Christmas In Silver Bell Falls Read Online Free PDF Page B

really know with some people.”
    “I suppose…”
    “Anyway, now I have to stay here for three months and then I can sell it according to the will.  Kind of lucky that I ran into you, huh?”
    “Oh, sure.  Now you think it’s luck.  A little while ago, you were looking at it completely differently,” he teased.
    She laughed.  “You barged in while I was naked in the tub!  That one’s gonna take a little while to get over!”
    He leaned a little closer and waggled his eyebrows at her.  “If you’re hinting that you want to even the score and see me naked in the shower, all you have to do is ask!”
    Playfully swatting him away, Melanie took a drink of her soda and quickly changed the subject.  “So you’re the sheriff of this place, huh?”
    He nodded.  “Sure am.  I take care of the three thousand residents who call Silver Bell home.”  He took a drink and looked at her.  “It’s not a big city like you’re obviously from, but it’s a good place to live.  I hope while you’re here, you actually take some time to look around and meet some people.”
    Melanie made a non-committal sound.  “How long have you been the sheriff?”
    “Five years.”
    “Have you lived here your whole life?”
    He nodded.  “Born and raised.  I moved away when I went to college but…the big city life held no appeal to me.  Besides, I missed the food, the festivals and the closeness we have here.”
    “We are complete opposites,” she said.  “Raleigh is perfect for me because it’s a big enough city where there is always something to do, everything is close by and no one has to know me if I don’t want them to.  I can blend into the crowd and do my own thing.  It’s great.”
    “So what is it that you do?”
    “I’m a writer,” she replied and looked over and saw he was waiting for more of an explanation—as most people did.  “I write contemporary women’s fiction.”
    “You mean romance?”
    Melanie looked away and reached for her soda and nodded.  “Yup.  Go ahead and snicker and smirk and get it out of your system.”
    Frowning, he asked, “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “It’s what everyone does,” she said mildly.  “I say I write romance, people snicker and smirk and automatically assume I write porn or that I’m some sort of hack so…go ahead.”
    Putting his beverage down, Josiah turned on the sofa and faced her.  “First of all, don’t ever assume I’m like everyone else.  I’m not.  Secondly, I think it is incredibly cool that you write romance, or that you write anything!  Hell, I could barely get through college because I couldn’t write an essay!  So the fact that you can sit down and write an entire book?  I’m a little in awe of you right now.”
    She blushed and Josiah thought it was a good look on her.  “Stop, you are not.”
    He nodded.  “Yes, I am.  I’m not a very creative or artistic person.  I like dealing with the law because it is what it is —they’re written down and rules are rules and I just follow them.”
    “What about hobbies?  Do you like to read or paint or build or anything like that?”
    He nodded again.  “I do enjoy building things – but I follow a plan.  I don’t just sit down and come up with something.”  He shrugged.  “My plan for the property was to buy it and build a house.”
    “Really?” she asked, surprise lacing her tone.  “You’re going to tear this place down?”
    “No,” he said.  “I’m going to rehab it a bit and leave it as a guest house.”
    “Do you have a big family that you need a guest house?”
    He chuckled.  “I do, actually.  I have two brothers and three sisters.”
    Her eyes went wide.  “Wow!  Seriously?”
    “Sure do.  What about you?  Any siblings?”
    She shook her head.  “Only child.”
    When she didn’t expand, Josiah decided it was a bit of a sore subject.  “Anyway, so yes.  I have a large family but I’m the only one who stayed here in