The Twilight Before Christmas Read Online Free PDF

tormenting him.”
    “Why shouldn’t I? He’s tormented me for years.”
    There was so much pain in Hannah’s voice that Kate slipped her arm around her sister’s waist to comfort her. Jonas had known them all since they were children, and he’d never understood Hannah. She’d been an extraordinarily beautiful, very intelligent child, but she’d been so painfully shy outside of her own home, the sisters had had to work their magic just to get her to school every day. Jonas had been certain she was haughty, when in fact, she’d rarely been able to speak in public. “Well, all in all, it was a good day. You managed to lose another hat for Jonas, and I got to be up close and personal with the hottest man in Sea Haven.” Kate hugged Hannah before pouring herself a cup of tea and walking into the living room with it.
    Hannah followed her. “Did you get your manuscript mailed off?”
    Kate nodded. “Murder and mayhem will prevail in a small coastal town. I forgot to put the tea cozy back on the pot, will you do it?”
    Hannah glanced into the kitchen and lifted her arms.
    When Kate looked back, the cozy was safely on the teapot. “Thanks, Hannah. I do have to say, Jonas was invaluable to me with the research.”
    “I know he was, but don’t credit him with doing it to be nice or anything.” Hannah’s large blue eyes reflected her laughter. “He was trying to get on your good side so you’d persuade me to stop messing around with his precious hats.”
    They both swung around as the front door burst open. Abigail Drake rushed in, a small woman with dark eyes and a wealth of red-gold hair spilling down her back in a thick ponytail. Her face was flushed and her eyes over-bright. The moment she glimpsed her sisters, she burst into tears.
    “Abbey!” Hannah set her teacup down on the highly polished coffee table. “What is it? You never cry.”
    “I humiliated myself in front of the entire Christmas pageant committee,” Abigail said miserably. She threw herself into the overstuffed armchair, curled her feet under her, and covered her face with her hands. “I can never face any of them again.”
    Hannah and Kate rushed to her side, both putting their arms around her. “Don’t cry, Abbey. What happened? Maybe we can fix it. It can’t be that bad.”
    “It was bad,” Abigail muttered from between her fingers. “I accidentally used the voice. I wasn’t paying attention. There was the earthquake, and I was so distracted because I felt something under us, something moving just below the surface seeking a way out. I felt it.” Of all the talents gifted to the sisters, Abigail felt hers was the worst. Her voice could be used to extract the truth from people around her. As a child, before she’d learn to control the tone and the wording of her sentences, she’d been very unpopular with her classmates. They would often blurt out the truth of some escapade to their parents or a teacher whenever they were in her presence. Abigail pulled her hands down and stared at them with her sad eyes. “It isn’t an excuse. I’m not a teenager. I know I have to be alert all the time.”
    Hannah and Kate exchanged a long, fearful look. “We felt the shadow too, Abbey. It was very disconcerting to both of us. What happened at the meeting?”
    Abbey drew her legs up tighter into her body. “We were all discussing the Christmas pageant.” She rubbed her chin on the top of her knees. “I felt the rift in the earth, a blackness welling up, and the next thing I knew I was asking for the truth.” She clapped her hands over her ears. “I got the truth too. Everyone did. Bruce Harper is having an affair with Mason Fredrickson’s wife. They were all in the room. Bruce and Mason got in a terrible fistfight, and Letty Harper burst into tears and ran out. She’s six months pregnant. Sylvia Fredrickson slapped me across the face and walked out, leaving me standing there with everyone looking at me.” She burst into tears all over