Taking Chances (Love at Starlight, Book 2)

by Kris Jett

  Bryce nodded. “Ah, interesting. Kind of like Ed and me. I met him through work also. I keep up his band’s web site. He likes to occasionally drag me out of my cave and do social stuff, too.”

  Tiffany smiled. “Maybe we’re like, their pet projects and they compare notes on us.”

  “Could be,” Bryce agreed.

  “So, you design web sites? Is it fun?” Tiffany asked.

  “Yeah, I love it. Best job ever and I can do it from home. I only have to see sunlight when I want to.”

  “Cool.”

  “Well, that’s not entirely true. I just picked up a side gig teaching at the local college. So, I do have to dress and go out in the world once a week to teach my class. It’s an intro to web design.”

  “Wow, teaching. I don’t know if I could get up in front of a class like that,” Tiffany said.

  “Yeah, I wasn’t so sure about it either. It’s gone okay so far though.” Bryce took a sip of his beer. “It does feel kind of weird being in charge. Like, I look around thinking, shouldn’t there be a responsible adult in here? The first day I kept waiting for the real teacher to show up. But nope, just me.”

  “I know exactly what you mean. Mostly I check in the animals and do light work around the office but sometimes I assist the doctor if she needs me. And one time the doctor wasn’t in yet and this woman came in in a complete panic because her mini schnauzer was choking on a piece of chicken bone. I had to dislodge it myself. I’d seen the doctor do it before so I knew what to do, but still. It was scary to be the only one in charge in that situation.”

  “Wow, I can imagine,” Bryce said. “So, what’s the age, do you suppose, where we finally feel like adults?”

  “Eighty?” Tiffany suggested and Bryce laughed.

  Their fries arrived and the they both dug in. The date was going well so far, Bryce thought to himself.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Wynn said a little prayer before she tried to zip up her old black snowmobile suit. It slid up with ease and she let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you, God,” she whispered. She really had lost quite a bit of weight since she’d moved back home. There was no way the suit would have fit her back when she was living in St. Louis. The last time she’d been on a snowmobile had to be at least six or seven years ago, before her dad died. She wondered what it would feel like to ride again after all this time.

  “You ready?” Jessie asked, as she ducked her head into Wynn’s room. “The guys just pulled up.”

  “Yeah, I’m ready. I hope.”

  The foursome walked out to the far end of the Foster property to the garage where Wynn’s dad had stored all his snowmobile equipment. Cade had brought his and Cooper’s sleds on a trailer and unloaded them outside of the garage. When Wynn walked into the old garage, she almost gasped. It looked just the same as she’d remembered. Like her dad would walk in any moment and tinker with one of the snowmobiles like he used to. She felt a pang of sadness. She missed her dad so much. Out of the three sisters, she had always been the biggest daddy’s girl. She used to love sitting in the garage when she was little and watching him work. He would tell her stories about snow giants that lived deep in the woods and the snow fairies that kept her safe from them. She couldn’t come in the garage again after he’d died from the heart attack. Wynn was only twenty-two years old at the time. She wondered what her dad would make out of how her life turned out. And what he would think of his first granddaughter, Melody. She didn’t have to think too hard on that one. Her dad would have adored Melody.

  “You okay to ride alone?” Cade asked Wynn.

  “Yeah. It’s been a while but I’ll be fine. It’ll be great,” she added, trying hard to shield her nerves.

  “Here, take a head lamp too,” Jessie said, handing an extra one to her sister. “Do you need help with your helmet?”

  Wynn wondered exactly how incompetent she looked to the three of them that they kept offering her help. “I’m fine,” she stressed. She finished pulling on her gloves and helmet plus lamp and was ready to go.

  They took off down the old familiar path, Jessie in the lead followed by Cade, Wynn, and then Cooper in the back. They rode by only the moon’s glow, which was beautiful reflecting off of the fluffy white snow. They chased each other up and down steep hills and across the wide frozen lake. Crossing lakes had always made Wynn nervous so she never slowed down for a second when she was crossing. They rode through the tall, snow-laden pine trees and got up to a speed of 100 mph. Wynn could feel the adrenaline coursing through her. This was an amazing idea Jessie had. It was the most fun Wynn had had in a long time. They slowed as they wound around a corner and spotted a couple of snowmobilers having a trail-side picnic. Wynn wondered briefly if they were on a date.

