Snowfall on Lighthouse Lane

by JoAnn Ross

  He was so concentrated on watching her mash a huge pot of potatoes, that she was the only person he saw until he heard his mother say, “Why, Aiden, what a wonderful surprise! We hadn’t expected you.”

  “I can’t stay long,” he said, as he returned her hug. “I was in the neighborhood and thought I’d drop in and see if maybe you needed me to get something from the market.”

  Given that the farm was on a dead-end road outside of town, that was definitely the lamest excuse he could have thought up. If he’d been that brain-dead while working undercover, he wouldn’t have lasted the first day. His only excuse, as his eyes locked over his mother’s shoulder with Jolene’s, was that every rational thought in his head had been washed away by the sight of those legs that, as Bodhi had said, went on forever.

  The chemistry sizzling in the air didn’t escape Sarah. “No, we seem to have everything we need.”

  “You sure?” he said. “No rolls, butter, peas, anything? Because I could run down to the market to pick them up for you.”

  “We’re fine,” she repeated. “But Jolene, why don’t you dish up a bit of your amazing side dish for Aiden? It’s so delicious I’m not sure any will last for leftovers. And why don’t you take it to the sunroom, so no one can complain that you’re getting a head start on dinner.”

  His mother was as obvious as he’d been about supposedly dropping by. But Aiden didn’t care. And neither, apparently, did Jolene as she spooned some of her corn into a porcelain bowl with a scene of a snowy old bridge on the bottom. His mother had brought out that same set of dishes for Thanksgiving and used them every day through New Year’s Day dinner for as long as Aiden could remember. Following Jolene out of the kitchen into the sunroom Seth had added during the last remodel, he enjoyed the sway of that plaid skirt.

  “Sassy,” he said.

  “I feel that way,” she admitted as he closed the door behind them. “I think you’ll like this. It’s three kinds of cheese, corn, bacon and chopped-up jalapeños. But of course you already know that, since you were in the market when we were buying the ingredients.”

  “It looks great,” he said, taking the spoon and bowl and putting them on a side table next to the towering Christmas tree he’d helped decorate two weeks ago. The Mannions had always put their own trees up early because the weeks leading up to the day after Thanksgiving to December twenty-sixth were the farm’s busiest time of year. “But I’ve only got a couple minutes, five, tops, and want to taste you.”

  She smiled and, without hesitation, walked into his outstretched arms.

  As he gathered her against him, her female curves melded into his hard male body as if they’d been created to fit together in just this way.

  Jolene lifted a hand to his cheek, her fingers brushing against the dent that would become that dimple that always pulled something elemental in her whenever he’d smile. “I’ve missed you,” she said.

  “It’s only been two days.”

  She looked up at him as he looked down at her and realized that he could see her unguarded heart gleaming in her eyes. The remarkable thing was gazing into his blue eyes was like looking into a mirror.

  She’d once loved Aiden Mannion. Truly, madly, deeply. But it had been young love, created from a teenage girl’s dreams of what romance should be. As his beautiful dark hands with their long fingers cupped her face, she reminded herself that she was a grown woman. Sane. Realistic. And, okay, maybe Shelby was right about her being a bit cynical. A reasonable, adult woman couldn’t fall in love this fast. But even as her rational mind warned her of that, her newly opened heart felt neither rational nor cautious.

  “Longer than that,” she said. “For years. And years.”

  There. She’d said it. Those years she hadn’t dared fully admit to herself. A silence hovered between them, as he seemed to be taking that risky statement—that could once again cause her to end up with a broken heart—in. No one had ever looked at her like Aiden was now. So deep. And so long.

  Just when she was no longer sure whether or not she was still breathing, it happened. His beautifully cut lips curved in that slow, wonderful smile that had always held the power to tangle her emotions and weaken her knees.

  “You’re sure as hell not alone there,” he finally said, his gaze turning so tender, she nearly wept with relief.

