Snow Days (The Hope Falls Series)

by Shawn, Melanie

  Matt shook his head but couldn't stop himself from smiling. He really did love the smartasses. He knew it wasn't particularly mature or professional, but he couldn’t help it—he found the class clowns amusing and entertaining. As long as they weren't going too far, disrupting an entire class or anything, he could never bring himself to come down on them for snarky remarks.

  Matt moved to the side opening the door and gestured inside. “After you, Tyler,” he said magnanimously.

  Tyler scooted in ahead of him. If Matt had thought that the kid was going to sell him out to Amy, he had clearly underestimated the pull of the microwaved frozen burritos that were awaiting Tyler in the cafeteria as soon as this student-teacher conference—or more likely, extension request—was finished. Tyler wasted no time getting down to business.

  “Hey, Ms. M.! Do you think I could have just, like, one more day to finish my Moby Dick paper?”

  Amy looked up at the sound of Tyler's voice and saw Matt standing behind him. When their eyes met, she looked as if she had been lit up from within. Her skin glowed, and her mouth formed a beautiful smile, one of pure joy.

  “Sure. Uh huh,” she nodded distractedly, never taking her eyes from Matt's.

  “See, I'd never ask, but I...” Tyler stopped as he absorbed her words and, not being the kind of person who kept on talking after they had already made the sale, spun immediately on his heel and headed back out. “Thanks, Ms. M.! Thanks, Mr. K.!” he called behind him.

  Matt turned and yelled after him, “I didn't do anything, Tyler.”

  From halfway out the door, Matt heard the kid snort and laugh, saying, “Yeah, ya did.”

  Matt turned back to Amy, laughing. She was also chuckling and looking much as he had felt a few moments earlier—as if she had been suddenly and rudely ripped back from a lovely dream.

  She shook her head. “Oh, lord, what did I just agree to?” she groaned.

  “One-day extension on the Moby Dick paper,” he informed her.

  She thought about that for a moment and then shrugged. “Not nearly as bad as it could have been, considering the source of the request.”

  Matt felt as happy as he could remember being in a long time. She was so adorable, so smart, so fun—and it was great to be able to see her here, throughout the day. It made his day so much better.

  “So what's a guy gotta do to get you to go to lunch with him?” he asked playfully.

  She grinned. “I don’t know. What did you have in mind?”

  He placed his hands on her desk and leaned forward. “Well, how about this—Taco Truck? On me?”

  She mock swooned. “You've made me an offer only a fool would resist, and I, sir, am no fool.”

  They laughed, and she bent down in her chair to collect her belongings.

  When they turned to exit the classroom, they both stopped short.

  There, in the doorway, blocking their way, both hands firmly planted on her hips and a very knowing expression on her face, stood Nikki.

  --- ~ ---

  Amy wanted to play it cool. In situations like this, she always wanted to play it cool. That didn't mean it ever worked out that way.

  In fact, even as she was aware of the little voice in her head screaming at her—a significant volume jump from its usual whisper—that she should act casual, she felt herself taking two steps backward.

  She laughed, trying to play it off. “Nikki!” she exclaimed, “What are you doing here?”

  Nikki looked hard between Matt and Amy, clearly hip to the fact that there was more than met the eye going on—or at least that was Amy's interpretation. Maybe, she realized, she could have been projecting.

  Finally, Nikki stepped over to Amy and gave her a hug. “Hey, sis,” she said. “I was worried about you. I went by your house to check on you because you'd been feeling so rotten, but you weren't there. I figured you must have come in to school today. Since I knew your lunch period started about now, I figured I'd come take you out to lunch.”

  “Oh,” Amy replied, flustered, “I, uh... I mean, we were just about to...” She looked at Matt for help.

  “Oh, were the two of you just about to grab some lunch?” Nikki asked with a playful smile. “That's fantastic. We can just make it a threesome. The more the merrier, right?”

