“Covering for your dad this morning?” Brooke’s father had been the town postmaster for as long as she could remember. The man hardly ever took a day off. But if there was any day to pick, a snowy Saturday sounded like a good choice.
Brooke nodded. “Dad’s letting me cover Saturdays to earn some extra money for college. I need every cent I can get before heading to Denver.”
Grace well understood from her own college days. The big city was a stark change from small-town life, and not just in price tags. Everything was different there. More lonely and impersonal from Grace’s experience. That’s why she’d come back here after school, back to the people and place she knew.
But she wasn’t about to pop the girl’s dreams. Who knew, maybe Brooke wouldn’t feel the same. Maybe she’d love the big-city life.
“Can I ship something for you?”
“Yes.” Grace snapped back to the task at hand. “I want to send this out.” She placed the thick manila envelope on the counter.
“I can do that.” Brooke deposited the envelope on the scale built into the countertop. Her eyes shifted to the computer screen, as she typed information into the ancient machine behind the desk.
“Excited for the ball tonight?” Grace smiled up at the girl. She remembered how thrilling the ball had been to her younger self. She’d talked to Victoria for hours about what they’d wear or what might happen. Their fantasies had been far too wistful and romantic for a small-town dance, her own dreams gearing toward Pride and Prejudice while Victoria’s had been closer to Dirty Dancing. The whole night had felt full of possibilities back then.
It was awful how adulthood taught that out of everyone.
“Oh yes,” Brooke practically squealed. “I’ve got the prettiest blue dress at Victoria’s shop. And my parents said I could stay out two hours past the ball.”
Grace missed when life was that simple. When all it took to have her jumping for joy was a change in curfew.
“It should be a great time.” Even Grace was excited about the ball, though she no longer had wild outrageous fantasies about the event she’d had in her youth. She had no doubt it would be beautiful, just like all Victoria’s parties. And just like all the others, she’d attend alone and she’d leave alone.
An empty feeling flared in her chest, but she pushed it away. Today was a happy day. She had too much to celebrate. There was no reason to dwell on any other emotions. At least bad emotions.
Brooke smiled back. “I’m sure it will be.” Beneath the desktop a printer roared to life, spitting out the tag to mail her package. “Victoria always throws an amazing party.”
The Frostbite Falls Christmas Ball had been going on for years, dating all the way back to the early settlers. But the party had changed dramatically for the better since Victoria took over hosting the event. Grace wouldn’t be surprised if it was half the reason her father continued to be elected mayor each term.
“I can’t wait to see what she has in store this year.” Brooke leaned down and ripped the postal label off the printer. “I’m sure it won’t disappoint.”
Oh no, Victoria never disappointed anyone. Certainly not with this party. Bigger and better was her specialty.
Brooke slipped the package over onto its front, pausing with the sticker above the envelope’s center. “You didn’t say this package was shipped before?”
Grace shook her head. “It hasn’t been.” It couldn’t have been. No one had access to the package but her. She’d even bought new envelopes just to ship this out. Unless she and Brooke had been sleepwalking, it had never been shipped.
But when Grace stared at the package, she saw the white label filling up the corner of the envelope. Even worse, a soft faded black circle crossed the label, postmarked three days ago. A large logo for the University of Colorado took up most of the envelope’s front.
This wasn’t her package. She recognized the name and address, but it wasn’t her own. This was Cassidy’s. Damn it. They most have switched envelopes when they fell. Her being a klutz was coming back to bite her in the ass two-fold this time. How had she not noticed that? That’s why the damn thing felt so much lighter.
If she had his package, that meant he had hers. Her heart pounded in her chest. Her hands dewed with sweat. Oh god! He had her manuscript. She had to retrieve it, before he opened the envelope, or she might be the next one getting a reputation around town. One she definitely didn’t want.
