Mistletoe Bay Read Online Free PDF Page A

holidays and all the hoopla that surrounded them. She felt inept, even though she knew she was quite capable of handling anything thrown her way. Two years ago she had learned the hard way just how strong she could be.
    Easter wasn’t too bad. It wasn’t hard to hide some eggs and fill colorful baskets. Halloween was a challenge. At her age she shouldn’t be climbing trees to string lights or hang ghosts. This year she had paid her sister-in-law’s boyfriend, Sam, to do the climbing and the stringing. Felicity and Sam had had a ball with the boys decorating the other weekend, even though the house looked a little over-the-top.
    The panda still freaked her out every time she saw it. The plastic eyes, hanging out of its face, seemed to follow her every move.
    Christmas was the worst. Last year she’d had to rely on the kindness of a neighbor to help get the eight-foot tree into their house and anchored securely. Then she had nearly broken her neck trying to get the star on top. The only outside decorating she had done was nail a wreath to the front door and drape a red scarf around a half-melted snowman the boys had built the day before. Her heart just wasn’t into Christmas or any other holidays.
    She missed Kenneth too much.
    For living in a house filled to the rafters with people and pets, she was lonely. She was a horrible person. Here she had so much to be thankful for, three beautiful and healthy boys, a mother-in-law who not only did all of the cooking, but also helped run the house and the boys. Then there was Felicity, Kenneth’s younger sister, and now hers.
    â€œWhat happened to them? Did Dorothy make them explode with too many cookies and cups of coffee?” Coop closed up the toolbox.
    â€œPower tools, electricity, and my boys aren’t a very good combination.” Then again, Tucker could make breathing dangerous.
    â€œOuch.” He placed the toolbox in the bed of his truck. “Want to elaborate, and was anyone hurt?”
    â€œMr. Carter swears Tucker took ten years off his life. Considering he was seventy-eight, he wasn’t real thrilled with my son. Lesson learned; never leave exposed wiring sticking out of the wall when you leave a room.”
    â€œI didn’t know Vince Carter was still doing odd jobs around town.”
    â€œHe’s not any longer. He officially retired.”
    Coop laughed. “What happened to number two?”
    â€œAn unattended caulking gun loaded with something called Liquid Nails. It took the cat months to grow back all its hair.”
    Coop’s laughter filled the night. She chuckled for the first time about the incident. At the time it had been anything but funny, with poor Dumb stuck three feet up the dining room wall screeching its head off. The sounds that cat made were enough to raise the dead.
    â€œBob Sanders asked if Tucker’s middle name was Damian. He packed up his tools and hasn’t returned one of my phone calls since.”
    Coop continued to laugh as he picked up his ladder and placed it in the bed of his truck. “Don’t worry about Sanders. He never did have a sense of humor.”
    â€œYou know him?” Maybe if she begged nicely she could get Coop to convince Sanders to come back for a couple of days. She’d even promise to lock Tucker in the attic, if need be. “He not only unjammed three of my windows, but he got the hot water working in the sink in one of the bathrooms.”
    â€œI went to school with his two sons.” He placed the saw in the truck. “Don’t you have hot water in the other bathroom sinks?”
    â€œDorothy and Felicity’s sink doesn’t. But we did manage to get it to drain properly.”
    â€œWho’s Felicity?”
    â€œDorothy’s daughter, and my sister-in-law.”
    â€œShe lives here too? How many people actually live here?” Coop was staring at the house like he was counting bedrooms.
    â€œSix; me and my