by C. A. Harms
Perfect Risk
Mason Creek #1
C. A. Harms
Copyright @ 2017 C.A. Harms All Rights Reserved
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and other elements portrayed herein are either the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to real persons or events is coincidental.
No part of this book may be reproduced, storied in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior permission of the author. If you should do so, legal action may be taken to protect the author and their work
To the Authors of Mason Creek
I want to thank each one of you. Thank you for helping me bring my idea to life. Thank you for making this one of the easiest and most enjoyable projects I have ever been a part of.
You are an amazing group.
* * *
Now, let’s make everyone fall in love with our little town of Mason Creek, Montana.
Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Next in Mason Creek Series
Epilogue
About the Author
Prologue
Mason Creek, Montana was home. It was the place one runs to when they need to feel safe, and the place you think of when life gets you down, and you feel like your drowning. It was the perfect escape, the one location I know I can go to when I’ve lost my way.
But I’d allowed my pride to outwit my need for belonging.
I know I had pretended for years that leaving after high school meant I was running toward something, but the truth was, when I left is when everything started to fall apart. The harder I tried to ignore the pull to return, the worse I felt.
It was time to go back, time to find my place, relocate the peace I once had. I was no longer that awkward girl the guys didn’t give a second glance to. I had grown, I had changed, and now more than ever, I needed home.
Chapter One
Sadie
* * *
With each mile that passed, I felt the tension in me ease. For weeks, months even, I’d thought of returning to my roots. Day after day I’d go to a job which drained me mentally, and night after sleepless night I’d find the desire to pack up like a thief in the night and run.
Every single call I shared with my parents I would put on a brave face and pretend everything was amazing in the big city that I’ve grown to hate. Okay, it wasn’t the city I hated, it was the feeling of a small town girl like me finding it to be difficult to fit in no matter how hard I tried.
My stubborn side refused to let my parents or my best friend Anna know just how homesick I was. That was until I’d recently hit my breaking point.
It all started with me finding my pathetic excuse for a boyfriend in bed with his ex. The thing was, I felt relief instead of anger. He was just one thing that had been dragging me down and I was finally freed from. Then when my boss gave a position I’d been working my ass off for to his pothead nephew who barely showed up for work, I was done. LA was a dead end road, and I refused to get lost in the shuffle and disappear.
Resigning and packing my tiny apartment into my rented trailer was a no brainer. It was time to go home to the one place I knew even though I’d been gone for years, they’d welcome me with open arms.
I felt nostalgic as I turned onto Old Bridge Road and saw the covered bridge up ahead. The same bridge I, along with many others, would jump off of and plummet to Mason Creek Lake that ran below. It set the tone for our town, that rustic, welcoming tone which said so much about the town and everyone who lived there.
I was immediately overwhelmed with a warm feeling; the town was a safe harbor I’d missed so much being lost in a big city for far too long. Everyone was always rushing around, bumping into one another, so preoccupied with the newest gossip or styles they missed what was taking place right in front of them. But those things didn’t happen here, not in Mason Creek. Everyone knew everything about everybody and at times, that could be a bad thing, but not always. When you were in need, you were never alone, the complete opposite of what I’d been experiencing in LA.
I left seeking something bigger and better, but reality hit me quick and hard. Truth was, there wasn’t anything better than my hometown. The people, those I’d known my entire life weren’t just strangers you’d passed on the street, they were the ones who were there to pick you up when you’d fall.
I was young and blinded by the idea of something more. So, I ran the first chance I got, but once I crossed over the bridge and saw the town square up ahead, I realized more than ever Mason Creek was exactly where I belonged.
I was finally home again.
I immediately felt settled, and the stress and worry of so many months faded. A comfort washed over me from head to toe. A genuine smile crept over my lips as I looked around. I loved this time of year, when all the leaves were starting to change. As expected, I scanned over the businesses that lined the streets and found them decorated to the hills. Cornstalks, pumpkins, scarecrows, even bales of hay, all displayed at each storefront in their own unique way.
As I drove passed my mother’s shop, Blossom’s Florist, my mind was flooded with so many memories. As a young girl I looked forward to going into the shop with my mother after school and on weekends. The smell of fresh flowers, the beautiful arrangements, both big and small, displayed in the windows and throughout the store were gorgeous. As I grew older, I found I would go in less and less, going through the infamous teenage phase where it was no longer cool to hang out with your mom. The thing was, looking back now I can honestly say that was probably the coolest thing in my adolescent life, I was such a nerd.
