Mr. Wonderful Read Free Page B

grabbed my hand and pulled me back up the stairs. By leaning out the window we could see that a limb had fallen on the chimney cap and smashed it down against the chimney, forcing the smoke back into the house.
    “Roger, come and help me,” Brandon yelled down the stairs. He opened the window and snow and wind blew through the tiny room. Brandon bravely crawled out and onto the steep roof while I stood by not knowing what to do. Roger arrived in time to hold Brandon’s feet as he lay flat against the roof and inched his way to the chimney. Phyllis stood behind me, breathing hard.
    “I can’t look. Tell me what’s happening,” she said.
    Finally we heard “Got it!” from Brandon. Roger braced his feet against the window frame and hauled Brandon back in. He landed on the snow-covered floor, and immediately wiped off his fogged-over glasses. I beamed at him, resisting the impulse to throw my arms around him, and we all ran back downstairs to find that the fireplace was drawing normally again.
    Roger stoked up the fire and then went to wash up. Brandon went upstairs to change his clothes. After my sister and I had aired out the house, we plopped down on the sagging couch and gazed into the flames.
    She leaned over to me and whispered, “I’m sorry.”
    “Sorry? For what?” I asked in surprise.
     “For dragging you up here,” she said. “It wasn’t worth it, was it?”
    “I’m not sure. What do you mean?” I asked, giving her a puzzled look.
    “Well, it’s Brandon,” she confided in a. low tone. “He’s different up here. When I met him in the city and I heard all the women at Roger’s office were crazy about him, he wasn’t so—so out of place.”
    “Out of place?” I echoed.
    “I just meant that he can’t ski, and with those glasses he looks—” she paused.
     I glared at her. “Go on. “
    “Never mind,” she said uncomfortably.
    “Were you going to say that he looks like he wouldn’t risk his life on a slippery roof to fix a blocked chimney so you could be warm?” I couldn’t help sounding snippy. She wasn’t even grateful to Brandon and that annoyed me.
    If Phyllis thought she could escape my wrath by staring at the fire, she was wrong. “Did you know that even though he can’t ski, he raced down a hill to try to save me today?”
    “No!” she exclaimed.
    “Yes. He can even wash dishes,” I said. It was no use. I couldn’t pretend to be oblivious to Brandon’s many charms any more.
    She turned back to face me, her mouth open in astonishment, and I jumped to my feet. Before I made my dramatic exit up the stairs, I had to tell her one more thing. “You were right. Brandon is Mr. Wonderful.”
    P.S. He really is.
     
     
    THE END

 
     
     
    “After just one date - - -
    I’m ready to promise him anything!”
     
     
    SMALL TOWN HERO
     
    My sister’s voice was overflowing with disgust as she said, “When I told you to take a night class, I didn’t mean a cooking class. I meant something like the Science of Climate Change or Basic Car Repair.”
    “But Sophie, I love cooking. Besides, this isn’t ordinary cooking, it’s oriental cooking. The teacher is just great,” I said defensively. But I knew what she was getting at.
    “How many men are in the class, Kristin?” she asked.
    “Several,” I lied. There may have been two. I wasn’t sure. I had been so intent on copying recipes and learning how to chop with a cleaver, I really hadn’t noticed. To my sister, whose life revolved around meeting men, it would have been inconceivable to go to a class just to learn something. She spent her waking hours thinking of activities that would bring her in contact with eligible men. Did she know that men are often great cooks? Probably not. My theory was that men cooked by instinct, without recipes or the benefit of classes.
    My sister joined a hiking club. Why? Not to get exercise. Not for the view from the top.  Oh, no. She didn’t go to singles bars anymore,  though. I was