Retirement Plan by Martha Miller

Author:Martha Miller [Miller, Martha]
Language: fra
Format: epub
Tags: (v5.0), Fiction, Lesbian, LGBT, Mystery, Suspense, Romance
ISBN: 9781602822245
Google: 9cDIcQAACAAJ
Amazon: B005F50IHU
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Published: 2011-05-16T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Two weeks before Thanksgiving, an ice storm took down several power lines. The storm was followed by three days of subzero temperatures. Schools were closed, and Celia Morning packed a small bag and put her three children in the car. That evening when she pulled out of the driveway, icicles hung along the eaves of her house like a monster’s teeth. The image stayed with her as she drove 143 miles to her mother’s house. By the time they returned, the temperature was above forty degrees and Celia’s power was back on.

As they trudged in, Celia noticed that the house, the kitchen especially, smelled stale. That night they ate supper from a big can of Spaghetti-O’s, then finished a box of oatmeal cookies. The kids were tired and cranky from living like campers at Grandma’s and sitting still during the long drive home. Celia had each of them shower and put them to bed early. The boys were asleep almost instantly, but she could still hear Merris moving around upstairs as she headed to the basement to find a couple of empty boxes and went to work on the refrigerator. Around midnight she carried the heavy boxes of spoiled food to the trash. The kids were scheduled to take a trip over the Thanksgiving holiday with Jack’s parents, and Celia was looking forward to a quiet four days alone. She thought she’d go out to eat on Thanksgiving Day. She’d need milk and bread tomorrow, but she didn’t have to stock up everything else for a while yet.

Celia gathered the trash and carried it to the cans out back. Moving quickly through the cold, clear air, on her way back to the house, Celia saw Merris’s bedroom light on. The girl’s grandmother had bought her the first two books in a new vampire series, and Merris had opened one of them and read all the way home. The corner house where Jason Smallwood had lived a year ago was dark, although the realtor was keeping the power on to prevent broken pipes. With the current mortgage crisis, it was a buyer’s market. Real estate was moving slowly. The bank would probably have to rent the property or auction it. In the dim moonlight she could see that a tree branch had fallen on the corner of Smallwood’s roof. They’d have to get that taken care of before they could show the place again.

She wasn’t quite to the circle of porch light at her back door when she heard a sound. There wasn’t any wind. Someone or some thing nearby had made it. Should she sprint through the lighted area to her back door or stay in the darkness hidden if, indeed, she was hidden? But before she had time to fully consider it, she felt the presence of someone behind her. She turned and was shocked to find a man only inches away. She cried out and started to run, but he grabbed her arm.

“Hold on, sister, I ain’t gonna harm ya.

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