  Amy's eyes widened, not sure how she would manage to keep up the casual pretense of her platonic friendship with Matt for an entire hour under Nikki's sure to be relentless onslaught of questions and innuendo.

  Luckily, Matt—as always—was sensitive to her feelings and stepped in to save the day.

  “Oh, no,” he said definitively. “You ladies go. Enjoy. I have work to do back in my classroom.”

  With that, he made a quick exit. As relieved as Amy was not to have to handle the awkward lunch, she also felt guilty. After all, she knew Matt didn't actually have a classroom. He was floating until the AP history room was repaired. So he was going to have to either go hang out in the teachers' lounge—always a coin toss when it came to what kind of experience you would have in there—or simply be at loose ends for the next hour.

  However, Amy did not have all that much time to think about Matt's dilemma, because almost as soon as he had set foot outside the door, Nikki grabbed her arm and whispered excitedly, “Oh my God! He is absolutely delicious. You didn't tell me he was so hot. All right, let’s hear it. Tell me everything there is to know about Matt Kellan. And more to the point, about you and Matt Kellan.”

  She didn't want to get dragged into some long conversation about the various hot parts—of which there were many—of Matt Kellan and their relationship, especially since she would have to be playing the role of someone who just admired the man from afar. So instead of trying to play a role, she simply shrugged.

  She should've known better. A shrug had been her go-to method of putting off Nikki's questions since they were little. Also since they were little, Nikki never took it at face value. This time was no exception.

  "Come on, sis, I know you're holding out on me. Tell the truth. There's something going on between you and your little lunch buddy, isn't there? Fess up."

  Amy shook her head emphatically and lied through her teeth. "There's nothing going on. We're friends. We have a lot in common on a purely professional and platonic level. That's it."

  Nikki looked skeptical. She remained silent, simply letting her expression speak for itself. She attempted to wait Amy out. Generally, Amy knew, this silent tactic worked on people Nikki utilized it on. Most people simply could not stand in awkward silence. However, Nikki had never quite gotten used to the fact that Amy was not one of those people. She actually enjoyed silence, and if Nikki wanted to stare at her in silence, well…bring it on. Amy could wait her out, no problem—and she would even enjoy it.

  Finally, Nikki threw up her hands in exasperation. Amy allowed herself a small smile of satisfaction. There were so many things Nikki was far more adept at than she was—but silence was certainly not one of them.

  "Fine," Nikki said, resigned, "be that way. I will just tell you one thing though. If it goes beyond whatever you guys have going now—and don't even bother trying to deny it because I'm not trying to get any details out of you. I'm just stating what I can see is obviously a fact—then you need to think really seriously about something.

  "You are amazing, Ames. And you have one of the biggest hearts of anyone I know. From everything I’ve heard, Matt’s a great guy, and if you want to have some fun, then by all means, have your fun. But if things start getting serious then just be careful. You shouldn't have to spend the rest of your life competing with a ghost or a memory. You deserve to be the woman that every other woman he ever meets gets compared to—not the other way around. So just be careful, okay? And that's all I have to say about that."

  Amy looked at her sister for a moment before finally throwing her arms around her and hugging her hard for a good long minute. They were not the kind of sisters who were always pouring their hearts out to each other. Even thou
gh they loved one another and would do anything for each other, they’d just never been the kind of mushy girls who talked about their feelings for each other all the time. To hear Nikki laying out her feelings so plainly was rare, and it really touched Amy.

  When Amy drew back, there were tears in her eyes, and she could see that there were some in Nikki's as well. Nikki flapped her hands, clearly trying to dispel the emotional heaviness that had descended on the room.

  "There," Nikki said lightly. "You've always suspected that I cared, and now you have your proof. But don't get used to it. I only allow myself one moment of vulnerability per decade, and you were just the proud recipient of it. It won't be happening again."

  Amy laughed, nodding her head agreement. It was just as well. She already had one emotionally complicated relationship on her hands. She definitely didn't need another one.

  "Hungry?" Amy asked.