  After a nice long ride, the group made their way back to the Foster’s garage and parked their sleds. Cooper turned to Wynn. “That was awesome, right?” he asked.

  “Awesome!” she agreed. Wynn could feel herself smiling from ear-to-ear. She couldn’t believe how one exhilarating ride could change her mood like that. She felt completely high on life. Wynn pulled off her helmet and ran a hand through her long hair, hoping her helmet head wasn’t too bad.

  “Wasn’t it just gorgeous riding at night? The scenery all looks so different. I’m obsessed with the moon,” Jessie said.

  “I thought you were obsessed with me,” Cade teased as he grabbed Jessie around the waist and flipped her around toward him.

  “Fine, the moon is a firm second.” Jessie tipped her head back and Cade kissed her long and hard.

  Wynn shifted uncomfortably and glanced over at Cooper.

  He smiled back and shrugged in a ‘what are you going to do?’ like manner.

  Wynn cleared her throat loudly and Jessie giggled as she pulled back from Cade. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to get carried away there.”

  The four of them finished putting away the sleds and loaded the Stone’s sleds back on their trailer. Wynn busied herself straightening everything back up in the garage and re-hung up their snowmobile gear. When they were done, they met at the back of Cade’s truck.

  “Good ride, huh?” Jessie asked the group.

  “Awesome,” Cooper replied and Cade nodded.

  “Yeah,” Wynn started, “I’d forgotten how fun snowmobiling was. We’ll have to go again.”

  “Yeah,” Cade agreed.

  “So, what now?” Jessie asked. “Want to stop at the pub for a drink? Maybe something warm? I could go for some hot chocolate and peppermint schnapps myself.”

  That did sound good, Wynn thought. “Sure,” she said aloud.

  The four of them decided to leave Cade’s truck and trailer at the garage for now and walk to the pub. That was one thing Wynn had always loved about their town. Everywhere you could want or need to go was generally in walking distance. It only took them a few minutes to reach Main Street and there they could stroll to the pub under the canopy of white twinkle lights. If there was one thing people loved in Snowy Ridge, it was their twinkle lights and they were everywhere. No store or building went unadorned, including the tiny post office and village hall at the end of the street. The downtown area was picturesque with its old-fashioned movie theater and tiny shops of antiques, books, and various food related stores, like a sweet shop and cupcake place. And of course, there was everyone’s favorite coffee hangout, MoonBeans. MoonBeans was practically the heart of the town although Jessie might argue that Starlight Pub was. Starlight was the heart of their family anyway.

  They reached the pub and piled in through the front door, stomping their feet as they went to kick off the snow. Jessie and Wynn greeted their co-workers briefly and then the four moved to find a table. The place was busy that evening, which Wynn was happy to see.

  “Just tell me what you all want and I’ll go get it,” Jessie said as the rest sat down.

  “I’ll go with you,” Cade said.

  While Jessie and Cade grabbed their drinks, Wynn and Cooper stared at each other awkwardly. S
he didn’t know what to talk to him about. All she really knew was that he was Cade’s oldest brother and part owner of Triple C Snowmobile Repair with Cade and their middle brother, Cash. Jessie had said the three brothers lived there in Snowy Ridge when they were young until their dad had to move them to Chicago for work. Cooper had all these great memories of living there and talked his brother into moving back with him and opening the business. They hadn’t been open too long but were already making a success out of it.

  Unable to sit in silence any longer, Wynn asked, “So, how old were you when you moved from Snowy Ridge?”

  “We moved away twenty years ago,” Cooper said. “I was only about ten at the time.”

  “So, I was eight then. I’m surprised I don’t remember your family. I’m sure we must have gone to school together. How old is Cash? Would he have been in my grade?”

