Snowfall on Lighthouse Lane

by JoAnn Ross

  It had been years since Jolene had thought about Aiden like that. But as she found herself falling into Shelby’s fictional scenario, she was torn between wishing it could be true, and wanting to run as fast and as far away as she could.

  “Life isn’t a feel-good Christmas movie,” she paraphrased her mother’s earlier words about her favorite TV series.

  “Well, the world would be a lot better off if it was. You’re not going to pass up this chance for your own happy ending, are you?”

  “You have romance on the brain because you’re engaged to get married to a hot chef who has glittery little stars in his deep brown eyes whenever he looks at you.”

  “That is true,” Shelby allowed. “But two things can exist at the same time. Just because I’m over the moon in love doesn’t mean you can’t also allow yourself to be.”

  Allow. Was that the definitive word? Jolene had sworn, since leaving Honeymoon Harbor, to never put her heart at risk again. But here she was, back in the same place with the same man, with all those same feels.

  “It’s not the same,” her friend argued when she admitted to that. “You’ve both changed. You’re not that damaged girl who escaped, and may I point out, survived, a terrible situation. And he’s not the boy who loved and protected you.”

  “After he broke up with me.”

  “Did you ever think that might have been because he was going off to war?”

  “Honestly, no.” In their years apart, he’d grown from a rebellious teenager to an adult responsible for the safety of an entire town. Granted, they hadn’t had much private time together to talk about their lives during those years apart, but now she was wondering about what all he might have experienced to cause that change. “He said he never forgot me.”

  “See. There you go. Didn’t I say that? It’s right out of a script that hardly ever gets written because guys in Hollywood just never get romance movies right.” Her voice turned serious. “Fate’s given you a second chance, Jolene. You’d be a fool not to go for it. And, being your best friend, I can attest to the fact that you’re no fool.”

  “He wants to talk. On Thanksgiving.”

  “I thought when you texted me last night you wouldn’t be seeing him because he has to work that day.”

  “He said he’d make time. After he kissed me.” And she’d kissed him right back.

  “He’s stealing time away from protecting Tiny Town for you.” Jolene heard the long sigh. “Be still my heart.”

  “It’s not as if the town won’t be protected. It’s not that small. There are other officers on duty. He’s just working to give the day off to those with families.”

  “My heart is melting here. How can you possibly resist a man who’d not only do something that generous, but bring you and your mom chocolate croissants and French cookies?”

  “I’m afraid.”

  Impossibly perhaps more so than she was about her mom’s health scare. Even if the tests did show positive for cancer, as Dr. Lancaster had said, there were plans to make and protocols to follow. But what she was feeling for Aiden was like being adrift at sea, on a moonless midnight, without even a lighthouse or buoys to prevent her from crashing onto the rocks.

  “Of course you are. Don’t forget, I threw up while getting ready to go out the night I knew would be the night Ètienne and I first had sex.”

  “I remember that well.” Probably partly because Shelby had refused to eat all day for fear of ingesting as much as an apple would require a body shaper, that was probably the unsexiest piece of underwear ever. “You were a wreck. I think you tried on everything in your closet. Twice.” They’d been roommates at the time and Jolene had been amused by Shelby’s nerves because it was obvious that Ètienne was The One.

  And damn if that wasn’t exactly how she was feeling now? Not the for sure part. The hovering on throwing up part. “How did you know?” she asked seriously. “That you’d end up where you are now?”

  “That’s easy. I’d gone out with my share of guys. Just like you have. But Ètienne was the only one who ticked every one of my boxes. Even ones I hadn’t realized I had. And don’t forget, he was still doing his food-truck thing at the time, so I wasn’t even thinking about him going on to win all those awards and getting on the covers of all those foodie magazines as one of the hottest new chefs in the country.”

  “You’d never marry a man for his money.”

  “Of course I wouldn’t. Even if I hadn’t seen so many of those marriages go on the rocks...