  "Starved!" Nikki replied enthusiastically, and then added slyly, "And I bet you are too. You know. After being in bed sick all day yesterday.”

  --- ~ ---

  Matt slid the key into his front door and turned it as he brushed his feet against the doormat, removing the excess snow and dirt from his boots. As he stepped inside and took off his jacket and gloves he realized that he was actually acclimating to the much colder climate in the Sierra Nevadas. Sure, he was still cold, especially in the mornings, and he didn’t love shoveling snow, but it wasn’t as bad as he’d first thought when he’d moved here.

  His keys clanked against the ceramic dish he’d dropped them in on the small table next to the entryway. He looked around to see if he needed to clean up before he started dinner. Amy was coming over to his place tonight, since not only Nikki but also Amy’s parents and brothers had keys to her place. They thought it would be safer at his. And if she found someone who could watch Scooby then she was going to stay the night.

  Matt knew that was what he wanted. To have an entire night with Amy in his bed so he could explore every inch of her without interruptions. But a little voice in the back of his head kept reminding him that the last person he’d had beside him in bed for an entire night was Jess.

  When he’d first met Amy, he’d definitely felt some guilt about how strongly he’d reacted to her. But since getting to know her, the guilt had lessened. Still, somehow the thought of sharing his bed with Amy was bringing all of that guilt right back up to the surface.

  Shaking off that thought as he took off his coat and hung it up in the coat closet, he shut the door, realizing that he had a lot of work to do before Amy came over that night. There were over a dozen boxes stacked against the far wall in his living room. Matt wasn’t sure what the hold-up was. He had never been a procrastinator. If there was a job to do, he got it done. But every time he thought about tackling those boxes, he just…didn’t do it.

  Now that he was going to have company over, he figured that this was as good an excuse as he was going to have to get it done. He walked over to the first box labeled books, and as he began peeling back the tape, he froze. His body wasn’t listening to the signals his brain was telling it. Matt felt unable to move. Paralyzed. His chest felt like a ton of bricks was sitting on it, making it difficult for him to breathe.

  What the hell is going on?

  His phone vibrated against his leg, and even though his movements were clumsy and he felt completely uncoordinated, he was able to retrieve the device from his pocket. He answered it without even looking down to identify the caller.

  “Hello.” His voice sounded distant to his own ears.

  Concern laced his older sister’s voice. “Matt, are you okay?”

  “Yeah,” he answered automatically, even though his mind felt a little foggy and he wasn’t actually sure he was okay since he had no idea what was going on with him.

  “You don’t sound good,” Sara immediately shot back.

  “I know,” he agreed.

  He needed to snap out of whatever had come over him. Thinking maybe a glass of water would help, he moved into the kitchen.

  “What’s going on?” Her voice was filled with alarm. “Do I need to call Uncle Henry?”

  Matt didn’t want his sister to worry. She’d just called him at a bad time. “No, it’s nothing. I was just finally getting around to unpacking and I just got, I don’t know…I just…”

  “What?”

  Matt wasn’t exactly sure how to explain the physical phenomenon he had just experienced. But he tried. “I couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe.”

  Sara’s tone changed from worry to understanding. “Oh, yeah. That makes sense,”

  “It does?” Matt asked. He had no idea how she knew what in the hell was going on with him when he certainly wasn’t connecting the dots on this one.

  “Well of course it does. You haven’t touched the things in those boxes since you moved out of your place on Headley Drive.”

  Shit. He hadn’t thought about that. The last time he’d seen the contents in these boxes was when he’d packed up his and Jess’s house to move in with Sara to help her out with the kids. It made sense that he would have some kind of a reaction to opening up those boxes that were filled with memories. His sister had a point.

  He also noticed that his sister hadn’t said anything about Jess or the fact that a lot of the belongings he’d kept of hers were in those boxes. She’d just mentioned his place on Headley Drive. He didn’t want his family to feel like they couldn’t even say Jess’s name around him. Matt understood why they did, but he didn’t want them to feel like that anymore.

