Page 27 of Snowflakes Over Starr's Fall
“Wow,five?” She raised her eyebrows as she smiled teasingly, and he gave a good-natured grimace.
“I bought this house as an investment.”
“You do realize that everyone in Starr’s Fall will collectively lose their minds once they’ve realized I spent the night here?” she said, feeling compelled to point out the obvious. “And they’ll jump to all sorts of conclusions.”
Jack raised his eyebrows. “I didn’t actually see any binoculars in the bushes, and the house is on a private drive. How will they know?”
“Because they’ll see my car is missing from my own driveway.”
He laughed in soft disbelief. “Do they have your house watched?”
“Basically. Liz Cranbury will be doing regular drive-bys all evening, I’m sure.” That might have been aslightoverexaggeration, Jenna acknowledged, but not much. Not enough.
“It must be nice to feel so important to people,” Jack mused. “But like you said a while ago… sometimes a little suffocating.”
“Yes to both,” Jenna agreed. “But I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.” After her years in the big city, it had been a powerful balm to come back to a place where people loved and, more importantly, accepted her for who she was. They weren’t asking her to change; they didn’t want her to. It was a conundrum that had frustrated her brother Zach, who hadwantedto change but felt like Starr’s Fall wouldn’t let him. Jenna had been the opposite… but maybe she needed to take a page out of her brother’s book and change a little bit. At least change the store.
And, who knew, maybe herself too.
As for tonight… there would definitely be gossip. Did she care? There would, Jenna realized, be gossip no matter what she did. Kindly meant gossip, but gossip all the same. And yet there was something dangerously tempting about spending the night here, even in a guest bedroom. Something seriously awkward about it, too. What was the morning going to look like? Feel like?
She thought of Jack’s hand on her wrist, the low thrum of his voice as he’d saidI don’t want you to go.
She didn’t want to go, either. She wasn’t sure what she wanted, but at least she knew that. Jack was still waiting for her answer. Outside the night looked dark and cold, and the thought of calling more people at nine-thirty on a Wednesday night to figure out a way home was… unappealing. To say the least.
“Okay,” she said at last.
Jack smiled, and Jenna saw—something—flare in his eyes. Heat? No, she wasn’t going to think that way. Not yet, and maybe not ever.
“In that case,” he said, “let me put the fire on.”
He rose from the table and went to the adjacent family room, which had a deep L-shaped sofa in taupe leather facing a massive stone fireplace.
Jenna cleared their dessert dishes and then followed him over to where he was crouched in front of the fireplace, touching a match to kindling. A few tasteful pieces of modern art decorated the walls and tables, including an interesting sculpture made of driftwood. One entire wall was made up of a floor-to-ceiling picture window, overlooking a deck that extended right over the lake. Stepping out on it must feel as if you were walking on water. It really was, Jenna reflected, an amazing house. Maybe she’d get a photo for Liz after all. She didn’t think Jack would mind.
Soon the fire was crackling away, with a cheery blaze and a comforting smell of pine, and Jack made them both coffee and brought it over, setting their cups on the coffee table. Jenna curled up in one corner of the sumptuous sofa, feeling remarkably content. Now that she knew she was staying, a sense of relaxation and even peace was stealing through her bones, turning everything inside her molten and deliciously sleepy. No more decisions to make. For a little while she didn’t want to have to think about the store or Starr’s Fall or the limitations of her life oranything.
Jack settled on the same sofa a few spaces away from her, but close enough that if she stretched out her legs, her toes would brush his thigh. He’d stretched one arm along the back of the sofa, and Jenna could almost imagine herself curling into that inviting space, resting her head on his broad chest. She thought about howniceit would feel, comforting and exciting all at once. Why she was thinking that way she had no idea… but she was.
For a few minutes, neither of them spoke. Jenna leaned her head back against the soft, sumptuous leather and let her eyes flutter closed, the molten sense of relaxation stealing even further into her bones. The sound of the logs shifting and settling in the grate was a lovely, sleepy kind of sound, and she enjoyed the warmth of the firelight dancing across her skin. She could hear Jack breathing, steadily in and out, and she found that was a nice sound, too.
She thought she should probably say something, but she was so relaxed and still feeling muzzy-headed from the wine, and really, silence was golden. She felt as if she could happily stay like this forever. A soft sigh slipped out from her, and she settled deeper into the sofa, the leather as soft as butter against her cheek, the room warm and cozy, firelight dancing across her closed eyelids, the presence of Jack, silent and steady, like an anchor. She liked knowing he was there.
And somehow, like that, she fell asleep.
12
“Jenna…Jenna.”
Slowly Jenna blinked the world into focus, feeling as if she were coming up from underwater, swimming toward the surface. Jack’s face loomed in front of her, surprisingly close. She could see the golden glint of stubble on his jaw, the way his dark lashes fanned his cheeks as he looked down at her, the intense blueness of his eyes. She took a breath and inhaled his citrusy scent. Her mind swam.
“You fell asleep,” he explained gently as he tucked an unruly strand of hair behind her ear, his fingers skimming her cheek. “I deliberated about whether to wake you up, but I thought you wouldn’t want to spend the whole night on the sofa. Not when there are five bedrooms to choose from, after all.”
“Oh… right.” She was feeling weirdly disoriented. She hadn’t just dozed off; she’d been deeply asleep. Had she been snoring?Drooling?As discreetly as she could, she wiped her mouth. She put one hand to her head and felt that her hair was sticking up in several directions. So much for the smooth, rippling waves Zoe had created with her straighteners. She must look like a total disaster. “Sorry about that,” she mumbled, her voice thick with sleep. “I… I guess I didn’t realize how tired I was.”
“It’s okay.” Jenna thought she heard laughter in Jack’s voice. Great, she probably had been drooling. So much for coming off as sophisticated or even remotely pulled together. Watching someone you barely knew dribble all over your designer sofa had to be a serious turn-off. “Shall I show you the bedrooms?” he asked.
“Okay. Thanks.” She pushed her hair away from her face and then glanced down and saw her sweater had gotten pulled down, so she was practically popping out of it. Jeez, she was a mess. Hurriedly she adjusted her top as she clambered off the sofa, only for a wave of dizziness—caused by both sleep and the wine—to overwhelm her so she stumbled.
