The Dreamstalker Read Online Free PDF

chips, and flopped in a chair. “Get your rear in gear. I’m not going to wait all night.”
    â€œKerr,” Mom scolded, “you shouldn’t talk about your sister’s—uh—rear.” She had trouble saying the word. Karen looked at Kerr and bit her lip to stifle her laughter.
    â€œOh, sorry, sis. Swish your tush, then, but get a move on.” He didn’t even bother to hide his grin.
    Karen and Kerr were the first ones to get back to town. They parked by the lake that formed the center of the small mountain town. Surrounded by pines and firs and blue spruce, frozen over and banked by drifts of snow, the lake presented a Christmas card setting. The skating rink area was open, the ice solid except for the far corner, roped off, where a stream constantly fed in fresh water, keeping the surface mushy. There were a few skaters, but most people were evidently intimidated by the storm.
    Snowflakes had become fat and fluffy, and they drifted down more slowly than they had early in the day.
    â€œOh, it’s almost perfect.” Karen grabbed her skates and hurried toward the warming house.
    Kerr followed her. “What else does it need?”
    â€œMe out there skating.”
    â€œUs out there skating. Race you.” He leaped ahead across the snowy path.
    It was a tie. Both tugged off their snowmobile boots, yanked on skates, and laced them high up their calves. Kerr grabbed Karen’s arm and pulled her onto the freshly scraped ice. When they had built up some speed, an automatic movement put them into couple position, arms crossed, hands clasped. Round and round they whirled, matching their strokes perfectly. Anyone taking time to watch would have marveled at their precision. It was as if they had practiced together forever, skated together for many years. And they had. They haunted the rink when it was open, lived on the ice every winter in free hours. Most of the time they left their skates in Kerr’s car for spontaneous skating trips. They had grown apart in some ways the last few years. But on the ice they were one—hardly even a pair, but one skater with four blades.
    After about half an hour, Kerr steered them toward the warming house. “Chocolate?” He didn’t really have to ask.
    â€œSure. Extra marshmallow.” She didn’t have to tell him that, either.
    â€œI’ll admit it. I’m jealous.” Jesse skated up beside her as she looked for a place to sit. More people were lacing skates now, but she didn’t see her crowd.
    â€œOh, there you are. I was wondering where you were.”
    â€œWere you really?”
    Karen felt her face heat up. “Well, I would have been in a minute. I was just starting to wonder.”
    â€œSometimes I feel like I have to ask Kerr if I can be with you.” Jesse continued his thought.
    â€œOh, Jesse, that’s silly. You know better.”
    â€œTell me again.”
    â€œI will not. Let’s sit down. I need to rest a minute.” Karen spun around and landed on a bench. She wasn’t going to acknowledge Jesse’s confession of jealousy by talking about it for one more minute. “Is everyone else here?”
    â€œAlmost everyone. They went on the ice. I waited for you to come off.” He looked up at Kerr standing in front of them. “Where’s my drink, old man?”
    Kerr stared at him. “You have to earn it.” He handed Karen a cup of steaming chocolate heaped with marshmallows, then sat on the other side of her.
    Neither said anything, and Karen felt the tension between the two guys. This was ridiculous. She drank the cocoa as soon as it cooled, then stood and pulled Jesse up. “Come on, I need to skate to stay warm.”
    She could feel Kerr watching them go onto the ice. She pretended Jesse had said something funny and laughed. Soon they were skating together, not as gracefully as she and Kerr, not as polished, but Karen loved holding hands with