Let it Snow(The Hope Falls Series)

Chapter Three


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Tessa was slipping and sliding across the parking lot—Ice Capades style!—as fast as she could. She had a lump in her throat so big she couldn’t swallow. Her chest felt like a two-ton elephant was sitting on it and her stomach was so upset she thought that there was a very real possibility that she would actually throw up before she made it to her car.

Of course she’d known that if Jake still lived here she would inevitably run into him. In a town the size of Hope Falls, it was bound to happen. But why, why, did it have to be the second she’d crossed the city limits while she looked like a drowned rat and had just driven for twelve hours straight with an audience of not only his brother but his girlfriend too?!

Over the last thirteen years, she’d imagined what it would be like if she ever got to see Jake again. She’d probably come up with close to a thousand different scenarios. She even had favorites.

The one that got the most repeat play in her mind was one where she imagined being in an airport, waiting for her flight. She would picture herself walking through crowds of people when suddenly she’d bump into a strong solid wall of a chest. Large protective hands would wrap around her shoulders to steady her. Her head would lift—in slow motion, of course!—to find that it was Jake she’d randomly run into. The electricity between them would be so palpable that neither of them could speak. So without saying “Hello,” “Hi,” or “How ya’ doin?” he would just lean down and kiss her senseless. Then, after kissing her until she couldn’t even remember her own name, Jake would tell her that he’d never stopped loving her and they would live happily ever after.

Not once, in all of the myriad possible Jake encounters she’d conjured up, had she been soaking wet and looking like death warmed over while his brother questioned her about drunk driving and his girlfriend dry humped his leg. Things playing out like they had, had never even entered into her realm of possibilities.

Reaching her car, finally, she opened the door and had to scoot and shimmy her way in because there was barely any room due to her horrendous parking job. The large jacket she was wearing, thanks to Jake, certainly was not helping the tight fit either. And the cherry on top of this embarrassment sundae was that, although Tessa hadn’t looked back, she knew that Jake was watching her awkwardly get into her vehicle. She could feel his eyes on her. Jake’s energy was so strong that she’d always been able to sense his attention.

It didn’t matter where they had been—in school, hanging out with friends, at his family’s Sunday dinners—when Jake looked at her, her entire body came alive. It was like his powerful gaze was set to a frequency that her body was subconsciously tuned to. And it was becoming glaringly obvious that all the years they’d spent apart had done nothing to dull his visual superpowers.

Slipping into the driver’s seat, Tessa quickly slammed her car door like the boogie man was after her. She needed to get out of here and try to process her Jake sighting, but as she attempted to start the car, her hands were shaking so uncontrollably that she couldn’t even manage to get the key in the ignition.

“Okay, okay, okay, okay,” she said aloud to herself, trying to settle her frazzled nerves. Tessa had attempted—several times!—to break the habit of talking to herself and for the most part had been successful. But it seemed that repeating “okay” to calm down was here to stay. It was the equivalent of a childhood security blanket.

As she sat in her car, a scent she hadn’t smelled for years but one that was as recognizable to her as chocolate chip cookies fresh out of the oven or newly cut grass surrounded her. It was Jake. Pulling the collar of the too-huge jacket she’d been forced to wear up to her nose, she inhaled deeply.

Oh God, that smelled good.

It smelled like safety. Like love. Like home. Like Jake.

Tessa realized now that she had not adequately prepared herself for what coming face to face with Jake Maguire—The Man—would be like. In her mind’s eye, Jake was still seventeen. But—news flash, brain!—Jake was not seventeen anymore. He was an adult. A man. He must be at least an inch taller than the last time she’d seen him. His frame, while still lean, had some extra muscle added to it that made her lady parts quiver with awareness.

When Jake had taken off his jacket, his biceps had pulled taut against the cotton covering them and Tessa’s mouth had filled with saliva. She’d had to swallow quickly just so she hadn’t stood there and drooled over him.

His face still held its boyish charm but had matured into stronger lines and sharper features. He’d always been cute and handsome, but now he was so insanely sexy that, to use a phrase her Gran had always loved, “he could make a nun leave the habit.”

There was one thing that hadn’t changed though. Jake’s eyes. Those big brown eyes that, as a teen, Tessa had completely lost herself in were exactly the same. At seventeen, one look from Jake made every worry, every fear, every insecurity disappear. When she’d looked in his eyes, she’d known—known—that everything would be okay.

Well, until it hadn’t been.

Shaking off unwanted memories, she tried to pull herself together. That was a lifetime ago. She wasn’t here to drudge up the past. She just needed to get things in order with Grandma Adie’s home and then she could get back to her life.

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.