The Cottage on Juniper Ridge Page 9

  A book club sounded like a great way to keep up with new reads and meet some other Icicle Falls residents. Jen decided to stop at the bookstore on her way out of town.

  Mountain Escape Books wasn’t the world’s largest bookstore, but it sure felt like the homiest. In the children’s corner several preschoolers sat on colored carpet squares, spellbound, while an employee read from the latest picture book by George Shannon. A gray-haired man stood visiting with a statuesque redhead behind the counter who looked to be around Jen’s mother’s age. She saw a retired couple in the nonfiction section, checking out a travel book while nursing lattes, probably from Bavarian Brews, which Jen had heard about earlier. Three women stood chatting in the fiction section. One was blonde and slightly overweight. She seemed to be in her midforties. The woman next to her was tall with long, chestnut-colored hair. She wore jeans, stylish boots and a great red coat. Jen guessed her age to be somewhere in the late thirties. The third woman was Jen’s age, maybe younger, with brown hair and big, brown eyes. And a friendly smile.

  Jen sidled closer and eavesdropped shamelessly.

  “I just finished the book,” the well-dressed woman was saying. “I think there’s a lot in there. I hope I can figure out how to apply all of Muriel’s advice to my crazy life.”

  Book...Muriel? As in Muriel Sterling? Could they be talking about the book that had inspired Jen to move?

  “Well, I sure got a lot out of the chapter on time management,” said the woman Jen’s age. She saw Jen and offered a friendly smile. “Hi, can I help you?”

  So she worked here. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop.” Well, actually, she had. “I’m new in town.”

  “A new Icicle!” the fortysomething woman exclaimed. “Welcome.”

  “Thanks,” Jen said “Uh, what’s an Icicle?”

  “An Icicle Falls resident,” said the woman. “My name’s Stacy Thomas and this is Charlene Albach.”

  “Charley to my friends.” The well-dressed woman held out a hand for Jen to shake. “I own Zelda’s, one of the restaurants here in town.”

  “The checker at Safeway was telling me about your place. It sounds great.”

  Charley beamed. “It is.”

  “And this is Juliet Gerard,” Stacy said.

  “I work part-time here at the store,” Juliet added.

  This sparked a conversation about the bookstore and books in general.

  “That one you were talking about,” Jen said, “is it, by any chance, Simplicity by Muriel Sterling?”

  Stacy nodded. “It’s our book club pick for this month. Have you read it?”

  “I have. In fact, that book inspired me to simplify my life and move here.”

  Stacy blinked. “You just up and moved?”

  Okay, did she sound totally wacky? “Well, I only moved here from Seattle. It wasn’t that far.”

  “I’m impressed,” Juliet said in awe.

  “Where are you staying?”

  “I rented a cottage on Juniper Ridge.”

  “It’s nice out there,” Stacy said. “I still can’t believe you just moved here after reading that book.”

  “You need to come to our book-club meeting,” Juliet told her. “We’d love to talk to someone who’s putting what’s in the book into practice.”

  “Gosh, I don’t want to crash your group.” What was she saying? Yes, she did. She wanted her simple life to include more than trees, snow and silence 24/7.

  “You won’t be,” Juliet assured her. “Come check us out. You might like us.”

  She already did.

  The other two women also urged her to come, so, after pretending to consider for a decent amount of time, she agreed and got Stacy’s phone number and address. Then Juliet recommended a couple of good reads and she walked out carrying two romance novels and wearing a big grin. She was going to love it here.

  The grin faded once she left the quaint downtown area. The snow had been falling aggressively while she ran her errands and visited in the bookstore and she swerved as she turned onto Icicle Road. Oh, this was not good.

  It’s all flat, she reminded herself. And you only have one more turn onto Juniper Ridge. You can do this.

  She gripped the steering wheel firmly and took a deep, calming breath. You can do it, you can do it, you can do it.

  When an SUV zipped up from behind and passed her, she frowned and gripped the steering wheel harder. Of course, she was going to irritate the more experienced drivers, creeping along like this. But better to irritate people than to lose control of her car and hit them, she reasoned.

  The car skated down the road with no problem and she let out her breath. Okay, all was well. She’d be home before dark. Boy, that was like something a little old lady would say. She had to stop being such a wimp if she planned to live here. She decided to go a tiny bit faster simply to prove she could. Nothing awful happened. The car kept moving straight ahead. There. See? Driving in the snow isn’t that hard. You knew you could handle it and you were right.

  Anyway, other than that one vehicle, there was no one out here. She had the whole road to herself.

  Except...what was this bounding out onto the road? Oh, no! A deer!

  She hit the brakes and the car went into a slide. The deer raced off into the woods and Jen veered toward the other lane going sideways. Oh, no! Oh, oh, no! Turn into the spin, turn into the spin. Which way was she spinning?

  And what was this coming from the other direction? Noooo.

