Let It Snow (The Hope Falls Series)

by Melanie Shawn

  “Yes, of course I will,” Tessa agreed. “I would love to.”

  “Just a few. I don’t want you to feel like you’re working. I want you to enjoy yourself,” Amy quickly added.

  “Are you kidding me? I love being behind the camera,” Tessa said emphatically, hoping to put Amy’s mind at ease.

  “Okay, just let me know how much you char—”

  “No,” Tessa interrupted her, shaking her head. “No charge.”

  “No, of course I’m going to pay. Just let me kno—”

  “I can’t charge you. You’re family.” The second the words left Tessa’s mouth, she wished that life had a remote control button and she could rewind and delete. The room fell silent and she could feel everyone’s eyes on her and Jake. Attempting to lessen the awkward level of this situation at least a degree or two, Tessa offered, “Consider it a gift from me to you.”

  “Thank you,” Amy said, smiling sweetly.

  Nikki, who was now Tessa’s favorite person in the whole world, moved the conversation along. She asked Amy about how her pregnancy was going and Lily and Eric about how the wedding plans were coming along.

  While everyone was discussing all of the exciting news in the family, Tessa took the time to regroup mentally. The past couple of weeks had felt like both a whirlwind and an eternity. She had no idea how that was even possible. Everything had gotten so confusing and complicated.

  Especially the past few days since she and Jake had started sleeping together. She’d meant to talk to him. She really had. Her several attempts at a serious conversation had been thwarted by their insatiable hormones. The second they were alone with each other, it was like erotic dynamite exploded. They couldn’t seem to keep their hands—and other body parts!—off of one another. Which was great except that Tessa wasn’t sure what it meant. To Jake or to her.

  The fact remained that they needed to talk. She’d just been so scared to ruin what they had going on right now. Which, on the surface, seemed simple enough. They were attracted to each other and acting on it. But Tessa wasn’t foolish enough to believe that. What was going on between her and Jake was anything but simple.

  Which was the main reason she hadn’t wanted to rock the boat. Bringing up the past or the future would definitely change the present. But maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad thing. Every second, every minute, every hour, every day, Tessa was doing something she would have thought was impossible. She was falling more in love with Jake Maguire.

  The first time she’d left, it had come very close to destroying her. Thirteen years later, sure, she was older and wiser, but neither of those things meant that walking away from Jake would be any easier. As far as she knew, nothing had changed the fact that she had to leave. She had to leave for him.

  Jake placed his arm around Tessa and ran his thumbs in circles on her shoulder. Instantly her body relaxed. He leaned over and whispered softly, “You okay?”

  “Yeah,” she lied.

  His eyes narrowed and she knew that he saw right through her. Luckily, his mom asked him about his house and told him she’d made curtains. Tessa tried to pull herself out of the drama that was going on in her own head while his family discussed all of the decorating options he had for the amazing space. She didn’t know how many more of these Sunday dinners she would be attending so she wanted to enjoy every second she could with these incredible people who she did consider her family. She needed to be present.

  “…would make a great nursery. And I picked neutral colors, so it doesn’t matter if it’s a boy or a girl,” Jake’s mom announced proudly.

  Tension radiated from Jake as he spoke. “Shouldn’t you be busy planning Amy’s nursery or even Lily’s or Nikki’s?”

  “Hey!” Nikki threw a crumpled up napkin hitting Jake in the temple. “Bite your tongue.”

  Jake held up his hands in surrender. “I’m just saying, why not focus on babies for your children who are in serious relationships?”

  Rosalie looked confused. Her eyes darted back and forth between Jake and Tessa. She threw her hands up in exaggerated display. “What are you talking about? You are.”

  Nikki once again flew to the rescue—Tessa was seriously considering ordering her a cape that read: Super Subject Changer—and moved the conversation to drama going on with Mike’s family. Apparently, after all of the scandal at the hands of Mike’s Mother and ex-campaign manager, Mike had distanced himself from his family. But they had been reaching out, and he and Nikki were going to be going to dinner with them this week.

