Three loud thumps pulled Mara out of her book just as she was getting into it. She set it down on an end table next to the only lamp lit in the room and padded over to the front door in her socks. She didn’t have to look through the tiny vertical panes built into the door to know who was on the other side. She flipped the dead bolt and opened the door.
“Dude, it is getting nippy out there!” Abby launched herself through the doorway and put her hands on each side of Mara’s face.
Mara squealed and squirmed away from her. “Stop. I just got all toasty. Close the door and keep your cold hands to yourself.” She jogged over to the couch and slid back under the afghan.
Abby sloughed off her jacket, threw it onto one of the armchairs near the fireplace and flopped down in the other one. “So what
