Sleigh Bells on Bread Loaf Mountain by Lindy Miller

Author:Lindy Miller
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Vesuvian Books
Published: 2021-12-07T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Cooking a steak dinner was, in fact, a lot harder than Roxanne had expected. She’d managed to fill up the kitchen with smoke when Mark burst in from gathering more firewood outside, Bogie ambling hot on his heels.

“Roxanne!” he called.

“It’s okay, I got it,” Roxanne lied as she tried desperately to wave away smoke with a dishrag. She didn’t have it. More smoke wafted out of the oven. How embarrassing.

Mark reached over her head to turn on the exhaust fan, then pushed open the window over the sink and used his arms to expel smoke. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.” Roxanne grimaced as she pulled a pan of burnt potatoes from the oven and set them on top of the stove beside her tray of hockey puck steaks. “But dinner isn’t.”

“I was in the mood for a salad anyway.”

She spun on him, her eyes narrowed. “You said you don’t like lettuce.”

He bit back a smile. “Not on sandwiches. Put it in a bowl with tomatoes and cucumbers ...” His voice trailed off as Roxanne continued to glower. “And broccoli and carrots ...”

Roxanne realized he was teasing and managed a smile. “I’m sorry. I’m a terrible cook, apparently.”

“But an excellent lumberjack,” he reassured her. “Honestly, Roxy, you can serve me a bowl of rocks and I’ll be happy—as long as I’m sitting across from you.”

She grinned. “The steaks are hard as rocks.”

“You’ve already sold me on a salad. No takebacks.”

Steaks and potatoes consigned to the garbage, they made a simple supper of salad and another serving of maple pie, and afterward retired back to the couch in the den. The space had been cozy the night before, but after a day of hard work and decorating, it was a home fit for the holidays. The tree had been trimmed, the fire lit, and as Roxanne settled into the overstuffed cushions, Mark emerged from the kitchen carrying two mugs of hot chocolate, both topped with a swirl of whipped cream.

“You keep this up and I’m not going to want to leave,” she said, accepting one of the mugs.

Mark winked as he settled onto the other end of the couch. “Maybe that’s the plan. In the mood for a holiday movie?”

“What did you have in mind?”

He patted the cushion and stroked Bogie’s ears as they appeared at the edge of the couch.

“Oh, I was thinking something classic—something quintessentially Christmas.”

Roxanne groaned into her cocoa and Mark directed his next question at the dog. “What do you think, old man?”

Bogie wagged his tail and emitted a low woof.

“Ah, yes,” Mark said, as if her understood the dog’s language perfectly. “Good choice.”

Roxanne giggled, enjoying the interaction between the two as Mark rose and moved to the shelf of DVDs, running his finger along the titles.

“Either one of you boys want to tell me what we’re watching?”

Bogie responded by settling his snout on her leg. He rolled his big brown eyes up at her, and she scratched at his ear. Why had she never gotten a dog?

Because Hunter’s allergic.

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