Snow Way Out Read Online Free Page A

trembled and tears welled in her eyes, but didn’t spill out.
    Mark gave his hand a slight wave. “Technically, he’s not a fugitive.”
    “Okay, a criminal, then. And a creepy one besides. If he comes near me or my things—”
    “Then I’ll handle him, Erin,” Mark said, lowering his voice.
    Pinky stepped in beside Mark. “Me, too. I’ll protect you.”
    I rolled my eyes before I could stop myself.
    “If we kick him out of Pam’s house, he’ll have to leave town and you won’t have to worry about him,” Lauren said.
    “Lordy, Lordy,” Archie said again.
    Being caught up in dramatic scenes had followed me from Washington, D.C., to my hometown of Brooks Landing. At least no one was pointing fingers at me this time. I raised my hands for everyone’s attention. “I think the best thing to do is put a little time and space between all that’s gone down here. I don’t think we’re going to resolve this tonight, so we should all go home and try to get a good night’s sleep. And remember what a nice class we had. We all have wonderful snow globes to prove it.” My words sounded fake and shallow even to me.
    “Sleep? Seriously, Cami?” Erin asked.
    “A glass of wine might help, Erin. Do you want a ride home?” Pinky said.
    Erin lifted her eyebrows. “No.” She rolled her shoulders backward in a half circle. “But thanks.” She looked at each of us in turn. She nodded then left. Mark followed her out the door.
    May turned to Pam. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything. I wasn’t going to, but it came out anyway. And Jerrell is a—”
    “No-goodnik,” Archie finished for her then slipped out himself.
    Lauren pulled on Pam’s arm. “Time to go.” Pam nodded, and they left without another word.
    Pinky brushed a crumb off a table. “Let me help you carry your things to your car, May.”
    “You know what? I have everything packed in my suitcase on wheels, and I’m parked right outside. But thanks. It was a good class. I wish now that I had just left it at that.”
    “Yes, it was a good class,” I agreed and zipped my mouth shut before I told her it was probably the last time she ever taught a class at our shop. Pinky held the door for May, who rolled her supplies out behind her.
    “Well, that went well. Not,” I said and sank onto a stool at the counter.
    “Holy moly, Cami, our hopes of holding classes here may have died on the vine.”
    “Yeah, well, after some time passes, maybe we’ll get our enthusiasm back.”
    “That’s optimistic.” Pinky adjusted her neck scarf. “Well, it’s an early day tomorrow, getting up to bake my delicacies, so I’d better head on home.”
    I stood up and gave Pinky a light hug. “Rest well, friend.”
    “You, too.”
    Alone in the shop, I walked around to settle my nerves. The last thing I had wanted that evening was a conflict. And a fairly significant one at that. I checked to see that every electrical appliance was off, then shut off the lights in the coffee shop and headed into my more familiar territory on the curio side. I picked up a recently acquired snow globe on a shelf near the counter and gave it a shake. It snowed on the man and woman who were dressed in Victorian clothing, snuggled together on a rocking horse. Their expressions of both joy and contentment had been captured and preserved for at least a century, according to the best information we had from one of our dealers in Germany.
    I carefully replaced the globe then sat down in front of the computer on the checkout counter. I read through and responded to some e-mails and read the featured news headlines of the day. I was surprised when the clock on city hall chimed ten times. My hour online had seemed like half that amount of time.
    “You need to head home yourself,” I said out loud and shut down the computer. I went to the back of the store and used the bathroom then grabbed my jacket and backpack from the back room and slipped them on. When I returned to the retail