by T. Thomas
For Riley, my reason for everything that I do.
For every reader who shares the same love of Autumn that I do.
OTHER BOOKS BY T. THOMAS
Website:
https://www.thomastbooks.webador.com
©January 2022. T. Thomas. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Interior Design: Tiff Writes Romance
Cover Design: Tiff Writes Romance
Editing: Tiff Writes Romance
Proofreading: Kimberly Peterson, Taylor Jade
It was a beautiful sight.
Max sat dutifully at my side, my hand resting on the top of his head as I stared at the mountains in front of me.
After my mother passed away two months ago, finally losing her battle against ovarian cancer, I packed two duffel bags of clothes, loaded Max up into my SUV, and took off on a trip across the country, living off the money I had saved for college.
I never wanted to go back to that town. It held so many memories of my mother. And yeah, memories could be great, but for me, they were heartbreaking.
They were a sore reminder that my mother had been taken away from me too soon.
At twenty-three, I’d been left to my own defenses, left to figure out how to navigate life without my mom. She’d been my rock, my confidante.
And now that she was no longer here with me, I suddenly found that the life I had planned suddenly didn’t feel like the life for me.
I didn’t want to go to college. I didn’t want to teach math to students anymore. All of the hard work I’d done to save up money so I wouldn’t have to pull out student loans was all a waste.
I’d instead used all of that money to live out of my car and to travel across the United States, visiting all of the places my mother had expressed to me she wished she’d had the chance to visit.
So, as I drove, in each place, I sprinkled a little bit of her ashes so she could finally visit every place on her bucket list. And I only hoped that she was smiling down at me from wherever she was at now.
I lightly scratched behind Max’s ear, heaving a heavy sigh. “I like it here, boy,” I quietly told him. “What about you?”
He just thumped his tail on the ground. Tears blurred my eyes as I thought of my mother – thought about how much she would have loved this place. She always talked about one day seeing the mountains and breathing in the fresh, crisp air of a true autumn season.
Max bumped his nose with my chin just as he’d been trained to do when he could sense my anxiety levels rising.
The last place I had stopped was a small town, smaller than where I’d grown up. I’d driven through here during the night and slept in a small B&B. When I’d woken up to make myself a cup of coffee this morning, I’d been blown away by the view of the mountains.
It was stunning – the kind of view you wouldn’t find anywhere else.
“I want to stay,” I said softly. I looked down at Max. It would do him good to be here, too. The field we were sitting in was filled with brown, dying grass, the leaves around us tinted with golds, oranges, yellows, and reds. I could see snow on the top of the mountains in the distance.
It was so beautiful.
“Come on, boy,” I said, walking back towards the SUV. I needed to find somewhere to stay, and then, I needed to figure out what in the world I was going to do here for work.
I was slowly driving through town when I saw it: the for-rent sign in the window of a small store squished between a restaurant and a bakery.
I quickly pulled over and parked, getting out of my car, Max following just as he always did. I wiped the dusty window with the sleeve of my hoodie so I could better read the sign.
Six hundred a month. To get the small, studio apartment above with it, it would be nine hundred a month.
It would barely make a dent in the money I’d been left by my mother.
With a small smile crossing my lips, I pulled my phone out of my back pocket and dialed the number on the paper in the window.
I believe I’d just found our new home.
Opening day.
Today was the day I finally owned my bookstore-slash-coffee shop: Warm Comforts. Shockingly, there wasn’t a coffee shop in town before today. Everyone either snagged coffee at the bakery, or they got a coffee from the restaurant.
I would finally be the place people could get a variety of coffee. I had a teenage girl in her junior year of high school working the book counter after school, and during the day, Mrs. Eldana, a sweet woman in her mid-sixties would work the counter.
Much like me, she’d just lost someone dear to her. Her husband had passed a month ago, and she was looking to do something to pass her time. And since I allowed her to knit between customers, she was very excited to work for me.
“Good morning, Mrs. Eldana,” I greeted with a smile as I unlocked the front door to the shop, letting her in. “You look lovely this morning.”
She was wearing a pair of tan slacks with a white blouse, a very flattering, knitted shawl over her shoulders.
“It’s beginning to get chilly in the morning times,” she said as she passed me, carrying her small basket towards the counter. I set a steaming mug of hot chocolate in front of her, my smile still on my face. “Oh, honey, you’re a godsend. Thank you.”
“My pleasure, Mrs. Eldana.” I patted the counter. “If you need me, I’ll be somewhere in this building. Just page me.”
She waved me off. “I know everyone in this town, dear. I can handle it.”
