Free Cold Hollow (Cold Hollow Mysteries Book 1) by Emilie J. Howard Page A

was spreading a small blanket beside theirs and taking his clothes off. He had a miniscule lunch with him and plopped it down. Myrna gasped when she saw his physique and plunged beneath the water. Sophia began giggling like a child, and Angus was rolling his eyes.
    Liam swam up to his mother. “I think Myrna has goo-goo eyes for that guy coming toward us.”
    Sophia smiled and whispered, “Me too.” As the good doctor waded through the water toward them, Sophia introduced him to her entire family. When Myrna finally popped her head from the water, he smiled. “You have some color on your face, Myrna, and your freckles are out! You never looked better.”
    She blushed and thanked him in a timid voice, but somehow she steeled her nerves and said, “We’ve brought a lot of food with us, Doctor Tom. We’d be happy if you joined us for lunch.”
    He smiled brightly and widely. “I’d be happy to be in the company of so many pretty ladies.” He looked at Myrna, Sophia, and Layla.
    Angus cleared his throat. “Um, the one with the ridiculous grin on her face and the shorty are mine.”
    Tom and Angus laughed and joined in an impromptu volleyball game played with beach balls. They ate their fill, built sand castles, dove in the water, and then ate some more. The temperature stayed steady, and the water was refreshing. It was the type of day where you could feel the sun working its magic on your complexion. Sophia and Myrna had slathered the children with sunblock, but waited until they had some color before applying it to themselves.
    At the end of the day, Doctor Tom pulled Myrna to one side under a pine tree and spoke privately with her. Sophia saw him pull an envelope out of his pants pocket and hand it to her. When he didn’t let go of it, she watched his fingers trace along the top of Myrna’s hand before he released it. She saw Myrna blush and nod; they spoke for a few moments longer and then rejoined the group. Myrna immediately placed the envelope in her beach bag.
    When Tom was busy speaking with Angus, Myrna leaned over to Sophia and whispered, “That was my husband’s official death certificate. Oh, he’s also taking me out for supper tonight!”
    Sophia shot her best smile at her friend and squeezed her hand in excitement. “You better tell me all of the details.”
    Myrna nodded and shook a bit in excitement. She never in a million years thought she would ever find another man who would even give her a second glance, so this came as an absolute surprise. She knew Doctor Tom had been a bachelor his whole life, but she was not looking for another husband. She would be more than happy if they could just be companions, or boyfriend and girlfriend forever—either way was positively fine with her.
     
    ***
     
    They didn’t see Myrna for the rest of the weekend. Sophia could hardly wait for Monday morning to get the gossip about their date. She wanted to know what they had done on Saturday and Sunday. She was not a snoop and did not want intimate details. She was just overjoyed for her friend. To have overcome an abusive husband, his death, and to gain the confidence she had in such a short time span was an awesome feat for one woman. Sophia found herself admiring Myrna more and more.

CHAPTER 6
     
    Myrna met Sophia at the bakery right on time. She was smiling from ear to ear as she described her multiple dates with Doctor Tom over the weekend. He had taken her to a restaurant in town one night, and then the following night they went to the town tavern, had a few drinks, and danced. On the last night, she cooked him supper and they watched movies all night. Yes, he had kissed her, and she hadn’t wanted him to stop kissing her for the rest of her life.
    Sophia was elated for her friend and gave her a fierce hug. “We’ll have to do a game night soon with the two of you. What do you think?”
    “Absolutely.” Myrna tied on her apron over her work clothes and went to the front of the bakery.
    The customers