  Chapter Eight

  Relationships don’t have to be complicated.

  —Muriel Sterling, author of Simplicity

  Garrett had joined the Icicle Falls Fire Department for two reasons. First, he’d wanted to help people. Second, he’d wanted a job that provided some excitement. Firefighting met both of those requirements.

  His attitude regarding excitement had changed since he’d joined the department, though. Something he’d known on a mental level quickly hit home at a gut level—one man’s adventure was another’s disaster. The fire that took out Zelda’s restaurant had been the final tipping point for him. It was the first one he’d fought in which everything was lost, and seeing the bleak look on Charlene Albach’s face as she watched her business go up in flames had been terrible. He still wanted to help people but now he hoped he never had to fight another fire. Still, living in the mountains meant there was always the danger of forest fire, which could be devastating for Icicle Falls. He prayed it never happened. Meanwhile, the favorite parts of his job were school visits and fire-safety inspections. Prevention was everything.

  He’d gotten to do both on his latest twenty-four-hour shift, and he’d been in a good mood when he left the station. He’d still been in a good mood when he’d done his shopping, and when he’d picked up his son at kindergarten. But then he’d had to deliver Timmy to Ashley and that had completely eroded it.

  Of course, Timmy had been excited. A weekend with Mommy was like a weekend at Pinocchio’s Pleasure Island where anything went. No rules, no structure. Just fun, fun, fun. Well, as long as he didn’t get into Ashley’s makeup. He’d done some decorating with it the last time he stayed (discovering that lipstick was perfect for drawing on a bathroom wall) and she’d yelled at him so much he’d come home traumatized.

  Now Garrett was feeling traumatized as he drove down Icicle Road. How he hated dealing with Ashley.

  “I’m going to have to bring him back tomorrow morning,” she’d said.

  “Tomorrow?” Wait a minute. He’d had plans for the next day. He and Tilda were going to play some racquetball and go out for breakfast. And much as he didn’t like Ashley’s parenting style, she was still the kid’s mother and oug
ht to be able to take him for two days.

  “I’ve got plans,” she’d said.

  “Yeah? Well, so do I.”

  “Then have your mother watch him.” Ashley always had an easy solution that involved someone else doing her work for her.

  Meanwhile, there stood Timmy, listening to every word. Garrett wasn’t sure how much a five-year-old understood, but he hadn’t wanted to take the chance that the kid would feel like a hot potato nobody wanted to keep.

  “Okay.” He’d tousled Timmy’s hair. “We’ll go get hamburgers at Herman’s. How’s that sound, dude?”

  Timmy had been fine with that and responded with much jumping around and chanting “Hamburgers, hamburgers!”

  Garrett had given his son a friendly guy punch on the arm. “How about you go play and let me talk to your mom for a minute.”

  Timmy had run cheerfully into the living room, where he’d promptly turned on the TV. God only knew what she let him watch.

  Garrett had regarded his irresponsible ex-wife in disgust.

  “What?” she’d said defensively.

  “Plans? Seriously?”

  “Hey, I have a life.”

  “You also have a son and you only have to take him every other weekend.”

  “I always take him. When have I not taken him?” she’d demanded.

  He’d waved her phony indignation away and moved toward the door.

  “Don’t you go making me feel guilty,” she’d snarled. “It wasn’t my idea to have kids, remember?”

  Thank God she’d at least lowered her voice. He didn’t bother to respond.

  If there’d really been a Santa, Garrett would have offered the old guy beer for life if he’d just haul Ashley away. But the new year had arrived and, sadly, she was still here. Garrett shook his head. He was so done with flakes.

  “Did you hear that?” he said to the vision of the cute, freckled strawberry blonde who’d been occupying his mind so much lately. But he didn’t care how attracted he was to Jen Heath. He wasn’t going to pursue any relationship with her beyond that of landlord and tenant.

  Watching her in action the day she’d moved into his place had given him a clear idea of what her personality was. All that talk of home-canned food the first day he’d met her had been nothing but a smokescreen. Here was a good-time girl who’d quit her job at the drop of a hat, who’d abandon the work of moving in to play in the snow. Some people would call that being a free spirit. He called it irresponsible. And if she didn’t burn his place down it would be a miracle.

  He’d seen the car up ahead coming toward him. But now he realized the car was really coming toward him, skidding into his lane. What crazy idiot— He turned his truck to the left and skated by the vehicle on the wrong side of the road. Daylight was fading but not so fast that he didn’t get a look at the other driver, seeing the expression of terror on her face as she went past him. He also saw that it was his new tenant. He got back in his lane and eased off the road, watching in his rearview as her car skidded into the ditch.

  Even though he wasn’t going to get involved with her, he sure couldn’t leave her there, stranded in the snow.

  He climbed out of the truck and trotted over to where her car sat, nose in the ditch, its motor still running. He could hear her sobbing before he got to her door. He tapped on the window and she let out a shriek. Then she recognized him and her expression of panic morphed into one of gratitude.