  “I just knew that he was the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. The one with whom, may I point out, I’m considering having three children with, something that if you’d even suggested a year ago, I’d have asked you what you’d been smoking. When it’s real, it gets even better than in those first giddy days.”

  “I’m happy for you.”

  “I know you are. And because you’re my best friend and I want you to be happy, I wish the same for you. Speaking practically, what would it hurt to have yourself a holiday romance? The worst that’ll happen is that you’ll get tired of him and move on like you did with Chad and every other guy who came before him.

  “Then you’ll come back here after New Year’s, or if your mom does turn out to have cancer, once she gets better, you’ll either launch your new business to smashing success, or continue working in the industry, or both. And be beloved Aunt Jolene to my offspring.”

  “When you put it that way it sounds reasonable.”

  “That’s because it is. Promise me one thing.”

  “What?”

  “That you won’t let your past get in the way of your future.”

  From the bedroom, Jolene heard the closing music of the movie her mother must have caught just in time for the happily-ever-after in the fictional snow globe town.

  “I’ve got to go,” she said.

  “Promise me,” Shelby pressed.

  She heard TV click off. “Okay, I promise.”

  “There. Was that so hard? Just remember, you had a front row seat to my grand romance. So I’m going to expect to be updated on all the deets about yours.” She ended the call before Jolene had a chance to respond.

  Touching a finger to her lips, Jolene could’ve sworn she could still feel Aiden’s on them. Then, shaking off the lingering need that her conversation with Shelby hadn’t helped at all, she went to dish up some cheesy corn for her mother.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  WITH HER NERVES jumping nearly out of her bruised skin, Amanda stood at the window of the parking lot, watching for the white sedan Aiden had told her would be arriving to pick her up. She’d never before realized how many white cars there were in Honeymoon Harbor, but finally one parked in the zone that had been reserved for patient pickup and watched as a woman matching the description Aiden had given her climbed out while the driver waited inside the car. She was wearing a blue parka, jeans and ankle-high boots.

  Stephanie Dunn entered the building without so much as glancing around, carrying a small duffel bag with her. Which, Aiden had assured her wouldn’t look suspicious in the event Eric, who, despite a bulletin sent to out to all the police and sheriff departments in the state, and neighboring Oregon and Idaho, still hadn’t been located, might be watching. After all, he’d said, many people need fresh clothes coming home from a stay in the hospital.

  Ten minutes later, she was looking at herself in the mirror, unable to recognize the woman in the long brunette wig, a Seahawks sweatshirt and skinny jeans, something she’d never worn because they definitely weren’t designed for planting gardens.

  “Is all this necessary?” she’d asked as the former detective had begun taking the disguise from the bag.

  “Probably not,” Stephanie replied. “If your husband was hanging around the hospital, waiting for you to leave, he’d have been noticed. There are cameras focused
on every part of the parking lot. And the doors. But there’s no point in taking any chances. Do you have your phone?”

  “Yes, it’s right here.” She held up the burner phone Aiden had brought her because Eric could probably track her old one even if it was turned off or dead. Her old one was now smashed and in the town’s electronics recycling bin.

  “Good. Here’s your ID. I don’t expect you to need it, either, but you never know and if we get in an accident on the way to the house, we’d want emergency personnel to know who you are.”

  “That’s something I wouldn’t have thought of.”

  “You’re not supposed to have to. My husband, Scott, and I are professionals. And one of the things he learned in the SEALs was a failure to plan was a plan for failure. So, if we seem overly cautious, it’s just because we’ve never lost a woman yet, and don’t intend to.

  “We have gained a new resident since Aiden called about you.” Stephanie changed the subject. “A young mother with a six-month-old baby and a four-year-old. I hope you’re okay with kids.”

  “I love children.” Amanda had always pictured herself as a mom, reading Goodnight Moon to her children, celebrating birthdays, and most of all, at this time of year, she imagined staying up all night putting together bicycles and dollhouses for them to find from Santa on Christmas morning. “But I didn’t dare.” She’d never fully admitted that. Not even to herself.

