In From the Cold Read Online Free PDF Page A

kitchen. We looked through the kitchen, and I soon had her planted in front of the TV with a breakfast bar, some watermelon chunks and a juice box, watching SpongeBob SquarePants .
    While I waited for a pot of coffee to brew, I ransacked the great room cupboards for toys. I found a few children’s books on a shelf near the fireplace and some board games, but nothing I thought a three-year-old might like. Unless her dad had thought to bring some toys, which I doubted, a shopping trip might be in order.
    I sat down on the sofa beside Suzie, nursing my coffee and making a list of possible activities. As the sun rose, the view through the back windows grew more spectacular. The jagged peaks of the Grand Tetons glistened with snow and rich tints of blue and pink from the changing light, while green and brown fir trees framed the base of the mountains and the edge of the huge snow-covered golf course. It was breathtaking, inspirational, lovely.
    I sighed. Must be nice to be rich.
    I looked over my list of things to do. After a day cooped up in a plane, Suzie would need to move. I needed to talk with her father, and again, an image tempted, me padding down the hall and slipping under his sheets, him warm and welcoming and that dimple…oh Lord.
    Stop thinking .
    The constant struggle to curb my thoughts exhausted me, and it was only six a.m.
    I heard a creak and glanced up. A little girl with a mop of blonde curly hair stood in the doorway, a worn stuffed animal clutched to her chest. She must be my other charge, and I wondered vaguely what time they’d arrived. It must have been late, because I never heard them.
    “Hi there, sweetheart. What’s your name?”
    She didn’t say a word, only looked from me to Suzie in front of the TV.
    “Are you hungry?”
    She nodded.
    “Why don’t you sit by Suzie, and I’ll get you something.”
    I fixed her a plate, and by the time I returned, she was sitting by Suzie. I put the plate in front of her, along with a juice box. She looked younger than Suzie, smaller. Her T-shirt was too thin for the chilly air, her little pajama shorts more appropriate for summer than winter, especially a Jackson winter. I grabbed a fleece comforter from a chair and wrapped it around her shoulders. She barely noticed me or the TV, absorbed in studying Suzie. You’d think she’d never seen another child before.
    They watched TV for half an hour, and when I suggested that we do something else, Suzie agreed. The little girl seemed content to follow Suzie’s lead.
    “I like SpongeBob.” Suzie stood up and brought me her plate. “He’s silly.”
    “Yes, he is.” I was shocked by her good manners. Even Jim, who had once been the most polite guy I’d known, still waited for others to pick up after him.
    Jim. Where had that thought come from? And I’d been doing such a good job of blocking him from my mind. I willed him from my mind.
    “Suzie, did you meet our new friend?” I turned her to the other little girl. “Maybe she’d like to play with us?”
    Suzie toddled over and squatted beside her. “Wanna play?”
    “Okay.” Her voice was soft, almost a whisper.
    “I brought my friend too.” Suzie pointed at the girl’s stuffed animal. “Mine’s an ontidi.”
    “This is Meow.” The little girl held out her toy for just a moment, then pulled it possessively back into her arms.
    “Suzie, what’s an ‘ontidi’? Have I seen him?” I asked.
    “He’s in my bag. Want to meet him?”
    “Sure. Let’s all go.” I held out my hand, which the girl tentatively took. Suzie raced on ahead.
    “What’s your name, honey?” I asked again, gently, as we walked down the hall. She seemed so wary, as if she might bolt at the wrong word.
    “Yvette,” she whispered.
    “What a beautiful name. Are your mommy and daddy here too?”
    “Mama’s sleeping. She’s downstairs. She gets really mad if I wake her up.”
    “Oh, then we won’t wake her.” Her thin little shoulders relaxed a fraction. “My