  Tessa listened as everyone put in their two cents about whether or not that was a good idea but refrained from giving her opinion. She wasn’t doing such a hot job at running her own life, so she really didn’t think she should be giving anyone advice on how to live theirs.

  Thinking about what she and Jake were doing made her cheeks flush with both embarrassment and good old-fashioned anxiety. After hearing that there were already curtains made for Jake’s—as of yet—nonexistent nursery, Tessa knew more than ever that she had to leave when the house was sold. But she knew that Jake’s family would never understand when she did.

  They would hate her. And she would hate that. But she could handle it. For Jake.

  *

  Lucky jumped off of the couch, startling Jake out of a sound sleep. Barking and pounding followed. Even without opening the door Jake knew exactly who was on the other side.

  As he stood slowly, his body ached in protest. He’d just gotten home from being at the station for the last few days, where he’d gotten about two hours of sleep a night. There’d been a lot of calls due to the weather. They’d gotten a lot of rain over the past week. Drivers in Hope Falls were much more conditioned to deal with snow than rain. There’d been several accidents per night and they’d been the first on scene every time.

  Normally, he could make up for his lack of sleep with one nap. He’d catch a few and be up and raring to go. That had not happened today, however. As Jake walked—or more like shuffled at a snail’s pace—to the front door, he thought of why he wasn’t bouncing back.

  Maybe he was coming down with the flu that was going around? Nope. He never got sick. Even as a kid, he had never missed even one day of school due to illness. His immune system was Superman status.

  It could be because he’s getting old. His thirty years might actually be catching up with him. Or, it could be because not only had he gotten next to no sleep for the past few days at the station, he had gone into his shift after getting even less sleep than that. Since he’d taken Tessa home from JT’s the night of the “incident,” they’d spent a lot of time in bed but none of it had been for sleeping.

  Could lots of sex and no sleep cause Jake’s body to feel like it had been hit by a Mack truck? Nah. Jake dismissed the idea. But even if it was the reason, he wouldn’t have changed a thing. And if Tessa were standing in front of him right now, he’d have her naked and up against the wall before she could blink.

  Jake wasn’t sure what all this crazy-hot, mind-blowing s-e-x they were having meant, but he sure as hell knew he didn’t want it to stop. Sore body or not, he wanted as much of Tessa as he could have.

  The pounding was growing increasingly louder as Jake turned the knob and opened the door. “Seriously? Do they teach you that knock in the academy? Here’s a thought,” Jake said sarcastically. “You don’t have to knock like you’re about to break down a door when you’re not on duty.”

  A small, smug smile tilted Eric’s lips as he stepped past Jake. “Where would the fun be in that?”

  Jake watched his brother’s retreating back as he made his way into the kitchen. “Come on in,” Jake announced sardonically.

  Eric ignored him as Jake followed him into the kitchen. He came around the corner to find Eric pouring himself a cup of coffee from a pot Jake had made when he’d gotten home a few hours earlier. Jake thought about offering to make him a fresh pot, but he figured his brother was a big boy who obviously had no problems whatsoever mak
ing himself at home in Jake’s house. If he wanted a fresh pot, he could brew one his damn self.

  Jake leaned against the counter, waiting to see what wise words of wisdom his brother had come by to drop on him. He knew this probably had to do with one blond-haired, blue-eyed girl who was none of his brother’s business.

  The kitchen chair squeaked as his brother casually sat down and began sipping his freshly poured cup o’ joe. He looked in no hurry to get this convo started.

  Jake grabbed his navy blue HFPD sweatshirt that was hanging off the chair and pulled it on. Then he rubbed his hands over his face.

  “So, what’s up?” Jake asked, leaning back on the counter again, putting his hands in the front pocket of his sweatshirt.

  “You ready for this weekend?” Eric asked.

  “Yep.” Jake wasn’t sure if he was referring to the Policeman/Fireman Ball on Saturday or Amy’s wedding on Sunday, but either way he was good.

  “You taking Tessa to the Ball?”

  “Nope. I have to take the highest bidder.” Jake had been auctioned off as a date to raise money for the station.

