Snow Angel (The Hope Falls Chronicles) (11 page)

Great. Just what I need.

Jake walked with a confident stride that Eric felt was borderline cocky but his little brother said worked

for him.

“Hello, beautiful. I’m Jake.” His brother reached out and held Lily’s hand. “I didn’t get a chance to

introduce myself at the wedding since you vanished after Twinkle Toes over here scared you off the dance

floor.”

“Oh no…he didn’t…I mean,” Lily stammered. “I just wasn’t feeling well.”

“You don’t have to lie to me, gorgeous.” Jake threw an arm around Lily’s shoulder as if they were old

friends and leaned down, whispering loudly as he winked, “I know he’s a terrible dancer. Did he step on

your feet? You can tell me.”

Lily laughed, and Eric realized that was the second time today he’d heard her do that. He liked her

laugh. It was sexy and had a melodic tone to it. Just like her, it was
real
.

“No, he didn’t. Eric’s a good dancer,” Lily defended, and even though they were all just kidding

around, her statement made him want to puff out his chest and beat on it like Tarzan.

Jake shook his head and pulled her even closer. “Now I know you’re lying.”

“Stop it. Be nice,” Lily chuckled as she playfully swatted Jake’s arm and pulled away from him.

Shadow must have taken her movement as a defensive one because he jumped between Lily and Jake,

barking at his brother as he sat in front of Lily protectively.

“Whoa, Shadow. We were just playing,” Jake assured the dog and began to move closer to Lily again.

Shadow barked once more, this time sounding like he meant business. Lily’s eyes widened with

amusement and her mouth opened in surprise as she once again began to laugh.

Jake threw up his hands in surrender. “Damn, Shadow. I see how it is.”

“Oh, is that my good boy protecting me?” Lily asked in a voice he’d heard women talk to babies in as

she scratched behind Shadow’s ear.

Shadow barked in answer to her question as he flopped down in front of her and rolled over on his

back so she could scratch his belly.

“Aww, you want your belly rubbed?” Lily bent over and gave Shadow a good rub on his belly.

“Lucky dog,” Jake said under his breath.

No kidding
.

Eric grabbed the rest of her bags from the Jeep, and Lily got up quickly to help him.

“I’ve got it,” he assured her, closing the hatch. He started towards the door but was momentarily

stopped in his tracks by the golden flecks he saw shimmering in her eyes.

“Thanks.” A small smile spread across her face, and Eric noticed a faint pink blush rise up on her

cheeks.

“So, Lily,” Jake interrupted, always needing to be the center of attention, “how do like Hope Falls?”

“I love it.” Lily’s face lit up as they all three walked into her house. “It’s cold, but I love it.”

“Where are you from?” Jake continued his inquisition as Eric set the last of the grocery bags down.

“I moved from Sacramento.” Lily turned as she began putting away her groceries.

“Is that where you grew up?” Jake asked as he pulled up and sat on one of the barstools beside the

breakfast bar.

“Uhh, no,” Lily answered as she reached up, going on her tiptoes to the put away cereal in the top

cabinet. The movement not only showcased her perfectly shaped ass, it had the added bonus of pulling her

shirt up so that the tiniest bit of skin peeked out. Eric felt himself growing hard just from that innocent gesture.

“So where are you from? Originally, I mean.” Jake clarified his question as he propped his feet up on

the stool beside him, making himself at home.

“Here and there. I moved around a lot,” she answered vaguely as she made her way around the kitchen.

Watching her put away groceries reminded Eric of the one and only ballet he had ever been to. When

Nikki was about eight, she had gone through a short window of time in which she had wanted to be a

ballerina. She had actually been cast in the Nutcracker, which ran in San Francisco. The whole family had

gone to see her on opening night.

Eric hadn’t been that excited about it. Spending a Friday night at the ballet was not a good time for a

fifteen-year-old boy. But to this day he did remember how the dancer’s movements were so graceful and

their bodies looked like pieces of art to him.

That was exactly what watching Lily put her food away looked like to him. Like he was watching a

living, breathing, moving piece of art.

“Right, Eric?” Jake’s voice was raised.

Eric turned to his brother, trying not to let the irritation he felt welling inside of him bleed through into his tone. “What?”

“I said,” Jake sighed, shaking his head dramatically, making Lily laugh a little, “we would have loved to

move around a lot as kids. Instead we spent our entire childhood in Hope Falls being bored out of our

minds.”

Eric didn’t have any idea what his brother was talking about. “I loved growing up here.”

