Christmas in Cold Creek by RaeAnne Thayne

Author:RaeAnne Thayne [Thayne, RaeAnne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-4089-0369-8
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2011-10-10T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

She was not a crafty person. So what was she doing the week before Christmas with knitting needles and a skein of yarn, trying to fumble her way through making a scarf and hat set for Gabi?

This was completely stupid, an exercise in frustration. She was trying only because Donna Archuleta loved to knit and always brought a bag with needles and yarn and her latest project to work on during her rare downtime at the diner. Becca had made the mistake of asking her about it one morning and the next thing she knew, Donna had brought her a spare pair of needles and yarn and had taught her a few basic stitches.

With the zeal of a true devotee, Donna had insisted this would help Becca deal with the stress of moving and the holidays and starting a new job. Those were the stresses Donna knew about. For obvious reasons, Becca hadn’t told Donna about the strain of working to fill the requirements for reciprocal bar admission to practice law in Idaho or the inherent difficulties of trying to be a parental figure to a girl she hadn’t known a few months ago.

She dropped a stitch, her fourth in about an hour. Donna made it seem so effortless but Becca mostly found it a pain in the neck. She was determined to finish it, though, mostly to prove she could.

After fifteen more minutes, she dropped another stitch. Rats. She dug out the crochet hook and tried fixing it with the technique Donna had explained, but it was frustrating business.

Though it was just past nine, she knew she ought to be in bed. She had enjoyed the day off but had to be at The Gulch at six-thirty for the breakfast shift, another day of standing on her achy feet and pouring coffee. A few more moments, she told herself.

Christmas was only a week away and she regretted she didn’t have more presents for Gabi, or the endless budget to buy them. A homemade matching scarf and beanie set was pretty tame as far as gifts went, but maybe it would help cheer Gabi out of her moodiness. The yarn had been free from Donna, so all she needed to spend on this was her time and aggravation.

She frowned up the stairs. Her sister had gone to bed an hour earlier, claiming exhaustion. Becca wasn’t buying it. Something was definitely going on with the girl. She hadn’t exhibited any signs of sickness or laid claim to any further stomachaches, but all weekend she had been acting strangely. Giddy one moment—as if she knew a secret no one else did—then morose and defeated the next. She seemed to have lost her appetite, too, and hadn’t even seemed to enjoy making more cookies.

Becca had done her best to finesse the truth out of her sister but apparently her persuasive skills were on the rusty side. Gabi insisted everything was fine, that school was going well, that she was coming to enjoy her new friends.

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