They passed the elementary school and she noticed the parking lot was empty. “No school today?” It was Thursday, and not a formal holiday that she was aware of. She wasn’t scheduled to begin her new position until Monday, but she would have enjoyed popping in to observe her new students unawares.
“No. They cancelled it late yesterday afternoon. You’ll find that happens quite often around here. The school year is built around a four-day school week, so during the months of August and September, the kids go five days a week, allowing for some extra snow days during the months of October through March.”
“March! When exactly does the snow begin to melt around here?” she asked, trying to imagine living in snow for more than six months of each year.
“You look completely shocked,” he commented with a soft chuckle. “It will be snowing around here until March. Maybe the first part of April. You’ll get used to it, but by the time spring arrives, you’ll be ready for it and summer to arrive.”
“I’m not prepared for that much snow.”
“How about we stop by the clothing store first then?” Justin suggested.
“I think that would be a very good idea.” Jessica looked down at the borrowed, too-big coat, her one pair of jeans, her tennis shoes, and was glad that for the first time since her grandmother’s death, she would have something to spend the money on that was left over from the sale of her grandmother’s house. She would be able to buy whatever she needed, and for the first time ever, she wouldn’t have to look at the price tags, or run a quick total in her head before approaching the checkout counter. She would be able to shop without worry, knowing that when the clerk rang up her purchases, she could simply write a check and know the funds were available.
Chapter 11
Chloe’s General Store was much more than Jessica had hoped for. Justin escorted her inside the large building, waving to a dark-haired woman with glasses who stood behind the checkout counter. The woman was stunning in an almost ethereal way, and Jessica found that talking to the woman was easier than anything she’d ever done.
“Morning, Chloe.”
“Hey, Justin! What brings you down the mountain this morning? Who’s that with you?” The woman came out from behind the counter and Jessica watched as she waddled towards them. She was as big as a house with her pregnancy, and looked ready to deliver at any time.
“This is Jessica Andrews. Jessica, this vision is Chloe Taylor. Her husband Scott is the fire chief around here. Jessica is the new elementary teacher.”
Chloe reached for Jessica’s hand. “Hi! Welcome to town. We’re so glad you’re here. My mother has been tearing her hair out, literally. She’ll be so relieved to have you here next week.”
Jessica thought she was following the connection between Chloe and her mother, but she asked for clarification anyway. “Your mother is?”
“Shelly Downs. She’s the school principal, and substitute teacher for the last three weeks.”
Jessica nodded her head. “Do you mind me asking, what happened to the previous teacher?”
Chloe read her unspoken concern and smiled. “Nothing like you’re thinking. Deidre moved to Colorado Springs to be with her husband. He’s returning from Afghanistan on the thirtieth, and will be stationed there for the next two years of his life. “
“Well, I guess I’m happy that she gets to be with her husband, but I can imagine she was very sad to be leaving her small charges. I know how I felt leaving my classroom.”
Chloe put her hands on her stomach and smiled. “This is our first child, but I already feel so connected to him. Do you have any children?”
“No,” Jessica told her. She held up her left hand. “No husband. I’m probably a little old-fashioned in that way, but I truly believe a child needs two parents whenever possible.”
“I agree with you.” Chloe looked her up and down and then smiled. “You’re here for some more appropriate clothing?”
“What was your first clue?” Jessica asked with a welcoming smile. The instant connection she felt to this woman was amazing. Jessica had never been able to communicate with someone she’d just met – not like she was communicating with the lovely Chloe. After Jason’s betrayal, she’d distanced herself from everyone, not trusting herself to be a good judge of character any longer. Maybe these people will be different.
“The shoes were a dead giveaway. Come with me and we’ll get you all fixed up.” She looked at Justin. “She’s in good hands if you have some other things to do.”
Justin shook his head and held up his hands. “I get the message. I’ll be over at the garage when you’re through here.”
“The garage?” Jessica asked, feeling a little nervous about him leaving her here by herself.
“Down the block on the corner. You can’t miss it.”
“Don’t worry none. I’ll make sure she gets there. Now, get out of here and let us get to work.” Chloe shooed him away and then headed for the back of her store. “Come on back here. That’s a nice coat, but a little big on you.”
“Justin lent it to me. I guess I didn’t really think my move through. I really didn’t expect snow this soon.” The more Jessica tried to defend coming to Colorado so unprepared, the more embarrassed she became.
Chloe saw that and hugged her with one arm. “Don’t beat yourself up about it. It’s not like they have much snow in Arizona. How about some hot chocolate?”
“To tell you the truth, before yesterday I’d never seen snow, let alone driven in it. It was really scary out there on the highway. I don’t know how I’ll ever repay Justin and his brothers for coming to find me. And I’d love some hot chocolate.”
Chloe smiled. “That’s what the Donnelly brothers do. Rescue people. Have you met the other two yet?”
Jessica shook her head as Chloe led her back to a small break room. “Just Kaillar. The other brother spent the night someplace called Frisco?”