With my foot barely on the gas, I crept along, taking in all the same shops that had lined the streets since before I can remember. A few were new, mixed in with the old, as the demand changed over the years and the younger generations took chances on new ventures. But the original stores were still the same and that was something I knew I could count on here.
I turned left onto Tucker Lane and got lost in the darkness of the country road up ahead. The further I drove, the darker it got, leaving behind the quaint neighborhoods that were tucked back into small coves along the way.
The very second my headlights reflected on the chrome sign that I knew still bared the faded words, ‘Michael’s Lane’, tears pooled in my eyes.
So many years missed, so many memories lost during my quest to find something bigger.
Phone calls filled with fake happiness and well wishes, I regretted so much I had let my pride keep me away
from my favorite place in the world. And my favorite people, my parents and Anna, her little boy Drew, who I barely knew, but have seen so many times through virtual chats. They’ve always been my biggest fans, always allowing me to believe that I was capable of the greatest things. In their eyes I was the, greatest thing, I guess that’s why I toughed it out in the city for so long. The idea of disappointing them destroyed me.
It took only one sentence to give me my final out. Your mother fell and broke her hip.
My father didn’t ask me to come home, he didn’t tell me they needed me, but there was something in the tone of his voice. Desperation maybe, but definitely worry that he was trying to hide.
I don’t know if it was the little girl in me, but hearing the break in my father’s voice almost broke me in return. He’d always been a strong-willed man, he never asks for help. Determined to get through it on his own, he rarely allowed my mother or I to see him falter.
My choice was easy, I left behind the life I hated in a city that I’d never truly found my place in. All my belongings fit into a small trailer and everything else stayed in the furnished tiny apartment.
I drove away with no regrets, I don’t know if I even glanced in the rearview mirror. Because everything that laid ahead was what I had to look forward to.
The long lane that led to my parents’ home was dark, no streetlights, no side buildings to light the way. But up ahead, hidden in a mass amount of tress I could see the old Victorian lit up bright. Like they were waiting for me, watching out the windows for the headlights to peek through the trees. The excitement inside of me was exhilarating.
Hearing the gravel pop beneath the tires of my Toyota, I slowed to a stop next to my father’s company truck that read Plumbing Solutions on the side. It was a family-owned business of four generations and just another place I’d grown up around.
After I parked my car, I left behind everything but my small bag and climb out. Stretching my legs after a long drive and I took only two steps before the front door came open and out stepped my father.
Even in the ten months since I’d last seen him, he looked as though he’d aged ten years. The defined lines near his eyes, the peppered gray hair that had begun to take over his dark locks, it was all hard to miss. Instantly, I rushed for him and wrapped my arms around his shoulders, resting my head upon his chest.
Breathing in the familiar woodsy smell I teared up but fought the urge to cry.
“Hey bug,” I’d always hated that name, and now that I was twenty-five years old it seemed more ridiculous. But that never stopped my father from using it as often as he could. “Never did like you being so far away,” his voice sounded hoarse, “but now you’re home.”
I nodded because I was afraid to talk. My emotions were getting the best of me, my mom’s struggle, my father’s worry, what happened back in LA, feeling like a failure, all of it came crashing down.
“I’m home,” my words were barely above a whisper.
I don’t know how long we stood there, him holding me and neither of us saying a word. We didn’t have to, the silence said enough for the both of us. We were both happy, settled and feeling like things were now once again exactly as they should be.
“Why don’t we go inside and check on mama?”
Nodding into his chest I gave him one more squeeze and loosened my hold.
Side by side, my arm linked through his, we climbed the stairs and entered my childhood home. I had no idea what was in store for me, but what I did know was I was exactly where I belonged.
Leaving wasn’t the best choice for me, this was, and it always would be.
Chapter Two
Sadie
* * *
Stretching my arms above my head, I peeked through squinted eyes and groaned. The bright yellow room that was once mine had now been reformed into a guest room. One that in my mother’s words, was like waking up to a bright and shiny day.
Yellow!
Who wants a sun yellow room, with even brighter blue, yellow, and green curtains?
