BAH, HUMBUG!(4)

Disappointed, Lexi glanced at the snowman and sighed. “Well, I suppose the snowman will last. After all, it’s below freezing. But I’ve got all this food,” she moaned.

“I know. I really wanted to see your new place, too. Sorry.”

Her “Bye” echoed after the click.

She sighed again. All that food inside her kitchen, going to waste. She and the kids couldn’t make a dent in it. She’d made enough for a large crowd. The same large crowd now crammed into a birthing room at University Hospital.

“What’s wrong?” Trista asked.

Lexi turned back to her kids with a sigh. “The party’s off. Carolyn’s having her baby.”

Steven tossed a snowball and hit Trista in the leg.

Trista shot him a don’t-you-dare-try-that-again look as she brushed the snow from her pants. When she straightened, she shrugged. “Just invite someone else.”

“Like who?”

“How about our new neighbors?”

Lexi smiled. “You are absolutely brilliant. That’s just what I’ll do. Come on, let’s walk down the block and invite everyone to a party.”

Trista started walking back to the house. “I think I’m going in to warm up, Mom. But you go ahead.”

Steven grinned and followed his sister into the house.

The cold was bitter today and Lexi was anxious to get inside her house with woman’s best friend--chocolate. Hot chocolate, to be exact. But she didn’t want that food going to waste. She supposed she could freeze it, but it would never be the same.

Lexi glanced at her watch. It was three-thirty now. She’d invite people for the time planned for the original party, six o’clock. She smiled. She was going to have a party, after all. She’d get to know her new neighbors, at least some of them.

And tonight, after everyone had gone back home, she’d give the hospital a call and see when they anticipated the birth. Carolyn did everything dramatically. Lexi wouldn’t be surprised if she’d be in labor for a day or so, just to out-do everyone else.





Chapter Three





When the doorbell rang, Kyle groaned.

He was never going to finish this book. Let whoever it was stand there; he didn’t have to answer. Maybe he’d have a switch installed that would stop the doorbell from sounding when he didn’t want to be disturbed.

He changed to a scene at the end of the book and worked on it for thirty minutes or so, long after the doorbell quieted and the would-be interruption gave up on him, but didn’t get much done in that scene, either. With a sigh, he saved the file.

He hadn’t been this frustrated in a long time. Maybe what he needed was a short break. Yes, that’s what he’d do. He’d go for a walk around the block. He’d leave Jared still searching--forever searching--and forget all about the book for a few minutes. If that was possible.

Kyle turned to the window. It was snowing outside. It was indeed beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Unfortunately. And what was that outside? A newly made snowman at the edge of his yard, close to the elf and pine tree. Oh, please. How archaic. And how lovely that his neighbors had built it smack dab on his property line.

He supposed he ought to feel happy to have a snowman on his yard that he hadn’t had to build--except that he wasn’t in a snowman type of mood. He wasn’t ready for Christmas, Frosty or otherwise. Christmas just brought back painful memories.

He was ready for a walk. He needed to stretch and breathe some fresh air.

Stepping onto his porch, Kyle inhaled deeply. The cold air stung his lungs. He pulled his muffler up around his nose, and sloshed down the steps in his snow boots.

He was glad he’d stepped away from the computer. He needed some relaxation, something to take his mind off the story that wasn’t working. Perhaps his subconscious could unravel the plot kinks for him. His conscious mind certainly was having no luck.

Reaching the sidewalk, he turned right. And stopped as an idea began to form in his mind.

The snowman. That was the answer.

Why hadn’t he thought of it before? The villain could hide his weapon in a snowman. Perfect. The cops would never think to look inside a snowman, and it wouldn’t melt for weeks. But Jared could uncover the truth. It wouldn’t be enough to solve the case and end the book, but it would be a great twist.

He was really going to have to thank his neighbors this time. Who would have thought they’d help him by Christmasing his yard?

And what a nice job they’d done on the snowman, too. It was a shame to mess it up, but he needed to see if his villain’s evil plan would work.

His mind racing now, he reached into his coat pocket and grabbed a small flashlight. He’d use that in place of the villain’s weapon.