Page 34 of Snowflakes Over Starr's Fall
“Well, I’ve got a lot on my plate right now,” Lizzy replied breezily, “and it’s true, much of the groundworkhasalready been done. But in terms of the final details… making sure all the stores are on board, the decorating, organizing the caroling and the big Saturday night event… I thought you and Jack could work on it together.”
“The big Saturday night event?” Jenna repeated. She didn’t recall any such event. Last year, the weekend had been the lighting of the Christmas tree and one night of stores being open till eight. This was starting to feel like an even bigger upgrade than Jenna had realized.
“Yes, didn’t you read it in the minutes?” Lizzy asked, her eyebrows arched. “A few of us discussed it after the meeting last month.” Lizzy looked at her expectantly, but Jenna just shook her head. She hadn’t been at this spontaneous discussion, and she never read the minutes. Who did? “We’re planning to hold a barn dance for the whole town,” Lizzy explained. “Zach volunteered your barn. And the other day he suggested you and Jack could organize it, since you obviously work so well together. Everyone agreed.”
What?Jenna swiveled to stare at her brother, who gave her a bland smile back. She was sensing a stitch-up. A serious stitch-up. The Starr’s Fall Business Association was busy matchmaking… but there really was no point.
She glanced at Jack, who, no surprise there, wasn’t looking at her. Was he embarrassed at how obvious everyone was being? Did he think she’d put Lizzy up to it, because she wanted to spend more time with him now that he’d finished helping her? Heaven forbid. “Why doesn’t Zach organize the big Saturday night event?” she asked Lizzy, a little mulishly as she threw her brother a glare that bounced right off him.
“Not really my thing,” Zach told her. “And I’m already organizing some local woodworkers to do some workshops throughout the weekend. That’s keeping me pretty busy.”
“I’m pretty busy too—” Jenna began, only to have Jack interject.
“I don’t mind,” he said, his voice quiet but firm. Jenna turned to look at him and saw he was frowning at her, looking confused and maybe a little annoyed. “I think it could be fun,” he said to the group, but Jenna thought the discontented look in his eyes said otherwise.
Still, to continue protesting would be ungenerous as well as embarrassing, and so she just gave a nod, folded her arms, and sat back in her seat. She glanced again at Jack—still frowning. She looked away.
The meeting lumbered on, with yet more talk about the streetlights that were continually going on the blink despite Jenna’s efforts over the years to get them fixed, everyone’s plans for late-night openings all through December, and then forward-looking hopes for some kind of springtime event around Easter. Jenna started to tune out, because she was thinking about planning a barn dance and who knew what else with Jack and bracing herself for spending yet more time with him, while judging from the last week and his virtual disappearance, he was seeming even less enthused. It was not a particularly enticing combination. The last thing she needed or wanted was to be around someone who seemed to have decided he didn’t want to be around her. She knew what that felt like, and it wasn’t good. She had no intention of feeling it again, and especially not with someone like Jack.
She hadn’t even realized the meeting had broken up until Jack dropped into the empty seat next to her, giving her an uncertain smile as his gaze scanned her face. He was wearing a gray fleece and the usual khakis, his hair slightly ruffled. He hadn’t shaved that day, and stubble glinted on his jaw. Basically, he looked scrumptious.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey.” Jenna managed a tight smile in return, determined to rein in her emotions. “Sorry you got railroaded into organizing this barn dance,” she said. “I know you’ve had stuff going on.”
“I don’t mind.” He continued to scan her face, as if looking for clues. “But you seem like you do…?”
“No,” Jenna said quickly. Too quickly.
Jack cocked his head. “Okay,” he said after a moment. “Well, how about we go out for a drink and talk about it? If you have time?”
“Okay,” Jenna said after a moment, knowing she sounded reluctant. She could feel everyone’s beady eyes on them; Liz Cranbury wasn’t even trying to hide the fact that she was unashamedly eavesdropping; she practically had a hand cupped to her ear. “If we go to The Starr Light, we’ll have half the town listening to us, though,” she added, like a warning.
“Don’t we always?” He gave her a glimmer of a smile that Jenna did her best to return. All right, she needed to get over herself. So Jack wasn’t being flirty anymore. He wanted to talk shop, nothing else. She was a grownup. She could take it.
“Fine,” she said, and Jack frowned again. Okay, she was going to need a little time to get over herself, clearly, but she’d get there.
They headed out into the crisp night, the streetlights—those that were working, anyway—glimmering in the darkness, the air holding a touch of frost. Thanksgiving was next weekend, and the weather had definitely turned; it felt like winter, Christmas on the horizon just as Laurie had said.
“How have you been?” Jenna asked diffidently as they walked toward The Starr Light. “You seem like you’ve been busy this last week or so.”
“Yeah, there’s a few things going on,” Jack replied repressively, and Jenna tried not to feel rebuffed. So he didn’t want to tell her. Fine. Again, she could take it. Shewould.
They walked in silence the rest of the way to the diner.
* * *
Something was clearly going on with Jenna. Jack kept sneaking her sideways glances, wondering why she’d turned so prickly. He’d thought they’d gotten along pretty well over the last month; he’d enjoyed helping her with the store; diving into a project had really invigorated him, and she’d seemed to appreciate it. Now he wondered if he’d been too high-handed with some of his suggestions. Maybe Jenna resented his interference. Maybe she wished she hadn’t asked for his help at all. She was certainly acting like it right now.
And yet, the truth was, Jack had loved having a project to sink his teeth and even his spirit into. Six months of doing mostly nothing had taken even more of a toll on him both mentally and physically than he’d realized. Beinginvolvedin something, figuring out a way to make it work, even if it was just a rundown general store in the middle of nowhere… he’dneededthat. It had energized and focused him, in a way he’d forgotten he used to feel all the time. Mental muscles that had atrophied had sprung back to life, and he’d felt wide awake and ready for action.
But maybe, in his invigorated interest, he hadn’t clocked just how bossy he was being? Maybe Jenna was annoyed with him… It felt almost, but not quite, like they were back to that tense stand-off of the summer, when they’d more or less disliked each other.
Except he didn’t dislike Jenna. At all. So what was going on?
They didn’t speak again until they were seated in a booth in the back of the diner, and Rhonda had handed them menus with an over-the-top wink. She’d certainly softened toward him, after that first aggressive introduction, for which Jack was grateful.
He perused the menu disinterestedly, knowing he’d only have a beer. “All things in moderation,” his doctor had said at his check-up last week, which had felt like a major step forward.