I gently squeezed her hand before I walked off, Max trailing at my side as I moved to go arrange my book display for the day, featuring the latest smutty romance novels from TikTok. Every day, these would change, whether it was for different genres, new, budding indie authors, or well-known, traditionally published authors.
I wanted my customers to have a variety to choose from, and I wanted the opportunity to support every type of author that I could.
I was adjusting the last book on my shelf when a tattooed hand shot out and grabbed the book. The veins in the man’s hand stood out, a clear sign he did some kind of manual labor or he worked out a lot.
Swallowing nervously, I jerked back. Max placed himself between me and the man in front of me. He was wearing a police uniform, and it fit him perfectly. Every part of his body was showcased in his uniform, the muscles in his arms bulging, his tattoos revealed by the rolled-up sleeves.
I slowly raised my eyes to look at his face, and my breath caught in my throat.
Was it possible for a man to be beautiful? Because this man was sinfully beautiful.
He had been carved by a god.
His jawline was sharp and angular, his cheekbones high in his face. A light stubble dusted his jaw, casting his face with an alluring shadow. His blue eyes were framed by dark lashes, and hair just as dark as his lashes curled over his forehead, cropped closely on the sides.
He flashed me a wicked grin. “I don’t believe we’ve met,” he said, his deep voice sliding around me.
“I, um – Meredith,” I finally blurted. “My name is Meredith. I’m new to town.”
&nb
sp; His grin widened, and my heart skipped a beat in my chest in response. “So, I gathered,” he teased. “I grew up here, so I basically know everyone.” He glanced down at the book in his hands, releasing a low whistle at the erotically entwined couple on the front. My cheeks heated. “My sister is going to love this place.”
“Your sister likes erotica?”
He laughed. “Likes?” he asked, placing the book back down exactly how I’d had it. Major pointers for him for that. “She loves these kinds of books. She’s a hopeless romantic.” He held his hand out to me. Max pressed against my legs, growling softly in warning to the stranger. He instantly dropped his hand with an understanding smile. Max relaxed. “I’m Chase – the sheriff in town. I heard you’d opened a coffee shop in this place, and I had to come. I’m a coffee addict.”
Familiar territory. I was now on familiar territory.
“You do?” I questioned. “I have a large variety.” I led him over to the little coffee shop area. Max stayed at my side, a constant reminder I was safe and okay. “Tell me what you like, and I can whip something up for you – free of charge for your first cup.” I turned and smiled at him, breathing easier now that a counter sat between us.
He shook his head. “Nah; I’ll pay. You got something with a hint of cinnamon but also with some caramel? I want it hot.”
I nodded and quickly got to work on his coffee. He walked around the small coffee area, taking everything in as he waited. It was actually slightly comfortable being in the small area with just him, which shocked me.
The reason I had Max was because men made me extremely wary and nervous, and ninety percent of the time, they caused minor anxiety attacks. I knew that not all men were monsters, but I had a bad enough experience with one that made me wary of them all.
But there was something about Chase that put me at ease.
“Your coffee,” I announced, setting the steaming to-go cup on the counter.
“How much do I owe you?” he asked me.
I shook my head, watching as his tattooed hand wrapped around the cup. He inhaled, and a low, throaty hum sounded from his throat. “You don’t owe me anything,” I told him, hating that I sounded somewhat breathless.
He cast me a smile. “Tell you what, since you won’t let me pay, at least let me take you to dinner. What do you say?”
My throat closed up. Max released a low whine and pushed himself against my legs. Chase smiled at me. “I’m harmless, Meredith,” he tried assuring me. “If you agree to dinner, we’ll have it next door at a table instead of a booth so you feel more comfortable. I like you, and you’re a gorgeous woman.”
“Dinner?” I asked softly. “Just dinner, right?”
He nodded at me, understanding in his eyes. It almost undid me. “Just dinner, Meredith.”
I drew in a deep breath. I’d come here for a fresh start, away from the memories – all of the memories.
Swallowing thickly all while I dug my fingers into Max’s fur, I nodded. “Dinner sounds great,” I said quietly.
That grin spread his lips again, making my heart skip a beat in my chest. “Meet me next door at six?” he asked.
I nodded. He smiled at me and took a sip of the coffee as he turned on his heel. “By the way,” he called over his shoulder, “I’ll be spreading word about your coffee. I’ve never tasted anything this great.”
I laughed, unable to help myself. He shot me a wink over his shoulder before he slipped out of the door, heading to a dark blue truck that was parked at the curb.
