The Only Way to Fall (Summer Lake Seasons #8)

Chapter One

“Why don’t you just ask him out?”

Savannah looked up from her phone. “Ask who out? What are you talking about?”

Her roommate, Tiffany, gave her a knowing smirk. “Jake, of course – as if you didn’t know exactly who I meant. I don’t get the deal with the two of you, I really don’t.”

“But–”

Tiffany held her hand up. “Don’t even try to deny it. It’s so obvious. And it’s just as obvious that he’s into you. So, why not ask him out?”

Savannah let out a breath. “Because I can’t. You know I like him, and yeah…” She smiled as she imagined Jake’s handsome face. “It’s mutual, I know that. It just … it’s not a good idea, that’s all.”

Tiffany huffed out an exaggerated sigh. “You break my heart, girlfriend, you really do. Here I am hoping that you’re going to get all coupled up and settled down, and all you’ll ever tell me is that it’s not a good idea.

” She met Savannah’s gaze and held it. “Whatever you’re hiding, you can share with me.

We might not have known each other all that long, but you must know by now that I’m trustworthy. ”

“Of course I do! It’s not that I don’t trust you, Tiff. I think I’m just used to solving my problems by myself and –”

“Aha!” Tiffany leaned forward in her seat. She was sitting cross-legged on the sofa, doing her nails. She waved her nail file at Savannah as she spoke. “Finally! I’m getting somewhere – that’s the first time you’ve admitted that you even have a problem.”

“I didn’t! I … did I?”

“Not exactly, but my amazing powers of deduction figured it out. You said you’re used to dealing with problems by yourself.

And what I’m saying is that you’re not by yourself anymore.

You have me now – I can help! I mean, I know you have Josh, and his mom, Sadie, and Harvey, and they’re like family, but … ”

“I know, thanks, Tiff. And I do trust you. There’s nothing, okay?”

Tiffany’s shoulders slumped. “Fair enough. As long as you know that if you need me – for anything, ever – I’ll be there in a heartbeat; you hear me?

We might not have been roommates for long, but you’re awesome, girly.

And I’ve come to see you as mine now – one of my peeps, you know? And I look after my own.”

“Thanks.”

Savannah loved Tiffany already. They’d only been sharing the apartment for a couple of months, but Tiff had proven herself to be a great roommate, a great friend, and overall, a down-to-earth decent human being.

And after Savannah’s short stay in the city recently, she’d started to believe that there were no decent human beings down there.

“Moving on then, since you’re not going to spill. What shifts are you working this weekend? Are you going to come out? All work and no play makes Savannah …”

Savannah waited. She knew she was a dull girl, but she didn’t enjoy hearing it.

It was fair – especially when she compared herself to Tiffany.

Tiffany was a city girl to the core – from the purple tips of her bright pink hair, to her tattoos, and her don’t-give-a-shit attitude.

And as far as Savannah was concerned, she was amazing.

She was like a peacock from the city who’d come to bestow her colors on the dull birds like herself in Summer Lake.

Tiffany’s laughter broke through her thoughts.

“Don’t look like that! You look like you’re expecting a physical blow!

I wasn’t going to call you dull. I was going to say that all work and no play makes Savannah need a night out with Auntie Tiff.

You know you want to – we could have so much fun.

We can go to The Boathouse and dance, hang out with the usual crowd – and see if the weekend brought in any interesting tourists for us to play with. ”

Savannah shook her head with a smile. Tiffany certainly knew how to enjoy herself. “I don’t have my hours for the weekend yet.”

“Okay, so when you find out what free time you have, let’s make a plan to do something, you and me. We can call it roommate bonding or something.” She narrowed her eyes. “If you say no, I’ll maybe start thinking that you’re not happy with me as a roommate and …”

“Okay!!” Savannah had to laugh. “It’d be fun to hang out over the weekend, but I’ll probably be working in the evenings – maybe we can go for lunch over at the plaza or something.

” She highly doubted that she’d have a night off, so she didn’t need to worry about committing to going out to The Boathouse or anything.

Tiffany grinned at her. “You promise?”

“I promise.”

“Awesome.”

~ ~ ~

Jake reversed the tow truck to position the SUV he’d brought in just outside the shop.

He should be able to get it onto the ramp and the lift from there.