Chapter Two
“I’ve got beer,” Cassidy called, walking back to the kitchen of the home he shared with his best friend and foster brother, Nash. Some people might think it odd a grown man was still living with his best friend, but Cassidy couldn’t think of living another way. He couldn’t remember a time he hadn’t been with Nash since he was seven years old. And he didn’t see any reason to stop just because they’d aged a few more years.
He dropped the groceries on the counter, rifling through the bag to find the six-pack. He extracted a bottle from the carrier and twisted off the cap. After a long day shoveling sidewalks and driveways, there was nothing better than a beer. Well, he could think of one thing better, but at the moment it wasn’t available.
He pulled the beer to his lips, gulping down the foamy liquid. The motion tugged his shoulder back, and he groaned. A slight ache pulsed beneath his shoulder blade, right where he’d hit the sidewalk beneath Grace’s sweet body.
Cassidy rubbed the tense muscles, still twinging from slamming into the concrete this morning. It probably hadn’t been a good idea to keep shoveling snow with the pain, but what choice did he have? Unlike his landscaping business in the summertime, he couldn’t count on another snow storm to show up before the rent was due. They were damn lucky any snow had fallen at all. If he didn’t shovel it, someone else would.
But it had been worth all the pain to have Grace Perry’s soft body pressed against his. Her breath brushed against his neck. He wasn’t sure he’d ever forget the smell of flowers that clung to her neck, soft and sweet, just like her.
“You look too fucking happy for a day like today.” Nash grumbled, walking into the kitchen. His ears still red from the cold. “Did you open the letter already? You said you’d wait till I was here to open it.”
Cassidy shook his head. “I didn’t open it.” He removed the manila envelope from inside his jacket, where it had been hidden for most of the day. With each new job it had felt heavier and heavier, weighing him down by the end of the day. He dropped the package on the counter with a bang, address down, so his best friend could inspect the intact edges. “See, still sealed.”
Nash examined the package quickly, before he glanced back up at Cassidy, leveling the same studious gaze upon him. “If it’s not the letter, what’s got you so excited?”
“I ran into Grace Perry today.” A big smile curled up his lips at the sound of her name. “Literally.”
Nash shook his head. “Lucky dog. You get all the fun.” Humor rang through his voice, but it didn’t completely blot out the regret that curled the edge of his words.
A year ago, when they realized they both lusted after Grace, they’d agreed neither would pursue her. If she approached one of them, they could be with her. But they couldn’t coax her in their direction. It was the only fair way to deal with the situation.
Cassidy wasn’t sure which outcome he feared more. That she might pick his best friend, or he might lose the closest thing he had to family when she picked Nash instead. So far, he hadn’t been confronted by either, since she never looked their way. Not that he was surprised. Why would a nice girl like Grace want anything to do with two reformed thugs?
“Are you ready to open the letter?” Nash rubbed his hands together, practically jumping in anticipation.
Of course, Nash was excited to open the letter. It wasn’t his life on the line. He hadn’t been working toward this goal for years. It wasn’t just Grace’s lush body that brought him to the library so often. Cassidy had been working toward a lot more than just enterin
g her good graces. And now the day was finally here. He only had to open the envelope and everything would be revealed.
His fingers shook on the paper, his muscles refusing to respond to his requests. His stomach churned like he’d eaten a whole buffet full of bad sushi.
“I can’t do it.” He shoved the envelope toward Nash. “You open it.”
“Fine. I’ll open it, you big baby.” Nash grabbed the package, a big shit-eating grin on his face. But as much as he might be having fun, Nash’s fingers still shook as he held the manila envelope. He might deny it, but he was nervous, too. They were both invested in this. In every way that mattered, they were family. It wasn’t just Cassidy’s future on the line, but both of theirs.
The rip of the seal rent through the air, and every muscle in Cassidy’s body clenched. This was it. The moment of truth was finally here. All his hard work, all their plans, were about to either pay off or be dashed apart.
“Hey, buddy, I think there’s something wrong here.”
