Lantern Lake Winter Collection: Books 1-3

by Gretchen S. B.

  Reed knew Kevin was talking about the new office manager at the veterinary clinic where Kevin and Max's older brother Robert was the junior veterinarian. He'd started seeing a woman two or three weeks ago and from his understanding, things had gotten more serious faster than anybody had expected. Reed shook his head and smiled; the McAllister family was huge and yet everyone seemed to know everything about everybody else. He walked in step with his cousins and laughed at their commentary about their older brother’s new girlfriend.

  Chapter 2

  "No, seriously this is an outrage!" Alice growled into the phone. "I can't believe they didn't give us more warning. There is no way they just found out about it and then posted the notes on everybody's doors while they were at work. It's super cowardly. Everything about it is messed up. Now not only am I freaking out because I don't know what I'm going to do, but I'm angry with them for being such jerks about the whole thing."

  Alice was livid, she had come home from the first day back from winter break, which was already the first day in what was normally a difficult week, to find there was a note taped to her door from building management. The note was a thirty-day or vacate notice. It said tenants had thirty days to vacate their apartments because the owners had sold her small apartment building to a developer who was going to turn them in to high-end condos.

  Not only was Alice out of the home she'd been in for a few years now, but she would have to compete with the other two dozen people in her building for an apartment in the Lantern Lake area. There were not as many apartments in the three cities as there were closer to Ellensburg, or into Seattle. It was more farmland and ranches and houses with sprawling backyards.

  "Hey, you're not alone in this. I’ll help you find a place. Get coffee in the morning from that place by your apartment and grab a newspaper. I'll have my laptop with me and at lunch tomorrow we’ll scan whatever ads are in the paper and online and we will find you something. Thirty days is not the end of the world. Not to mention Josiah and I are more than willing to let you couch surf for as long as you need. Yes, we don't have an extra bedroom in our small house now that we have the baby but our couch is a futon. And it isn't wholly uncomfortable. You won’t be thrown out onto the street. Plus, there is always your parents’ house."

  Love swelled up Alice’s chest for her best friend. She and Trinity met in elementary school because they lived on the same block and the two of them ended up riding the bus together. They’d been best friends since, and had gotten each other through thick and thin. She loved Trinity and she liked Trinity's husband, but she hesitated at the idea of imposing upon their brand-new family; baby Sarah was only six months old. If it were only the two adults, Alice would've felt better about it but with the baby, it didn't feel right. As for her parents, the thought made her cringe; she loved them dearly, but she loved them more when they all were not under the same roof.

  "I appreciate the offer, Trinity, and I'll take you up on helping me find an apartment, but I only want to crash on your couch as an absolute last resort. I would stay with my parents first and you know how up the wall they drive me."

  "I hear ya. You want your privacy and sanity, I get it. Take a bath, relax, and don't think about it. We will work on it during lunch tomorrow. Worst case scenario, we find two or three places and we check them out after school until we find you something, I promise." Her friend’s reassuring voice helped somewhat but Alice knew as soon as she hung up with Trinity she’d be left with her own thoughts and would probably continue circling this down the drain until her exhausted mind made her sleep.

  "I mean it. Stop thinking about it," her friend insisted sharply.

  That made Alice smile, she and Trin knew each other so well sometimes it was like they were in each other's heads.

  "All right, all right, I'll do my best. I'll watch the show about the fake psychic detective and try to spot the fruit." Alice’s voice trailed off toward the end; she wasn't entirely confident her and Trinity's favorite show could get her through this time.

  "At least you'll try, that's all I can ask. I have to get going, but I will see you tomorrow. I'll check in with you in the morning. I love you, Allie."

  "I love you too, Trin. Have a good night."

  She hung up with her friend and let her phone flop on to the couch next to her. Alice looked around her small studio apartment. She loved this apartment, it was cheap enough that she could afford to pay more than the minimums for her student loans; it was a big factor in finding a place. She was making more now so she could afford something nicer, she supposed. But she enjoyed being a creature of habit. She liked her little apartment, even though the management firm that ran the place wasn't great.