“Jamie, I’m heading out for my dinner break. If you need me, I’m right next door, and I have my cell phone,” I told her, waving my phone in the air to show her.
She smiled at me. Jamie was a red-haired girl with freckles across her face, and currently, she had her nose stuck in a book. She promised me it would be a slow time of day considering everyone around here had a routine, and this was everyone’s dinner time, so I should have enough time to go grab dinner with Chase and come back in time to do all of my closing procedures.
Max trailed at my side as I left the building, keeping close to me to keep strangers away. Chase was getting out of his truck when I turned, and the smile he shot me nearly brought me to my knees.
Was it normal for a man to affect me like this?
“You look great,” Chase said with a smile as he walked up to me, respectfully keeping his distance.
I laughed a little at his charm. “I’m literally wearing the same exact thing I was wearing when you met me earlier,” I teased.
He shrugged. “Yeah, but you didn’t have a bit of sugar on your shirt.”
My cheeks burned in mortification as I looked down at my shirt. Sure enough, I had a little bit of powdered sugar on my shirt. “Oh, jeez,” I whispered, my face so hot it was radiating down my neck. “Can we pretend that’s not there?” I sheepishly asked.
Chase laughed and held open the door to the restaurant, giving me space to slip by him with Max between us. “I’ll do my best,” he teased, “but I can’t make any promises, especially when you smell like coffee.”
Oh, my God.
Mrs. Margaret looked up from the counter where she was cashing out the tips for one of her waitresses, and she beamed at me. “Oh, Meredith! How has the first day been?”
I smiled warmly at her, only tensing a little as she came around the counter to wrap me in a warm hug, though Max stayed between us. “It’s been great so far,” I told her, and it really had been. Chase had done exactly as he said he would, and I’ve had everyone in town coming to get coffee on their lunch breaks, chatting with me as they did so.
You learned a lot in a small town. You found out who had a fight with their husband and who was dating who. You found out that grouchy Mr. Greene was actually very pleasant when his coffee was made perfectly and you threw in a small, free powdered donut with it to brighten his day.
I loved it here so far, and this small town still had yet to disappoint me.
“I’ve learned that just about everyone in this town gossips,” I told her with a laugh.
She smiled widely. “Oh, hun, yes, we do,” she told me, not even trying to deny it. “And just know, the gossip mill will be running wild when they hear about you capturing our town sheriff’s attention so quickly.”
“Nana, please stop giving her a hard time,” Chase pleaded from behind me.
I looked up at him wide-eyed. He shrugged. “Yes, Mrs. Margaret is my grandmother,” he informed me. “I’m related to just about half the town.” He leaned over and pressed a kiss to the top of his grandmother’s head. “Peach cobbler tonight?” he asked her.
She swatted him with her towel, which made me giggle. “Don’t I always have peach cobbler, boy? It’s a wonder you don’t weigh a ton,” she scolded.
He flexed his biceps. My cheeks flamed, unable to help myself as I watched. He flashed me a knowing grin. “Gym keeps me in shape, Nana.” He moved around her. “Come on; let’s go sit before she keeps your attention all evening.”
Mrs. Margaret squeezed my shoulder before going back behind the counter. I followed Chase to a table near the back of the restaurant. Max squeezed himself beneath the table between my legs.
“No one has ever given you problems about bringing him into places with you, have they?” Chase suddenly asked me.
I shook my head. “Only once, but I always carry his papers with me,” I explained. “The issue was quickly resolved.”
Chase nodded. “Don’t tell anyone I told you this, but every once in a while, Nana will bring her Rottweiler to work with her. Daisy is a massive dog, and she can be a bit mean, but she makes Nana feel safe, especially when she has to open this place by herself in the mornings.”
I frowned, a chill crawling up my spine, suddenly making me cold. “I thought this was a pretty safe town?” I questioned, not trying to sound alarmed and freaked out.
Chase flashed me an easy-going smile. “It is, sweetheart,” oh dear, the pet names, “but crime can pop up anyw
here, even a small town like this.”
I knew that better than anyone. Your neighbor who had always been kind to you and your mother could one day turn out to be the number one person you had to fear.
I brushed that thought away, focusing back on Chase, determined to enjoy this dinner with him despite my fears of getting close to anyone ever again.
“What made you settle down here?” Chase asked me.
I shrugged. “I lost my mother to cancer,” I told him quietly, a pang hitting my chest as I mentioned her.
Chase’s smile fell from his lips immediately. “I’m sorry to hear that,” he said softly. He reached out to touch my hand, but thought better of it, pulling it back again. “That must have been hard.”
