Chapter 7
Sunday
I put the truck in park and stare out of Casey’s windshield with wide eyes, blinking up at the white-tipped pine trees towering in front of us.
“Uh, okay,” I say breathlessly, “I see that you weren’t kidding about the snow.”
Haven, my brother’s wife, shoots me a smile from the passenger seat beside me.
“The true winter weather is delayed down in town, but you can bet your ass that the snowstorms will be hitting us real soon.”
“Mama, you said ‘ass’!” Tucker, Haven’s son, calls from the backseat.
Haven slides a mischievous smile in my direction before twisting around and giggling, “And you just said ‘ass’, too!”
“Noooooo!” Tucker howls, laughing like crazy as his mom tickles his belly.
“And now the ass police are gonna be after us,” she teases, laughing warmly as he peeks up out of the back window.
“I don’t see them,” he whispers back to her, settling down as his mom unstraps his seatbelt.
“Not yet,” Haven says darkly, and Tucker gasps, squealing as he clambers into the front seats with us.
Haven snickers and boops Tucker’s nose. “Kidding, you little softie.”
He stares up at her with wide eyes and then, after a long moment, whispers, “Asssss.”
Haven bursts out into laughter and pulls Tucker’s winter pom-pom hat down over his eyes.
“We say ‘tush’, not ‘ass’, or we don’t get any more secret nighttime ice cream, okay?” she says, giving me a playful roll of her eyes as she opens her door and hops out.
Tucker shoves his hat back up his forehead and peeps up at me with a guilty smile.
“I meant to say ‘tush’,” he whispers sweetly, his little cheeks flushing red. Then he reaches for me with his grabby hands and I let him snuggle against me as I step down into the recently snow-cleared lot. “Please don’t let the ass police get me,” he whispers, and now it’s my turn to giggle.
“We’re only gonna say ‘tush’ from now on, right?” I whisper back to him, and he gives me one of his extremely zealous nods, those huge round eyes not blinking as they stare up into mine.
I press a little kiss to his warm cheek and then set him down, warmth spreading through my chest when he cuddles my leg.
Seeing as we’ve been living on opposite sides of the country, I haven’t been able to spend a lot of time with Tucker. But every time that we hang out? My love for him only grows stronger.
He’s sweet, and thoughtful, and he looks so much like Casey I almost can’t handle it.
“Those boots look good on you,” Haven says as she rounds the bed of the truck, and I glance down at the snow-boots that she’s letting me borrow for our hike.
We aren’t going up into the mountains because they’re currently buried under seven inches of snow. Instead, we’re heading through one of the smaller forests, that’s being maintained by the Agriculture Department.
The natural walkway has been cleared, but the towering pines are still white and sparkling.
It’s breathtaking, and unlike anything I’ve seen in way too long.
I blow Haven a thank you kiss and then turn my attention to the snow-covered forest.
“Are you sure that this is safe?” I ask, pulling up the hood of my baby blue puffer jacket and slipping my fingers inside my thermal mittens. Then I look down to where Tucker is patiently watching me, and I offer him my hand, which he immediately cuddles in his arms.
I twist my lips in a small smile. My little cutie.
“It’s totally fine as long as we stay on the trail,” Haven says casually, readjusting her ear-muffs before checking that Tucker’s thermal-wear is on securely. “They always keep half a mile of the path cleared. At least before blizzard-season hits.”
My eyes flash to hers. “Blizzard-season?” I ask breathlessly.
Haven nods and looks up at the pines, her irises sparkling as they refract the snow.
“The winter weather may be intense in Phoenix Falls, but up here?” She exhales gently. “In a couple weeks’ time you’ll barely be able to see two feet in front of you.”
I swallow nervously and follow her gaze. “O…okay.”
But in all honesty, that’s totally not okay. Because I’ll be safe and warm in Casey’s cabin when ‘blizzard season’ arrives, but you know who won’t be?
You know who’ll be up here, in the mountains?
I brush a loose curl out of my face, feeling my cheeks heat up at the thought of Jason, his towering frame and composed expression as he told me about his job with the search-and-rescue team.
A job that, in some ways, could almost be as perilous as his last one.
He’s going to be driving into these mountains when there are literal blizzards? When people are in already dangerous situations, maybe at a rock ledge, or facing an animal?
Jason is going to be the guy who comes up here and tries to save them?
While Tucker turns to Haven and asks her some gently-whispered questions about the snow, my mind goes back to this morning wherein I finally made a move.
It’s been almost a full week since Jason came over and, seeing as he hasn’t been back at the cabin to work on Casey’s yard, I finally messaged him.
In my defence, the text was tiny, just to say hey and that I wouldn’t be in his way if he was coming over this morning. But admittedly I’m a little bummed that he didn’t get back in touch.
With the spotty cell service around here, Jason may not have even received my message yet.
But I’m secretly chewing my lower lip to bits because there’s another reason why he might not have responded.
It’s a lazy Saturday morning, and he’s probably in bed with some small-town hottie.
I blink hard, trying to choke down that gut-churning thought.
I mean, Jason didn’t outright tell me that he was actually single…
And his chosen career still puts the fear of God into me…
I glance up toward the snowy treetops, wondering if anything has changed in all these years.
Haven finishes fastening up Tucker’s outfit and then the three of us begin our trek up the shimmering forest walkway.
“How long will you be staying in Phoenix Falls?” Haven asks, as a gentle snow-drift mists softly over us.
“At least until Casey’s home,” I tell her. “But, after that, I honestly don’t know.”
