Chapter 9
The interaction with Jared left Claire unsettled. She continued to help put everything away but when people were milling about, trying to decide what games they wanted to play, she slipped outside and strode over to the small two-seater wooden bench facing the back-left corner nearest the house.
As she sat, she admired what Mrs. McAllister had called her fairy garden. It was full of whimsy that surprised Claire from the woman who had birthed the McAllister men she’d met. There were small mushroom style houses, along with moss and lights here and there. She was sure in the spring and summer it looked amazing.
She only appreciated it for a moment, however, because her thoughts drew back to Jared and how he acted this evening. She didn't know which was the real him, whether he really was the grumpy gruff man his brother had made him out to be or if the real him was the friendly, jovial man who let her into his home and teased the college student waitress they'd had.
One of those men she wanted nothing to do with the other she was very interested in. Then this evening he blew her off entirely. When he hadn't sat at the same table as her, she'd figured it was because there was someone he needed to talk to or sit next to. Families were like that, she didn't think anything of it. But when she’d deliberately approached him, and he was so rude it caught her off guard. It hurt, more than she would've thought it could have.
She knew he was right―she was only there for a few days now, but they didn’t live that far apart. Though she didn't know the exact lines, she figured it was probably somewhere around hundred and fifty miles, which wasn't that bad. Certainly not too big of a distance to explore the spark between them. It infuriated her he was so dismissive of it. Were their lives so very different that he thought nothing was possible?
Before she could continue down that spiral, she heard the back door open and close. She turned to see one of the McAllister brothers heading toward her, two bottles in one hand. She had not memorized all of their names, but she knew from the way he walked this was probably the one that lived in the Seattle area, the cop. He slid down onto the bench next to her and handed her one of the bottles. She took the cider with a quiet thanks and the two of them sat, drinking in silence for a moment staring at the garden.
Curiosity tugged at why this brother had come out to join her. If memory served, he was engaged, even though his fiancée hadn’t come with him to celebrate Christmas.
"He's not all that bad, you know," the brother started quietly. Then he sighed. "Let me back up. He came out of the womb a grump. I am the oldest so I'm the only one that can say for sure because I was there, other than our parents. But six years ago, in fact the anniversary was two days ago, Jared's wife of less than a year died in a car accident with an intoxicated driver. That sent him in a downward angry spiral that he hasn't re-surfaced from. The negative parts of his personality became more prominent. None of us could blame him because none of us, other than our aunt Dottie, knew what that felt like to go through.
"Then I get this phone call from my brother, the littler one, Robert. Now suddenly Jared seems to be acting slightly different. He is fairly certain you are the reason for it. At first, I think he’s nuts but then I see for myself the genuine interest in Jared’s face and I have to say I am surprised. You're the first one he’s shown any interest in since his wife died. I think he is struggling with that as he doesn’t feel it's right to move on and part of him is just naturally grumpy.
"Normally I don't even remotely want to get involved in my brothers’ love lives but you should know what's going on. You deserve that since you seem like a genuinely decent person. You can do what you want with that or not do anything with this information, whatever you want. I just figured you should know the whole situation before you get too frustrated with Jared." He didn't wait for her to say anything in response, simply got up from the bench, pushing off his knees. A few seconds later she heard the sliding glass door open and close again and she was alone.
Her heart hurt for Jared. She couldn't even begin to understand what that felt like. But his hot and cold attitude toward her made more sense now. He was genuinely interested; her instincts were right. Maybe he wasn't ready, or he was afraid. Until they actually had that discussion, neither of them would really know. Somehow, she got the feeling that if she didn't instigate a conversation it wouldn't happen at all.
Standing, she downed the rest of the cider and headed back into the house. She found Dottie heading into the kitchen and stopped her.
"Dottie, may I borrow your car, please?"
She was still trying to work out an explanation for why she needed to borrow the vehicle, when Dottie's face broke out into a grin and she dug her keys out of her pocket and tossed them to Claire.
"Of course, my son can drop me off at home just as easily. Have a good evening."
Claire smiled and thanked her, beelining for the front door, grabbing her jacket from the closet on her way out. Luckily no one blocked in Dottie's Outback, so she got in and tapped her fingers nervously on the steering wheel as she waited for the car to warm up.
She didn't know how much of a head start Jared had. While the car warmed up, she googled the resort she remembered Jared talking about existed within the groupings of cabins where he lived. She found it easier than she thought she would. She programed that address into her GPS. She was sure she remembered the directions from there. With a victorious smile on her face, she put the car in reverse and headed out. Pushing against the instinct to speed and catch up, the last thing she needed was to spin out in someone else's car.
~~
Much to Claire's surprise, Jared was sitting on his front porch, with Newt at his feet, when she pulled up next to his truck. A confused frown was on his face when he saw the vehicle. It was dark enough that he couldn't tell who was driving and Claire was sure he was wondering what his aunt was doing at his house. When she opened the door and stepped out, he stood and stepped to the front of the porch, his frown deepening.
"Claire? What are you doing out here? Is everything okay?" His words were fast, but his steps were faster and before he finished speaking, he was on the other side of the car door looking her up and down as if she might be injured.
