Love Finds You in Frost Minnesota Read Online Free

like it, he’d have to unplug it.
    “Wow,” she heard him say as she crossed the floor and turned on a lamp on the antique table she’d found in the attic. “This is amazing.”
    “Glad you like it. I’m sorry if this room isn’t up to your usual standards,” she added a little petulantly. She still hadn’t quite forgiven him for that crack about Christmas in Frost.
    “Listen, I’m sorry about this afternoon. I didn’t mean to insult you—or Frost either. It’s just that I’ve chosen to live my life without the trappings of Christmas. They desecrate a holy day. I believe . . .” He broke off and looked up as the fireplace crackled.
    Strong words, Merry thought.
    “You can turn the fire off from the bed. Here is the remote. There are extra comforters and towels in the cupboard if you need them, and bottled water in the bathroom. Is there anything else I can get you?”
    He looked at her ruefully. “I apologize if I offended you. You can blame me for being too blunt.”
    He yawned sleepily. Somehow he looked much more appealing tonight—a little heavy-eyed, a bit ruffled, and a lot handsome, Merry noted as she backed toward the door. “Good night, Mr. Frost.” Merry turned and was gone.
    She didn’t see him staring after her with a bewildered expression on his features.
    “What did you think of him, Peppy?” Merry asked the border collie as she washed her face and readied herself for bed. “You’re a good judge of character.” The dog had, more than once, reacted with a savvy she sometimes didn’t feel herself toward the men she’d dated. Now she only went out with guys Peppy liked.
    Peppy whined and put his head on his paws and stared up at her with expressive eyes.
    “I notice you didn’t even bark at him. Did you like Jack Frost?”
    Peppy’s tail began to fan softly back and forth across the bathroom floor.
    Merry snorted. “That shows me you’re losing your touch. You like a man who’d put me out of the Christmas business? Peppy, Peppy, Peppy.” She waggled her toothbrush at him. “I’m going to get my take on people from Eggnog from now on.”
    The cat was a sure bet. He didn’t like anyone—especially men.

Chapter Three
    • • • • • • • • • • • •
    Merry awoke to see the sun shining on the pristine blanket of white that had fallen during the night. She arose, shrugged into her robe, and sat down in the recliner she kept by the window. Her prayer chair, she called it. The snow sparkled like diamonds in a jeweler’s case, and she marveled at the way it covered the landscape and created a winter wonderland. The woodpile, which had been a dark stain against the snow, was now a perfect white rise in the backyard. The dead tree that needed to come down had become a sculptural vision against the blue sky. Snow hid the defects and washed the world clean, even if only for a little while.
    She picked up the Bible from the basket beside her chair and opened it to Isaiah.
    “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.”
    It was why she loved winter. The snow was an ever-present reminder of the forgiveness and cleansing she had in Christ.
    The coffee had just finished when she heard footsteps on the stairs.
    Mr. Frost entered the kitchen. His dark hair was still damp and his face clean-shaven. Merry felt something like an air tickle in her stomach, the kind she got on the roller coaster at the Minnesota State Fair.
    Ignoring that, Merry poured him a mug of coffee and handed it to him. “Good morning.”
    “Thank you,” he said somberly. He took the cup and held it with both hands, warming his palms.
    “Chilly? I can turn up the thermostat.”
    “No, it’s just that waking up to snow is a little different for me. I’m psychologically cold, I guess.”
    “Where’s home?” Merry asked as she retrieved cranberry muffins and a fluffy egg bake from the oven.
    “California.”
    “No