  “That makes it easier to relocate you. Fortunately, these kids are young enough that we don’t have to worry about enrolling them in a new school. So—” she handed Amanda a brown parka with a hood “—let’s get going. I picked up some fresh oysters at Kira’s Fish House and have oyster stuffing to make. And don’t worry if you don’t like oysters. I’m also making sausage dressing in a casserole dish for my husband and Emma, the four-year-old.”

  “We’re having Thanksgiving?” The holidays had always been a bad time with Eric. Too many parties, too much drinking, which, from what she’d researched, was a form of self-medication. As much as she grieved for the man she’d once loved, Amanda also knew that Chief Mannion was right. Her marriage had reached the point that if she’d stayed, she might not have made it alive to Christmas.

  She hadn’t been surprised that they hadn’t found Eric right away. He was so smart. But, as she’d been reassured so were all the law enforcement officers, and the police at Sea-Tac airport looking for him. He was outnumbered and would be apprehended. And, because it turned out that he’d also stolen property from his work computer at the National Reconnaissance Office by downloading on a thumb drive, the FBI was now involved. That, the chief had assured her, would keep him away in a federal prison for a very long time.

  “Of course we are,” Stephanie said. “Everyone pitches in. It’s like one big family. And best of all, Tara, that young mother I mentioned, learned how to make pies when she was working at a chain restaurant in Spokane while going to WSU. We usually have frozen, which are simpler for women like me, who are baking challenged.” Her smile was warm, making Amanda feel as if she’d been wrapped in a warm woolen blanket. “So this year, we’re lucky.”

  “Lucky,” Amanda murmured, as she glanced around the hospital room, then walked out the door. She was in the car, driving away from the hospital when she recognized the emotion she’d felt as she’d left the room. It was one she hadn’t felt in a very long time...hope.

  * * *

  THE DAY AFTER being assured that Amanda Barrow was safely ensconced in the safe house, Aiden drove out to the farm where the Mannion farmhouse was bustling with activity. The air was filled with the mouthwatering aroma of roasting turkey, fresh baked pies, yeasty rolls and all the other items that were filling the table large enough, when the leaves were added, as they were today, to seat eighteen. In the center of the lace tablecloth Sarah’s parents had given them for their wedding so many years ago, was the centerpiece Amanda had sent from her nursery.

  As glad as he was that she was temporarily settled and safe, Aiden was frustrated that her husband had disappeared, giving credence to his wife’s belief that he’d been planning his escape for weeks. Along with the country sheriff’s department and the state troopers, he’d been working with the FBI and US Marshals, because Eric Palmer had allegedly stolen sensitive government rocket secrets from the National Reconnaissance Office.

  After entering the rental house where Amanda and Eric had lived, they’d discovered the manic-created chaos she’d described, including the laptop with the thumb drive on the desk beside it, but no Eric. A credit check showed he’d spent over a thousand dollars at a sporting goods store in Port Angeles.

  “I remember the guy.” Joe, a bearded giant that looked a lot like Jarle, had helped Eric at the store. “We were busy that day, with Christmas shoppers, but you don’t forget a guy who says he’s going to go live off the grid in Alaska. That happens a lot, but sure as hell not this time of year. He bought snowshoes, poles, a ski jacket, pants, a balaclava and gloves. And an ice pick, in case, he said, he needed to build an ice cave, and said he’d watched a video on how to do it on the internet.

  “He did say he had a tent, and the ice cave was just a backup plan. It was obvious he didn’t have a clue what he was doing, but hey, he didn’t want to listen to any advice about this being a bad time of year, so what are you gonna do?” He shrugged his massive shoulders. “I expect he’ll be found sometime around spring thaw between here and Alaska.”

  “No way is he going to get to Alaska,” the lead FBI guy said as they left the store. “He’d have to cross into Canada. We can pick him up at one of the checkpoints whether he drives, takes a train or a ferry. And the police at the airport and TSA have his name and a photo.”

