Finding Me (Snowy Ridge: Love at Starlight, Book 3)

by Kris Jett

  “Oh, yeah,” Luci said, a slow grin spreading across her face. “That was so long ago. Remember how we’d sneak out to the bar and swipe sips of beer?”

  “Yes!” Becca said. “We were so naughty.”

  “Where was I when all this beer swiping was happening?” Jessie asked.

  “Probably hanging out with your friends or at the lake. You would have been fourteen then.”

  “True,” Jessie said. “And I thought you and your friends were so annoying back then.”

  “Anyway,” Becca said, jokingly scowling at Jessie, “I promise not to swipe any beer this time. It’d be fun being at Starlight again. Kinda like déjà vu. And it will get me out more. Maybe I’ll even meet a man.”

  “Starlight does tend to get some hotties,” April said. She got a dreamy look on her face like she was rolling through a roster of hot men in her mind.

  “I’d have to agree. It’s where I met Cade,” Jessie said.

  “Well, perfect then,” Luci said. “Looks like you’ll be joining the Starlight staff this summer.” She smiled at her friend but inside she felt a twinge of apprehension. She hoped this wouldn’t be a giant mistake. She’d only just recently rekindled her friendship with Becca. Spending the summer working side-by-side might be a bit much. Or, it could turn out to be awesome too, she told herself.

  “I can’t wait,” Becca said and popped a nacho in her mouth.

  Chapter Twelve

  Evan grabbed a beer from the refrigerator, a bag of Smart Pop popcorn, and headed for his room. Aunt Bets was settled in the living room crocheting and the movie Tombstone played on the television. She was a huge Kurt Russell fan. She was always going on and on about his and Goldie Hawn’s long-lasting relationship, how they did it the right way by never getting married, and how she’d never marry again either, only date. Evan had never seen or heard of Bets dating since she’d divorced her husband ten years earlier though.

  Evan settled on his bed and flipped open his laptop. While he waited for the login screen to appear, he popped open his beer and took a long sip. He’d been looking forward to this all day, ever since he’d run into Luci and they’d gone for smoothies. She’d emailed him part of her book to proofread and he couldn’t wait to start. He felt like reading her words, though he knew it was fiction, would show him a piece of her. And he wanted to know more about her.

  He located Luci’s email in his inbox and launched the attached word doc. It was thirty pages long and titled, “Seaside Sunsets.” Romance, he thought to himself with a smile. My favorite.

  Evan settled back against his pillows, propped up by the headboard, and begun to read. Less than twenty minutes later he was done. He set his laptop down on his bed and looked around the room. He wasn’t a literary expert by any means but the book was good. Really good. At least the first three chapters. And he wanted to know more.

  He was especially intrigued by the main character, Gretchen, who sounded a lot like Luci. Of course, he was sure she’d deny it. She would insist it was pure creation and Gretchen was entirely fictional. But she sounded like Luci: her wants, her interests, her humor. And if Luci was Gretchen then who was Patrick? He had to read more.

  Evan picked up his phone and begun composing a text to Luci.

  Brilliant. I loved it! Send me more.

  He pressed send and waited. A moment later a reply from Luci appeared.

  Really? I’m so happy you liked it!! *relief*

  Evan smiled and sent another text.

  You’re a great writer. This will be published. But I want to read more. Send me the next chapter?

  He stared at his phone while he waited for Luci to reply. She was taking a while to respond. Maybe she had to take another call. Or, she could be at work and waiting on customers right then, too, he had no idea. Finally, a text from Luci came through.

  Not yet. But soon.

  Evan read her message again. He was disappointed, but he would have to wait. He wondered what Luci was doing just then and wished he could see her. He wanted to talk to her more about her book.

  Okay, I’ll be patient. :-) I’ll email you in a bit. I only found a few typos and a spot where you slipped from past tense to present.

  Luci replied quickly this time.

  Great, thank you!! You’re the best! xx Good night.

