.

      “Speaking of tired,” Cass said to Juliet as the women moved into the living room. “You look like you could use a month’s sleep.”

      Hardly surprising considering that Juliet had an eleven-month-old and was working part-time at Mountain Escape Books.

      “Jon has a cold. We were up half the night.” Juliet walked into the living room and fell onto the couch. “Somebody should have warned me how much work babies are.”

      Stacy and Cass exchanged smiles, two maternal warriors who had survived the early years. “I’d like to say it gets easier,” Cass said, “but my mama told me never to lie.”

      “Where’s everyone else?” Juliet asked, glancing around.

      “Cecily’s sick,” Stacy said. “And Chita called a few minutes ago to say she’s running late.”

      “What about Dot?”

      Dot was the senior member of the group. She was a chain-smoker with a smart mouth and everyone loved her. The fact that they forced themselves to eat the smoke-infested cookies she brought to their monthly meetings was proof of it.

      “Dot’s dropping out.”

      “Dropping out?” Cass echoed. “First Chelsea and now Dot.”

      Juliet let out a sigh. “I can see why Chelsea gave up. She’s exhausted. And...” She paused, building anticipation.

      Chelsea had been in the book club since the beginning and the members had been there for support when her clueless husband was driving her nuts. He’d finally figured out how to be both a good husband and a good father. So, with him helping so much at home, there could only be one reason Chelsea was too tired for book club.

      “She’s pregnant,” Stacy guessed.

      Juliet confirmed it.

      “With two kids under the age of three, I don’t blame her,” Cass said. “But what’s Dot’s excuse?”

      “She said she’s got too much on her plate.”

      Cass rolled her eyes. “Oh, brother. What’s that got to do with anything?”

      Dot was an inspiration to them all. In her sixties, she could run circles around almost everyone in the group. She owned Breakfast Haus, the town’s favorite breakfast restaurant, and was a member of the Chamber of Commerce. In addition to that, she led an active social life.

      “I think it has more to do with the books we read,” Juliet said. “They’re not racy enough for her.”

      Cass shook her head. “That’s our Dot. She probably wore her last husband out.”

      “She’s had more than one?” asked Charley, who was still a relative newcomer to Icicle Falls.

      “The first one...well, no one knows exactly what happened to him,” Cass replied.

      Over the years Stacy had heard rumors but they’d seemed too fantastical to believe. Even though Dot was a tough old girl, it was hard to picture her bumping off her first husband.

      “When I was a kid I remember Hildy Johnson telling my mom that she did him in,” Juliet said. “Hildy said she shot him but got off because it was self-defense.”

      “I heard she poisoned him,” Cass said.

      “Now, why didn’t I think of doing that?” Charley joked.

      “Good thing you didn’t. You’d have been in СКАЧАТЬ