  "AHHH!" Alice exclaimed in frustration. She’d just said she wasn't going to spend the evening dwelling on this and here she was starting to spiral. Taking a deep breath, Alice forced herself to grab the remote and set everything up to watch her and Trin's favorite program. She wouldn’t think about this even if she had to force herself to think about something else.

  ~~

  "This one's kinda cute. I mean it's in Lakeside, so there's that, but it's not like it's that long of a commute. You're talking thirty minutes, maybe thirty-five if traffic is absolutely horrible. That's not the end of the world.” Trinity shrugged as she pointed to one of the complexes she had up on her screen.

  The married woman had pulled up an apartment-searching website and much like Alice had feared, pickings were slim in the Tri-City area. While there were more apartment buildings than she thought there would be, there were not a lot of openings. It seemed as if people did what she had done and that was squat in the same apartment as soon as they got in. From the looks of it, there were maybe half a dozen viable candidates, not including the one Trin was talking about now. While that commute didn't mean anything in other parts of the state, Alice was not about to travel that far away from work. If it snowed, she would never get here; she didn't want to leave that up to chance.

  "I think I have to pass on that one, Trinity. But we have a couple prospects so it's not the end of the world," Alice answered rubbing her face.

  "What's not the end of the world?" came a male voice from the other side of her closed eyes, making Alice jump. When Alice looked through her fingers, Reed stood on the other side of the table from her and Trinity. He was looking down at them with one eyebrow quirked up.

  As was normal this time of year, he had grown a slight beard that he would eventually shave off for the spring and summer. She'd always found Reed attractive, and truth be told, in high school she'd had a crush on him and hoped against hope that the upperclassman would ask her out. But that never happened. When she moved back to teach, they were at the same school and struck up a friendship. It was comfortable and easy, but it didn't mean Alice didn’t wish there was something more between them.

  "My building gave all the tenants a thirty-day notice that they're closing down the building for renovations to turn it into condos. So Trinity and I are trying to find me a new place to live that I can move into within the next month. Let's just say it's easier said than done, though we expected as much."

  His inquisitive look turned into a frown and the eyebrow dropped as he slid his arms across his chest. "Are you serious? It isn't as if apartments are plentiful around here. Sure, they're working on building more, but there still isn’t much. I'm so sorry, Alice."

  She nodded at his condolences knowing he was serious in sharing her frustration, but she also knew it didn’t help. Rather than respond to him, she simply turned back to the computer and she and Trin continued scanning.

  "You know, I moved into my townhome over the summer. It's a two bedroom plus den. I still don't have any furniture in the extra bedroom. I keep meaning to buy some. You're more than welcome to move into my place until you find somewhere. I know you might be on a waiting list for a while and unless you've had a huge apartment all this time you could probably fit all your furniture in my place. Not to mention I have fo
ur cousins who would be more than willing to get their hands dirty and help you move all the furniture."

  Alice was so taken aback that her eyes widened and shot from the computer screen to Reed. Did the man she'd been holding a small candle for since she was sixteen just invite her to live with him? Sure, it was on a very short-term basis and because she was homeless, and he was a nice guy but still. Her heart thumped heavily in her chest and she was worried he'd be able to hear it from across the table. Part of her wanted to grab Trin's hand and squeeze it but that would have given her emotions away, so she forced herself to close her mouth and narrow her eyes to a more normal shape.

  "That's a really kind offer, Reed, but I don't want to impose by moving into someone else's house." She didn't exactly know where the words came from but the idea of moving in with Reed felt exciting and nerve-racking at the same time.

