Going Deep by Anne Calhoun

Author:Anne Calhoun
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Conn parked the Audi at the far end of the gravel parking lot and reclaimed the handsaw from the trunk of the car. The snow lingered on the trees, and the air had turned crisp and cold. Cady had traded her puffy jacket with its hood for the coat Emily made, so she lacked the protection for her ears and throat. “Wear mine,” Patty—because after the sushi brunch, Cady’s mom insisted he call her Patty—said, and took off her own scarf. Cady wound it around the lower half of her face and grabbed her insulated mug.

Cady and her mother had no problem with the gravel made rough by the snowplow’s blade, but Emily was having trouble in her heels and fell a little behind. At the entrance they got a sled and a map of the farm. They huddled around it at a table outside the canteen. Conn, positioned by Cady’s shoulder, smelled hot cider, hot cocoa, and peppermint drifting through the window.

“Here.” Patty jammed one French-manicured nail at the map. “That’s where we got last year’s tree.”

“I want to go here,” Emily said, pointing to a spot on the opposite side of the map. “See the fence line? It’s a split rail, with those big Colorado blue spruces on the other side. That’s a great place for a photo shoot.”

“Those trees are a little big for the living room,” her mother said.

“We’re having Christmas at Cady’s, remember? You could fit a twenty-foot spruce under those ceilings.”

“Sixteen, tops, including a stand and the star,” Conn said. “They’re eighteen feet by the fireplace.”

“How do you know that?” Emily demanded.

“Magic,” Conn replied, then relented. “I eyeballed it.”

“I’m partial to the balsam firs,” Cady said. “The twigs on the Colorado spruces are harder to hang ornaments on.”

“So we go here for the photo shoot, then here for the tree,” Emily said, jabbing at the map.

“You’re going to be pretty cold before we get from one side of the farm to the other,” Patty said patiently.

“I packed jeans. I’ll put them on under my skirt.”

Cady looked at Conn. “I’m good,” he said.

They set off for the photo shoot location. The farm was busy, but the crowds thinned out as they walked further into the woods, most people choosing a tree closer to the gift shop and the canteen.

“How do we get the tree back?” Conn asked.

“That’s what the sled’s for,” Emily said. Her tone supplied the “duh.”

“I figured it was for the photo shoot,” Conn said, keeping his tone neutral.

“Oh,” Emily said. Up to her calves in snow, she eyed it judiciously. “That’s a good idea. Are you some kind of design expert when you’re not a cop?”

“Not even remotely. I don’t decorate for the holidays,” Conn said. He looked around. It was really pretty back here, the sun glinting off the snow, the slight breeze picking up fine swirls and sending diamonds into the air. Cady and her mother were a few feet ahead, but Conn figured the snow would slow down anyone who made it this deep into the back of beyond to come after Cady.

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