“Did you keep your place in Nashville?” she asks.
“Yeah,” I admit.
But I haven’t decided whether or not I want to be back in paparazzi-central. The press, the fans… my final week in Nashville was ridiculously intense.
“Everything’s up in the air right now,” I continue. “There are some amazing pros to being in Tennessee, but also some seriously crappy cons about what went down for me in Nashville.”
“Which are?” Haven prompts gently, looking over to me from under her lashes.
I bite nervously into my lower lip, not sure of exactly how much I should say.
“This stays between us, right?” I ask her, before turning my gaze back to the pines. “I’m not ready to discuss everything with Casey yet.”
“It stays between us,” she agrees. “Us and the little ears down there,” she adds, gesturing toward Tucker.
But Tucker’s so distracted by the snow that I just breathe out a laugh, nodding as I walk carefully around a larger snow pile.
“The con is that the media is currently going crazy over the idea of me dating Riley, which is totally ridiculous, but people believe what they want to hear. I mean, it’s good for him because his fans will love him regardless, but for me? I’m just some Nashville millionaire, swooping in and ‘stealing their man’.”
I roll my eyes at the accusation but, jokes aside, Riley is not my type.
“To me, it’s ridiculous but, in all seriousness, Nashville’s dangerous for me right now. The girls in town totally love Riley Dutton, and if they catch a single glimpse of me, they’ll want to murder me. Literally.”
“Is there nothing that we can do?” Haven asks. “Like, maybe make a statement to say that the rumours are false?”
“I don’t know if anyone would believe me, so I’d rather let it die down on its own. Especially since Riley is one of my closest buddies, and I don’t want to start drama in the middle of his album release.”
“He has another album coming out?” Haven asks in surprise. “I thought he just released one.”
“He released a holiday album,” I nod, “but that was recorded over a year ago. He’s been working on this one for a while, and I’d rather stay out of the way when it finally launches.”
Haven stays quiet for a moment before saying, “That guy is literally always in the headlines.”
I’m not sure exactly what she’s getting at so I just nod and drop the subject.
“So, what are the pros?” Haven asks. “What’s the thing making you consider going back to Nashville?”
I flash her a wait ’til you hear this smile. “You won’t even believe it,” I warn her teasingly.
She gives me a grin and says, “Try me.”
We stop walking for dramatic effect and turn to face each other, the snow twinkling around us.
“I got offered a takeover job at the biggest bar in Nashville. And I’m talking–” I glance around us, checking that no-one’s about, and then mouth the giant six-figure salary offer in my inbox.
Haven’s jaw hits her boots. “What?!” she squeals.
“I know,” I whisper, knowing exactly what she’s thinking.
On the one hand, it’s amazing, because that’s a life-changing sum of money. But on the other hand? I’ll be so busy working that I won’t ever have the time to use it.
“I haven’t made any decisions yet,” I admit, “but I know most people would say yes to that kind of money.”
Haven nudges her boot against mine. “But you already have that kind of money.”
I swipe a curl off my cheek.
She’s got me there.
“Don’t think about it for now,” she says, her tone reassuring. “Just take the time while you’re at Casey’s to settle down and relax. And to make the most of what Phoenix Falls has to offer.”
I flick a glance in her direction and she flashes me a girl-to-girl smile.
I raise my eyebrows in a question, but I know exactly what she’s saying.
“Haven,” I laugh, my tone wary as I glance away from her.
“Hey, I’m not telling you to do anything,” she says, amused. We stay silent for a long moment before she adds, “Or any one .”
“Haven! Little ears!” I exclaim, making Tucker giggle with delight as I swoop him up off the ground. Then I cover his hat-covered ears with my mittens and start running with him up the incline.
Haven howls with laughter as I peek back to look at her over my shoulder, the happy sound reverberating through the snowy forest floor.
But I can’t deny that she’s right. I could have a lot of fun while I’m in Phoenix Falls.
I’m just about to head back down to Haven and admit that maybe there is someone who I’d like to spend some time with, when suddenly my phone vibrates in my pocket, before the sound instantly cuts out.
I glance down at Tucker and he looks up at me with a wide-eyed expression.
He purses his little lips and then whispers up at me, “Is it the tush police?”
I set him down with a little giggle but, honestly, I have no idea who it could be seeing as no-one in the world has my new number.
I mean, it could be Riley, but he hasn’t tried calling me so far.
Casey? Kind of unlikely, seeing as he schedules our calls around his military schedule.
I pull a mitten off with my teeth as I slip my phone out of my pocket, glancing at the screen when it lights up in front of me.
I blink at the two notifications, stating ‘missed call’ and ‘no signal’.
Then I step backward barely a millimetre and my phone instantly vibrates to life again.
My brow rises with surprise as I glance up at the trees around me, realising that we must be standing in a random connectivity hotspot.
I quickly click the answer button but, as soon as I move an inch, the call disappears again.
I throw my head back on a groan before lifting my phone in the air, trying to find the patch of signal.
“You get a call?” Haven hollers as she finally catches up to us.
“I think it might have been Casey,” I rasp, the altitude making my voice a little more husky than usual.
“Darn,” Haven pants, before swiping her mittens over her flushed pink cheeks.
I spend a minute trying to recapture the cell service, but, when no more calls come through, I finally give up.
Then I give Tucker’s cheeks a little squish and say, “Race you to the big pine at the top!”
He squeals with delight and instantly shoots off toward the top of the trail. “I’m racing, I’m racing! Last one up is a little tush!”