  He shrugged and lowered his arms. "Suit yourself. But we've known each other since high school, so it's not as if it's some creeper asking you to move in with them. Know the offer’s available to you should you want it. Just let me know and I'll get things ready for you. Good luck finding a place. I sincerely hope you don't need to take me up on my offer because it means that you found yourself space, but I really don't mind if you have to stay there for a little while. I'll see you later, ladies." He gave each of them a nod with a commiserating smile before he turned and left the teacher’s lounge.

  "I can't believe that just happened," Trinity whispered as she looked up from her computer screen, wide-eyed, and made eye contact with Alice. "Reed Denton offered you his spare room. The high schooler in you must be screaming bloody murder."

  Alice couldn't help but smirk at the image of a cartoon version of her high school self running around, arms flailing, and screaming. It helped mitigate some of the shock. "He’s being a nice guy. Even though we’re not close, we’re still friends. He's being decent and he knows teachers don't make a lot. Don’t read anything into it. Besides, it isn’t as if I am going to take him up on it. Can you imagine? Spending that much alone time with him. I’d be sure to put my foot in my mouth or embarrass myself in some other way. No, we have to keep looking. We have to find something. There has to be something available for me to move into." With a slicing motion, Alice ended the line of conversation that involved Reed, even though her heart hadn't gone quite back to its normal beating pattern. She ignored it and pointed to the computer screen before her friend.

  Part of her wanted to stop looking and take Reed up on his offer. It would've been easy and while a little uncomfortable, less trouble. But that was silly; while she and Reed were friends, they weren’t super close and for all she knew he had weird habits she would not want to be around. She needed her own place. Not for the first time Alice wished their interaction resulted in Reed asking her to lunch or something. Silently she chastised herself. They had known each other for years and if he hadn't asked her out by now, he certainly wasn't going to. It was more than past time to put away the feelings she had for Reed Denton but try as she might they never quite left all the way. Sighing, she threw her attention at the laptop and pushed all thoughts aside. Thinking about Reed certainly wouldn’t help her find an apartment.

  Chapter 3

  "Wait, you did what? And you're only telling me this now?" Baffled, Kevin dropped his fork and leaned back on his side of the booth at Betsy's diner.

  Reed couldn't help but grimace at his cousin's loud reaction. "Dude, can you keep it down? I don't want the world knowing my business, thank you very much. You know how gossipy this place is." He knew his words came out a hiss but they were only loud enough for Kevin to hear.

  His cousin moved forward all but putting his elbows on the table and leaned in. Now there was a spark to his eyes. "Come on, Reed. You have to understand how monumental this is. And why the shock would overtake me. You, the one who has made asking Alice out your New Year's resolution for years asked her to move in with you. You skipped like four steps there, cousin. I feel like you're taking this New Year's resolution thing too far."

  Holding on to the unamused expression a couple beats after Kevin stopped talking, Reed tried to pick his words carefully. His cousin, on the other hand, picked his fork back up and began chopping happily on his side salad. As if he was proud of himself for something.

  "She's getting kicked out of her apartment. It's the right thing to do. She is my friend and I would probably do it for any friend of mine, not just her. It's not like I'm asking her to move in with me and everything is going to take a sharp turn and all these inappropriate things are going to happen. It's only a roommate situation; you need to calm down."

  Choking on his salad, Kevin began coughing. Once he cleared his throat, he blinked now-watery eyes at Reed. "Did you say something ‘inappropriate’? Is that your interpretation of what happens because we can have that talk if you need to have that talk. I thought the birds and the bees were covered in school but maybe you were sick that day."

  Rolling his eyes all the way back into his head, Reed snarled with disgust and decided his best chance was to ignore his cousin and get back to eating his fries.

  "Has she taken you up on it? Inquiring minds want to know," Kevin asked louder than strictly necessary.

  Reed’s eyes darted to the booths around them to see if anyone could've possibly heard Kevin. Though it was pointless because the booths were high enough, they couldn't see anybody on the other side without climbing out or craning all the way around it, making it obvious you were trying to get in other people's business.

