Christmas In Icicle Falls. Sheila Roberts

      “If you need characters for a book, there’s your girl,” Pat teased, making Dot frown.

      Known for her crazy sweatshirts, Dot was definitely a character. Today’s offering said Apologies to Anyone I Haven’t Offended. Please Be Patient. I’ll Get to You Shortly.

      “Murder in Icicle Falls?” Muriel gave a mock shudder.

      Dot shrugged. “Yeah, I guess that wouldn’t work. Who would you murder?”

      “Your neighbor Mr. Cratchett?” Pat suggested to Sienna.

      “Well...” Sienna regretted having told Pat about her problem neighbor. Complaining to family was one thing. Complaining to other people was plain old bad-mouthing. Although if anyone deserved to be bad-mouthed, it was Cratchett.

      Dot gave a snort. “That old grump. Don’t mind him. He’s lived here forever. Comes into my restaurant every once in a while. Never leaves my gals a tip. You could bump him off in a book. Put him in my place and have someone slip poison in his coffee. The way he gripes about it, you’d think it was poisoned.”

      “There’s probably more to Mr. Cratchett than what you’re seeing,” Muriel said.

      “As in, you can’t judge a book by its cover,” said Pat.

      “Not even in a bookstore,” Muriel added with a smile.

      Sienna had seen enough of Mr. Cratchett and she didn’t want to read any further.

      “We shouldn’t be too hard on the poor man. Maybe he’s got a good reason to be so grouchy. He’s a widower, after all,” Muriel said in Cratchett’s defense.

      This produced another snort from Dot. “I’ve been a widow for years. You don’t see me whining about it.” She shook her head. “Men. They’re the weaker sex.”

      At that moment a member of the weaker sex came into the store, needing help finding the latest Suzanne Selfors book for his daughter, and that broke up the confab as Sienna went to help him and Pat moved to ring up a sale.

      Business remained brisk for the next two hours, with townspeople popping in to get signed copies of Muriel’s book. Her daughters Samantha and Cecily both came by, bringing treats from their sister Bailey’s tearoom. And Vance Fish, one of the town’s older single men, stopped in to say hi to Muriel. He owned a bookstore in Seattle but he always came by Pat’s when she had a special event going on.

      “We indie booksellers have to stick together,” he said.

      While he was there, two women came in looking for the latest Vanessa Valentine book. Sienna had heard a rumor that Vance Fish himself was really Vanessa Valentine. She’d worked up her nerve to ask him once. He’d laughed and replied, “Do I look like a Vanessa Valentine to you?” So much for that rumor.

      Muriel’s book signing ended, but before she left the store, she handed out invitations to her ladies’ Christmas tea the next Sunday afternoon.

      “It’s a tradition,” Pat told Sienna. “She does this every year for her girlfriends and daughters, so make sure you line up your cousin to watch Leo, because you won’t want to miss seeing Muriel’s place all fixed up for the holidays.”

      She wouldn’t want to miss seeing Muriel’s place, period.

      The rest of the day sped by and before Sienna knew it, it was quitting time. She picked up her car from Swede’s Garage, where they’d put on those snow tires she’d been postponing purchasing. Then she fetched Leo from Rita’s house, which was his home away from home when Sienna was at the bookstore. It was a good arrangement. Rita worked nights at Zelda’s, so she was home during the day and was happy to have Leo around, as he kept little Linda entertained. Plus, the price was right: free—always a good thing for a single mom who had stretched her budget to buy her house. Child support from the creep only went so far.

      “How was your day?” Sienna asked, hugging her son.

      “I helped Tía Rita make cookies,” he told her.

      “You did?”

      He nodded eagerly.

      “He’s very good at stirring,” Rita confirmed.

      “That’s nice to hear. You’re a good helper,” Sienna said and mussed his thick, dark hair. “Come on, handsome, let’s go home and make some hamburgers.”

      “Hamburgers, yes!” Leo cheered and raced for the door.

      “Why don’t you let Tito watch him tonight and you come to Zelda’s for a while?” Rita suggested. “There’s a new band playing in the bar.”

      “I’m too tired,” Sienna said. “We had a busy day at the bookstore.”

      “Tired,” Rita echoed in disgust. “You’re too young to be tired. You’re only thirty-five.”

      “Well, tonight I feel like I’m eighty-five. And my feet hurt.”

      Rita frowned. “You gotta get out, chica. You need a life. You need a man.”

      “I have a life with Leo, a perfectly good life.”

      Rita rolled her eyes. “All men aren’t like your ex, you know. Look at Tito.”

      “Clone him and then we’ll talk,” Sienna said and followed Leo out to the car. The weather was still cold and the roads slushy from the earlier snowstorm. More snow was predicted for late that night and she was ready to go home and get tucked in before everything got icy.

      It was an exciting Friday night, hamburgers followed by Leo’s favorite movie, Cars. They’d watched that movie so many times she could say every line of dialogue right along with Lightning McQueen and Strip Weathers. Yes, this was what her life boiled down to—work and Pixar movies.

      And hamburgers and time with her sweet son, who still thought it was cool to snuggle on the couch with Mom and watch an animated movie. So there wasn’t a man in her life. She could live with that.

      A good thing, since she was probably going to have to. Lonely after her divorce, Sienna had looked for a good man, but in the end she hadn’t found anyone worth keeping. There’d been Manny, who’d proved to be more of a child than Leo, wanting nothing more out of life than to go dancing and work on his car. He’d yelled at her son when Leo was assisting him in changing the oil and accidentally dropped the oil pan, calling him estúpido. That had been the end of Manny. Gregory had liked Leo just fine...as long as he didn’t have to hang out with him. Gregory hadn’t lasted long, either. Those had been the best of the bunch. Sadly, there weren’t a lot of men out there who wanted to take on a woman with a kid, especially a woman with a kid who had some challenges.

      And Leo did have challenges. While most kids his age were reading small chapter books, he was struggling with simple words like cat and bat. He still didn’t know all his colors. Everything was either red, blue or yellow. And math completely overwhelmed him. Trying to master new information often drove him to tears and tantrums. So when the men Sienna dated got a look at life with Leo—when they realized every day wasn’t going to be smooth sailing—they bolted.

      But what had she expected? Her own husband hadn’t been able to cope. “I can’t deal with this anymore,” he’d said only six months after Leo had finally been tested and diagnosed with a learning disability. She’d tried to convince Carlos that, together, they could deal with anything, but her pep talk hadn’t done any good. “I’m sorry, Sienna. I want a divorce.”

      Sienna hadn’t known which had been worse, his initial harshness and impatience with Leo or the ensuing coldness to the little boy, who only wanted his love.

      Well, new town, new start. She and Leo would manage fine on their own, and even though she missed her parents and brothers, she knew she’d done the right thing coming here. She was happy with her new job and her new friends. And, most important, Leo was happy with his new teacher. Really, the only fly on the frosting was her neighbor.

      After