It gave her hope. He wasn't immediately angry or frustrated with her. That gave her enough hope to plow forward.
"I’m here to talk to you. Why are you outside?" She stepped out of the way and shut the door to the vehicle and watched as his frown slid back into place.
"Watching the snow is peaceful and I have a small heating unit above the bench that'll keep Newt and me warm. Here, follow me back up so you don't freeze." As he motioned for her to come with him, Claire realized it was snowing again.
At least this time she was driving a vehicle that had a better chance in the snow than her Fiat did. As she followed him up to the bench neither of them said anything. He was right though, as she sat on the bench and he returned to where he had been sitting, she saw a heating unit, glowing red, above her head, stretching above the bench. It almost made her winter jacket feel unnecessary.
"What really brought you all the way out here? You forget something in the house?" He sounded more curious than accusatory.
Claire felt she had to plow forward so she could get all of her thoughts out before taking a breath or letting him interrupt.
"Jared, I know you have a reputation for being a grump but up until today I’ve never seen it. You've always been this kind, caring individual who jokes around with those he cares about. You work hard and are dedicated to your job like I am, but you still have time to do other things. Until tonight you were never rude or unkind. Something changed in you at the end of lunch yesterday. I didn't know what it could possibly be and frankly I was hurt by the sudden change.
"Your older brother told me about your wife and everything became clear. I'm sorry you lost her, and I know that is an unimaginable pain. You must be kicking yourself over the spark we have. Don't pretend you don't feel it. I know you do beca
use in those moments where you're relaxed and it's just the two of us, I can see it. There's something there, something worth pursuing and honestly, I can understand, now that I know what's happening, why you’d be hesitant to pursue it. But I wanted you to know I feel it. I know how rare it is and I will wait however long it takes until you're ready to explore it. I'm not going to let you shut me out completely so you can pretend you don't notice it."
She finally turned and looked at him as she finished. There was a twitch in his jaw as he stared ahead, his eyes boring snow. "He told you that? He had no right to tell you about Lilianna. Besides, what about the Rude Master 3000 or whatever the hell his name is? Aren't you and he a thing? I don't think he'd appreciate you being out here on my porch making declarations like this." Claire knew his frustration and disgust weren’t aimed at her.
She took a deep breath before answering him, quelling her own frustration and need to respond bitingly. "I broke up with him. Spending time with you, someone who is so caring, so not self-involved was a breath of fresh air I didn't know I needed. After spending a day and a half with you, Roland didn't cut it. When I broke up with him, he took it badly which just solidified it for me. So no, you can't use him as an excuse to not see what this thing between us is. And I know you might be mad at your brother for telling me, but he was trying to help. He explained why I was getting mixed signals. He had no way of knowing I would borrow your aunt's car and follow you out to your house."
Much to her surprise, he stopped twitching after she said she'd broken up with Roland. He still didn't look at her, but eventually his eyes softened.
"I am not ready to dive into a relationship. The idea that I'm even interested in one is brand-new to me. I need time to figure that out," he admitted defeatedly.
Her heart hurt for him and felt hope simultaneously. It wasn't an outright no.
"That's fine. I have no problem being friends until you're ready to explore something else. I have faith that it will happen eventually so long as we keep in touch. Plus, we both have the option to work remotely so we don’t even have to take time off work to visit each other," she added quite pointedly. Distance wasn't as large a gap as it would be for most people.
Finally, he looked at her. "You'd be okay being friends first until I ease into the idea?"
"Most definitely," she said so fast he looked startled. "I have no problem with that whatsoever. I have a sneaking suspicion you are worth waiting for. I'm not so bad myself." She gave him a crooked smile.
Much to her surprise he returned that smile, with mischief. Hearing his reply made her heart beat faster. "Oh, you are definitely worth the wait. I've waited years to meet you and I know it will be worth it."
Her heart soared at his words and a second later his arm rose up over her shoulders, pulling her into him and she leaned her head on his chest. She felt him take a deep, cleansing breath at the same time she did. She inhaled the strong spice of his soap and a smile forming on her face.
"Just know this doesn't get you out of exchanging phone numbers before I leave."
A strong chuckle reverberated up from his chest. "You're one determined woman, Claire. I hate to break it to you, but it's snowing enough now that unless you leave in the next ten minutes, you might end up being here another night, with my aunt's car."
Feeling slightly guilty, she sighed dramatically. "Well, it looks like one of us needs to text your aunt to let her know she's going to be carless for a little while. You don't think she'll be too mad, do you?"
Another chuckle rumbled up from his chest. "No, somehow I get the feeling she’ll be perfectly happy about it."
Neither pulled out their phones, instead they stayed, their bodies pressed up against each other, her head on his chest and watched the snow falling on both steadily cooling cars. Claire knew she should probably leave if she wanted to get to town safely, but the idea of leaving felt like it would take more effort than running a marathon. So, she sat, breathing him in and feeling more content than she had in years. It would be a long, probably bumpy, road as Jared adjusted to having her in his life but she’d meant what she said. She could already tell the relationship between them was going to be worth it and she would enjoy every step of their journey together.
