Let It Snow (The Hope Falls Series) (9 page)

It particularly stuck out like a sore thumb because the rest of the street had been well-maintained. A few of the houses looked as though they had even been renovated. As she stepped out of her car, she put her hand up, shading her eyes from the sun to try and get a better look at the house that sat next door to her grandma’s. The blue house with white trim that Jake had wanted to buy since he was a kid. The house they had spent endless hours talking about raising a family in.

Jake’s house.

Their house.

Tessa wondered who lived there. From what she could see through the large picture window that overlooked the mountainside it faced, there didn’t appear to be any furniture in it. Hmm, maybe it was vacant?

A sound caught her attention then. She looked back just as the front door to her grandma’s house opened and Lauren stepped outside. “They won’t take less than one point five.” She wore a suit that looked more like she should be on Wall Street as opposed to Shady Creek Lane. It was black and tailored perfectly to fit her willowy frame. Her hair was swept up without a strand out of place. Her appearance might have seemed severe and even out of place on someone else, but on Lauren it just worked. When their eyes met, Lauren waved warmly, then held up one finger indicating that she would only be a minute.

Tessa smiled and nodded, making her way up the wooden steps. As she reached the porch, she saw that her grandma’s beloved swing was broken and one half was resting on the wooden planks below it. There were spider webs covering it. Only one of the cushions that Tessa had helped her grandma sew for the seat remained and it was tattered and sun damaged.

“Well, you can go ahead and write it up but I’m telling you it’s a waste of time. They won’t take it.” Lauren moved onto the far side of the lawn to finish her call, and Tessa took a fortifying breath before stepping over the threshold and into the house.

Tessa stared, in shock, at the only place that had ever been a home to her. Lauren had opened up some of the curtains, letting in the midday sun, but it still felt dark and gloomy. Dust covered every inch the eye could see. The few pieces of furniture that still stood looked to be in serious disrepair.

When Grandma Adie had first moved to San Diego, before the dementia had set in, she’d told Tessa that she had a property manager that would be looking after the house. Tessa had always meant to come up and check on everything or at least call and speak to someone at the real estate office that was handling the property, but her grandma’s health had begun declining so rapidly that Tessa had been maxed out just trying to take care of her. Then, once she’d had to move Gran to a home, Tessa had spent all of her time between making sure that Grandma Adie had been taken care of and picking up as many photography jobs as she could to continue to pay for her care.

“All right, sorry about that.” Lauren walked back up on the porch, carefully stepping across the missing plank of wood in her six-inch heels, then entered the house with a friendly smile on her face. “Hi! It’s been a long time, stranger. How does it feel to be back?”

“Hi.” Tessa had no idea how to explain how it felt. “Yeah it’s been a while. It feels…strange.”

“I bet.” Lauren nodded her head as her eyes widened. Her expression turned somber as she said, “Well I wish we were meeting under better circumstances. I’m so sorry for your loss. Adeline was an incredible woman.”

“Thanks. Yes, she was,” Tessa agreed. Since she’d cried enough for two lifetimes in the last day she decided to direct the conversation to a less emotional topic. “Congratulations on your show. I haven’t had a chance to watch it but I’ve seen the promos.”

“Oh, thanks. It’s fun. Not anything I would have ever expected to do, but like they say, life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans. And what about you? Oh my gosh, that piece you did on Darfur. The image of the girl sitting beside her dying mother still haunts me today.”

“Yeah, that was a tough shoot.” It was also the last assignment that she’d been on as a photojournalist. The day she’d gotten home from that job had also been the first time the police called saying that they’d found her grandma wandering the streets, unresponsive.

“So,” Lauren said, adopting a very professional tone, “I’ve looked over everything and it looks like, between the second mortgage and the back taxes, you owe one hundred and ten thousand.”

The room started spinning at the sound of that number.

“Tessa.” Lauren’s voice sounded far away. “Are you okay?”

Tessa lips were tingling and she felt like she was floating. An arm wrapped around her and she was vaguely aware of her feet moving. Warmth from the sun hit her face and she squinted her eyes. She was outside.

“Tessa, are you with me?” Lauren asked from beside her.

Tessa’s head felt heavy as she turned to look at her friend. She managed a weak, “Yeah.” Slowly, her awareness returned. Lauren must have ushered her outside because she was seated on the grass in the front yard. She took in a few deep breaths. “I’m okay. Sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”

“I’m the one who should be apologizing. I shouldn’t have just blurted out that number. I am so sorry, Tessa.”

“No, it’s fine. You were just doing your job. And I think that my lightheadedness had more to do with living on only energy drinks and coffee the last few days, driving for twelve hours straight, and getting no sleep last night,” Tessa explained. She didn’t want her friend feeling at all responsible for her passing-out close call.

Lauren did not look completely convinced but she dropped it. “Well, the good news is that there’s not any structural damage to the house. I went ahead and had it inspected this morning after Henry called. A lot of the repairs are cosmetic. There is some plumbing and roof work that will need to be done. But mostly it just needs a deep cleaning and a few coats of paint to get it ready for sale.

“And the comps in this neighborhood are right at two hundred so you would not only be able to pay off the second mortgage and the taxes, you could have a little left over as well.”

Tessa nodded, taking in the information Lauren was giving her.

“If you planned on selling,” Lauren quickly added. “I just assumed that you wouldn’t be holding on to it.”

“Henry mentioned something about the bank taking it over. How long do I have before that happens?”

“You have forty-five days until they will be foreclosing on the property. But that is plenty of time. And I know that everyone will pitch in.” Lauren pulled out her phone. “I’ll get a hold of Amanda to put the word out. We can do a work day this Saturday.”