  “He’s twenty-seven now, so he was probably a grade under you.”

  “Hmm,” Wynn said. “I wish I could remember. Elementary school seems like forever ago.”

  “Yeah, it does. I still remember my fifth-grade teacher though. Mrs. Ridges.”

  “Oh,” Wynn interrupted, “I remember Mrs. Ridges. She was so nice.”

  “Yeah, she was. I had so many friends that year. I was real mad at my dad for moving us. Chicago was so different.

  “I bet.”

  Jessie and Cade rejoined the table and passed around the drinks. “What are you two talking about?” Jessie asked.

  “Old times,” Wynn replied.

  Cade looked at his brother and then back at Wynn. “I didn’t know you two knew each other.”

  “We don’t, really,” Cooper said. “We just know the same people.”

  Wynn smiled at him.

  “Hey, Wynn,” Jessie said, “don’t look now but that guy over there keeps looking at you.”

  Wynn whipped her head around and looked. “Where?”

  “Sheesh, I said don’t look now. You never listen. Anyway, that guy near the fire place. He looks like he’s on a date but he keeps checking you out.”

  Wynn scanned the tables surrounding the fireplace area and then she spotted him. It was Bryce Alexander. Her teacher.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Bryce tried to work, but his mind was still reeling from his date the night before. It certainly didn’t go as well as he’d hoped. It started off okay. He really liked Tiffany. She was beautiful, smart, and funny. True, he still didn’t feel a deeper attraction for her, but on paper, she was pretty much his match. He was hopeful something would just click with them. But then Wynn Foster walked into the pub, and he was completely distracted after that.

  She sat a table across the pub with some guy and no matter how hard Bryce tried to focus on what Tiffany was saying, he just kept watching Wynn. He wondered if she was picking the guy up like she had picked Bryce up. Maybe she was getting him to take her back to his apartment. Bryce felt so jealous at the thought of this, he could barely sit still. He wanted to march across the room and demand to know what was going on. But somewhere in his brain a bit of rational thought had popped in and reminded him that it was none of his business. Wynn wasn’t his girlfriend. She never promised him a thing. All she was to him now was his student.

  Bryce was relieved when another couple sat down at the table with Wynn and her date. The girl looked a little bit like Wynn but with darker hair. It could have been her sister. And then it dawned on him. That’s why he felt so uneasy walking into Starlight that night. He had just read online that Wynn’s sister and mother owned that pub. And now Bryce looked like the creepy guy stalking her at her family’s pub. All he wanted to do was hide. He tried to cover his profile with his hand but it was too late. He was sure Wynn had spotted him.

  By that point Tiffany was done. She stood up and said she forgot she had somewhere she had to be. She thanked him for the beer and fries and walked right out of the pub. Bryce just sat there. There was no coming back from that with her. There could have been something between him and Tiffany, but now he’d never know. And he couldn’t blame her. He knew his behavior was at best, peculiar. She was smart to leave.

  Bryce couldn’t wait to get out of the pub and didn’t want any kind of communication with Wynn. It wasn’t like he was going to go over to her table and introduce himself. He had looked around for the waitress but didn’t spot her so he’d just gone up to the bar and paid their bill. He walked out of the pub without a second look at Wynn. He felt bad about the whole evening. Bad for disappointing Tiffany and bad for Wynn spotting him and thinking, well, whatever it was that she’d thought when she saw him. He also felt pathetic that he was so stuck on a woman who obviously didn’t feel anywhere near the same for him. Bryce didn’t know who the guy was that Wynn was on the date with, but he knew that he hated him.

  And what would he say when he saw Wynn in class on Monday? Should he just pretend that he hadn’t seen her and it was some kind of strange coincidence that they were both in the same pub? Well, that part was true. It wasn’t like he went there looking for Wynn. Tiffany was the one who texted him the address to meet her there. But what was the likelihood that Wynn would believe that?