  Evan stared at his phone. He wanted to keep texting with Luci but she was ending their conversation. She must be busy, he thought. He did note that she’d included kisses in her text and wished they were the real thing. He wrote back:

  Good night. xx

  And tossed his phone on his bed.

  Evan walked out to the kitchen to retrieve another beer. Aunt Bets was sitting on the couch in the glow of the television, still working on her scarf. Aunt Bets always crocheted scarves. It was the only thing she knew how to make. But she never wore any of them. She said they made her neck look funny. So, she just made the scarves and gave them away. Evan had two from her already.

  Aunt Bets set down her crochet, hit pause on the remote, and looked up at her nephew. “Hi, honey, want to watch the end of Tombstone with me?”

  Evan popped open his beer and stood at the edge of the living room. “Nah.” He didn’t say anything else but he didn’t move from his spot either.

  Aunt Bets peered at him. “Feel like talking? How was your day?”

  Evan walked further into the room and took a seat on the old comfortable brown recliner. “It was good. How was yours?”

  “Same old, same old,” she said. “Something on your mind, hon’?”

  “Well, I was sort of wondering what you knew about the Fosters. You know, the ones who run Starlight Pub?”

  “I know just the ones. I’ve known Diedre Foster forever. Her and her husband, Stan, moved here many years ago. Long before I even moved here. They bought and operated Starlight and raised their three daughters here in Snowy Ridge. Stan passed away some time ago now and Diedre runs the pub with her daughter, Jessie.”

  “And the other two daughters work there, too,” Evan added.

  “Yes, Wynn and Luci moved back home early this year. Diedre got cancer and I assume they came home to help her out. Both girls were gone for a real long time. There was talk that there was some family drama and the girls were staying away. I didn’t even know Wynn had a little one, Melody, until she’d moved back home. But they must have worked all of that out now because the girls are back home living with their momma and helping out at Starlight.”

  “Right,” Evan said with a nod.

  Bets tilted her head and stared at her nephew, a gleam in her eye. “Why do you ask?”

  Evan could feel his face flush as a smile creeped across his aunt’s face. “I was, um, just you know, curious,” he stammered.

  Bets picked up her crochet and begun working again. “They’re a nice family,” she said. “And from what I hear, Luci Foster is single. Just in case you’re curious about that, too.”

  Evan quickly stood up. “Thanks, Aunt Bets,” he said and headed back for his bedroom. Was he really that obvious?

  “Anytime, Honey,” she said and he could hear her movie start playing again.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Becca moaned from the turquoise yoga mat beside Luci. “This has got to be some form of torture in other countries, right? Is this even legal?”

  Luci kept her eyes closed and tried hard to stay in the moment and not giggle. Becca had told the group during their girls’ night that she wasn’t getting enough exercise, so Luci had offered to take her to one of her yoga classes. It wasn’t going so well.

  “Oh, come on, is this woman insane?” Becca hissed at Luci. “My leg doesn’t do that. How are you twisting yours that way?”

  A couple of the class members looked over their shoulders to glare at Becca. The ladies preferred a quiet room to better hear the instructor’s soothing voice and keep a peaceful vibe going. Becca widened her eyes and glared back. “What? It’s hard,” she told th
e lady closest to them.

  “I’m surprised you never took a yoga class while living in Los Angeles,” Luci said in a quiet voice as she switched her pigeon pose from her left leg to her right. “Isn’t it huge out there?”

  “If it wasn’t free, it wasn’t for me,” Becca said. She bent her leg in front of her and tried to force her knee to the mat with a grunt.

  Luci nodded and tried to get her breathing back on track. Becca was certainly distracting in this class, but she was fun. Luci was happy that she was here with her even if she was mostly griping about it.

  “Move slowly into regular crow or side crow,” the instructor told the class. All around women were balancing their knees on their triceps or balancing their weight all on one arm or the other while their legs shot out to the side.

