Bitter Cold Read Online Free PDF Page A

climbed in and did as he suggested. In no time, with Jeff nearly pushing his back out, they managed to extricate her car from the arctic drift and get it moving again. Jeff waved at her while he treaded through the slippery mess back to his Ford.
    “What was that all about?” he glared at Logan, turning down the stereo. “We had a deal. You said you’d be polite. Because of that little stunt, you’re not going sledding any time soon.”
    “Dad! You can’t do that! You promised!”
    “I changed my mind.”
    “No way!”
    “I mean it.”
    Logan puffed, raising his shoulders and then dropping them again. “Why can’t I ever go sledding?”
    “We can. I told you. We can go anytime—at the mountain.”
    “I mean here, at home. Why can’t I do it here? It’s like you’re afraid. Why won’t you let me just go have fun with all the other kids?”
    For a moment, Jeff let his mind go to that damp, weathered corner where he hid his grimmest memories, the time-worn lockbox he dared never open. “I have my reasons.”
    A knock on the glass made him jump. He saw a face. A half-second later, after the sense of shock had subsided, he realized April had gotten out of her vehicle and now stood next to his. He hit the button to lower his window.
    “I just wanted to tell you thanks again. I’m gonna go ahead and chance it to Portland, so Fred and Wilma are going to have to survive without my business, I guess.”
    Jeff laughed. “Some reporter. It was Ted and Trina.”
    “Well, be as it may,” she waved, turning and heading to her car. “Thanks again.”
    “Good luck!” Jeff rolled up his window.
    “She likes you, Dad,” Logan elbowed him.
    “What!” Jeff resisted. “You’re being a weirdo again. Knock it off.”
    “Don’t believe me?” he grinned. “I’ll betcha,” he pointed at April as she negotiated the mounds of snow. “If she looks back, that means she likes you. And you have to take me sledding”
    “And if she doesn’t? What do I win?”
    Logan gestured outside. “She will. Watch.”
    Jeff didn’t need his son’s prompting. April’s allure forced his eyes to follow as she toed the unstable ground, judging each step with deliberate balance. A woman like April, he just didn’t see that type much in his small town. Attitude. A confident intelligence. It reminded him of Emma. He shuddered, afraid to keep watching, but unable to look away. After slipping three times and nearly falling once, she reached her door handle, clutching it like a lifeline. She rested her body against the car and pulled open the door.
    “Looks like you were wrong, sport,” he said as she got in. He acted coy, but a part of him wished he’d lost the bet.
    “Just wait,” Logan remained confident. April sat and reached to close the door, then stopped. She leaned out and turned at her waist, smiling big and waving. Jeff felt his stomach flutter, something it hadn’t done in forever.
    “Ha! Told you!” Logan rejoiced. “Now you have to take me sledding!”
    Jeff let out a hard breath and watched April drive away. The car’s front end jerked to the right. She must have hit a slick patch. He could tell she tried to counterturn, a common mistake. She over-steered, causing the Neon to pitch into a spin, this time in the middle of the lane. He peered down the road, wondering when the next car would ramble around the bend. Logan broke into a high-pitched squeal.
    April’s car came to rest after three full revolutions. Jeff jumped from his pickup before the Neon stopped moving. Every step felt like his foot would slide out from underneath him, but he kept command of his balance. The same couldn’t be said for his son. Logan had a hell of a time getting his legs over the embankments and the tire ruts. He didn’t let it stop him, though.
    When Jeff got to her fogged-up window, April had her white-knuckled hands on the wheel at ten and two, daydreaming. He tapped, not wanting to startle her. She rolled her eyes, then turned