  Then, proving that actions spoke far louder than words, he dipped his head, touched his lips to her, and in that moment, a wonderfully blue sky that had opened up over the rows of Christmas trees outside the glass walls of the sunroom, the stunningly decorated tree from the family’s farm, this house, Honeymoon Harbor, the entire world and everyone in it magically vanished and there was only this man.

  He tasted of sweetened coffee he must have picked up at Cops and Coffee. He smelled of that woodsy soap she’d remember him using all those years ago, of the rain that had been falling when he’d first arrived and the brisk aroma of fir trees and salt water.

  Her lips parted on a pleased, inviting sigh at the touch of his tongue, which didn’t thrust, but instead skimmed along the arch of her top lip, then the bottom, nipping a bit. He took his time, drawing out the pleasure, as if they had all the time in the world, his mouth both soft and warm against hers, a quiet kiss, but still possessing the power to cause her heart to hammer and her head to spin.

  How could he possess such patience, she wondered as he drew the kiss out, keeping it so exquisitely soft? So gloriously long?

  Finally! He angled his head to deepen the kiss, when the ringtone of his phone shattered the moment and sent her crashing down to earth with a bang.

  He drew his head back at the same time he pulled the phone out of his pocket. “Mannion.” When he heard the voice, he mouthed, “I’m sorry.”

  She shrugged and gave him the resigned look that she figured cops’ significant others had been giving since the first prehistoric human had picked up a club and left the comfort and safety of the cave to protect their group. Their community. All those who couldn’t protect themselves.

  His conversation was curt. Short. His expression had turned from tender to ice in less than a minute. “I’ll be right there. For now, just keep an eye on him. I’ll call the others. And have the sheriff’s department helicopter stay close enough to come in, but not so close it tips him off.”

  “You found him?” she asked, reminding herself that not just Amanda’s safety, but the safety of anyone who might accidentally stumble across the man was more important than a mere kiss. Not that there had been anything mere about it. But still.

  “That was the head law enforcement ranger in the park. He spotted Eric’s SUV inside the Hurricane Ridge gate last night, but there was no one in it, and some snowfall wiped out any footprints. One of the other rangers spotted smoke from a viewpoint.”

  “In the campground?” She remembered that particular campground was open year-round. She also remembered from one less than successful Girl Scout skiing trip there, it was really, really cold this time of year. “You’d think he’d want to stay away from people.”

  “In a way, if he’d been focused enough to check out the ridge ski calendar, that would’ve told him it doesn’t open until next week, there’d be enough campers, snowboarders, skiers and tubers up on the ridge that a lone guy might be able to fit in while he figures out his next steps. From the fact that he left his laptop behind, he’s probably running on instinct and adrenaline. He’s not in the campground, but the smoke wasn’t that far away.”

  “He could be dangerous.”

  “Amanda said they don’t have any guns,” Aiden said as they left the sunroom. “Let’s hope that’s still true.”

  “Sorry, folks,” he said as he went through the dining area, where people were starting to sit down at the table. “Duty calls. Have a great Thanksgiving.”

  Jolene followed him to the front door. Then, in full view of everyone, she reached
up, pulled his face down to hers and kissed him fast and hard. “Stay safe,” she said. “And come back to me.”

  He gave her a wink, as if this was like any other day. Which, to him, perhaps it had once been. “Don’t worry. I’m not in the habit of leaving things unfinished.”

  With that he was out the door and down the steps. Jolene stood there, watching him speed down the long driveway toward the road. And, although she knew it was impossible, she thought she heard a whisper, like the wind in the trees.

  “Don’t worry that pretty red head, Gidget. Everything will turn out excellent.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  THE DINNER WAS delicious and the company wonderful, but it was hard for Jolene to keep her mind off Aiden. What was he doing? How was he doing? She assumed if they’d found Eric, Aiden would have called, if for no other reason than to let her know he was okay. That could mean one of three things. They hadn’t found him, they’d run into trouble after finding him, or he was too busy doing police things to call his girlfriend in front of the FBI.