  She lowered the window. “I...I...”

  That seemed to be all she could get out. “Turn off your engine,” he instructed.

  She nodded and cut the engine. She tried to talk again, this time around tears. “I thought I could drive in the snow, but...I almost hit that deer,” she finished on a wail.

  The deer was long gone. Garrett assessed the situation. There was no point in trying to pull her car out of the ditch. She was still too agitated to drive. “Come on, I’ll give you a lift.”

  “But my car,” she protested.

  “Is not going anywhere. I’ll call Swede and he can send someone to tow it back to your place.”

  “Swede?”

  “He owns the garage in town.”

  She grabbed her purse and a bag from Mountain Escape Books. “I’ve got groceries in the trunk.”

  He nodded and held out his hand for her keys. As she dropped them in his palm he saw that her hand was shaking.

  “I could have hit someone.” Her eyes suddenly got wide. “I could have hit you!”

  “Well, let’s be glad you didn’t.”

  “How am I going to live here if I can’t drive in the snow?” she fretted.

  He figured that was probably a rhetorical question and kept his mouth shut.

  He opened the trunk and saw that her grocery bag had tipped, sending stuff every which way. A carton of eggnog lay on its side on top of the eggs. He was willing to bet several of them had broken. A plastic produce bag had spilled its contents and apples had rolled everywhere.

  “My apples are going to be bruised.”

  “Better your apples than your body,” he said.

  Her lower lip began to tremble.

  “It’s okay,” he said gently. “You’re okay.” He helped her gather up the food, then they walked to the truck and he called Swede’s garage while she dug in her purse, muttering, “I’ve got my Triple-A card here somewhere.”

  “Don’t worry,” Garrett told her as she got inside the truck cab. “We’ll sort it out later. Swede’s easy.”

  It only took a couple of minutes to make arrangements for her car to be towed.

  “Thanks,” she said. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t come along.”

  He shrugged, glad he hadn’t come along any sooner. If he had, they would have collided for certain. “No problem,” he said.

  He swung the truck around and she clutched at the armrest.

  “Don’t worry, I won’t put us in a ditch,” he promised. “I’ve driven in snow and ice all my life.”

  She still hung on until they’d straightened out. Then she slowly let out her breath.

  “See? No worries,” he said, and she nodded.

  “I don’t think I’m ready to drive in snow yet,” she said in a small voice.

  “You just have to be careful in these shady patches where the road gets slick. You’ll get the hang of it.”

  “I guess you did. Did you grow up here?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “Idaho. We moved here when I was a senior in high school.”

  “That must’ve been a hard adjustment.”

  Not if you played football. “I managed.”

  She rubbed her arms. “So you’ve lived here ever since?”

  “Pretty much,” he said, and turned on the heat full blast. “I went away to school.”

  “But then you came back.”

  “After a few years.” And got caught by Ashley.

  “I can see why you came back,” Jen said. “It’s such a cute town, and the people are all so nice.”

  He had to admit Icicle Falls was a great place to live. And a great place to raise kids. In fact, it would be a perfect place if he could just get rid of Ash. “Yeah, it is.”

  She looked out the window. “I’m glad I didn’t hit the deer.”

  Garrett was glad she hadn’t hit him.

  “I thought I’d be okay with snow tires. I should have them put chains on.”

  “You’d be taking them off
every time the snowplow came through.”

  She began to gnaw her lip. He should say something to distract her. What kind of perfume are you wearing?

  Not that! He cleared his throat. “So, what did you do in Seattle?”

  She shrugged. “Worked all the time.”

  “Corporate mover and shaker?”

  “More like office peon. Plus I sold candles at home parties.”

  So she sold fire hazards in her spare time. “Candles can be dangerous,” he warned.

  From the way she was looking at him it was obvious he’d just insulted her. “I explain that at all my candle parties. You should never leave lit candles to burn unattended and never burn them near curtains or any flammables.”

  “I guess you know your stuff,” he said, and nodded approvingly.

  “I guess I do,” she said with an answering smile. “What I don’t know about is woodstoves. I never had one. But now I’ve got the stove figured out, so you won’t have to worry that I’ll burn your place down.”

  “Never thought it,” he lied.

  “Uh-huh.”

  He pulled up in front of the cottage. Piles of snow marched down the driveway to the road. She’d obviously been busy shoveling. “I’ve got a plow attachment for my truck. I’ll come by when we get snow again and dig out the driveway for you.” More exposure to Jen Heath. What was he thinking? He was thinking it would be a nice thing to do, that was all.

  “That would be great.”

  It would be—as long as he shoveled the drive and got out of there.

  “I thought I was going to keel over shoveling all that snow,” she confessed.

  Then someone would’ve had to give her CPR. He shook off the image of his mouth on hers. Damn, where did this stuff keep coming from? “I’ll get your groceries for you.”