At Wolf Ranch Read Online Free PDF Page A

and purse on the seat beside her. A waitress bustled over from the two older gentleman at the other end and asked, “What’ll it be, honey?”
    “Coffee, please.”
    “Special’s the meat loaf and mashed potatoes. We got a pot of broccoli cheddar soup and some nice warm bread if you’d like.”
    “I’ll take the soup and bread. Thanks.”
    “You okay, honey?”
    “No. No, I’m not. But I will be,” she vowed, thinking of taking down her uncle. Better to think about that than her sister’s cold, dead body lying on the library floor.
    The waitress, Bev according to her name tag, poured her a mug of coffee and set a bowl filled with creamer cups in front of her. “I’ll have your order in just a minute. You just sit there and get warm.”
    Ella slumped in the chair and wrapped her frozen hands around the mug, hoping that one day soon her insides would warm again and she’d feel something other than frozen fear and cold hate for her uncle.
    Bev set a steaming bowl of soup in front of her and a plate of warm bread rolls with a plastic cup of butter. Ella slit the side of the roll and slathered butter inside to melt. She did the same with the second roll. By the time she scooped up a spoonful of the soup, the smell had started to work on her. One bite of the sinfully thick and rich, creamy concoction and she nearly felt human again. Her insides warmed. She took a big bite of the roll. Melted butter dripped down her chin. She wiped it away with her paper napkin and quietly worked her way through her meal, the loss of her sister keeping her head in a mind-numbing daze.
    Finished, she looked around for the first time. Besides the seats at the counter facing the cooking area, a row of tables draped in red-and-white-checked tablecloths with four chairs around each ran behind her down both sides of the diner. Past those and along the outside wall were booths with worn red vinyl seats. Overhead pot lights cast a soft glow over the room. Above her and along the rest of the counter were drop pendant lights with red glass shades. Nice. Country cute.
    While she ate, customers trickled in, filling nearly every table and booth. Only a handful of seats remained available at the counter. She needed to decide what to do for the night.
    Bev dropped by and held up the coffeepot. “Refill, honey?”
    “No thanks. I need to get home, but in this weather I’m not sure there’s a taxi or other means to get me there.”
    “Where you headed, honey?”
    “Wolf Road out off 191.”
    “You’re going way out there?”
    “Yes, but I don’t have a car. Do you know how I can get there?”
    Bev looked over her head at a gentleman paying his bill at the small counter by the door. “Hey, Travis. You headed home?”
    “It’ll be slow going in the snow, but yeah. Why?”
    “This nice lady needs a ride out to Wolf Road. Can you take her on your way?”
    “Well, now, it’s past my way, but I can certainly take the pretty lady where she needs to go.”
    Ella eyed Bev with apprehension about leaving with a stranger. Especially one with unwashed hair, four days’ worth of beard stubble, and a rip down the front leg of his grease-stained Carhartts.
    Bev patted her hand on the counter. “Don’t you worry none. He’s mostly harmless.”
    “Come on now, Bev, you know I’ve been sweet-talking you for years.”
    “It’s never worked with me, or any woman I know,” she shot back, laughing.
    A few of the other customers barked out a laugh and a crude comment about Travis’s nonexistent love life. He smiled and took the good-natured ribbing in stride.
    “Trust me, honey, he won’t bite. If you don’t go now, who knows how long it will take you to get there, what with the way the weather changes around here.”
    Bev had a point. The rain had given way to a soft but steady snowfall. Pretty; Ella wished her sister was here to see it. They’d so loved the snow and coming to this part of the country. They’d sit in the huge living room