Snow Days (The Hope Falls Series)

by Shawn, Melanie

  “Yeah.” Matt felt his wedding ring beneath his fingertips and knew exactly what Amy meant.

  A buzzing sound vibrated through the air. Matt looked around to identify what it was when he saw Amy pulling her phone from her bag.

  “Sorry, it’s my sister,” Amy apologized to him before answering the call. “Hey, Nikki, can I call you ba—” Amy gasped as her hand flew over her mouth. “I’m so sorry! I got caught up at work. I will be home in five minutes.”

  Amy disconnected the call and threw her notebook into her bag, standing and gathering her things.

  “I’m so sorry. I have to go,” she hurriedly explained.

  “Is everything okay?” Matt asked.

  “Yes, it’s fine.” She waved her hand dismissively. “I was supposed to be home already because I am dog sitting for my sister’s Chihuahua Scrappy and she’s dropping him off.”

  Amy rounded the corner of the desk just as Matt stood and she ran straight into his chest. Out of pure reflex, his hands came up and steadied her. His fingers wrapped around her thin arms and arousal shot straight to his groin. She stared up at him, and he felt a shiver run through her.

  Neither of them moved, their bodies flush against each other, eyes locked. For a moment, Matt felt like the entire world had stopped spinning. Time was standing still.

  Amy’s incredible crystal blue eyes glimmered like sunlight dancing over the ocean’s surface. He lost himself in them as a heavy sensation crashed over him in waves. The only sound in the hollow room was their labored breathing until a loud vibration resonated from her purse.

  Jumping back, Amy shook her head as she pulled the phone out of her purse. Her brows knitted and she didn’t answer it, putting it on silent and returning it to her bag. Looking back up at him, she once again reached up and touched the bridge of her nose. Then, realizing what she’d done, she laughed a little as she shrugged. “Old habits.”

  Moving around him, she quickly made her way through the desks and headed towards the door. “See you tomorrow,” she said, looking over her shoulder just before she disappeared around the corner and out the door.

  Matt’s hand lifted. “See you tomorrow.” His voice was so quiet that he wasn’t even sure if she’d heard him.

  The second she was out of sight, Matt’s entire body went numb. He stepped back until he felt the chair against his knees and he slowly lowered down into it. Once he was seated, he tried to wrap his brain around exactly what had just happened.

  Leaning forward so that his elbows were resting on his knees, he raked his fingers through his hair and took a deep breath. He was obviously attracted to Amy, that was a given. But what he felt was more than that. It was stronger than just attraction. Then it hit like a ton of bricks.

  When he was with Amy just now, he’d felt alive. Alive and…excited. He hadn’t felt either of those things since losing Jess. Immediately, guilt crept up in his chest and his hand flew to his ring.

  “Old habits,” he quietly repeated.

  Chapter Four

  As Amy pulled up in her driveway, her hands were still shaking. Her legs were still shaking. Her arms were still shaking. She was still shaking.

  Amy wanted to believe that her body’s response was due to the adrenaline that had raced through her when she’d thought she’d lost her bag and also when she’d realized she was late to meet her sister. Unfortunately she knew that neither of those things was a contributing factor to her current shaken up state.

  It was because of two words. One man. Matt Kellan.

  That was the reason she felt as if she were going to vibrate right out of her skin. She didn’t know how to handle what she was feeling. It was totally and completely foreign to her.

  Amy tried to process what had just transpired. She’d been consumed and overwhelmed by a man she’d just met. A man she was going to be working with. What did that mean?

  She did feel a little better now that she knew that he was single. But in another sense, she felt even guiltier about the way she was responding to him, knowing that he had tragically lost his wife. Who lusted after a widow?

  Her phone buzzed before she was able to answer any of the questions swimming through her head. She pulled it out of her purse and saw a text from Nikki.

  Are you coming in or what?

  Amy sighed. Nikki was by far the least patient person Amy knew. It was probably because she was the youngest of four. The baby of the family. Any time Nikki wanted anything, someone was there to get it for her.

  Grabbing her bags from the back seat and clicking the lock on her car, Amy shivered as she made her way up the steps to her condo. Before she’d reached the last one, her front door flew open.