  "That happened four days ago, and she didn't seem to like the idea then and I haven't heard from her since. I doubt she will simply because, I don't know. Maybe she finds me creepy or has a boyfriend." He had meant that last option to be a throwaway line, but he couldn't help the slight pang he felt as he said it. He had no claim to Alice, and he knew that, but the idea that she could be seeing somebody else still irked him. It wasn't something he wanted to think about.

  They sat in silence for a few minutes; Reed’s thoughts continued to circle the drain and he felt himself settle into a darker mood when his phone rang making both him and Kevin jump. Reed dropped his fries onto the table.

  "Mine," Kevin announced and swiped the fry before Reed could grab it.

  Eyeing his cousin warily and shielding the rest of his plate with one hand, he fished his phone out of his pocket and looked at the screen. It was Alice calling.

  He must've made a weird face because Kevin leaned forward again. "What? Who is it?"

  Without answering his cousin, he took the call and put it to his ear. "Hey, Alice, what's up?" He purposely didn't look at Kevin's reaction because he didn't want whatever faces Kevin was making to influence his voice or responses at all.

  "Hi, Reed. I'm sorry to bother you so late. But, um…" She went quiet a second and there was a fidgety nest to her voice that made Reed wary.

  He didn't respond. She clearly had something on her mind, or she wouldn't have called so he sat and waited patiently.

  Another ten seconds slid by before he heard a heavy sigh. "Sorry, It's just … I've managed to get on the waitlist for an apartment. But it won’t be ready until about a week after my move out date. So, I was wondering if that week, I could take you up on that extra bedroom. I wouldn’t bring everything to your house. I’d get a storage unit for the extra furniture and just bring my bed and other necessities. Is that offer still good?" She’d been talking very fast until the very end when her voice went quiet and the words could almost not be heard.

  His pulse sky rocketed. Alice was going to live with him. The beautiful blonde with the cheery smile was going to be the first face he saw every morning, at least for a week. It was mind blowing. He couldn't help but be excited and horrifyingly nervous at the same time.

  "Yes, of course the offer is still open, Alice. You can stay as long as you need to. Do you need help moving?"

  She hesitated to respond, and Reed tilted his head as he waited.

>   "Yes, help would be much appreciated. Trinity and her husband have enough on their plate with the new baby and I don't want to inconvenience them. I know your older brother has a truck and that would come in handy. I would definitely pay them or at least get dinner. But yeah. If people could be rounded up the weekend after next to help me, it would be much appreciated. I want to spend the next week and a half packing since I know it will go fairly slowly. That way I can get everything done so all I am doing the day of is moving things. Is that okay?" She sounded as if she expected him to say no, to go back on his offer.

  That was something he didn't understand. Why would he make the offer and then rescind it? Frowning, he responded, "Of course, I don't know how many of us there will be, but we’ll definitely get it done. Don't worry about it; concentrate on getting everything packed up and my cousins and I will take care of the rest." He looked up to see Kevin's reaction to that. All his cousin did was lift an eyebrow as he chewed.

  "Thank you, thank you so much, Reed. I owe you big time."

  "Don't worry about it, Alice. It’s not a big deal at all."

  "I'll see you at school tomorrow. Thanks again, Reed. It's a huge help." Then she hung up.

  As he slid his phone back into his pocket and moved his hand back to continue, he ignored the questioning look Kevin was giving him until he’d taken another bite of his sandwich.

  "You are killing me, man. Did she take you up on your offer, because that's what it sounded like? But then there was talk about us and I'm not a hundred percent sure what role we would play in this whole thing."

  Swallowing the bite of food, Reed smiled; if it were anyone else, he would’ve felt sheepish, but he knew his cousins well enough to know they would want to help someone who needed it. "I offered up myself and you guys as a moving crew to move her big furniture, so she didn't have to pay a moving van on top of trying to find a place to live.”