  “That’s right,” Eric nodded. “What about to Amy’s wedding?”

  “Tessa’s the photographer and I’m in the wedding, so we’ll both be there if that’s what you’re asking.”

  Eric set his cup down. “That’s not what I’m asking.”

  “What exactly are you asking?” Jake asked crankily. He hadn’t slept and his body felt like an eighty-year-old man’s. Plus his brother had interrupted his nap, and Jake loved his sleep.

  “Have you talked to her?”

  He knew his brother just wanted to help, but Jake was not in the mood. Part of his crankiness probably had to do with the fact that the answer to Eric’s question was no. Jake hadn’t talked to Tessa. They’d been busy…gettin’ busy.

  Jake pushed off the counter. “I’m tired, Eric. I’ve got to get some sleep.”

  His brother just stared at him. Jake was about to tell him that he didn’t have to go home but he needed to get the hell out of here when he stood. Finally.

  “You need to talk to her,” Eric stated in his most intimidating I’m-a-cop-you-have-to-do-what-I-say voice.

  “Yes, sir, Officer,” Jake said in his most sarcastic I-totally-don’t-give-a-shit-what-you-say tone.

  Eric just shook his head at his little brother as he left. Jake knew Eric was right. He did need to talk to Tessa. But he didn’t need to talk to Eric about needing to talk to Tessa.

  Just before the front door shut, Eric said, “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

  After it was closed, Jake looked down at Lucky’s big, brown puppy-dog eyes. “So do I.” He petted the top of his dog’s head. “So do I.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  ‡

  Tessa rang the doorbell at Amanda’s house, a bottle of wine in hand, grateful that she heard happy, loud chattering already coming from inside the house. Thank God for Amy and her well-timed wedding—and baby—announcement! They meant that Tessa was not going to be the center of conversation at tonight’s book club meeting, and that was exactly the way she liked things—with the attention firmly focused on someone else.

  Amanda opened the door and gave her a hug, ushering her inside. When she walked into the living room, the faces of the women lit up at the sight of her. “Tessa!” exclaimed about half of them, focusing on her face, while the other half yelled, “Wine!” as their eyes traveled down to the bottle she held in her hand. Tessa laughed. She would have been hard-pressed to say which group was more excited.

  Tessa held up the bottle with a flourish, eager to focus the attention of all of the women on the thing that was not her. They might be distracted by the alcohol and the wedding and baby plans right now, but if she knew these ladies—and she most certainly did—the slightest little thing would be enough to redirect their attention to her and, more specifically, to her relationship with Jake.

  No thanks. Tessa would take a pass on that extremely complicated topic. Better to keep them distracted with shiny objects like babies, weddings, and wine.

  “So,” Tessa said to Amy as she sat down, adopting her best let’s-dish-some-gossip voice, “how are the wedding plans going?”

  Amy’s face lit up. Clearly, she was delighted about the opportunity to talk about her favorite subject. “Well,” she revealed, face glowing, “it’s going okay. I may have underestimated how much work it was though. But I want to get married before I’m showing, because, well, not that I’m a vain person or anything, but—”

  “She wants to look smokin’ hot in her dress,” finished Nikki.

  “Yes, that,” agreed Amy readily, an even wider smile crossing her face. “And I just want to be Mrs. Kellan.”

  “So is everything okay? Do you need me to help?” Tessa asked.

  “You’re doing enough. Thank you so much for agreeing to take the pictures.” Amy then explained, “Nikki, my mom, and Lauren are doing most of the heavy lifting. Even though I feel fine and I keep trying to explain to everyone that I’m not sick, I’m just pregnant, they still want me off my feet and out of the winter cold as much as possible. And I do appreciate that. I haven’t been dealing with much in the way of morning sickness, but it definitely has been a drain on my energy reserves.”

  The thought popped into Tessa’s mind unbidden of the daydreams she used to have about when her and Jake would be planning their wedding. Then for some reason, the thought if that had happened, the little baby that was, right now, nothing more than a drain on Amy’s energy and a warm spot of love in her heart would be an adorable little moppet who would call her Auntie Tessa.

