Cold River Read Free

Mandy got a bun out of the warming drawer and put a wiener on it, leaning down to savor the smell. She added mustard, ketchup, and relish and then thought, what the heck? and added onions.
    As she stood at the counter to pay, the door burst open and a petulant beauty, dressed to the nines and exquisitely made up, strode into the room, followed by an anxious-looking young man in a dark suit with a white carnation pinned to his lapel.
    “All you had to do,” the beauty said, anger showing in the fists she clenched and in the ugly downturn of her mouth, “was to find a place to stay. Was that too much to ask? I took care of the ceremony, the caterer, and the flowers. All you had to do was find a place to stay.”
    “I found it! I keep telling you, Kathy. Winthrop is a marvelous little town— all western style and old-fashioned. I got the honeymoon suite at this great hotel.”
    “Only we can’t get to it,” Kathy almost screamed. “The road is closed. It’s always closed in the winter, didn’t you hear them say? How could you not know that?”
    “I’m sorry, honey.” He pulled her over to the automotive supply aisle, away from the unwitting audience. Only partially shielded by the display table, he tried to put his arms around her.
    She pulled away. “I’m hungry and I’m tired, and I want to know where I’m going to stay tonight.”
    “We’ll find a place,” he said, succeeding at last in pulling her into an embrace. “Don’t worry. Just think of the great story we’ll have to tell about our honeymoon.”
    Her lower lip trembled. “I don’t want a story. I just want something to eat.”
    As Mandy picked up her purchase, the young man stepped forward and asked the question that she was just about to frame: “Where is the nearest motel?”
    “Back downriver at Stallo,” Elizabeth said. “Twenty-five miles.”
    “You’re kidding!” The young man’s face mirrored Mandy’s feelings exactly.
    “But, my grandma runs a bed and breakfast,” Elizabeth added. “She doesn’t advertise when the pass is closed, but she’ll take you in if you need a place to stay. You’ll love it. It’s a log cabin that overlooks the river.” She held out a business card from a holder on the counter. “There’s a map on the back. It’s easy to find.”
    “Will she feed us supper, too?” The beauty followed her new husband as he came to get the card.
    Elizabeth shook her head and pointed to the rotating spit. “You’ll have to have Polish hot dogs.”
    “Come on,” he urged, pulling his bride over to the food counter. “It’ll make a great story for the grandkids.”
    “There may not be any grandkids if we don’t find a place to stay.” Kathy laughed as she said it, and he laughed too, giving her another hug.
    As they began fixing their wedding supper, Mandy approached the checkout counter again, the words bed and breakfast carrying the same emotional charge as blessing and boon. “Uh, excuse me… ” Her heart beat faster as she picked up one of the cards.
    The clerk turned her attention from the couple to Mandy. “I’m sorry. What can I do for you?”
    Just then a woman came out of the back room with a deposit bag in her hand. “All right, Elizabeth,” she said, “I’m off to drop this in the night deposit, and then I’ll come back and let you go on home.”
    Elizabeth glanced briefly at her boss. “Thank you, Fran. I’ve got a ton of homework.” Then she turned her attention back to Mandy and waited expectantly.
    “Your grandmother,” Mandy began. “Does she have any more rooms for tonight?”
    “Oh, I’m so sorry! She only has two, and someone else came in earlier. Do you need a place to stay?”
    “I was hoping to find a place. The nearest hotel is how far?”
    “Twenty-five miles.”
    “But the Yellow Pages lists three right here in town. I looked it up before I left.”
    Elizabeth’s brow furrowed with concern. “They’re closed for the winter. Are you here on business? How