I love my mother, truly I did, but I immediately missed my blackout curtains and dimmed room in LA. I knew that if my parents had it their way I’d be living here forever, but after just one night of being back home I knew I’d need to find my own place and fast. I’d gotten used to having my own space, to do with what I wanted, I’d needed that escape.
A light knock on the door had my entire body turning in that direction just as the door came flying open. No chance to prepare myself, like a streak of lighting my best friend since second grade came barreling into the room and jumped over my body. With a humph I bare the weight of her as she hugged me tightly. “I’m so happy you’re home, I have so much to tell you. Oh my Gosh, Sadie, honestly you are not gonna believe how much you’ve missed.”
Some things never change. Gossip, hair and clothes, Anna was and always will be a crazy ball of energy and sass. She was daring and strong, confident and forward, her strength and determination was something I’d always admired.
“Can I get coffee first?” Did I mention I am not a morning person? Anna, she is an all the time person, a bottle of energy that never goes empty.
“If you must, or you could get up, brush that insane mess you call hair, and we could go to Java Jitters.” She widens her eyes and does this weird little shimmy, still straddling me, only now sitting up looking down at me with the biggest smile. “I bet in that stuffy city you couldn’t find a Caramel Macchiato like Jessie makes.”
It was true Java Jitters opened up shortly before I finished college and I’d only had it a few times during some of my rare visits home. But even with only a few samplings I can definitely say no one has compared. My taste buds love me some JJ’s. Jessie Phillips who was only a couple years older than us took a chance on her own business and it was a hit. That girl knew how to make a killer latte.
“I need a shower.” I could feel the travel grime pouring out of pores. “And to brush my teeth.”
Anna rolled her eyes and climbed off me. “Okay, I’ll wait. But in fifteen minutes I am leaving, and if you aren’t in the car with me, I’ll go have some of the most amazing coffee ever without you.”
I climbed out of bed and tossed a pillow at her, making her giggle and swat at me.
“You do realize I have my own car.” Pausing in the doorway, I looked back at her. “I could just drive myself there.”
“Not without a starter relay you won’t.” Arching a brow, she dared me to argue. The thing was I had no idea what she was talking about. Cars and I didn’t jive. The only thing I needed to know was how to start it and drive it. Whatever it took to operate it was someone else’s expertise, not my own. But Anna, she could change her own oil, a tire if needed, and I wouldn’t put it past her not to know how to drop a motor and put in a new one if pressured to do so.
“You’re an ass.” It was all I had. She knew she had one up on me. It was one of the perks of being married to a mechanic. Beau was a good guy and he made sure his wife knew how not to get stranded without knowing what to do to get herself moving once again. She’d become a little grease monkey, with purple streaks in her hair, and shiny lip gloss.
The best of both worlds, like I said, strong willed and determined.
She held a wild streak, that purple hair of hers. Compliments of herself, next week they could very well be pink instead. She was a stylist at Serenity the local salon in town and her style had really created a name for herself. She’s pretty popular with the younger crowd, wild and adventurous some might say. She had never afraid to try something others may fear. Her hair, or yours was her canvas, it was up to you if you chose to give her free rein in order to get creative and daring.
“Fine, but I’m taking these.” I reached out and snagged her keys off the floor where she dropped them in her hurry to tackle me. “You won’t be leaving me without these.”
With her mouth hanging open she remained seated on my bed and scowled as I swiveled around and walked to the bathro
om feeling as if I’d outwitted the wittiest woman I know.
God, how I’d missed her.
Walking into Java Jitters, there were several familiar faces sitting around enjoying their morning brew. All offering smiles and a wave, some saying it was nice to have me back home where I belong. Others, those closer to my parents, hugged me and mentioned my arrival had brightened my father’s mood tremendously. I laughed a little because to me, my dad was nothing more than a kind soul. Granted to others, he was stronger, firm, and very direct. Not everyone knew exactly how to take him. He took some warming up to.
Anna and I stood in line, breathing in the aromas of blended coffee and sugary sweetness. The vanilla, hazelnut…I was a coffee whore, I loved it so much.
“What can I get for you ladies?” Jessie looked a little different from what she did back when I was still living here. She was a very pretty girl, always had been. I’d been a little envious of her auburn hair, it was the perfect color and always looked so soft.
“I’ll take a double chocolate blended iced mocha.” Anna was bouncing on the balls of her feet like a schoolgirl. Both myself and Jessie looked her over. Her son was just like her, wired and spunky.