  “Why were you just sitting out there?”

  Impatient and nosy.

  “No reason.” Amy was not going to get into this with her sister. Even though Nikki had been surprisingly supportive about the online dating, Amy was not going to confide in her what she had just experienced; it felt…personal.

  Stepping through the door and setting her bags down, Amy was almost knocked over by the man in her life, Scooby. Leaning down, she rubbed the soft hair on his head as he nuzzled against her. “How’s my man? Did you miss me?” she asked as she petted him behind his ear while Scrappy, Nikki’s Chihuahua, barked at his feet.

  After a few moments, Scooby whined and lay down on the hardwood floor, submitting to the five-pound little dictator.

  “Scooby, you don’t have to take that from him,” Nikki said, although Amy could hear the pride in her voice for her tiny dog. “Just step on him. Then let’s see if he’s still such a little badass.”

  Scooby continued to lie in the submissive position until Nikki scooped her pint-sized mutt up off the floor. Then he clumsily got up and lay on his bed beside the fireplace.

  “So what took you so long? I’ve been waiting for almost thirty minutes,” Nikki complained as she set Scrappy down and followed Amy into the kitchen.

  “I just got caught up at work.” Which was the truth. Technically. “You didn’t have to wait.” Since Nikki had a key, she’d dropped off Scrappy a ton of times when Amy hadn’t been home.

  “Um, well, I needed to talk to you,” Nikki said as she slid into the kitchen nook.

  Amy’s stomach tightened. Historically, when those words came out of her sister’s mouth, they were followed by an admission of guilt. Like the time in third grade she’d admitted to selling all of Amy’s Barbies so she could buy an outfit their mom hadn’t approved of. Or in middle school when she’d let her friends read Amy’s diary and one of them had told everyone at school who Amy had a crush on. Or in high school when Nikki was fourteen and had “borrowed” Amy’s new car—well, new used car—to go joyriding with her friends and dented the front bumper by hitting a post.

  Amy slowly turned to her sister. “What did you do?”

  “Nothing bad,” her sister declared sheepishly.

  “Nikki.” Amy’s tone was shorter than she’d meant it to be.

  “Okay!” Nikki threw up her hands. “I may have let it slip to Mom that you are online dating.”

  “What?!” Amy couldn’t believe it. Sister code clearly stated that you did not divulge personal information about your sibling’s love life to your mom. Especially their mom. Amy wanted to crawl into a hole and hide. “Why would you do that?”

  “Well, she just kept asking me when I was going to settle down. Get married. Get a real job, and she seemed, I don’t know, more upset about it than usual. I thought it would make her happy to know that one of her daughters was at least dating.”

  Amy’s eyes narrowed as she crossed her arms. “You didn’t tell her because she was upset. You just wanted to get the conversation off of you.”

  Nikki shrugged her right shoulder innocently as she picked up an orange from Amy’s fruit bowl and began peeling it. “Yeah, maybe that too.”

  Amy’s head dropped. She was never going to live this down. Why had she trusted her sister? Their mom didn’t ke
ep things to herself, so it was very likely that her dad and both brothers now knew about her dating life.

  “She seemed happy about it,” Nikki squeaked. Since she’d been a child, every time she lied her voice went high.

  Amy lifted her head back up and stared at her sister. A stare down was usually the fastest way to get the truth out of her. She couldn’t take the pressure.

  “Okay, maybe she was a little worried. And maybe a little confused why you can’t just ‘meet a nice boy like a normal person.’”

  Yep, there it is.

  “What exactly did you tell her?” Amy needed to know specifics if she had a shot at damage control.

  Nikki’s eyes widened innocently as she explained. “I just said that you had gone on a few dates lately. She, of course, being Mom, asked with who. I told her that it was no one she knew. She asked how would I know who she knows.” Nikki’s hands turned up as she tilted her head. “But come on, you and I both know that we know everyone Mom and Dad do—”

  “Nikki.” Amy knew that her sister could shoot off like a rocket on a serious tangent if she didn’t keep this conversation on course.