  Tessa’s eyes closed involuntarily with the strain of pushing those thoughts away. She absolutely could not indulge in that kind of thinking. It was far too dangerous. It led her down paths that were too difficult to come back from. Tessa knew that being here in Hope Falls was only temporary. The day was going to come—and it would probably come sooner rather than later—when she was going to have to pack up her PT cruiser and drive right back out of town.

  It was going to be hard enough as it was. She had to protect herself. Leaving Hope Falls—and leaving Jake—had nearly destroyed her once. She had been so empty inside that fleeing to one war zone after another had actually been a welcome relief. That capturing the unimaginable pain on the faces of people whose lives and worlds had been ripped to shreds, had seemed like a natural extension of the wasteland that had lain inside her.

  She couldn’t go back there. She had barely survived it. She didn’t know if she could survive it again. Especially now that Gran was gone.

  She shook herself mentally and returned her focus to the topic at hand—Amy’s wedding.

  “So you’re all set then?” Tessa asked.

  “Actually, Karina”—Amy turned to their dark-haired friend—“I have favor to ask you, with regards to the ceremony, as a matter of fact.”

  Karina lifted her wine glass in a mock toast. “Ask away, girl! You know I’d do anything for you!”

  Amy smiled. “Excellent! Then would you mind singing ‘Hold Me Tighter’ at the ceremony? Matt and I both love that song.”

  “You got it, babe!” Karina readily agreed.

  “Oh!” Tessa exclaimed. “That’s always been one of my favorites! I just love the chorus. It’s so romantic. It makes me melt!”

  Karina’s face took on a knowing expression, and she sent Tessa a conspiratorial wink. “Well, I should hope so,” she laughed. “I think you might be able to relate.”

  Tessa was confused. She looked around at the rest of the ladies in the room, wondering if she was the only one who didn’t get the reference, but no one jumped in to explain and everyone looked equally as confused as she felt. Finally, she asked, “Why? Why would I be able to relate?”

  Karina grinned, clearly eager to fill her in as she held out her hands in a grand ta-da fashion. “Because I wrote that song about you and Jake.”

  Tessa froze. She coul
d see from the shocked expressions that no one else had been aware of this either.

  “What do you mean?” she asked quietly.

  “Well, I remember the exact day in high school. I saw you by your locker, and you were looking kind of sad. Then Jake walked up behind you and wrapped his arms around you. You sank back against him, and you just looked so peaceful and radiant… And he looked so protective and”—Karina shivered—“male. Then the chorus just played in my head. At that moment, it all just flowed. ‘Hold me tighter than I’ve ever been, save me from this world within. The way you wrap me in your arms, tells me all that’s in your heart. I feel your love when I feel your touch, so just hold me tight tonight.’ I mean, seriously, I couldn’t grab a notebook fast enough to get it all down!”

  Tessa was shocked, and she didn’t know how to react. She felt as if her skin were made of spun sugar, as if even the slightest tiny movement would cause her to shatter into a million pieces. She didn’t know if she was going to laugh, or cry, or hyperventilate, or…

  Luckily, she was saved the embarrassment of doing either of the latter by Amy, whose facial expression had just turned distinctly queasy.

  “Wait a minute.” Amy’s face grew serious. “Do you mean to tell me that I’ve been…um, making out…with my fiancé to a song that is actually about my brother?”

  “’Fraid so, darlin’.” Karina winked. “And I doubt you’d be that shade of red if all you and Matty boy were doing was ‘making out’ to that song.”

  The room exploded in laughter and Karina’s face lit up excitedly as she clutched her chest.

  “I feel like Al Green! Did you make the baby to my song?”

  Amy just shook her head. She was smiling but obviously embarrassed by the unwanted attention. She touched the top of her nose as if she were pushing up nonexistent glasses as she answered, “No.”

  “Do you want to pick another song for the wedding?” Karina asked, letting Amy off the hook.

  “No, I still love that song,” Amy answered.