Eric patiently waited her out. Kelly was a sweet girl. She just needed a lot of attention. After several moments of calculated “stretching,” Kelly smiled suggestively as she reached for his take-out. “That’ll be $5.82.”
Eric pulled out a ten-dollar bill and grabbed his bag. Kelly didn’t release it as his fingers wrapped around it.
“Can I get you anything else?”
“Nope, I’m good,” Eric said, his tone carefully modulated to walk that all-too-fine line of friendly but not interested. ”Have a good day, Kel.”
As Eric turned to leave, he saw Lauren walking out from the back, apparently finished with her call.
“Sorry about that,” Lauren apologized to Lily.
“No problem,” Lily replied brightly as they all headed in the same direction.
When they reached the door, Eric stepped up and pulled it open, moving to the side so that they could pass.
Lauren put on her sunglasses as she stepped outside, smiling up at him, “Thanks E.”
Eric nodded at his friend before glancing back at Lily.
Lily had stopped just shy of the doorway and she was just staring. With her five-foot-four frame, she had to tilt her head back to look up at him. Her brow was knitted and she was searching his features as if she were trying to figure out a puzzle.
“Are you okay?” Eric asked, not really sure what he could have done to cause the confusion she seemed to be battling.
At his words, she shook her head slightly and a small laugh escaped from her as she said, “Yeah, I’m fine.” She moved past him, smiling but not making eye contact, saying a quiet, “Thanks.”
He watched as Lily’s curvaceous hips swayed on the way to Lauren’s car. Even when she was doing something as simple as walking down the sidewalk, the movement of her body was enticing. Captivating.
Damn, what was this girl doing to him?
Chapter Three
Lily sat silently, looking out the passenger side window as the gorgeous, breathtaking scenery passed in front of her. The vibrant colors of jewel-toned, green pine trees, colorful aspens with brilliant yellow and shocking red leaves, the crystal blue water of the river rippling behind the tree line, and the rich purples and deep oranges of the random wildflowers that had sprouted up all around were absolutely stunning.
To her, being in Hope Falls felt like she had been transported into a Thomas Kincaid painting. The entire town was postcard perfect. She didn’t miss the fact that she was one lucky girl getting to spend a significant amount of time here.
That luck, however, was not translating to her house-hunting efforts. In fact, the apartment above Sue Ann’s Café was looking more and more appealing. After seeing six properties, Lily had come to the conclusion that settling was most likely her only option. Four out of the six properties Lauren had shown her had had everything that Lily needed. Space, hardwood floors, updated appliances. But they also all had one thing in common—all three were totally secluded.
She had been nervous just being at the properties and she’d been with Lauren the entire time. She couldn’t imagine what she would have felt like being out there alone. Which, logically, Lily knew was a completely ridiculous reaction. Whether or not there is a neighbor for a mile should have no relevance in Lily’s house hunt. But…it did.
Maybe next year it wouldn’t, Lily thought to herself, trying to put a positive spin on her neurosis.
“Okay, I think this one might be the one,” Lauren said confidently.
Lily felt the car coming to a stop, and she looked up, squinting in the sun, to see a quaint cottage-style house. It looked to be right out of the pages of a fairy tale book. There was a brick walkway leading up to the large wooden door. The house was painted a deep eggshell with a red trim.
“It’s really cute,” Lily said as she stepped out of Lauren’s BMW. She sensed something shift inside of her as she walked up the brick path. She paused but she couldn’t quite put her finger on what the odd sensation was.
Looking at her surroundings, she saw that there were two houses on the street besides the one she stood in front of. So, there were neighbors. That was a definite plus.
Lauren had walked ahead of her to open the front door, and Lily followed her inside the house. The feeling that had crept up inside of her intensified, and she realized suddenly that it was calm. She was feeling an overwhelming sense of calm and peace.
“This is a furnished one-bedroom, one-bath, cottage-style home. Upgraded kitchen and bathroom. Hardwood floors throughout except the bedroom, which is carpeted.”
Lauren listed the features of the home as they walked through the house. Lily followed closely behind her down the short hall to the bathroom and bedroom, excited to see what each room held. Both were clean, cute, and small. They continued their tour to the kitchen. What she had seen so far was very cozy and welcoming. The kitchen was no exception.
The only issue that she could see with this place was space. The front room and bedroom were small—really small. Even if she moved the furniture, she wasn’t sure she would have enough square footage to dance.
Hmmm. If she had to settle, this place wouldn’t be bad at all.
Lily ran her fingers across the cold tile counter top in the small, cheery kitchen. The walls were painted a muted yellow and there were white curtains hanging across the picture window behind the sink. There were all new appliances, and another bonus was that the one-bedroom house came completely furnished.
“And the pièce de résistance! Drum roll please,” Lauren said with a sparkle in her eye. “The detached garage has been renovated into an office space that would work perfectly as a studio.”
Lily spun around. “Seriously?”
“Seriously,” Lauren confirmed happily. “Let’s go check it out.”
