Opposites Distract Read Online Free PDF

“If I build a house for someone and they know how they want it to feel, I need to make sure things come together.”
    Harmony disagreed. “I think you either have the gift or you don’t. You must have it.” And once again, she was lacking in something Brody excelled at. Surprise, surprise! It was like the Universe made him just to annoy her.
    She expected to see a superior smirk on his face, but Brody’s attention was drawn to something outside the back windows. His brows furrowed in a worried frown. He narrowed his eyes, staring at the lake. “Is that one of your ducks?” he asked Ian.
    Ian finished the last bite of his sandwich and followed Brody’s gaze. His expression took on a worried look, too. “Is she stuck in the ice?”
    Brody stood to go see her better. “She’s struggling, but can’t get out.”
    A feather could have knocked Harmony over when Brody disappeared to get his winter coat. Ian followed him. She looked at Paula. “Are they going to rescue a duck?”
    â€œNot just any duck,” Paula told her. “Ian fed it all summer and fall.”
    Brody glared as he passed Harmony. “You can’t just leave a poor animal trapped in ice to die, whether you fed it or not.”
    The two men tramped out the back door and headed to the lake. Harmony turned to Paula. “How do you unstick a duck?”
    Paula pursed her lips, thinking. “It can’t be that thick there. That’s where the channel empties into the lake. The water’s usually moving. Could you pour hot water on the ice to make it melt?”
    â€œLet’s find out.” Harmony started to the kitchen and Paula hurried after her. They filled two huge soup pots with hot water and put them on the stove to boil.
    Harmony glanced out the window to watch the men. “How long do you think the duck’s been there? I wonder how she got stuck.”
    â€œIt got really cold last night. I bet she was in open water when the sun set and by the time the sun came up this morning, the water had frozen.” She went to get her coat. So did Harmony. They each grabbed a pot and carried them out to the men. By the time they reached them, Brody had a hand auger and was drilling holes around the duck. Ian had an old-fashioned saw and was trying to saw the ice between each hole. He’d made deep enough grooves that when they poured the boiling water on them, they melted a decent amount of ice without harming their feathered friend.
    â€œCan you bring more?” Brody asked.
    â€œWe started two more pots,” Harmony said. The women trudged back to the lodge and started a chain of boiling water to bring for the men.
    The duck, Harmony was surprised to see, seemed to realize that they were trying to rescue her. They finally cut a circle in the ice and could pick it up and carry it, with the duck trapped in it, into the barn. Horses whinnied when they entered, and one stretched its neck for a treat. Ian went to a bucket with a lid and handed each of them a carrot. They dutifully pampered each horse and rubbed its nose before they returned to the stranded duck. Brody had turned on a heater and placed her close to it. Her ice started melting and soon was thin enough, he slammed his fist on it, and it broke. The duck wobbled, unsteady on its webbed feet. Brody immediately reached for her, held her close so that she wouldn’t be frightened, and carried her outside. Then he looked at Ian. “What should I do with her?”
    Ian looked up and down the shoreline. Some ducks swam farther down the channel. The water was open there. The men walked her down to them and let her loose. She hurried to her friends.
    When they returned, their boots muddy, their coats filthy, they both looked frozen. Harmony shook her head. “It looks like they need hot chocolate.”
    Paula led her into the kitchen and they got busy. Soon, they sat around the dining room table again. This