She turned the electric tea kettle on and then handed Jessica a cup and a hot chocolate packet. “Sorry it’s not homemade, but with the baby coming, and the holidays, who has time for things like that?”
“When are you due?” Jessica asked, stirring the powder into the hot water that had just been added to her cup.
“In four weeks! I can’t believe it. Scott and I still have so much to do, and now with the weather getting bad, I don’t know if we’re going to get everything done.” Chloe started pulling clothing off the hangars and dumping it into her arms.
“So, where exactly is Frisco?” Jessica, having meant to ask Justin earlier, but he wasn’t around anymore.
“On the other side of the pass. Frisco’s the closest place with a good-sized medical clinic and helicopter service into Denver or back to Junction. Of course there’s always Vail, but most normal people avoid going there if they can. Too expensive and everyone seems to have their nose permanently fixed in the air.”
“Snobs?” Jessica asked, trying to see Chloe above the mountain of clothes currently in her arms.
“The worst. Okay, that should give you a good start. If you’ll just turn around, I’ll open up the dressing room and you can get started. Toss out anything you want to keep, and just leave the rest on the hangar inside the cubicle.”
“Chloe, how many clothes do you think I need?” Jessica asked as she dumped the pile of clothing onto the wooden bench inside the changing room.
“Well, you’ll be teaching four days per week, and then there’s outside activities, and church and…”
“No church. I don’t attend.”
Chloe looked at her. “What? But I thought I read somewhere that your parents were missionaries?” She was very confused, and didn’t try to hide it.
Jessica swallowed. “Where did you read that?”
“The school board held a public meeting before they offered you the job. Your resume and bio was read by practically everyone in town.”
Jessica sighed; she hadn’t counted on t
hat. She was trying to make a new start, and while she had accomplished her task of getting away from Jason, it seemed that her upbringing was now going to be the problem.
“My parents’ viewpoints on religion aren’t necessarily mine.” Jessica pretended not to see the look of horror and then pity that crossed Chloe’s face. Since becoming an adult, she’d done everything possible to ignore her heritage. Turning her thoughts to her reason for being in this store, she quickly tried on the clothing Chloe had piled into her arms and after half an hour, she’d found two pairs of jeans, some corduroy pants, three sweaters, and several turtle necks to wear beneath them.
When she emerged Chloe was beaming at her and had a selection of boots for her to try on. She had also located a sheepskin coat, very similar to the one that Justin had lent her, but this time the sleeves were just the right length, and as she tried it on, she couldn’t help but enjoy the way the coat seemed to wrap her in comfort, giving her a sense of safety. It’s just a coat, Jess. Easy there.
“So, I’ll start ringing this up for you, shall I?” Chloe asked.
Jessica smiled and then nodded. “I’m not sure how to get all of this stuff…”
Chloe grinned. “Don’t worry about it. We’re actually going to be neighbors. We live right next to the Williams house.”
“Really? That’s wonderful. So, Justin told me your husband is a fireman?”
“Scott is sort of the head fireman in town. Not that we have a lot of house fires in town, but he and his crew are also trained forest fighters. With the recent beetle kill of the pine trees, the threat of a major fire disaster seems closer every year.”
“It sounds like I have a lot to learn about Colorado. And here I was worried about teaching.” Jessica laughed at herself and when Chloe joined in, she looked at the woman and knew they were going to be good friends.
Chapter 12
Four hours later, Jessica was getting out of Justin’s tracker and looking in awe at what would be her new home for the next two years. The house was huge and magnificent, and looked so inviting and charming that Jessica couldn’t believe she was going to be living there!
“Wow! How many people lived here?” Jessica asked Justin as he took her elbow and steadied her up the front walk. Someone had shoveled the snow off the concrete, and she was wearing her new snow boots, but she wasn’t used to walking on icy surfaces and was still slipping around a bit.
“Easy! Jeff had four sisters and then their parents and his maternal grandmother all lived here.”
“Eight people? No wonder the house is so huge. I can’t possibly need this much space!”
Justin smiled at her as they reached the front door. “My suggestion is to pick out the rooms you want to use, and then close off the rest.” He opened the door and gestured with his hand for her to precede him inside.
Jessica stomped the snow from her boots and stepped inside. The lights inside flared to life and she looked around at a beautifully decorated room. A large fireplace stood along the left wall and overstuffed couches sat across from each other in front of it, with several blankets and pillows tossed carelessly here and there.
Beyond that, she could see a large wooden table with benches instead of chairs, and she could already see herself cutting out bulletin board decorations on the large surface. The wooden floors showed years of wear, and the braided throw rugs reminded her of growing up with her grandmother.
“This place is lovely,” she told Justin. She removed her coat and then her snow boots before venturing further into the room.
“There are three bedrooms downstairs. One of them is the suite that Jeff’s grandmother used. It has a full bathroom and a walk-in closet.”
“It sounds like I could easily live on the ground floor and never go upstairs.”
Justin grinned. “Probably. Want to go take a look around first before you make your decision?”
