The Christmas Thief Read Online Free PDF

above a water spot. Unfortunately, it turned out that the leak came from farther up the roof—the peak, actually—and had carved out a path in the attic before finding an exit through the ceiling.
    She’d have to cover the entire roof.
    But how?
    Marc had told her to call, but she’d have to be sleeping under a waterfall before she’d do that. Her phone rang in her pocket, and she groaned. If this was some sort of sign that she should call her neighbor, she wasn’t biting.
    Careful not to slip, Tasha stepped onto the patio, the sheeting beneath her feet waterlogged. Water pooled around her feet. The phone continued to ring, so she made her way inside and pulled it from her pocket—Lorena.
    She answered the call.
    “Some storm!” Lorena said. “What’re you doing tonight?”
    “You don’t want to know what I’m doing.” Or thinking of doing ...
    “It’s gotta be more interesting than all the sewing I’m catching up on. Owie ... I’ve pricked my finger too many times already.”
    Tasha pressed her lips together and stared at the floor. “Well,” she finally said, “I’m not sure if interesting is the right word.”
    Lorena tsked. “That doesn’t sound good.”
    “It’s not. I have a roof leak, apparently. I’m trying to find out where it started.”
    Lorena’s voice turned motherly. “Is it that bad?”
    Tasha craned her neck in search of the spot. The quarter-sized circle had grown to the size of a serving dish. “Yup. I think it is.”
    “Oh, honey. Better get a bucket.”
    “Yes, of course, but I’ll have to do much more than that to save my ceiling.”
    “Short of climbing up on that roof to cover the hole, there’s not much else you could do tonight, sweetie. It’ll be dark soon.”
    Silence.
    Lorena gasped. “Tasha? You are not planning to go up on that roof!”
    “It doesn’t look that difficult.” Except for that driving rain. “The pitch of the roof is fairly gradual.”
    “That settles it. I’ll be over as soon as I can find my hiking boots. I know the house. Ms. Jordan called the camp once and asked me to bring by a cherry pie. Said she’d heard I was the best, which, of course, is true.”
    Tasha shook her head, her wet curls tickling her face. “Lorena, I’ve been planning to invite you over ...” Well, she was ... “but not to work. I—”
    “Listen girlfriend, two heads are better than one—especially when they’re female!” Lorena’s laughter filled the cell phone line. “Do you have anything to cover the roof with? Otherwise I could probably dig up something. George is down the hill tonight at the fire station, but I could call—”
    “Yes! Plastic sheeting that M... that a neighbor left for me. There’s enough here to cover the whole roof, I think.”
    “That place is rather tiny, as I recall it.”
    “Just over 800 square feet.”
    Lorena whistled. “Holy cow, I’d say that’s tiny. Well, then, I’ve found my boots—they were over by the fireplace drying out. See you in a few.”
    And the line went silent.
    ~~~
    Tasha changed into dry jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt. She started a pot of coffee, retrieved her black windbreaker from the hall closet, and paced as she waited for Lorena to arrive. The daylight sank further into clouds. She went back to the closet, this time for a couple of flashlights.
    A rattling of her front door spooked Wolfy who galloped across the room and skidded into the door with a thud.
    “Girlfriend, it’s me! Hurry up before I’m washed away!”
    Tasha flung open the door and Lorena bustled inside looking like Paddington with her blue coat dripping onto the concrete floor and her yellow hat dwarfing her head. “Don’t just stand there gaping at me! What does a girl have to do to get a towel around here?”
    Right! While Lorena hung her wet things on the coat rack, Tasha grabbed a clean towel from the laundry basket and handed it to her. “Coffee?”
    “A big, fat mug of it is what I need. Whew. Had no idea how bad