What could possibly be wrong? There wasn’t a lot of room for confusion with a college application. He either got it or he didn’t.
Nash flipped the package over to look at the front. “This isn’t from the University of Colorado.” He pried the letter open another inch to stare at its contents. “And it’s a lot more than a letter.”
Opening his eyes, Cassidy looked over at the envelope, and let out a long groan. The package was addressed to Grace Perry. It wasn’t his acceptance or rejection letter at all. It was her damn mail.
“Fuck, we must have mixed up the envelopes when we fell.” He should have looked more closely at the packages when he recovered them from the snow, but he’d been too focused on how her body felt against his to think.
Nash fought back a laugh. “Maybe you’re not always so lucky.”
Cassidy grabbed the package from his best friend, the stack of papers spilled out the ripped seal. The clean and tidy pages didn’t look as if anyone had touched them. The first sheet was blank except “Two Lovers for Amelia by Grace Plume.” The thickness was about the length of a book.
“Who the hell is Grace Plume?” Nash turned the envelope over. “It’s addressed to Grace Perry.” He pulled the envelope closer to his eyes, squinting at the return address in the top corner. “It also from Grace. Does that make any sense?”
Cassidy shrugged his shoulders. He didn’t understand half of what people did. He doubted Grace would be any exception.
No black stamp on the front detailed the package hadn’t been sent, so she either hadn’t gotten it to the post office yet or she hadn’t intended to mail it at all. But if she didn’t want to ship the book, why bother to address the envelope? Or attach a return address?
“Do you think Grace wrote this?” Nash flipped through the pages, flashing past the copyright and dedication of the book to the author’s grandparents, proceeding straight to the prose.
Grace being the author—even though her name wasn’t on it—seemed the most obvious answer. He had no trouble believing Grace would want to write a book. She loved books—that was probably a prerequisite for a librarian. She was also one of the smartest people he knew. She had a way for seeing the world with more open eyes than the rest of town.
It was one of the things he loved most about her. That understanding and compassion was rarer than most people realized. But they knew. They experienced it every day. She’d always given him and Nash the benefit of the doubt. She’d been the one to suggest his name for the landscaper at the library when the previous contractor had killed more bushes than he pruned last year. And he’d received more than one job from her recommendation of his work at the library.
Not that he didn’t understand her kind words. The library was his best work, though the dedication had nothing to do with the limited pay the town gave him. His extra effort was all about impressing Grace. Pruning the library bushes had become the job he looked forward to all week. Arriving early and staying late, just for the chance to see her, to talk to her.
“We shouldn’t be looking at this.” Cassidy tried to grab the pages from his best friend, but Nash dodged him. While Cassidy felt uneasy reading the book without Grace’s permission, Nash didn’t appear to have any reservations.
“Oh my god. This is a dirty book.”
“What?” Cassidy almost swallowed his tongue at the thought. Sweet little Grace, who blushed if anyone made a racy joke. That Grace had written a sex book. It couldn’t be possible.
“Nate pushed back the lips of Amelia’s pussy, licking up and down in deep penetrating strokes,” Nash read aloud. “Each brush brought her closer to orgasm.”
“Give that to me.” Cassidy reached for the pages, but his best friend sidestepped him.
“Hell no. Get your own copy.”
“This is wrong. You shouldn’t be reading that.” While each word she wrote had Cassidy harder than a street post, it felt wrong. As if he’d invaded some intimate part of her life he hadn’t been given permission to enter.
But Nash didn’t hear him. Or he pretended not to. Either was possible with Nash. He wasn’t one to let manners or logic get between him and what he wanted. “Oh fuck.” Nash’s fingers tensed on the printer pages.
Curiosity overrode Cassidy’s sense of honor. What little he still had. “What?”
“As Nate sucked at her cunt, Casey aligned his dick with her mouth and thrust inside.”
Fuck! Cassidy thought he’d been hard before, but the idea of little Grace writing a scene of two men ravishing one woman had his whole body standing on end. Beside him, Nash adjusted his pants, no doubt having the same problem.
