Christmas In Silver Bell Falls Read Online Free PDF

and could smell the pizza cooking.  He held up the paper goods and drinks.  “As promised.”
    “Thanks.”  She walked ahead of him back to the kitchen.  “I have to admit, it wasn’t until after you left that I worried about the oven.  I mean, I have no idea the last time it was used or how the electric is in this place.”
    Josiah pulled up the stool he’d used earlier.  “The place is in decent shape.  Carol did a fairly good rehab job on the electric, heating and plumbing about five years ago.”
    Melanie looked around the place.  “The whole place needs a good rehab.”
    He chuckled.  “Yeah, most of the stuff in here is pretty outdated but the house itself is structurally sound.  The rest is just cosmetic.”
    “I suppose.  I really didn’t want to invest any money in the place but if I’m going to be stuck here for three months, I want to be able to walk around without cringing.”
    “It’s not that bad,” he said lightly. 
    “Dark paneling on the walls, shag carpet…” Melanie shuttered.  “It’s not appealing at all.”
    “So do a little work on it and make it livable.  It doesn’t have to cost a whole lot,” he suggested.
    “Oh, sure.  I do all the work and make this place nice and then you reap all the benefits of it,” she said with a laugh.  “No thanks.  Maybe you should start working on it now since it’s going to be yours in a few months.”
    “And let you reap all the benefits of my hard work while I’m living in the tiny house?  No thanks.”
    They both laughed and when the timer on the oven buzzed, they worked together to get the pizza sliced and set up a place to eat.
    “I hope you don’t mind, but I thought maybe we could eat in the living room – you know, on the sofa,” Melanie said.  “It’s more comfortable than this old kitchen set.”
    Josiah readily agreed.  “Not to mention those chairs are really small.  I was always afraid to sit in them.”
    They moved to the sofa and situated themselves and spent several moments in companionable silence while they ate.  After the first slice, Melanie sighed.  “Thank you,” she said.
    “For what?”
    “This is so much better than soup.  In my mind I had resigned myself to it, but my stomach was begging for something more.”
    He laughed.  “I’m sure you’ll go shopping tomorrow and start stocking up the place.  There’s a grocery store not far from here but if you wanted to go into the city, you’re looking at about an hour’s drive.”
    “Yikes,” she said, reaching for her second slice.  “I’m not used to being so isolated.  Back home, everything is just minutes away from my house.  I’m not sure I’ll survive this.”
    Shrugging, Josiah reached for another slice.  “You get used to it.  It’s kind of nice to have the peace and quiet surround you.  No noise, no traffic…and in a town this size, everyone knows each other.”
    “That just seems weird.”
    “But true.”  He finished his slice and reached for another.  “So what did your grandmother tell you about Silver Bell?”
    Melanie finished chewing, grabbed a napkin and wiped her hands before answering.  “She never told me anything.  I haven’t seen her since I was five.”
    Josiah froze and stared at her.  “Excuse me?”
    She nodded.  “It’s true.  She and my dad had a falling out and they never saw each other again.”  She shrugged and took another slice.  “Every couple of years, something would happen and they would try to talk but they’d end up arguing and then eventually they both just stopped.”
    “And she didn’t try to have any contact with you?”
    Melanie shook her head.  “Nope.  She cut us both out of her life.  I hadn’t really thought about her in years until my dad showed up a week ago to tell me she’d died and then about her will and this place.”
    “That is so weird,” he murmured.  “And very unlike the woman I knew.”
    “Just goes to show how you never