Working alone wasn’t ideal, but he’d started the business on a shoestring and hoped that, with time, he’d be able to bring in another mechanic to work with him.

Of course, Harvey managed the office for him, which was a lifesaver, and the old guy was always offering to help in the shop too, but Jake wouldn’t hear of it.

Harvey waved to him through the window from the office and got to his feet. Jake hurried to the door before he could come out into the shop.

“Hey, Jakey. Do you want me to come and …”

“I’m good, thanks.”

Harvey made a face. “Knew you’d say that – want me to get you a soda from the break room instead, then?”

“I’d love one.” Jake felt bad. He knew Harvey was capable, but he was nearly eighty – Jake just didn’t want him overdoing it.

“Don’t worry about it,” Harvey said. “I know you’re only looking out for me. I’ll meet you back here if you can spare five minutes when you’ve got that thing up on the lift.”

“Let’s do that.” They should catch up. Now that things were getting busier in the garage, Jake had less and less time to hang out in the office and chat. He felt kind of bad about it but –

Harvey grasped his shoulder on his way into the back. “You know I love catching up with you – but the point of me being here is to help carry the load with the paperwork and the like, not to add to it by having you think that you need to babysit me.”

“I don’t think that!”

Harvey chuckled. “I know, I’m only pulling your leg. Go on, get her up there.”

By the time Jake returned to the office once the SUV was up on the lift, Harvey was sitting behind the desk again with two cans of soda in front of him.

He jerked his chin toward them. “Take it with you if you want to get started working on that thing.” He made a face through the window at the SUV.

“You ever noticed that it’s always them foreign jobs that need towing in? ”

Jake smiled. Harvey was all about old-school American-made vehicles, and Jake was with him to a certain extent, but …

“Right, sorry. I forget that you’re an equal-opportunity fixer, right?”

“Something like that.”

“I won’t bang on about it, then.” Harvey winked. “I’ll keep to myself how glad I am that they break down so often, since it’ll keep you in work. Things are really picking up around here, aren’t they?”

“They are. I was just thinking that I’m going to have to bring someone in soon to …

” The way Harvey’s face fell, Jake could easily guess what he was thinking, so he hurried on.

“Another mechanic, you know? I might not have enough work to bring someone in full-time yet, but maybe on a casual basis.” He met the older man’s gaze.

“I hope you know how grateful I am that you’re helping me out with the office like this. ”

Harvey grinned. “We both know that you’re the one doing me a favor, but it’s all good. I’m glad to be here for as long as you want me, but don’t feel guilty when you’re ready to bring someone else in for the office now, will you?”

Jake shrugged. He’d have to hire someone full-time at some point, but no way was he going to promise that he wouldn’t feel guilty about it.

“Yeah, well, we’ll cross that puddle when it rains, huh? And you know, whenever you’re ready for a part-time mechanic, there’s someone who could help you out.”

“Yeah? Who’s that?” Jake was almost to the point that he wanted to at least put feelers out so that he’d have someone standing by when business picked up a little more.

Harvey winked at him again. “Who do you think? Who do we both know who’s handy with a wrench, knows all she needs to know about fixing cars – and a whole lot more besides – and who we’d both enjoy having around? She’d sure brighten the place up.”

Jake dropped his gaze. Harvey was talking about Savannah, of course.

“Still not ready to talk about it, then?” Harvey asked.

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

“Not yet maybe, but there should be – there will be – there should have been right from the start. There’s no missing how taken you are with her – and she’s the same.

I thought you young folks were supposed to move at lightning speed these days.

You and Savannah have danced around each other for longer than I ever did with my June. ”

Jake loved the way the old guy smiled whenever he mentioned his wife. From what Jake understood, she’d died a very long time ago, but it was easy to see, even now, how much Harvey loved her.

“You should give her a call. See if she’d be interested.”

Jake pursed his lips. He didn’t even need to do that – he knew she was interested. The attraction was mutual, and it had been since the first moment his Uncle Dom and Sadie had introduced them, right here at the shop, but …

When he looked at Harvey again, the old guy was wearing a knowing smile. “I meant interested in picking up some hours here when you need a second set of hands. You should call her – better still, take her out to dinner to talk about it.”

Jake had to laugh. “I bet no one’s ever accused you of being subtle, have they?”