One Breath Away Read Online Free PDF Page B

her arms, but still she walked and
sang. Not one bee stung her. She led the bees to another felled tree down by the
creek and the bees created a new home there. The settlers, who were poor and
starving, gathered all that honey out of the broken branch and lived off of it
for the winter. They were so thankful to the old woman that they offered to name
the town after her, but she said that the thanks should lie with the bees and
the tree that housed them. So they respected her wishes and named the town
Broken Branch.”
    I was completely enchanted by the story, and as Tim and I
explored the peaceful streets lined with modest homes and towering trees, I knew
I would return to Broken Branch. Little did I know that it would be to stay.
    Fortunately, I impressed Chief McKinney, Aaron and the rest of
the interview team enough for them to offer me the job.
    A few months later, I found myself sitting alone with Aaron at
a local bar after Broken Branch’s citywide softball tournament where I played
first base. I had too much sun, not enough food and two lousy beers, and in the
singular most embarrassing moment of my life, I made a halfhearted pass at
Aaron. He gently pulled me off of him and told me that he wasn’t interested.
    “I’m boring, too serious, aren’t I?” I asked. He looked at me
for a very long time.
    “No, Meg, you’re not boring, you’re great. It just wouldn’t be
a good idea,” he said, and left me standing there. Though a few years have
passed since that mortifying encounter, and Aaron has not brought it up once, I
still blush bright red whenever I think of that night.
    As I return to my car to retrieve a roll of crime tape, once
again I feel my phone vibrate. Stuart. He just doesn’t give up. A text this
time. I decide to ignore it and begin unraveling the police tape.
    I met Stuart last January when Maria and I were cross-country
skiing in Ox-eye Bluff. Maria, a novice at skiing, fell down one too many times.
The final straw was that after the umpteenth tumble Maria’s skis became tangled
in a thorny bramble of twigs at the side of the trail. By the time I freed her,
Maria had worked herself into such a snit she refused to put her skis back on or
to even walk out of the valley. We sat there for twenty minutes, Maria’s tears
freezing against her cheeks, until a skier came gliding down the trail. He
swooshed to a stop in front of us “Everything okay?” he asked.
    “We’re fine,” I answered. “Just an equipment malfunction. We’re
resting up for a few minutes.”
    “Your mom can’t keep up with you, can she?” the man said to
Maria, eliciting her first smile of the afternoon. “That’s what happens when you
get old.” He smiled conspiratorially at her. “People can’t maintain the vigorous
pace of us youngsters.”
    “Exactly how old do you think I am?” I asked him through
narrowed eyes.
    “It’s rude to comment on a lady’s age.” He sniffed and then
gave me a mischievous smile. “Why don’t you help me get her up,” he said to
Maria. “If we leave her here much longer the wolves will start circling.”
    I was about to tell him I was obviously fifteen years his
junior and could drop a wild animal at two hundred yards with my eyes closed,
but to my surprise Maria quickly scrambled to her feet and held out a hand to
help me up. “Let’s go, Mom,” she said. “I think I hear howling.”
    “There are no wolves in Ox-eye Bluff,” I said, reaching out my
hands for the man and Maria to pull me to my feet. “I don’t think there are any
wolves in Iowa for that matter. Coyotes, yes. Wolves, no.” The man was tall, at
least six foot, fit with a lean face and closely cut brown hair flecked with
gray.
    He caught me looking and had the decency to blush. “It’s
premature.”
    “Yeah, right,” I said, raising my eyebrows. Together, the three
of us skied to the end of the trail and then hiked our way out of the valley to
where my car was parked. We didn’t talk much but I did