Holiday Weekend Snow

Our weekend forecast was for less than an inch of snow Friday night into Saturday morning, and then nothing more the rest of the weekend. I would have been okay with that, since I had plans for this afternoon that involved leaving the house. Needless to say, the local weather guessers failed again. Haha. We got a good two to three inches of snow before it stopped yesterday. Then last night's forecast changed to another inch of snow to come in the wee hours of the morning for today. Got about two more inches of snow. Being a holiday weekend, the township was not rushing to get plow and salt trucks out either day, so I opted to stay home this afternoon instead of going to my planned Sunday outing. As I'm writing this, it's snowing again.

You all know I love to see snow in the winter. Pennsylvania is supposed to have snow in the winter, so I'm not complaining about having it, just that the weather guessers can never get it right. Though I might complain that we haven't had a massive snowstorm in a long, long time--I think the last time we had more than even a foot of snow here was pre-Covid, because my team leader, one teammate and I had to shovel our cars out to get home, and we were the last people out of the building that day. I'd love a big snowstorm that shuts things down for a couple days until the roads can be cleared, but I think the last time that happened, I might have been pregnant with younger son, and that was a long, long time ago.

Anyway, I am enjoying not having to go anywhere this weekend and seeing the snow outside my window. The top photo above is from my front door. The trees were all frosted with snow this morning, so pretty. The bottom picture is Pippi, the cat we've been trying to work on getting in the house since she showed up under the shed almost four years ago. The inside cat does not like her one bit, so even though I've had Pippi inside (quite a lot) over the last couple years, she hasn't been indoors too long. Usually when she's in (and the inside cat is doing her evening stroll outside), she explores the house and doesn't sit for long. Yesterday, I managed to get her inside while the inside cat was sleeping and unaware. Pippi did her wandering and then finally hopped up on the comfy chair here in my office and settled down to nap for several hours. Inside kitty was blissfully unaware, so I didn't have to break up any cat fights, and Pippi was happy to sleep in the warm house. I thought I might make this happen again today, but the inside cat is planted in the living room, so no sneaking Pippi past her today. Haha. I'll try again tomorrow, since it's a holiday weekend and I have three days here.

I have extra things on the to-do list this weekend since it's a three-day weekend, and I didn't get nearly enough of them done yesterday since I was chained to my desk yesterday for several hours to make sure Pippi and Inside Kitty didn't come face to face, which means I need to knock out a couple extra today. Before I get back to that list, I have a snippet for you this week from Hunting Medusa.

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It was one of those days when having the Medusa’s fabled power to turn people to stone would really come in handy.

Andrea Rosakis did not, however, have that ability, not this week, anyway. Even though she was the reigning Medusa.

She glared at the man on her back porch, wondering if he could ever understand how lucky he was she wasn’t suffering from PMS this week. And why wouldn’t he stop talking? Her fingers itched to slam the door.

“…if you just have five minutes, ma’am,” he concluded.

She narrowed her gaze on the vacuum beside him. “No, thank you.” And how the hell had he found her all the way out here? No one ever bothered to follow her rough, muddy driveway all the way to the top, even if they did ignore the “No Trespassing” signs posted at the foot of it. Not to mention the protective warding she had set at the boundaries of the entire property. Sure, it wasn’t the heavy artillery of protection spells, but no one else had ever gotten past it. This man however, had not only ignored the signs and the subtle “go away” protections, but managed the entire bumpy, muddy track into the woods and halfway up the mountain. Just to hear her say, “No.”

And he didn’t look discouraged. At all.

Andi almost wished she were PMSing this week, though it would be a real pain in the ass to have to get rid of a life-sized stone statue of a vacuum salesman.

Or maybe she could keep it. He was very pretty, even if he annoyed her. He was tall and broad, his inky black hair was a tad too long, and his bright green eyes held her attention. At least as stone, he’d be silent and still pretty. She gave herself a mental shake. “I’m sorry, but I don’t have time for this—”

“When would be a better time?”

“Never.”

He did blink at that, but his smile never disappeared. “I’ll have to check my calendar.”

She snorted, then clapped her free hand over her mouth. Laughing would not discourage the man. “Look, I’m sure it’s a great vacuum, but I don’t need it. I don’t want to see how it works, and I’d like you to get off my property.”

His smile did fade a little bit. “Well, I suppose, if that’s what you really want.”

She quirked an eyebrow, trying not to smile again. He had the faintest hint of an accent, but she couldn’t place it. Not without hearing him talk some more, and she didn’t want to encourage that either, or he’d just keep trying to sell her an expensive vacuum she didn’t need.

“Maybe I could talk you into meeting me for coffee sometime then,” he said.

Her jaw dropped. The cute salesman was hitting on her. For half a second, she indulged the fantasy of a date with the hunk. A real date, maybe ending with a real kiss. Her pulse quickened. Then she remembered one good date led to more, and eventually, it led to guys running away from her, gibbering like idiots when PMS struck. She shut her mouth and ignored the regret burning in her middle. “Sorry, but no.”

“You’re a hard woman,” he said lightly, his bright gaze sliding down to her mouth. “I’ll leave my card in case you change your mind. About the coffee, that is.” He forced a small card into her hand and picked up his vacuum.

Andi stared after him as he strode off her porch. The bulky vacuum looked like it weighed nothing in his hand, swinging at his side on his way to the shiny, new truck parked behind her car.

When he took one hand from the steering wheel to wave at her, she stopped herself from lifting her hand in response. He turned the truck around and vanished down the drive into the trees. Frowning, she went back inside and shut the door, then locked it and re-armed the alarm. He’d tossed the vacuum into the bed of the truck. A very strong salesman.

Who didn’t seem to care the impending rain was going to damage his expensive vacuum.

She turned back to the door and stared out the narrow window beside it, her heart beating faster now with alarm. Maybe he didn’t realize. Or maybe he really hadn’t come here to sell her a vacuum.

She swallowed hard.

Aunt Celosia had always told the cousins stories of the Harvesters, the men who still hunted for the Medusa. Somehow, Andi had always thought they’d be more frightening. More obvious. Ugly men intent on murder.

If this vacuum salesman was a Harvester, he was sneaky. Of course, if he was a Harvester, he would be sneaky, as Perseus had been when he killed the first Medusa.

She was in a lot of trouble.

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I do have one bit of news before I go: I'd mentioned on the Facebook page a week or two ago that I only had two events on my calendar for this year, and I've added a third now. In addition to the annual Love Is In the Air event on Valentine's Day, I'm going to be heading to the Manheim Community Library in Manheim, PA on March 28 for a Local Authors Day, which is a new one for me, and I can't wait! Then the first weekend of May, I'm heading back to Brook Hollow Winery in NJ for the annual A Day or Two of Wine, Romance & More signing. If you click on the Events link at the top of the page, you can find more info about these.

Now I'm going to crank up my Nine Inch Nails and get back to my to-do list so I can spend tomorrow on revisions and maybe work in some reading time, too!

Are you getting wintry weather in your neck of the woods, too? I'd love to hear if you're getting extra reading time in that way!

Until next week, happy reading!