  Bryce’s thoughts wandered back to the guy at Wynn’s table. Did she go home with him? Maybe he had the whole situation wrong and they weren’t on a date. Maybe those two guys were her brothers. They could have just been a family having dinner at their own restaurant. Bryce sat down at his laptop and quickly googled that article about the Fosters and the pub to see if it mentioned any brothers. Ugh. No. Just three sisters and the mother. Wow, did he really just google her again? Bryce didn’t think it was possible to feel like a bigger loser than he did just then. That was it. No more googling, and no more thinking about Wynn Foster. He was going to sit there and get back to work on the web site he was designing for Penny’s Pancake House.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Melody was deeply involved in a tense game of checkers with herself while Wynn looked on. There didn’t seem to be a color differentiation so it wasn’t clear which side was winning. Melody picked up pieces and quickly plopped them in different boxes with an occasional, “Yes!” She was animated so she kept drawing the attention of other patrons in MoonBeans, but she was so darn cute that they just smiled at her and then went on in their conversations or returned their attention back to their laptops.

  Wynn wanted to order a coffee, no, make that an espresso, but she was patiently awaiting the arrival of her sisters. She needed a strong afternoon pick-me up if she was going to make it until her class that evening. Introduction to the Internet. The title made her giggle each time she told someone. It just sounded so silly and novice. What would they teach her? How to launch a web page? What was an email? She couldn’t believe it was a real requirement.

  Wynn double checked the time on her phone and noted both sisters were now fifteen minutes late. Just as she was about to let out a sigh, the bells over the door jingled and Luci whooshed in, cheeks flushed red from the cold.

  “Sorry, I’m late!” she said as she slipped into one of the chairs at the table Wynn and Melody were parked at. “I was grocery shopping for Mom and I got caught up in a debate with the produce grocer about whether or not organic bananas were better than regular bananas.”

  Wynn nodded. She didn’t really care which side won. And Luci knew Wynn wouldn’t get mad if it was because she was doing something for their mom.

  “Hi, Auntie!” Melody called out.

  Luci ruffled Melody’s hair. “Hi, sweetie!” To Wynn she continued, “And then, of course, I had to stop at the house and put everything away.” Luci unwrapped her scarf from around her neck and shrugged off her coat. “But I’m here,” she added cheerfully. “Coffee?”

  “Just waiting on Jessie,” Wynn said.

  “Wait no longer, I’m here,” Jessie announced as she came through the door.

  “Auntie!” Melody called out. She accidentally knocked over her checkerboard game and her face fell.

  �
�No worries; we can fix that,” Luci told her and set to work on reconstructing the game board.

  Jessie tossed her jacket over one of the chairs at the table. “Be back in a second guys, I’m just going to run over and say hi to April.”

  The sisters watched Jessie walk to the counter and then Luci turned toward Wynn. “How’s your day been? Busy?”

  “Pretty good. I did some homework from my Computer Information Systems class. And I hung out a bunch with Melody.”

  “How’s school going?” Luci asked.

  “Good so far. I like my classes,” Wynn told her. Some more than others and for different reasons. She still wasn’t sure what to make of seeing her Web Design teacher at Starlight the other night. Did he live in Snowy Ridge? Wynn just assumed he lived somewhere near the college but that was probably wrong. How come she’d never seen him in their pub before then? It had looked like he was on a date. Sort of. Bryce was there with a very pretty girl but they both ran out of the pub pretty quickly after she, Jessie, and the guys got there. Wynn was fairly certain he’d seen her, and she had been thinking about going over and saying hello, but he looked a bit panicked. Maybe his date wasn’t going well. Wynn kind of hoped it wasn’t.

  “That’s great,” Luci said. I’m so proud of you for going back to school. I know it can’t be easy.”

  Wynn smiled. “Thanks, Lu. What about you? Busy day?”

  “I worked the lunch shift and then did the shopping. But I did get two thousand words in this morning. Writing every day has been really good for me. I’m having fun again. It feels like it used to back when I first started writing.”

  “That’s awesome! Are you going to let me read for you?”

  “Sure,” Luci said. “You can be my first beta reader as soon as the book is done.”