Page 3 of Midnight Clear

Atsix o’clock Sophie still couldn’t get Hank O’Hara out of her mind. The nerve of the man, coming into her shop and telling her he wanted to buy The Reading Nook as if it hadn’t been in her family for generations.

She closed the door of the bookstore a little harder than necessary so the bell rang wildly, and then she slid the key in and locked the dead bolt. She finished zipping up her white ski jacket and pulled the red hat out of her pocket, and then she forced the hat down over her brown wayward curls. She felt in the other pocket for her gloves only to find it empty. She must have left them on her desk.

“Shoot,” she muttered.

The flame in the gas lanterns on each side of the red door of the bookstore flickered, and she took a step back as people bustled around her, everyone in a hurry, everyone goingsomewhere. But she stood and soaked in the moment on her little hilltop.

The Reading Nook had originally been the house her grandmother had grown up in. It was a narrow three-story white clapboard house with a widow’s walk and a round stained-glass window on the top peak that her great-grandfather had brought back from the Soviet Union when he’d served in World War II. The house didn’t fit with the Bavarian architecture like the other businesses downtown that had been built more than a hundred and twenty years before. Laurel Valley was one of the oldest Bavarian settlements in America, and it was proud of its heritage. Just ask the historical society because they had restrictions on everything.

But there’d been no restrictions back when her great-grandfather had built the house. He’d just needed a home that was sturdy and would keep his wife and six children warm in the harsh Idaho winters. She’d heard people call it an eyesore as the house was visible from almost everywhere downtown, but she always saw it as a little jewel on the hilltop.

Sure, the paint was peeling in places, the stair railing needed to be replaced, and the heater was on its last leg and probably wouldn’t make it another winter, but the memories alone kept her patching and painting and caulking to hold everything together.

But it was this view from where she stood that brought her peace. From her front stoop she looked down onto Main Street and the picturesque downtown that looked more like a postcard than reality.

The sidewalks were crowded with shoppers and tourists as people hustled off to dinner or to the theater. The Christmas tree loomed large and bright in the middle of town as skaters twirled and spun around it. The faint sound of Christmas carolers drifted up the hill so the familiar tune of “O Christmas Tree” tickled her ears. And the soft fall of snow covered everything in white.

She knew the necessity of tourist season for Laurel Valley. And for her business. A decade ago the population had decreased as locals had to move away to find work, and many thought the town would dry up altogether. But in had swooped Hank O’Hara, using the inheritance his grandparents had left him to turn things around. He was a local hero. Even she’d always held him in that regard. Until he’d walked into her shop that morning.

She breathed in the fresh scent of snow and pine, and exhaled the frustrations of the day. The topmost being Hank O’Hara.

“Good grief,” she muttered, hitching her bag over her shoulder. “Ridiculous man.”

She kicked at a loose pebble with her boot and started walking down the hill toward The Lampstand. Of course her mom would want to meet at The Lampstand to share her good news. But Sophie’d had enough of the O’Haras for the day, and there was always at least one O’Hara in the popular restaurant since they owned the place. But, then again, the O’Haras owned just about everything in Laurel Valley.

She hummed along with the Christmas carolers and expertly dodged her way through tourists staring at window displays or looking at their map of the area.

“Sophie!” Raven O’Hara said, giving her a wide grin. “Merry Christmas. I keep meaning to come down to the shop and pick up some things for Christmas, but I never seem to get out of here in time.”

Raven was just locking the doors of her clothing boutique, and Sophie’s mouth watered enviously at the bright red coat Raven wore. It was beautiful, but all the clothes in Raven’s designer boutique were beautiful.

“Merry Christmas to you too,” Sophie said, returning the grin.

Raven was the one O’Hara she knew well—though Raven had married into the family so it hardly counted. But it was hardnotto know Raven. Her shop was in the heart of town, and Raven knew just about everything about everyone. The woman had never met a stranger. But Raven and Sophie had gone to school together since kindergarten, and Raven had been her closest friend. At least for a while.

Under normal circumstances, Sophie would’ve shared her embarrassment of having Shannon overhear her and Hank’s conversation in the bookstore. There had never been any love lost between Shannon and Raven. But considering Raven was Hank’s sister-in-law, she figured there was a conflict of interest on how much she could share.

Raven’s husband, Wyatt, had been the brother who Hank had been referring to when he’d dropped his bombshell earlier that day. She’d completely forgotten that Wyatt had been in her English class. Of course, Wyatt had skipped school to go fish or be on the water every chance he got, so it was no wonder she didn’t remember they’d been in the same class. And she never would have thought that Wyatt would go on to become a cop, but that’s exactly what he was.

She and Raven had been tight up until the year her dad had died, but Raven had never treated her different after the accident like some of the other kids had. It had been Sophie who’d put the separation between them—the separation between her and everyone.

“I know how you feel,” Sophie said. “I’d love to have a day to get caught up on Christmas shopping. I’m going to be cutting it close.”

“Well, feel free to stop by this weekend,” Raven said. “I’m staying open an hour later so all the Main Street shop employees can come in and get their holiday discount. Half off everything.”

“Oh, wow,” Sophie said. “That’s very generous.” Even with those slashed prices Sophie wasn’t sure she’d be able to afford anything in the boutique.

“You heading home?” Raven asked.

“I’m meeting Mom for dinner at The Lampstand,” she said. “And I’m late.”

“I’m heading to dinner myself,” she said. “I’m meeting Wyatt up at the resort. If we’re lucky we’ll get to eat a whole meal together before he gets called out again. I swear every tourist season the crime gets a little worse. Wyatt says the drugs are getting out of hand. Too many people with too much money and not enough sense.”

“We all appreciate his service,” Sophie said. “Enjoy your dinner.”

Raven moved away in a swirl of color. Raven had always swirled through life with color.

Sophie looked down at her old jeans and fur-lined, worn boots and winced. She definitely could have used a style upgrade, and she wasn’t dressed for a nice dinner, but who had time to think about fancy clothes or fancy dinners when all you did was work?

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