Let It Snow(8)

Sure, it was a Jake-free life, but those were the cards she’d been dealt and she had played a decent game with them. Tessa had made the best out of every hand the dealer of life had dealt her. She hadn’t gone belly-up yet and she did not plan on leaving the table on this round.

With renewed strength, she put her key in the ignition and started the car. Glancing up—against her better judgment—she saw that not only was Jake watching her from under the awning of JT’s, but Eric had joined him. Both men stood stock-still, feet shoulder-width apart, Jake with his arms crossed and Eric with his clasped behind his back.

As she flipped on her windshield wipers Jake’s face came into focus. Their eyes met, and not knowing what else to do, she held up her hand and gave a little wave goodbye. He nodded stiffly.

Wow. Could things be any more awkward?

She pulled out of the spot slowly and carefully—not only because the Chief of Police was watching her, but also because she couldn’t afford for her insurance to go up due to her hitting a parked car.

Turning onto Main Street, Tessa headed to Sue Ann’s. Her hands gripped the steering wheel tightly once again. This time, it had nothing to do with her overconsumption of energy drinks. Part of her—a large part!—wanted to turn the car around, drive right back to sunny San Diego, and forget this day had ever happened. But she knew she couldn’t. If she was going to have any kind of a future, she needed to be here.

Like Gran had always said, Tessa just needed to “deal with her life.” Even if that meant getting her heart trampled by wild horses. Or more accurately, getting pieces of her heart stomped all over. Because Tessa’s heart hadn’t been whole for a long time.

Was it actually possible for a heart that had been broken for thirteen years to actually break more?

Well, it looks like I’m about to find out.





Chapter Four




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Jake rolled over in his king-sized bed and hit the button on his alarm, turning it off an hour before it was scheduled to wake him up. He had spent the entire night tossing and turning. Restless didn’t even begin to describe it. Half of his sheets now lay on the floor beside his bed. He had to face the fact that sleep was not going to be happening tonight.

His sleepless night sucked for two reasons. One, Jake loved to sleep. He had never been one of those kids who complained about bedtimes. He’d always played hard during the day, and the second his head had hit the pillow, he’d been out. Now, as an adult, the ‘playing’ was a little different but not any less exhausting, and the second his head hit the pillow, Jake was usually out for the count.

Two, he had a pile of paperwork waiting for him in his office that needed not only his attention but also his focus. Technically, this was one of his days off. The department had moved to a modified Kelly schedule last year, which meant two days on, four days off. He was off for the next three days, but since taking on his new position as Fire Chief, the paperwork had seriously piled up.

Part of the problem was that his predecessor had left everything in such a mess that it had taken Jake over a month to sort everything out. But also the weather this year had been particularly brutal. It had been an extremely dry summer, which had led to an exorbitant amount of wildfires. The winter had been uncharacteristically harsh, causing the department to be busier than Jake had ever experienced in his six years there. So after getting promoted, there had not been a lot of time for paperwork.

Jake knew that he needed to get up and go get started on his day. But instead he lay flat on his back, staring up at the ceiling with only one thought in his head. Tessa.

Since seeing her last night, he hadn’t been able to think of anything else. Their brief interaction just kept playing over and over in his head. Every word, every look, every movement was on repeat.

The bed jerked like an earthquake was hitting it and Jake lifted his head to see Lucky bounding towards him. Normally, his yellow lab didn’t wake up until Jake’s alarm went off, but he must have heard him turn it off.

“Morning, Luck.” Lucky happily barked his greeting, and Jake smiled as he sat up and rubbed his dog behind the ears. Lucky rolled onto his back and flopped onto the bed. Jake gave him his morning belly rub then patted Lucky’s chest, “Time to go out.”

As he and Lucky made their way down the stairs of his condo, Jake couldn’t stop thinking of all the different things he should have said last night. For starters, he would have found out what the hell Tessa was doing back in Hope Falls. That way he could avoid her, which was the last thing he wanted to do but the only thing he could do.

Also he should have asked more about Adeline. Tessa’s grandma had always been good to Jake, even before the year Tessa had come to live with her. Adeline had been on his paper route and lived next door to his dream home on Shady Creek Lane.