Jessica smiled and nodded. She felt like a kid in a toy store. She’d never really had much choice when it came to where she was going to live. Her grandmother’s house had been older with only one extra bedroom. Then she’d gone off to college and lived in the dorms.
During the two years she’d been out of college, she’d lived in a small studio walk-up a few blocks away from the college. Part of her graduate program was working part-time in a local elementary school. The extra income had enabled her to afford the extra cost, but it had been worth it to be away from the social atmosphere of the college campus.
She hadn’t worried about how small the apartment had been because she’d spent so much of her time with Jason. He was actually from a town four hours away, but he’d only gone home every other week. He lived in a rented condo with plenty of room, and even though he’d tried to get her to move in with him, she’d maintained that she liked knowing she had her own space to retreat to.
That had been her best decision in the long run. One morning she’d come back from a teacher in-service to find a strange car parked outside his condo. She’d been expecting to see one of his friends from college had come to visit, or maybe his parents were visiting. She hadn’t had a chance to meet them yet, but Jason had promised to make that a reality soon.
He’d not been in the living portion of the house, so she’d wrongly assumed that he’d left with his visitor. She’d headed into the master bedroom, intending to gather up the laundry and take advantage of a few hours off. But when she’d stepped inside, she’d immediately realized her mistake.
Jason had indeed been home, as had his visitor: a gorgeous redhead, with a body that models would die for, was sitting in the bed, straddling Jason’s hips, and in the process of removing her clothing. A woman who had a very large diamond on her ring finger: Jason’s fiancée!
She shook her head, trying to dispel the memories because they served no purpose except to remind her that she really shouldn’t trust her own judgment. She’d trusted Jason and look what had happened. She been dating him for almost three years, and the entire time he’d been engaged to the redhead back home. The entire time!
She’d been humiliated more than heartbroken, and it disturbed her sense of self-confidence. In truth, getting used to being alone had been easier than dealing with the fact that Jacob had lied to her and she’d believed him!
“You okay there?” a voice behind her right shoulder asked.
She turned her head and nodded. “Sorry, I guess I was daydreaming.”
Justin smiled at her. “Anything you want to talk about?”
Talk about? With you? Oh, no way! There is no way I want to demonstrate how stupid I was by talking with you about Jason! That is so not going to happen! Jessica hid her disquiet behind a shake of her head. “No, thanks, but I’d rather take a look around.”
“Sure thing. Let’s start upstairs.”
Jessica nodded and climbed the narrow staircase, reinforcing in her mind that living downstairs was going to be her preference. The upstairs rooms were lovely, but the thought of climbing that staircase multiple times a day wasn’t at all appealing.
“Ready to go see the downstairs?” Justin asked.
“Yes. I think I’ll close these rooms up now. I would much rather live downstairs.”
“Okay,” Justin agreed, helping her turn the heat down and close the doors to the hallway.
“Why did you only turn the heat down instead of off?” Jessica asked as they descended the staircase.
“You don’t want the water pipes to freeze. It’s okay to turn the heat down, but you need to keep all areas of the house above freezing or you’ll be waking up to broken pipes.”
Jessica sighed. “Wonderful. Another perk of living in Colorado.”
Justin laughed and started down the hallway. “You’ll get used to the way we do things here sooner or later.”
They finished their perusal of the downstairs, and Jessica fell in love with the large canopy bed, which occupied the mother-in-law suite on the main floor. “This is perfect for me,�
�� she told him.
He started to say something, but the front doorbell peeled through the house. “Want me to see who that is?”
Jessica nodded and followed behind him as they went to answer the door.
Justin pulled the door open to see Pastor Jeremy standing there, a large baking dish in his hands. “Hey! We were just getting ready to head your direction.”
Jeremy stepped inside as Justin stepped back. “Don’t bother. Both twins had pinkeye. Lacy just got back from Doc’s with them. They’re under quarantine until Monday, so she sent dinner over here.”
He glanced around Justin and smiled. “Hi. I’m Jeremy Phillips, the pastor of Silver Springs Community Church. And the twins I mentioned will no doubt be your biggest challenge.”
Jessica smiled. “I’ve found that big challenges also come with big rewards.”
Jeremy smiled and then turned to Justin. “I like her optimism. I almost hate for her to meet Peter and James and dispel the myth.”
Jessica laughed. “I’m sure we’ll get along very well. But thank you for the heads up about the pinkeye. I’ll have to check with the janitor and see that the room is disinfected prior to Monday’s class. I’ve seen it spread through an entire classroom in just a few days.”
“Well, Doc already contacted Shelley and I’m sure she’s already got a handle on what needs to happen. Where can I set this down?”
Jessica led the way back to the kitchen and then listened in for several minutes as Justin and Jeremy spoke about a basketball team and several other items of business. The rapport the two had was amazing, considering one of them was a pastor. He seemed so down to earth, and unlike the pastor she’d grown up knowing, he didn’t come off as holier than thou or self-righteous. It was almost enough to have her second-guessing her decision to steer clear of the local church crowd. Almost.
Three Brothers Lodge - The Complete Series Box Set Page 6