Lily tried not to get too excited. She knew that what some people considered a studio or office was not anything more than a closet or shed. Her attempt to control her enthusiasm was failing miserably though. As she walked behind Lauren down a small path in the backyard she felt like a kid at Christmas about to open her presents.
Not that she had ever really had a normal Christmas experience. She had gotten some presents in her childhood but they had never been Barbies, Cabbage Patch Kids, a bike, or cute clothes. She had received practical things from charities and churches. Things like backpacks, socks, jackets, and shoes. Not attractive things, but at least functional. And although she had always appreciated them, she had also wished that she could be like her classmates, the ones who wrote Christmas lists and then came back after winter break with the things that they had put on their lists.
After Lily’s mom had passed away when she was three, she had been put into the system. It started with foster care until the age of twelve, at which point she had been moved to group homes. Between the ages of twelve and sixteen, she’d been in a dozen group homes. Then she had been completely taken off the grid, which had come with its own set of fears and terrors, but it had been better than the life she’d had to endure up until then.
To this day she wasn’t sure which she had preferred between foster homes or group homes. She guessed that it was pretty specific to the facility or home. Some had been tolerable, a couple had been decent, but a good forty percent of them had been horrific. She shuddered now at some of the memories that surfaced.
“This is it. Voila!” Lauren said as she opened the door grandly and flipped on the light.
Lily stepped into the room and felt tears well in her eyes. It looked to be about four hundred square feet with hardwood floors and one entire wall done in mirrors. It was a dancer’s dream space. She felt the tears fall down her cheeks as she spun around to look at it from all angles. It was…perfect.
“Also, it seemed like being isolated was not something you were comfortable with. There are five houses within a mile of this property, which sits on a cul-de-sac. Two which are relatively close, and one of them is owned by the newly appointed Chief of Police.”
�
��I’ll take it,” Lily blurted out.
Lily couldn’t believe that this place was real. Not only did it have an incredible studio and neighbors within a stone’s throw, but one of her neighbors was law enforcement. For once in Lily’s life, things were all falling into place.
Chapter Four
Lily swallowed over a large lump in her throat as she started up her Jeep and pulled out of the diner’s parking lot. This was all happening so fast. She had seen the house for the first time a little over two hours ago and now she was going over to sign papers and move her things in. When she had given Sue Ann the key to the apartment and told her about the little house she had rented, Lily had not been able to hide her excitement about the space. She had practically gushed as she described the studio.
To Lily’s surprise, Sue Ann had seemed genuinely happy for her. Not in the generic, impersonal, “Oh that’s nice, dear” sort of way either. Nope, the older woman had squealed and thrown her arms around her, pulling her into a big hug. A real hug, filled to the brim with emotion. And that emotion had seeped into Lily’s entire being.
Then, in a move that had shocked Lily down to her bones, Sue Ann had supplied her with at least eight meals all packaged and ready to go. The cherry on top was that Sue Ann had remembered a brief conversation they had had at the wedding about Lily’s clean eating and had specially made her dishes with that in mind.
The whole exchange felt unreal to Lily. Starting with the fact that she had happily spilled the news about her newly acquired rental property to a woman she barely knew. That behavior was very out of character for Lily. She tended to keep things close to the vest. Up until two years ago, she’d had to. Sharing personal information hadn’t been an option.
Then the fact that Sue Ann had not only been ecstatic about her news but also her generosity in making sure that Lily had personalized meals and didn’t have to worry about getting to the grocery store right away was mind-blowing. The people that Lily had met here so far seemed to be cut from a different cloth.
Driving down the main strip of Hope Falls, Lily was struck once again by the charming character of the town. The wooden sidewalks could have been straight out of the Wild West; she half-expected to see horses tied up along the street. There was an adorable bookstore called Read Between the Lines, and next to that was an old-fashioned ice cream parlor aptly named Two Scoops.
Scanning Main Street, Lily did a double take as she saw a huge Great Dane trotting down the middle of the road just as happy as could be. She quickly looked up and down the street, alarmed, trying to see if she could locate the dog’s owner. She didn’t have any luck with that, but she did notice that a lot of the people walking on the sidewalks were waving and greeting the dog. He didn’t seem at all concerned about his solo walkabout and neither did anyone else.
Hmm, she thought. Maybe he is like the town mascot or something.
She pulled up to a four-way and saw The Lanes, which looked like a fifties-themed bowling alley. Across from the bowling alley sat a large building with gigantic lettering on the side that read Hope Falls Twin Cinemas.
Perfect! Lily knew that that was where she would be spending most if not all of her free time. She had always found comfort in going to the movies. Dancing was her therapy and movies were her escape. For the one and a half hours that she sat in the plush reclining chair watching the drama, comedy, action, or romance play out on the huge screen in front of her, she completely lost herself in that fictional reality.
Sometimes she would see the same movie multiple times in the theater. She had seen Love Actually a record twenty-five times during its theatrical release. She was sixteen and it had been an especially hard year. She’d had a friend who worked at the movie theater, so for a short span of about six months she got in free. During her all-access stint she had also seen Lost in Translation, Finding Nemo, Kill Bill, Elf, Mona Lisa Smile, Underworld, Peter Pan, X2, and Old School all at least ten times each.
