Free Nun the Wiser (A Deadly Habit Cozy Mystery Book 2) by Morgana Best

windows of my shop to see the wind blowing small specks of snow through the air. It was just light snow — in these parts, we never had much snow. “Okay, that’s fine. What time would you like me to come out?”
    The woman seemed to hesitate for a moment before responding. “I’m at work right now, so it would have to be after working hours. Could you come sometime after your shop closes for the day?”
    The thought of a long, cold drive out to some random farm that evening didn’t sound too appealing, but I was curious to see what the woman had for sale. If only I didn’t have to drive alone. My thoughts shifted to Adam — maybe he would like to come with me. “Sure,” I said. “That would be fine. I’ll leave here after closing. Could you give me the address, please?”
    “It’s 3221 Widow’s Wale. Go through the first gate, and then wait at the second gate. I’ll be watching for your lights — I’ll drive down and meet you there and then you can follow me to the house.”
    “Thanks, Wendy. I’ll see you then.”
    “I can’t wait,” Wendy replied before hanging up abruptly.
    I hung up the receiver and decided to start tidying up the shop. I figured it was going to be a long evening away, so I wanted to get the cleaning done before I made the trip. From dusting to sweeping, I passed the time by keeping busy between customers.
    By the time I had finished cleaning, I looked up at the clock and noticed that the time had run away from me. It was now closing time, so I cashed out my drawer. After finalizing the close, I pulled out my cell and called Adam.
    Nothing but silence answered me, so I ended the call and figured I’d just text him before leaving to tell him where I was going.
    I flipped over the sign on the front door so that it read Closed, and then locked up as I shut the door behind me. The wind had an icy chill, so I hurried back inside to get my gloves and a thicker scarf.
    I struggled to get to my car through the biting bits of sleet stinging my cheeks. Once I did, I pulled open the door and let it slam shut behind me. My car was parked on the road and so had a large pile of snow obscuring the screen. I turned on the engine and ran the heater on full blast, waiting for the windshield wipers to thaw.
    “Well, this is a little better,” I said to myself. “At least there’s no sleet inside here.” Nevertheless, it was cold waiting for the heat to become, well, hot.
    Small snowflakes fluttered about in the wind, sticking to the windshield, but the wipers had now thawed and I was able to wipe the snowflakes away with a flick of a switch. “This is going to be a long night,” I complained loudly as I drove off. Hey, I lived alone — I often talked to myself.
    There was a barricade across the road, and a man approached my window. I rolled it down, only to be hit in the face with snow. “Hey, what’s up?” I asked him.
    “The highway’s closed,” he said.
    “Accident?”
    He shook his head. “Ice on the road. Where are you headed?”
    “Widow’s Wale.”
    He shook his head again.
    “Can I go through Invergowrie?”
    He shrugged. “You could try,” he said.
    I had no idea what he meant by that. I figured he meant that the road to Invergowrie was not blocked, as far as he knew, so I turned around and then took the back road to Invergowrie.
    If there was ice on the highway, then the road to Invergowrie was infinitely worse. It was a narrow road, and I hoped I didn’t meet any oncoming cars, as the verge did not look solid enough to drive on. I didn’t want to get stuck out here in the middle of nowhere in the snow, spinning my tires in piles of icy mush.
    I drove slowly. All I could see were the silhouettes of farms on large plots of land — they were few and far between.
    It seemed to take a long time before I saw the sign to Widow’s Wale. I turned down the road and drove for at least another five miles, looking for property numbers on mailboxes out the front.
    I finally came