A Winter Discovery Read Online Free PDF Page B

doesn’t melt,” Reese said between songs.
    Gerry glanced at him through the rear view mirror. “What are you talking about?”
    “On my tree. It’s like the one on my window and the one on my mitten.”
    Gerry had no idea what Reese meant by this. “You see a snowflake?”
    Reese’s voice grew more insistent. “Right here on my tree. It was there when we bought it and it’s still there. It’s that snow that doesn’t melt.”
    Gerry turned briefly to Ally, who now leaned toward the back.
    “There’s a snowflake on your tree?” she said.
    Gerry needed to keep his eyes on the road, so he could only listen to the conversation. Even with Barenaked Ladies singing about Chanukah, he could hear both Ally and Tanya questioning Reese about the snowflake that neither seemed to be able to see and Reese getting more agitated as he tried to explain that it was right there .
    Gerry simply smiled at his son’s imagination.

Chapter Eight
    The entire transaction
    When they got home, Tanya agreed to take care of Reese so Gerry and Ally could go shopping. The night before they’d finally decided on a present they thought he’d love: a pocket-sized video camera. Gerry understood that, to some degree, this was a stretch. Reese had never expressed any interest in taking videos and he was, after all, only six years old. However, Reese’s seemingly endless curiosity combined with his outsized imagination made it likely that he’d love the gift and use it often. Yes, there would certainly be times when he simply left the camera on accidentally, performing a half-hour study of his bedside lamp, and surely there would be a learning curve, but now that they’d come up with the idea, Gerry was enthusiastic about what his son might create. Maybe he’d stage a live-action remake of “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” Maybe he’d capture his incisive multi-part interview with Cardboard Santa. Without question, Reese would do something unexpected and Gerry couldn’t wait to see what that was.
    The good news was that they didn’t need to go to the mall for this particular purchase. The bad news was that they needed to go to one of the big box stores whose parking lot was stuffed and whose aisles were filled with people who’d waited far too long to buy things they could have gotten with a couple of clicks.
    “This amazes me,” Gerry said as they crammed their way toward the cameras. “Why does anyone buy electronics in a store? You don’t want to buy produce online? That I understand. You’d rather not get a Christmas tree from Buy.com? I get it. But this? You read some online reviews, you compare prices, and you place your order. Why would you do this instead?”
    “ We’re doing it instead.”
    Gerry nudged around a cluster of people looking at stand mixers. He could see the video department from here, but it still seemed like a huge uphill journey. “We’re doing it because you prefer doing it.”
    Ally glanced at him, amused. “Ah, so that little rant just now was directed at me.”
    “No it wasn’t. Well, not specifically. Remind me why we’re doing this.”
    Ally seemed surprisingly relaxed in this huge crowd. “It’s the human factor.”
    “This is something you haven’t revealed to me up until now, isn’t it? You like rubbing up against strangers. I’m not sure how to feel about this.”
    Ally’s expression had less amusement in it this time, which made Gerry feel that he’d perhaps taken this a bit further than he’d intended since he wasn’t feeling particularly put out at all.
    “You caught me, Gerry. I might as well admit now that I far prefer anonymously brushing my forearm against a stranger’s protruding belly than my husband’s touch.”
    There was an opening in the crowd, and Gerry reached for Ally’s hand so they could work their way through it. When they were on the other side, he brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. “Sorry. I guess I was crusading again. I need to learn when to turn