Without those movies, she wasn’t sure that she would have made it. They were a stress relief, a break from her own disaster of a life, and in a corny way they’d given her hope that her life would get better. That somehow she could make her life better if she just kept going. Those movies had inspired her to not give up.
Now, as she turned onto Pine Tree Circle, it hit her that even though it had taken a decade, her life was almost exactly how she had always dreamed it would be. She had the job of her dreams and the house of her dreams—for the next six months at least.
That short timeframe might bother some people, but Lily was used to living her life in short increments of time. So in her mind, these next six months were her life. She lived in the moment.
Lily had made a point to only focus on the positives in her life. It was a survival tool that she had learned at an early age. So she chose to ignore the little niggling feeling she had in her chest—emptiness. Loneliness. She knew that it was due to the fact that, even though she did in fact have her dream job and her dream home, she didn’t have her dream man.
Lily had never really let herself care about the fact that she hadn’t ever been able to have a true relationship. Any real connection to another person. Her lack of having something real was partly because of life circumstances that were out of her control, but she also had to admit it was partly because she was only attracted to bad boys she knew were no good for her.
She never spent too much time or energy worrying about her love life or lack thereof. She’d had more important things to occupy her mind—like survival. But in the last couple of years since she hadn’t been living at such a heightened state, she had really started to feel the absence of having someone special in her life. Not that there was any way she could ever let someone in. Not really. That would require trust. And she just didn’t trust.
But today was way too good of a day to let herself think or worry about that. Life was good…today.
As she pulled into the driveway, she saw that Lauren was already there, her BMW parked in front of the sweet cottage home. She was meeting Lily with the lease, application, and keys. As Lily hopped out of her car, all of the melancholy she had been feeling over her single status disappeared and was instantly replaced by exhilaration as she practically skipped up the brick walkway.
When she looked up at the cottage-style home, a realization washed over her like a warm shower spray—as of today, this was where she lived. She had a place she loved that was hers. For the first time in Lily’s life, she felt like she belonged somewhere.
The second Lily’s feet hit the porch, Lauren opened the front door and smiled broadly as she said, “You made good time. I was expecting Sue Ann to keep you there for a good hour at least.”
Lily laughed. It seemed Lauren knew the proprietress of the quaint café quite well. “She said that since I had told her that I was going out with you today to look at places, she planned ahead. She sent me on my way with enough food to feed me for a week.”
“That’s Sue Ann,” Lauren nodded as the stepped into the kitchen. “So here is the application and lease. Make sure to fill in and sign and date wherever you see a red arrow.”
Lauren handed the stack of papers to Lily along with two sets of keys. As Lily filled out the paperwork accordingly, Lauren’s phone buzzed. Lily glanced up just in time to see the expression on Lauren’s face change.
Ah, it must be Ben calling her.
The change in Lauren’s demeanor whenever she talked about or to Ben amazed Lily. From what Lily had observed on the few occasions she’d been around Lauren, she was controlled, contained, measured. Some might even say detached and cool. But as soon as anything Ben-related came into her consciousness, her entire facade just melted.
“Hi!” Lauren’s face softened as she answered the call. “I’m just about finished up.”
A blush rose up Lauren’s cheeks and her lips turned up into a smile.
A barely noticeable huskiness filled her tone as she said, “Sounds good. See you then.”
&nbs
p; As Lauren disconnected the call, Lily handed the signed documents including the check for first and last months’ rent and the deposit to her. Lauren flipped through everything, making sure that it was all in order. “Everything looks good. You can either mail or drop off the rent to my offices before the fifth of each month.”
“Got it,” Lily confirmed.
They moved to the front door, and Lauren paused. Turning back, she asked, “Do you have movers coming or do you need some help?”
Lily was once again blown away by the community atmosphere that each resident, even Lauren, who was a reality show celebrity, seemed to have. “I’m good. It’s just a few boxes. I’ve got them.”
Lauren’s gaze focused directly on Lily. This was the second time today that she had been on the receiving end of that assessing stare. The first had been in the café when Lauren had been attempting to decipher what exactly was going on between Lily and Eric. Yeah, Good luck with that. And now it was happening again while Lauren was deciding whether or not Lily really didn’t need help.
Lily pasted on her brightest, most confident smile, and after a few moments, Lauren tilted her head as she narrowed her eyes. “Okay, but if you change your mind, give me a call. I can have Ben, Ryan, and Luke over here with one SOS text to Karina and Sam.”
Lily felt that good ol’ reliable emptiness bubble back up inside of her. Lauren had a fabulous life. She not only had amazing friends—whom Lily had found out over the weekend called themselves “the Fabulous Four”—but all of them had amazing men in their lives. Lily couldn’t begin to imagine what a support system like that would feel like.
“Thanks so much for the offer, but really, I don’t have that much stuff,” Lily insisted.
Lauren paused for a moment then nodded, letting it go.
They said their goodbyes, and as Lily shut the door, she could practically hear the studio in the back calling her name.
“Lily, come dance in me.”
Snow Angel (The Hope Falls Chronicles) Page 3