There might be drawbacks like gossip and everyone knowing everything about everyone’s business, but being a part of a small tight-knit community definitely had its advantages as well. Not that Tessa was
really
a part of this community. But her grandma had been, so she kind of was by default.

After Lauren finished typing on her phone, she looked up and announced with a small satisfied smile, “Done.”

“Thank you, Lauren. I really appreciate it.” Tessa had been handling things on her own for so long that having people rally around and support her was a nice change. But one she knew she absolutely could not get used to.

“Not a problem. I have to run to a production meeting, but we are having a book club meeting tonight at Amanda’s at seven. You should come. Do you remember where Mountain Ridge is at?” Lauren asked as she pulled out a set of keys.

“Yeah. I learned to ride a horse at Mountain Ridge. Is Amanda running it now?” Tessa asked. As a teen, she’d loved going to the outdoor adventure park. There was horseback riding, kayaking, and nature walks. The summer she’d moved to Hope Falls, she’d been up there almost every day to take pictures, working on her craft.

“Yes, she is. Well, she and Justin Barnes.”

“That cute guy that worked there?” Tessa remembered that she’d always seen him around fixing things.

“Yeah. After her dad passed, he left the resort to Amanda and Justin, and they reunited because of it. It’s a very romantic story, but I’ll let her fill you in. Can you make it tonight?” Lauren asked.

“I’ll definitely try to.” Tessa didn’t want to commit to anything because she wasn’t sure how she would be feeling this evening since the day was only half over and she had already had a mini breakdown and almost passed out. “Nikki mentioned it when I saw her at Sue Ann’s this morning. It would be fun to catch up with everyone,” Tessa said sincerely.

“Well, I hope you can make it. If I don’t see you then, I will definitely be getting in touch with you tomorrow with plans for the work day Saturday.”

“Okay, sounds good.”

“Are you sure you are feeling okay? I can call and let them know that I’ll be late.” Concern laced Lauren’s voice.

“No, I’m fine. Really. I have a protein bar and water in the car. I just need to eat,” Tessa assured her.

Lauren’s eyes narrowed for a moment before she said, “Okay. You have my cell, right?”

“Yep. I got it from Henry.”

“All right. Call if you need
anything
.”

“I will.” Tessa waved goodbye to Lauren.

As Tessa watched Lauren climb into her SUV, she tried to focus on the positives that had come from the conversation. There was no structural damage. She would most likely have help fixing the place up. She had a month and a half to get the house ready to sell and then sell it. At least she had no doubt that, in Lauren’s capable hands, the house would be sold.

Deciding to brave another look inside, she made her way back up the walkway. “Okay, okay, okay, okay,” she mumbled under her breath. She could do this. Everything was going to be fine.

‡

J
ake’s muscles were on fire as he ran up the incline on the steep hill and it just made him go harder. He was pushing his body further than he ever had. He didn’t care about the pain that was shooting up his legs and back or the fact that he still had to go play a basketball game tonight. All he cared about was running.

He wanted to get lost in the rhythm of his feet pounding painfully on the pavement, the sensation of the wind harshly hitting his face, and the constricting ache of his chest, so tight it seemed like he could not get oxygen. All of those things felt better than thinking about Tessa.

Running had always worked as a very effective form of cheap therapy for Jake. It cleared his head until there were no thoughts at all. Just him and the road. He’d spent the last thirteen years trying to outrun a ghost, and most of the time he’d been fairly successful. Especially since he’d stopped using alcohol to do it. But now that ghost was alive and well, right here in Hope Falls, and it was proving to be much more challenging.

Lucky, however, could not have been happier about his efforts. Two runs in one day was his version of doggie heaven. Jake saw Lucky’s tail disappear around the bend of Shady Creek Lane. When Jake had first rescued Lucky, they had always taken this route so Jake could run by and see the house that he one day wanted to own. To this day, every time they went on a run, his golden lab headed this way.

Jake came up around the bend just moments after his four-legged boy, but Lucky was nowhere to be seen. He passed the huge oak tree that stood tall in his front yard, which Lucky always peed on—marking his territory—and there was still no sign of him.

Then he saw him. Lucky was standing over someone who was lying on the grass. As he moved closer, his heart slammed in his chest. It was Tessa. She was unconscious.

His feet moved faster than they had ever carried him before. He had just reached her when she started blinking her eyes and moving her head to get away from Lucky’s kisses.

“Sit,” Jake instructed his dog, who immediately stopped licking Tessa all over her face and sat down with a huff. His tail wagged wildly and he was whining but he was sitting.

Jake fell to his knees and leaned over her, staring down as he asked, “Tessa. Tessa, can you hear me?”

Her lids fluttered open and her blue eyes looked up at him. Her pupils were slightly dilated and her skin was really pale. But she was awake.

“Jake?” she whispered. Her face scrunched in confusion as she lifted her hand and ran her fingers along her cheek. “Were you licking me?”

“No. If I were licking you, it wouldn’t be on your face.” Memories of his tongue tasting every inch of her body began flashing in his head.

Fuck
. He needed to knock that shit off. He’d just found Tessa lying unconscious, so the last thing he needed to be doing was picturing her naked while he licked her from head to toe. Damn, he was doing it again.

She made a small grunting sound, confusion still clouding her beautiful face as she tried to push up on her elbows.

Placing his hands on her shoulders, he gently held her in place. “Just lie still, Tessa. Do you know where you are?” He needed to see how aware she was of her surroundings. It was good that she knew who he was and had been somewhat aware of Lucky licking her, but that didn’t necessarily mean she was lucid.

Her eyes darted from side to side and her fingers spread out on the ground beneath her before her beautiful baby blues looked back up at him and she said, “Um, I’m outside on the grass?”