  “You’re right. I can’t believe I didn’t think about the fact that all of Jess’s and my stuff is in those boxes.” He heard his sister suck in a surprised gasp as he said Jess’s name.

  “Well it might be easier for me to see what’s going on, being on the outside looking in,” she said casually, he assumed in an attempt to cover how shocked she’d been. “Maybe you should just take your time. I know I’ve been telling you that you need to unpack, but if it’s going to bring up a lot of stuff, it might be better to pace yourself. Maybe just do a box a day. Maybe have Uncle Henry help you.”

  Matt thought about his sister’s advice. He could move the boxes out to the garage and go through one or two a day, but somehow that just felt like he would be dragging the painful process out. And as much as he thought he’d be seeing his uncle when he moved up here, the truth was that his uncle was a very busy man. His days, evenings, and weekends were consumed by the work he did for the town. Matt had only been able to connect with him a handful of times for lunch.

  Nope. He needed to get this done, and he knew he could do it alone. He looked at the time. Amy wasn’t coming over for six hours. If he took a few of them to unpack, then even if it was really bad, he wouldn’t dwell on that. Amy and her smile, her voice, her laugh, would be here to distract him from any pain that surfaced.

  He wasn’t sure what kind of a person that made him, but right now he didn’t have the time to analyze it. “Thanks, sis. Call you later. Tell Trevor I miss him and love him.”

  Matt disconnected the phone before his sister could ask any questions about his sudden one-eighty. He didn’t have time to answer questions, and Amy would be here in a few hours. Grabbing a box cutter from the junk drawer, he downed his glass of water and walked back into the living room with renewed purpose.

  He could do this.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Amy could feel her heart pounding rapidly inside her chest in perfect rhythm with the click-clack of her high-heeled boots as she hurried along the brick walkway—that thankfully was cleared of snow—along the side of Matt’s house leading to the back door. She didn’t think anyone had seen her pull up around the corner or scurry up the sidewalk, but she couldn’t be sure. Amy wondered if all of the covert operations added to the excitement of what she and Matt were doing. Maybe, she concluded, but she was pretty sure she’d be excited even if the whole world knew.

  In fact, she knew she would be, becau
se even now she wanted to shout it from a mountaintop, take out a front-page ad, and post it on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Well, that might be a little extreme, but she did wish that she could at least talk to her sister and her friends about what she was feeling.

  Not that she’d fully worked out how she felt exactly—emotionally. She’d honestly been a little too overwhelmed dealing with everything she’d been feeling physically to delve too deeply into her emotional state. Whenever she’d had a moment to herself, moments she would have normally used for self-reflection and taking a little internal inventory, her mind had been consumed with thoughts of Matt and the way he made her body feel. He’d taken her body to places she’d never even dreamed of in her wildest fantasies, much less thought of in her realm of possible realities.

  She rounded the corner, and Matt was already standing in his doorway, waiting for her. It was freezing outside, but the second she saw his tall, lean frame in the doorway, a warmth spread through her from head to toe. He was wearing a long-sleeved white thermal and jeans that rode low on his waist.

  Matt wasn’t just sexy. He oozed sex appeal from every pore of his being. It radiated from him no matter what he was doing. It was a little intimidating, but she was learning to deal with it.

  “Hey. I saw you walk up,” Matt said with a wide smile that showcased not just one but both of his delicious dimples as he reached out and pulled her into his arms.

  She, of course, went willingly and instantly melted against his muscular body.

  He rubbed his hands up and down her lower back, his face nuzzled into her neck. “Hmmm, you smell good enough to eat.” His gravely tone sent shivers racing down her spine.

  Amy closed her eyes, reveling in the feeling of being wrapped in strong arms. She loved so many things about Matt, but his hugs had to be competing for the top spot. When his arms were around her, she felt like she’d finally found her place in the world, like she was exactly where she belonged.