  “Right, okay. So then I said that they weren’t local. She asked then how you are meeting them. I said that you were meeting them online. See? What else was I supposed to say?”

  Nikki always had a way of twisting situations around so that she came out innocent. Most the time, Amy let her off the hook. This wasn’t going to be one of those times. “You were supposed to not say anything about me or my dating in the first place.”

  “Well yeah, but once I did, I really had no option but to tell her where you were meeting the guys,” Nikki explained. Once again, trying to direct the blame anywhere except where it belonged. On her!

  Amy sighed, resigning herself to the fact that Nikki had spilled the beans and Amy would have to be the one to pick each one up off the floor and put them back if she wanted to have any privacy at all. Which she did.

  “So that is all that was said?” Amy questioned. Nikki sometimes had a way of leaving out important details or pieces of information if it would at all cast her in a poor or disparaging light.

  “Well…” Nikki paused as if trying to decide how much she would be sharing with Amy.

  “You know I will just find out from Mom anyway, so you might as well just tell me.”

  “True, but I will be in another country by then.” Her sister smiled broadly.

  “Nikki.” Amy’s tone was a warning—a warning of what, Amy had no idea, but a warning nonetheless.

  “Fine. I may have told her a few details about your last date and the fact that he not only admitted to banging the babysitter but also that he was proud of it,” Nikki said rapidly, as if she were ripping off a verbal Band-Aid.

  Amy leaned her elbows on the counter and placed her hands over her face. Why had she told her sister anything? Why?

  Rubbing her face with her hands and exhaling loudly, Amy asked, “So should I just assume that Mom basically knows everything I told you?”

  “I think that would be a fair assumption. Yes.” Nikki nodded her head as she got up from the kitchen nook. “I better get going. I have to be up in a few hours.” Nikki stepped beside Amy, giving her a hug and kissing her on the cheek. “Love you, sissy!”

  Amy hugged her back. “Love you too.”

  Nikki picked up Scrappy, who had fallen asleep on the checkered cushion that sat on the breakfast nook bench. “Be a good boy for Auntie Amy.” After kissing his little head, Nikki laid him back down on his favorite napping spot and headed for the door.

  “Thanks again for watching my little guy, Ames. And don’t worry. I don’t even think Mom will bring it up to you. I told her not to tell you that I said anything. I swore her to secrecy!” Nikki yelled as she shut the front door.

  Right, like secrecy had ever stopped their mother before. If anything, that would probably encourage her to talk about it more. Great.

  Amy looked up to see Scrappy circling “his spot” several times before plopping down. She also noticed the orange peels sitting on the table top. Nikki had an uncanny ability to show up, make a mess, and then just take off, leaving Amy to clean it up.

  Figuratively and literally.

  Chapter Five

  Matt sat at the window table in Sue Ann's Café, gazing out at the street that he was in such a perfect position to view and marveling at the quaint charm of it. He took in the deep forest green color of the pine trees that dotted not only the close-up landscape but also the majestically rising mountains behind it, and he enjoyed the pops of brilliant reds and yellows that adorned the occasional aspen tree rising up in the sea of pines.

  He appreciated the way the wooden sidewalks on the main street seemed to be of another era. He was also struck by the joyful expressions on the faces of the bundled-up people who were bustling by the window, headed off to do some errand or another in Hope Falls' small but busy downtown area.

  He sighed contentedly. People seemed so happy here, so at home. He missed that feeling. The feeling of home, of belonging. Phoenix no longer held that feeling for him. Maybe one day Hope Falls would.

  Matt looked across the table at his lunch companion, Uncle Henry. He smiled. This was certainly where Uncle Henry felt at home. He’d been holding shop since they’d gotten here. In fact, Henry's popularity was what had given Matt the opportunity to gaze out the window and ruminate on his surroundings—yet another person had come up to Henry and Matt's table, excited to see Henry and eager to talk something over with him. And Henry had graciously obliged.

  Of course, Henry had introduced Matt to every friendly resident who had come up to them in Sue Ann's, and they had all greeted him graciously enough. But it was clear that it was their dear Mayor Walker they really wanted to talk to. Matt totally got it. His uncle was a great guy and the town was as lucky to have him as their mayor—just as Matt was to have him as his uncle.