  “He’s not thinking clearly,” Aiden pointed out. “But from what his wife said, he’s traveled internationally for conferences in the past, and they’ve been through the Peace Arch, which is the busiest, so he might go for that one, since it’s familiar. Though even during manic episodes, he’d probably be smart to realize he’d need a passport. He’ll also figure out that his lack of access to credit, now that his cards have been cut off, is going to prevent him from a long road trip.”

  “Thus the camping equipment,” the FBI special agent said.

  “Exactly. He’s probably still aimed for Alaska, but my guess is that he’s going to wait around here until he figures out an escape plan. Or swings back to normal.” Or at least what was normal for him, which had been enough for Amanda Barrow to keep trying to make her marriage work.

  “One problem is that we’re talking about a lot of geography. Olympic National Park is a million acres, larger than Rhode Island. And then you’ve got Rainier, and Baker, and the forests. Washington State encompasses forty-three million acres, half of which is forested.”

  “So, we’ve got a needle in a haystack situation,” one of the FBI guys said.

  “It’s coming on winter,” Aiden said. “Even with all that gear, he’s probably not going to last all that many days.”

  But they’d find him. Eventually. Unfortunately, the longer he stayed on the run, the slimmer the chances of finding him alive were getting.

  * * *

  “WOW, DUDE,” BODHI SAID, taking in the scene as they’d entered the house. “If I’d known your family made such a big deal of the holidays, I might’ve come home with you one year. This could be right out of a Norman Rockwell painting that should be corny, but it’s pretty awesome.”

  Thanksgiving was the last day until Christmas that the Mannion family could all gather together for a meal. Because first thing tomorrow, come rain or shine, even before the sun rose, everyone would be setting up for the festival they’d been preparing for most of the year. Beginning with the spring tree planting, then later, the summer trimming to ensure all the trees were a perfect Christmas shape. The running joke among all the Mannion kids were that their parents had had five children in order to get so much free
labor.

  Gallons of cinnamon-spiced apple cider were waiting in a huge walk-in commercial refrigerator ready to be warmed, cookies that had been baked all fall had been taken out of the freezer to thaw, and wreaths and swags and sprigs of mistletoe tied with red velvet ribbons for hanging were waiting in one of the three barns to be put out for both decoration and sale. Seasonal employees hired from around the peninsula would continue to create more over the next month, and cut and wrap trees to secure onto the tops of cars or backs of trucks, and colored lights had been strung on the barn, fence, and farmhouse.

  The old sleigh that John Mannion had bought at auction and equipped with tractor wheels, since snow was a rarity in this corner of the world, had been painted, as had the train that would take children and parents for a ride around the front part of the lot.

  The farm offered three choices: choose your tree and have one of the workers cut it for you, cut your own, or buy one of the potted living trees meant to be planted once the season had ended. Over the years many parents would buy one for each child, and now the Mannions were seeing a second generation, with those children returning to buy a living Christmas tree for their own family.

  Partly due to the fractious history between the Mannions and Harpers, his mother’s parents had originally forbidden her to date John Mannion. But over the years they’d carried on a secret romance and had even separated for a time to different corners of the world, but had eventually reunited, returned to Honeymoon Harbor, bought the farm and established the holiday tradition they’d both dreamed of back when they’d been younger than Aiden was now. The similarities between his parents’ romance and his and Jolene’s story gave Aiden hope that theirs would turn out the same way. If it didn’t, he was determined it wouldn’t be for his lack of trying.

  Wanting, no needing, to see Jolene, if only for the few minutes while the FBI and Marshals went shopping for some heavier weight jackets and boots, he’d managed to arrive home before everyone had sat down to eat, so braving the kitchen filled with women, his eyes immediately found Jolene, who, even without standing out with her dark auburn and burgundy hair was even more of a beacon in a green-and-blue tartan pleated schoolgirl skirt, a dark blue turtleneck sweater, purple tights and a pair of black ankle boots. Hunger hit in his gut, and not for the enormous turkey that his mother had resting on a cutting board.