Teacher’s Crush
Chapter 1
As the sky burst with light signaling the grand finale of the Lantern Lake New Year's fireworks display, Reed and his cousins, Kevin and Maxwell, sat on a half-populated hill with a less than desirable vantage point of the fireworks. It was a ten-year-old tradition. Even though it wasn't the best location, there were fewer people watching on the hill, meaning they had some semblance of privacy and could take up more room than strictly necessary. As the sky exploded with color with the grand finale, clapping surrounded him, including Kevin and Maxwell's golf claps.
"Very nice, very nice, eight out of ten," hollered Kevin above his claps.
Reed rolled his eyes and grabbed the bottle of Martinelli's they’d brought with them, since Max and Reed both vetoed Kevin’s suggestion to smuggle a bottle of booze out to the lake. When he went to pour more in his little plastic cup, he realized it was empty and set it back down onto the grass.
As usual, people started clearing out fairly quickly which Reed never understood because traffic getting out of the lake's parking lot was atrocious. Even though a good chunk of the locals walked there, it still was best to wait ten or fifteen minutes to avoid it altogether. Once their hillside vantage point was mostly cleared out, Kevin cleared his throat and clapped again as if trying to get Reed and Maxwell's attention. There was no one else around for them to be paying attention to but that was just how Kevin was.
"All right, it's that time again … time for New Year's resolutions. The things we think we’ll accomplish that we never do. I will start: my New Year's resolutions are to expand the fitness training program and convince my mom to open a second branch in either Lakeside or Bunny Ridge. I’m convinced there is a population we’re not tapping into because people don't want to drive twenty to thirty-five minutes to get to us. Also, I plan on winning the lottery, twice."
Both Maxwell and Reed snorted at the last resolution that had been thrown in every year as far back as either of them could remember. Reed adored his cousins. They were all like brothers to him and Kevin was only five months older than Reed, so they had grown up together and were much closer than Reed was to his other cousins. They were also his best friends and he wouldn't have it any other way.
"All right, Maxwell, your turn."
"I want to get off the night shift. I want to do more reading, and I too want to win the lottery twice."
Reed’s eyes narrowed. "Aren't you only on the night shift for next month to cover for a shortage in the nursing pool?"
"See." Max waved his arm. "At least one of us will accomplish our goal. Look at that, amazing."
As Max spoke, he made extravagant hand gestures that had Reed snorting and rolling his eyes.
"Reed, you’re up. Although, I think we all know what yours are going to be," Kevin cajoled.
A second later both Kevin and Max spoke in unison, "This year I am going to ask out Alice Peters."
Reed stiffened. "Come on. That's not my New Year's resolution every year."
Max countered, "Maybe you didn't do it the four years you were in college, but it's been one of your resolutions every year since you and Kevin were seventeen.”
Feeling insulted, Reed frowned. "I’m definitely doing it this year. I know I am. I have a good feeling about it."
Both of his cousins looked skeptical.
"Reed, I'm fairly certain you said that word for word last year as well," Kevin responded as he lightly slugged Reed's upper arm. "I want to believe you can do it if you set your mind to it, I really do. But man, as shy as you aren't with everyone else on the planet, for whatever reason with Alice Peters it’s the opposite. Accept it.”
Before Reed could say anything in his defense, Max leaned forward from around Kevin an
d started talking over both of them.
"As great as it is to hear this conversation devolve for the umpteenth year in a row, they started the fireworks late this year, so I need to head off. Not only am I working the night shift starting the day after tomorrow, but I have to work an early morning shift today so I'm heading home and catching as much sleep as I can before I head back to the hospital. Since I drove, you all are stuck with me." He gave a fake evil laugh before standing and brushing off his jeans.
Reed still wanted to defend himself, but as they gathered their stuff up and headed toward Max’s car, he knew it was moot. Every year he told himself he was going to ask out his high school crush. When they were teens, he had been too shy. Now he wasn't shy, in fact, he was friends with Alice. They both taught at Bunny Ridge Middle School. They didn't teach the same grade, but they did interact with each other regularly. He had no excuse not to ask her out but at the same time he enjoyed her friendship. When they were younger, Reed had been afraid to approach her, even as a friend and he’d try to piece together what her personality was from stolen glances and accidental observations. As they became friends, he realized he had been far off. She was better than he’d imagined and as much as he wanted to ask the beautiful blonde out, he didn't want to ruin one of the few friendships he had outside of his family. He loved his cousins but sometimes it was good to have friends outside of the family circle. And while he'd wanted to date Alice for years, the thought of ruining that gave him so much pause that he was fairly certain it would be awkward if he did it now. Sighing heavily, Reed pushed that entire train of thought from his mind and tuned into the conversation his cousins were having.
"…No man, I really like her. When I had lunch with Robert earlier this week, she was at the front desk and I chatted with her while I waited for Robert. She's actually pretty funny, lighthearted, and upbeat enough that I think she'll help Robert loosen up some. You know there's a looser Robert in there somewhere; he just needs to let it be free."
Lantern Lake Winter Collection: Books 1-3 Page 17