  “All right, then, Maybelle. You just call City Hall and have Angela put it on my calendar. I see where you're coming from, and I'm gonna help. We'll figure it out together,” Matt heard Henry saying in a firm but comforting tone of voice, and he tuned back into the conversation. It seemed like whatever this lady—Maybelle—had wanted to discuss was nearly finished.

  “Oh, thank you, Mayor Walker! You don't know what this means,” Maybelle gushed as she bid the two of them farewell.

  Matt grinned at his uncle as soon as she was gone.

  “Man, Uncle Henry, you sure are one popular guy. I can't believe the girls and I used to actually worry about you up here in the mountains all alone. Now I can see you were anything but.”

  Henry looked around the café, clearly feeling affection for all of the townspeople. “Well, yes, it's true that I've been blessed to be part of a community that loves me. It's important to be loved, you know.”

  Henry winked at Matt, and Matt, certain that it was a pointed gesture, shook his head. He was actually a little disappointed. “Seriously, Uncle Henry. Not you too. Please tell me that you're not going to join the let’s-set-up-Matt bandwagon.”

  Henry raised his eyebrows innocently. “Wouldn't dream of it, boy. Now, if you happened to find a nice lady to settle down with, I certainly wouldn't object.”

  Matt opened his mouth to respond, but at that moment, someone else came up to their small table in Sue Ann's. The grandmotherly woman smiled at both of them warmly as she refilled their coffee cups. “Hello, Henry,” she said cheerfully. “I certainly hope the two of you are enjoying your meal.”

  Henry smiled back at her just as cheerfully, “Well, now, if this isn't a pleasure. We have the very owner of this fine establishment waiting on us. Sue Ann, I'd like to introduce you to my nephew, Matt. He's gonna be teaching history over at the high school. Matt, this is Sue Ann Perkins.”

  Matt shook Sue Ann's hand, and she smiled happily. “Well, now, isn't this just perfect!” she said effusively. “You have to meet my grandson. There aren't that many young people i
n Hope Falls, and those who are here should stick together!”

  Matt found it amusing that people here thought thirty was young.

  She looked around the dining area, muttering, “Hmmm... Now where is that boy?” When she spotted him, she called, “Ryan? Justin? Come on over here and meet someone.”

  Matt was surprised when two relatively normal-looking guys walked over. Matt had assumed that the grandson would be completely socially awkward if his grandmother was trying to round up new friends for him—but that didn't seem to be the case at all. In fact, these guys reminded Matt of guys he’d gone to high school with.

  This “meet and greet” was just another example of how different things were up here. The people here were just so much more open and friendly and welcoming than in any place Matt had ever been, and although it was certainly taking some getting used to on his part, he had to admit it was growing on him.

  As the two guys drew even with the table, Sue Ann clapped one of them on the shoulder and said, “Boys, this is Henry's nephew, Matt. Matt, this is my grandson, Ryan, and his friend, Justin.”

  “And,” Henry interjected, a look of pride on his face, “while we're at it, Justin's new wife is my goddaughter, Amanda.”

  Yep, Matt reflected with a smile. Definitely a small town!

  “Hey, nice to meet you, man,” Ryan said, shaking Matt's hand.

  Justin echoed the sentiment, and the gesture, and then added, “Hey, you don't play basketball by any chance, do you?”

  Matt was puzzled by the abrupt non sequitur but decided to just roll with it. “Yeah,” he answered semi-confidently. He hadn’t played in years, but he used to be a fairly good player.

  “Great,” Justin grinned. “That's perfect. Ryan and I usually play two-on-two over at the Rec Center gym with a couple of guys, but my teammate here”—he gestured at Ryan good-naturedly with his thumb—“just bailed for the next month. Thursday nights at eight. You in?”

  “Sounds good,” Matt agreed, and it did. Aside from Henry, the majority of the people he had interacted with had been other teachers from the high school. With the teaching profession being what it was, that meant it was mostly women—and women in their fifties, at that. Except Amy. She was definitely not in her fifties.