  Girlfriend. Wasn’t that an odd word? She’d been his girlfriend in high school. Brianna had been a different type of girlfriend. And Shelby was her best girlfriend. So how did she and Aiden, as adults, fit in? She was too old to have a boyfriend, that sounded more like someone you shared shakes with at the Big Dipper than sex.

  But he wasn’t her lover (yet), not that she’d ever introduce him that way. He could become a friend with benefits. That was more what she was accustomed to.

  But it was different with Aiden. Because he was different. They needed a new word, she decided because significant other sounded like something you’d call a person you were signing a bank loan with. She glanced across the table at Brianna, who was sharing a private laugh with Seth. Now see, she had it easy. Seth was her fiancé. Who told one and all that he was the man she was going to marry.

  That got Jolene thinking that the lack of a word for a monogamous, romantic/sexual/committed relationship seemed to say that society was all centered around marriage. A boyfriend, to perhaps partner, then fiancé, then husband. Easy peasy, if you followed the path set out for you. But what if you weren’t sure that’s what you wanted?

  Relationships were difficult, which is why she’d always tried to avoid them. Until she’d come home to Honeymoon Harbor, and was back with the only man who’d ever had her even thinking of possibilities.

  She was relieved to be able to put the dilemma aside as Sarah asked about her skin care line, which had totally gotten put on hold yet again. Then Quinn brought up the idea of incorporation, and telling her that he’d talked to his brother Gabe, who’d thought the idea sounded like something he’d be interested in investing in.

  And if that wasn’t enough of a surprise, Seth joined into the conversation. “Remember Roosevelt School?”

  “Of course.” Jolene had gone from first to third grade at the school that had served the community since 1907 until all the students had been moved to a shiny new building.

  “It’s empty.”

  “I thought it had been condemned,” she said. She remembered the older kids telling horror stories about students who’d been burned to death in the building during a fire that had charred the cafeteria and continued to haunt the place. The images had given her nightmares for weeks until her mother found the reason for her night screams and had assured her that the only things that had died in that fire were possibly the rodents who’d chewed the electrical wiring.

  “It still is,” he said. “But I was checking it out last month with the idea of doing something commercial with it. It could make a good workplace. It’s ten thousand square feet, all on one floor. It’d be a serious gut job, and when I took off a piece of cedar siding, there were a lot of carpenter ants, so they’ll have to be dealt with, then it’d need new siding. I’d use fiber cement, that’s a mix of wood pulp and Portland cement, that’d gives you minimal upkeep, is rot, termite and fire free, and gives you the look of painted wood clapboards, stone, or even brick. It also costs less than wood or masonry.”

  “You’ve been thinking about this,” Jolene said.

  “I have. Like I said, I was thinking of buying it myself as an investment property. I did, by the way, use the same siding on the carriage house Brianna and I are living in at Herons Landing. You could divide the space up any way you’d like. Obviously Gabe and Quinn could handle the financing while I took over construction. And I’d give you a fair price.”

  “I’d never think otherwise,” she assured him, still trying to wrap her mind around this conversation. “I’ve seen what you’ve done with Herons Landing. And Kylee and Mai’s darling Folk cottage.”

  “Thanks. Though the interior of the carriage house is still a work in progress. Fortunately, Brianna’s taking living in a construction zone in stride.”

  “I’m living there with you,” Brianna said. “Which is all that matters.”

  The smile she shared with her fiancé caused an ache deep inside Jolene. It wasn’t jealousy. Or envy. But an emptiness. She still didn’t believe you needed to be married to be happy, but to have the kind of relationship Brianna and Seth, and Shelby and Ètienne had was obviously very special. And rare, the last bit of romantic cynicism she was clinging to with her fingertips reminded her.

  “And while the town’s grown in popularity with the arts community, and the wooden boat business is still going strong, and the college has brought in a lot of new people, Honeymoon Harbor is still lacking in good, solid job opportunities to keep young people from moving off the peninsula,” John Mannion spoke up. “You could be helping the economy while growing your business.”

