Cold Hollow (Cold Hollow Mysteries Book 1) Read Free Page A

there.”
    Angus yanked a banana out of a bag and began peeling it. “They send a bill at the end of each month, payable upon receipt.”
    His attention then went to a town map that the real estate agent had given him. Sophia grinned at him. Her husband wasn’t musclebound by any means, but had the body of a lean wrestler. He had twinkling blue eyes that often made her melt. She watched him brush a lock of light-brown hair from his forehead as he leaned over the map. Sophia found the bill arrangement strange, but each town had its own quirks, and she let it go.
    He pushed a piece of banana to the side of his mouth and said, “There is something else I meant to tell you.” He watched Sophia raise her eyebrows and continued, “The house phones here only reach the town and no farther. They couldn’t get telephone poles over the mountain terrain. There’s an old-fashioned town switchboard. Can you believe it?”
    She asked, “No long distance at all?” She watched him shake his head. “What about our cell phones?”
    He walked over to her and pulled her to his chest in an embrace. “I’m only repeating what I was told. It’s the same deal with cell phones. However, we can make all of our long distance phone calls by cell phone when we leave town limits. It’s not like we won’t go to New Hampshire or anything, so it’s a concession.” He gestured toward the view from their kitchen window. “Considering where we live now, concessions have to be made. Reception here sucks.”
    She sighed heavily into his chest and thought about it. They would probably go to the outlets in New Hampshire at least once a month, so it wasn’t that big a deal. The children could still use their iPads and would have to be content with the applications they’d already loaded. When they hit New Hampshire, they could download new apps. She thought of something and raised her face to him. “How on earth can you work from home? I mean, you can type and print everything out, but how will you get it to the main office without e-mail or fax?”
    He shrugged, “It was part of the deal. They told me the post office here has express delivery. I’ll just have to print out my documents and have them mailed.”
    Sophia continued to lean into him and listen to his heart beating. He had already solved every problem she could think of, so she kissed him and got back to what she was doing. She watched him return to the counter and study the map of the town.
    Two hours later, with their belongings arranged and the house cleaned, the family went to the grocery store together. Afterward, they inspected the new bakery Angus had leased for Sophia on Main Street. She found it simply charming in a country sort of way. At the front of the store were small wooden tables and chairs set in an appealing manner. Beyond that, there were large display cases and a sizeable counter for checking customers out. There were no curtains in the storefront windows, but Sophia would make short work of that and find some adorable check-patterned valances to hang up. She headed toward the kitchen in the back to find all the equipment she needed. An oversized dishwasher took up one corner, and brand-new ovens, a refrigerator, and a gas stovetop lined an entire wall. In the center of the room was a large prep table. Its stainless steel was gleaming.
    She turned to Angus. “This has already been cleaned and degreased?”
    Angus proudly stood with his arms crossed before him and smiled. “I hired a cleaning crew to surprise you. Absolutely everything in here and the tiny bathroom and storeroom is spotless and ready to rock and roll whenever you say the word. You just need to hire some help.” His eyes wandered over to his daughter Layla.
    Sophia wasted no time, grabbed a piece of cardboard, and scrawled her cell phone number on it along with a want ad for a part-time baker in the early morning hours. She thought about it and stared at Layla. “I need you to be a waitress part