  “Oh, hell no,” Becca said, exasperated as she sat back on her knees. “I can’t balance my whole body on my elbows like that. Do you know how much I weigh? I may not look that big, but I’m solid. No way I’m getting up like that.”

  “Shh!” one of the regulars, the pudgy mom with the short blond bob said from her shaky side crow.

  “You shh!” Becca shot back. “And how are you even doing this pose?” she asked the woman. To Luci she said, “she’s bigger than me, right? How is she getting up off the ground like that?”

  Now all three of the mom clique were glaring at Becca.

  “Ah, turn around,” Becca said, waving a hand at them. “You’re interfering with my zen.”

  Luci was biting her cheeks to keep from laughing. Becca was too much.

  With the final Namaste, the instructor dismissed the class.

  Luci glanced over at Becca who was lying face down on her mat. “You survived,” she said.

  Becca lifted her head and turned toward Luci. “Barely. I can’t believe you do this several times a week. It’s so hard.”

  Luci’s attention drifted toward the mom clique who were glaring at her and Becca as they rolled up their mats.

  Becca followed Luci’s gaze to the women and stuck her tongue out at them.

  Luci turned her head around quickly so the women wouldn’t see her laughing. She did want to keep working out at Zen and didn’t want to start anything. But she was really glad that Becca had done that.

  Luci and Becca chatted as they headed out to Luci’s car. It was a gorgeous day and the bite in the air was gone. Spring was certainly on the way. Luci’s eyes drifted toward the YMCA parking lot and without even thinking about it, she found that she was searching for Evan. Maybe he would be finishing up his workout at the same time again that day.

  As if she’d conjured him up herself, there he suddenly was, bent over, rooting through his trunk for something. Luci couldn’t help but smile.

  “Holy crap, would you look at that ass?” Becca said from beside her.

  Jolted, Luci looked over at Becca to see who she was looking at. She followed her gaze, which was fixed steadily on Evan’s backside. Of course.

  Evan stood up and turned around just then, spotted the women, and waved. He looked genuinely happy to see Luci and it sent a thrill straight through her.

  “What? He’s waving at us,” Becca said. She put a hand up and waved back.

  “That’s Evan,” Luci told her.

  “You know him? He’s gorgeous!”

  “You think so?” Luci asked casually. She studied her friend’s face. Her eyes were huge and she was practically salivating as she stared at Evan.

  “Duh,” Becca said. “What’s his story. Are you seeing him?”

  “We’re friends,” Luci replied. Which was true. She definitely would call him a friend but she wasn’t sure if there was something else there or if she wanted there to be.

  “So, he’s available? Can you introduce me? Or maybe set us up on a blind date? Though it wouldn’t really be blind since I can never forget that ass,” Becca said.

  Luci looked at Evan standing by his car smiling at them and then back at Becca. He looked so sweet standing there and she really didn’t want to set him up with her friend. Especially when she wasn’t positive where she and him stood with each other. But it wasn’t like Evan was hers so she couldn’t exactly stop Becca from going after him if she really wanted to.

  “Well?” Becca prodded.

  “Um, sure, I can uh, introduce you. Let’s go over.”

  Luci opened the front door of her house and headed straight for the kitchen to get a bottle of water. She was happy to drop Becca off at home. She wanted to just forget that whole scene with Evan by his car. It was awful; for her anyway. Luci had introduced Becca to him like she’d asked but then she felt like an idiot the whole entire time Becca and he had stood there talking. Becca came on really strong. Luci didn’t remember that about her from high school. But then again, Luci herself usually came on really strong to men, too. Not lately, since she’d been working on herself, but she could admit she’d never exactly been a shy one around a cute guy. It felt really awful to watch Becca flirting with Evan right in front of her though; especially since she knew she had some sort of feelings brewing for him herself.

  And Luci cringed thinking about what Evan must have made of the whole scene. He looked a little taken aback at Becca’s brazenness and he occasionally darted confused glances at Luci. But Luci just stood there saying nothing while Becca did her thing. Well, that wasn’t exactly true. At one point Evan straight out asked her, “so, you’re cool with it if I take your friend out?”