Nash met Cassidy’s gaze over the top of the paper. “Does this mean what I think it does?”
Cassidy swallowed. The lump of hope forming in his throat almost blocked his breathing. “I don’t know. Maybe we should find out.”
Nash nodded, the truth as obvious to his best friend as it was to him.
In all their lusting after Grace, they’d both come to only one conclusion that would satisfy them all. There’d be no fighting or hurt feelings if they both could have her. But they’d never considered she might be interested in such an unconventional relationship. Not sweet shy Grace.
But maybe Grace wasn’t as sweet as they thought. Maybe she wanted the exact same thing they did. Yesterday it had sounded impossible, but today…
All worries of right and wrong vanished beneath the possibility of more. Cassidy leaned in close enough to read each word, fascinated in a way he’d never been with a book before. It might be the read of his life. “Let’s start at the beginning.”
“Good idea.” Nash flipped back to the first page.
Chapter Three
“Will you stay still?” Victoria held the brush above her cousin’s head as if she were a dog about to be hit on the nose for peeing on the rug.
“Maybe I would, if you weren’t throwing that thing around like it’s a weapon.”
Grace stifled back a laugh. A glance at Lydia on the bed beside her, her eyes big with shock, only had her fighting harder to keep the giggles back. The banter between Victoria and Riley was nothing new. That’s probably why it didn’t faze her the way it did Lydia. Grace had listened to it ever since they were old enough to wear lipstick.
Two more opposite cousins Grace had never met. Riley had always been more interested in horses and ranching. That’s probably why her best friends were male. And Victoria loved fashion and makeup. Though the Willis family had made their money in ranching, Victoria’s father hardly ever participated in running the family farm. Victoria had been involved even less.
“Riley, just give up. You’re not going to win.” Grace tried her best to keep the giggle from her voice, but failed miserably.
“Why do you always have to take her side?” Riley scowled at Grace through the full-length mirror in front of her, but she stopped fighting, standing mostly still while Victoria tugged the brush through her long blonde hair. The kind of hair most
women, and many models, would die for. Yet Riley always kept it buried beneath a cowboy hat.
“I’m not taking anyone’s side. Just following the path of least resistance.”
Riley crossed her arms over chest, but didn’t argue. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, she knew Grace was right. When Victoria set her mind to something, she was a force to be reckoned with. It was best to either lean into the wave or get out of her way.
“Don’t act like I’m doing some elaborate updo or something.” Victoria cajoled, as if that made a difference. Any primping was too much primping for Riley. “I’m just going to brush your hair out and give you a little bounce.”
Riley snickered at the word bounce but didn’t bother to argue. Smart girl.
“She really does look pretty,” Lydia whispered to Grace, trying to stay out of the fray between the cousins. Not that Grace blamed her. She might have done the same if she’d met the Willis girls now instead of at seven years old. Grace had been in the middle of their arguments for so many years. She didn’t know any other way.
Riley would never admit it, but she did look fantastic. Grace would give anything to have half of Victoria or Riley’s natural beauty, instead of her own drab brown looks. “She’s going to blow the socks off everyone at the party.”
The corner of Lydia’s lip hitched up into a little grin. “Especially those boys of hers.”
Grace fought back a laugh, not wanting to draw Riley’s attention, which was focused on fighting with Victoria over a sparkly clip Victoria was trying to put in her hair. They all knew what boys Lydia meant. Logan and Jasper, Riley’s best friends, and the boys she’d had a crush on for most of her life. Another truth she fought tooth and nail, no matter how obvious it was to everyone else.
“Oh yeah. She’ll blow them away.” Grace didn’t know what Jasper and Logan would do when they saw her, but she was pretty sure it wouldn’t be friendly in nature. Or at least she hoped so, for Riley’s sake.
Sweet Snowfall [Frostbite Falls Christmas 1] Page 2