Let It Snow (The Hope Falls Series) (4 page)

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.

‡

J
ake 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.

When he was in middle school and would come to collect the money for the paper, Adeline would always have cookies and milk waiting for him. Sometimes the two of them would sit out on her porch and Jake would tell her about school and sports. He’d even told her about his desire to live in the house next door to her someday.

He hadn’t seen her since he’d left for college the fall after senior year. In fact, the last conversation he’d had with her had not been a pleasant one. During his four years at UCLA, he hadn’t come back to Hope Falls. He’d worked the entire time he had been in school, first as a waiter, then as a bartender. So when other kids had had breaks and had gone home to see their families, Jake had picked up more shifts to make extra money.

When he’d moved back after college, his mom had told him that Adeline had recently moved. She’d had to go somewhere with a better climate for her asthma and arthritis. He’d always wanted to apologize for his behavior the last time he’d seen her on her porch. Now it was too late.

Jake shivered as he opened the sliding glass door and Lucky ran outside to do his business. Even after the door was shut, the chill continued as he moved across the kitchen, the Spanish tiles cold against his bare feet. He poured water into the coffee maker, threw in a filter and scoop of ground coffee beans, then pressed the ‘on’ button.

Jake had been trying to cut back on his coffee intake, but today he would mainline this stuff if he could. It was going to be a multiple-cup day for sure. As the familiar bubbling sounds of the coffee brewing began, Jake leaned against his granite countertop. Out the window, he watched as Lucky chased a squirrel up a pine tree and then ran around in a circle chasing his own tail.

Well at least one of them was happy.

Why
had she come back? The question just kept rolling around in his brain like a pinball being knocked around. He was pretty certain he wasn’t going to get a moment’s rest until he knew the answer.

Of course the simplest solution would be to over to Sue Ann’s and see Tessa there. But Jake wasn’t sure if seeing her again was the best idea. Sure, they had a lot of unfinished business to deal with,
but
he seriously doubted that was why she was in town. If it was, she wouldn’t have looked like she’d seen a ghost when he’d turned around last night. No, Jake knew that
he
wasn’t the reason Tessa was back in Hope Falls. He also knew that there was no way she was here to stay. So the best thing Jake could possibly do was keep his distance.

Lucky whined and scratched at the glass door so Jake opened it. As Lucky ran across the kitchen, he left huge muddy paw prints in his wake.

“Lucky, did you get into the flower bed again?’” Jake said in his sternest tone.

Lucky spun around and sat, displaying his best “good boy” face. His tongue was hanging out of the side of his mouth and his tail was wagging wildly, thumping against the wooden leg of the kitchen table.

“Stay out of the flower bed,” Jake firmly instructed.

Lucky ‘woofed’ in what Jake could only assume was agreement. He then ran around the table several times, his nails clicking loudly on the tile, before heading to his bowl for breakfast.

Jake knew it was his fault that Lucky had not only been digging up the yard but also chewing up the furniture. He hadn’t been exercising him properly. When he did, Lucky never got into things he shouldn’t. Jake decided that, instead of getting upset, he would be a responsible dog owner and take Lucky on a nice long run.

Plus, maybe the physical exertion would do Jake some good as well. Clear his head. Get rid of some of the anxiousness he was feeling. Hey, maybe between that and the boring paperwork he had to do all day he would be so mentally and physically exhausted that he’d actually sleep tonight.

It was worth a shot.

*

Tessa made her way down the wooden staircase that led from the small apartment to the café below. The deliciously fragrant scent of freshly brewed coffee drifted through the air, and she let out an audible moan.

Yes, she was a caffeine addict. She could openly and freely admit that. Until she had a cup o’ coffee, she was useless. Her brain cells only started functioning after she drank that first cup of the day.

And to face today, she would need it. She was meeting Henry, her Grandma Adie’s lawyer, to go over Gran’s will. Tessa was not looking forward to it. In fact, she’d been putting it off for almost nine months now. It felt like after she did that last final thing her Gran would
really
be gone.

It might be delusional on her part, but the fact was that she just hadn’t been able to face it. Now she had no choice. Tessa knew that if she ever wanted to open her studio she had to do this. So here she was. In Hope Falls.

But always one to look at the glass half full, she thought that at least the worst part of her visit was already behind her. She’d seen Jake and she was still standing. Albeit a little unsteady due to the fact that she hadn’t slept at all last night, and she was beyond exhausted from her trip, but she was upright and mobile.

Last night, every time she’d closed her eyes, she’d seen Jake, heard Jake, and smelled Jake. Well, the smelling was not just in her mind since she’d gone to bed wearing Jake’s jacket. Had that been the healthiest thing to do? Probably not. But she would be returning it today and she’d just missed him so much that she hadn’t been able to help herself.

Stepping out of the hallway and into the dining room, Tessa couldn’t believe how much this place still looked exactly how she remembered it. The tables all looked the same. Some square and some round, all covered by blue-and-white-checkered tablecloths, each one adorned with a vase of flowers in the middle. The walls were all painted muted shades of yellow with white accents.

Along the walls hung large framed pictures of the town. Her favorite was the one that had been taken in the 1920s. It was of Main Street, which, to this day, still had wooden sidewalks that, although she was sure they had been updated, looked exactly the same as the picture. Of course, there were more storefronts now. Sue Ann’s Café was featured in the picture, although in the ’20s it had not been a café. It had been the Horseshoe Saloon.

Tessa found a seat next to the large picture windows in the front of the café and sat, looking out of the glass, soaking it all in. When she’d arrived last night, Sue Ann had already closed up so Tessa had come in through the back entrance and gone straight upstairs—after spending about ten minutes convincing Sue Ann that it was just rain on her face and not tears.

Well, at least she had tried to convince her. Sue Ann had taken one look at the large, black North Face jacket she had been wearing and given her a questioning look that had made Tessa think she had known exactly who the owner of the coat was. But thankfully Sue Ann hadn’t pushed her any further.

Not that Tessa was under some delusion that the entire town wouldn’t find out about her mini-reunion with Jake last night—if they didn’t already know. Even before social networking, gossip had spread around this town faster than the Road Runner ran away from Wile E. Coyote. She might not have been here for years but she doubted that factoid had changed.

Staring out the window, she did notice that the town looked to be a little livelier and more bustling than when she’d lived here before. She saw about a dozen people out and about on Main Street, none of whom she recognized, which was an odd feeling.

When she’d lived here her senior year of high school, within a week she’d known everyone. It was
that
small of a town. But all the faces she saw now as she looked out the window were all new to her. A little spark of hope lit inside of her.

Maybe her return wouldn’t be the talk of the town after all. Maybe she could slip in and out and not make even the tiniest ripple in the metaphorical water. Maybe she could meet with Henry, go over the paperwork, leave Jake’s jacket with Sue Ann, and quietly get back in her PT Cruiser and be on her way.

“Tessa Hayes!” a loud female voice shouted.

Or maybe not.

Tessa turned her head and was pleasantly surprised at who the voice belonged to. Nikki Maguire had just walked into the café and was headed Tessa’s way. Nikki was Jake’s youngest sister. The last time Tessa had seen her, Nikki was a cutie who had just turned thirteen, had a full mouth of braces, and was a few inches shorter than she stood now.

Nikki must have been at least five foot six now, and she had grown into a beautiful woman. Tessa might not have even recognized her except that a few months ago, Nikki’s picture had been splashed all over the news when she made headlines for dating a senator. There was some kind of brief scandal, but then the next thing Tessa read was that the two of them were engaged.