  Luci started to open her mouth to speak but Becca replied before Luci could. “Of, course she is, it was her idea.”

  Which wasn’t true at all. It definitely wasn’t her idea. But the entire conversation was moving so quickly and Luci didn’t know how to stop it or at least right it. “I…” she’d started, scrambling to figure out what to say, but Evan had interrupted her.

  “Oh. It was your idea?” he asked, locking eyes with Luci.

  It had felt like one of those now or never moments. Like, Evan expected Luci to yell out her proclamation of love and they’d live happily ever after. But she couldn’t say anything like that. It was so all awkward and Becca was standing right at her side, waiting for her to say something positive on her behalf. Luci’s hands were tied and there was nothing else she could do in the moment but go along with it. Luci licked her lips. “I mean, it’s fine with me if you and Becca want to go out…” she’d trailed off.

  “Great,” Evan had said and Luci thought she heard a flicker of anger in his voice. “Give me your number Becca.”

  Luci had watched them exchange information and felt completely terrible. It wasn’t fine with her at all, but she didn’t do anything to stop it, either. And then Becca was giddy the entire way home, peppering Luci with questions about Evan, wanting to prepare for her date. Luci had only mumbled responses to her and just let her go on and on.

  Luci plopped down on a kitchen chair and took a long sip of her water. Her mom came whooshing into the room while putting an earring in her right earlobe.

  “Hello, darling,” she sang out. “I’m in a bit of a rush. I’m supposed to meet Jake in twenty minutes at a little restaurant in Burlington for a late lunch. I took your advice and we’re meeting in a public place.” Her mom patted her hair and turned to Luci. “How do I look?”

  “Beautiful. But, I didn’t realize your date with Jake was today. I thought you’d said you were staying in to read your book for your new book club.”

  Her mom frowned. “Oh, I quit the book club.”

  “Really? Why?” Luci asked.

  “I didn’t like it. They weren’t reading the kind of books I’m into and the ladies just drank a lot of wine and complained about their husbands and their various aches and pains all night. I don’t have time for all that, so, I quit.”

  “Wow,” Luci said in a low voice. “I’m sorry it didn’t work out.”

  “Don’t be,” her mom replied. “I’m not. Onward and upward to better things. Speaking of which, I’m going to be late if I don
’t get going.” She flipped open her compact and applied a shimmery taupe lipstick while she looked at her reflection in the mirror.

  Luci smiled at her mom. She had so much energy these days and was being so daring, really putting herself out there. Luci would prefer to keep her home and safe and resting but she knew she couldn’t keep her mom down. And it was nice seeing her happy. “Have a wonderful time, Mom.”

  “Thanks, hon’,” she said. She set her compact down on the kitchen counter. “I’m excited.”

  “I can tell. I hope he’s amazing.”

  “Well, he sounds amazing on the phone. We’ve talked a few times now and each conversation went great so I think it’ll be good. I’m hopeful this time.” Her mom smoothed her skirt and grabbed her keys and purse from the counter. “Ok dear, I’m going to go. Have a good afternoon,” she said with a smile.

  “Bye, Mom.” Luci watched her mom walk out of the kitchen and heard the front door close. For the first time in a long while, Luci wished she was going out on a first date. She wondered if Evan had already called or texted Becca and if they’d made plans for their date yet and then she felt a ripple of jealousy wave through her.

  Luci walked into the living room, flipped the television on, turning the station to a sappy movie on the Hallmark channel, and flopped onto the couch. She reached for her favorite gray velour blanket, tucked her feet up beside her, and let herself zone out while watching other people’s romances play out across the screen.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Evan!”

  Evan was standing at the pickup counter at MoonBeans waiting for his early afternoon pick-me up. He turned around to see who was calling him and spotted Luci. How had he not seen her when he walked in? She usually wrote in the mornings so he hadn’t thought to even look for her now.