  The idea of Quinn, Gabriel and Seth all having gotten together and discussing a way to help her was amazing. Jolene glanced across the table at Brianna, who lifted her hands. “It wasn’t me who thought of it, although I wish I had because the products I put in Herons Landing’s bathrooms sell off the shelves in the gift shop. But I have to give credit to these guys who came up with the idea over beers and burgers at Mannion’s.”

  She felt moisture stinging at the back of her lids. Since Aiden wasn’t here with his camo handkerchief, she blinked then away. “Well,” she said, “as it happens, I have an idea for a new brown-sugar scrub. If it’s okay with Mom, you three can come in for a free facial at the spa.”

  “What a wonderful idea. And I’ll throw in a pedicure,” Gloria offered.

  “I’ll chip in for a waxing,” Sarah called out cheerfully.

  “And a seaweed wrap,” Caroline Harper, Seth’s mom, home from Yosemite, offered. “I had one in Phoenix that was absolute heaven.”

  When the two Mannion brothers and Seth, alpha males all, looked as if they’d rather face a charging grizzly, the table erupted in laughter, and for that brief moment, Jolene’s fear for Aiden was replaced by a rush of love for these friends who epitomized the small-town spirit of generosity and caring for your neighbors.

  Not that she was technically still a Honeymoon Haborite. But she’d grown up here and was Gloria Wells’s daughter. And for them, that was all that mattered.

  After dinner, as Jolene and Gloria insisted on helping clear the table for dessert, Jolene’s mother pulled her aside into the small butler’s pantry next to the kitchen.

  “Are you okay?” her mother, seated next to her, asked quietly.

  And isn’t that what she should be asking her mother, Jolene thought. Who was the reason she’d come back to Honeymoon Harbor. “I’m fine,” she assured her with what felt like a stiff smile. “I was just worrying about Aiden.”

  “He’s an experienced Marine and big-city detective.” Her mother patted her leg in reassurance. “And it’s not like he’s out there alone.”

  “He wasn’t alone when he was wounded in Afghanistan.” Mrs. Gunderson had reminded everyone of his medals while praising the new police chief for having found her missing gnome on
Facebook. “And he wasn’t alone when he was shot in an ambush with drug dealers in Los Angeles.”

  Gloria arched a brow. “How did you know about that?”

  “I Googled him. And you look as if you already have.”

  “Sarah told me. Apparently he spent several weeks at the coast house recovering.” She paused, as if debating her loyalties. “Both physically and emotionally. He lost his partner that night.”

  “The article I read hadn’t mentioned that part.”

  She hadn’t wanted to dig deeper. If he wanted to tell her, he would. The same as she would tell him about the text from Shelby letting her know there were beginning to be repercussions from that letter she’d signed. Nothing specific, just rumors. But she wanted Jolene to be prepared in case anyone contacted her.

  “John wouldn’t have proposed him to be police chief if he hadn’t believed he was capable of doing the job.” She took hold of Jolene’s hand beneath the lace tablecloth and squeezed it reassuringly. “Remember what you told me about the powers of negativity and positivity?”

  “Of course.” It was harder to believe it now while she was the one with her nerves screeching even as she’d attempted to join into the table conversation.

  “Good. Because I’m positively thinking of a wedding. June is so predictable, don’t you think?” she asked. “How about July? Perhaps even you and Brianna could have a double ceremony. Wouldn’t that be lovely? That’s why I’ve decided I don’t have cancer. Because I want to be healthy enough to help you plan your most special, happiest day.”

  Jolene’s mind scrambled from concern over Aiden to trying to come up with an answer that wouldn’t dent Gloria’s regained positive outlook. And also she knew that deep down, her mother, who’d been a pregnant bride married at the courthouse, and was always doing hair for so many women who came to Honeymoon Harbor for their own ceremonies, had undoubtedly always looked forward to the day she could give her daughter a beautiful, perfect wedding.