“Of course you did.” Jake took an apple Lily handed him after she’d finished washing it. “’Cause, you,

big brother, are boring,” he announced before taking a big bite out of the large red apple.

He was about to tell Jake where he could shove both his opinion and that apple when Lily started

speaking.

“I think that’s sweet.” She reached out and touched Eric’s forearm. “I don’t know anyone who actually

enjoyed their childhood.”

Just the simple touch of her hand through the cotton of Eric’s thermal sent his body into overdrive. It was like she was electrically charged and the second she touched him his body came alive with pulsing

desire.

She moved her hand away like she had touched a hot stove. Quickly turning back, she busied herself by

putting things away around her small kitchen. Eric took a step back to try to lessen some of the rioting

effect that just her nearness was having on his body.

He looked up to find Jake taking the whole scene in with the same smile he used to get on his face when

he was about to pull a prank in Sunday school.

Time to go
.

“We'd better get going.” Eric moved to the front room and shot his brother a look that said he'd better

get his ass off that stool and follow him. Begrudgingly, Jake rose from his perch. Eric patted his leg. “Come on, Shadow.”

The dog, who had been sitting in the corner of the small kitchen, watching Lily’s every move, plopped

down to a lying position dramatically and let out a big sigh.

“Aww.” Lily held her hands over her chest as she puffed out her bottom lip in a pout. “He wants to

stay.”

“Shadow, come,” Eric said with more authority in his tone.

Shadow
slowly
stood and padded over beside Jake. Eric couldn’t believe what a pain in the ass both his brother and his dog were being when he was just trying to
leave
!

Lily, however, was smiling from ear to ear. “Thanks again, Eric. Hope to see you soon.”

“You too,” Eric said, really liking the way he felt hearing her say that.

“Well it won’t be too hard. You live like a hundred yards from each other,” Jake teasingly pointed out.

Eric reached up to smack his brother upside the head but he ducked.

“What?” Jake laughed, along with Lily, as he and Eric headed out the front door. “I’m serious. You

could probably just look out your side windows and wave.”

He was gonna kill Jake.

Chapter Nine

Lily pulled the soft throw blanket tighter around her shoulders as her jaw chattered from the cold. She

moved and tucked her ice-cold feet up beneath her, hoping that her body heat would start to warm them.

This time her low body temperature was one hundred percent her fault.

She had bought a pint of Coconut Bliss vegan ice cream at the store, and even though it was freezing

outside, she’d had a bowl while she was watching one of her favorite movies, Dirty Dancing. Lily was

twenty-six years old and it was time to face facts—if there was ice cream in the house, Lily
had
to eat it. It wasn’t optional.

Even now as she shivered beneath the covers, she didn’t regret indulging in her frozen desires. If ice

cream and caffeine were her two vices, she didn’t think she was doing too bad.

Her eyes were glued to the television as her favorite montage of the two lead characters practicing their

dance routine filled the screen. Lily had probably seen this movie over one hundred times but it never got

old, even though she knew every line, every frame by heart.

She felt a buzzing beneath her and realized that in all of her bundling up she must have inadvertently sat

on her phone. After several attempts to untangle herself from her mummy-like blanket wrap, she was

finally able to locate it. She didn’t recognize the number, but it had a Hope Falls area code so she tentatively pressed the answer icon.

“Hello.”

“Hello, Henry Walker here, Miss Lily. How are you this evening?”

She smiled at the mayor’s warm greeting. “Fine, how are you?”

“Well now, I’m busier than mustard trying to ketchup, but I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he

chuckled but continued speaking very fast. “The reason I’m calling is the parks and rec department has

been searching high and low for a seniors salsa teacher. Gladys fell and twisted her ankle so she will be out for the next few months. It’s just one hour once a week. What do you say, young lady? You interested?”

“Umm, well, I’d love to help but—”

“Great. First class is noon tomorrow at the Community Center. See ya there.”

“I didn’t say—” Lily heard the line go dead, and she looked at her phone to see that the call had indeed

been disconnected. Mayor Walker was quite a character. Lily had to admire his technique. He got the

portion of the answer he wanted and wrapped up the call.

Lily shook her head in amusement.
You gotta respect that.

She thought about her schedule and knew that even if she had rehearsal with Karina on the same day

she taught the seniors it would be fine because she was already at the Community Center, and she was sure

that Karina wouldn’t mind her helping out.

Turning her attention back to the screen, she felt her muscles relax into the comfy, worn couch as she

snuggled into her blanket. Her eyes felt heavy but she wanted to at least make it to the lead actor’s big

performance scene.

She was able to fight the exhaustion, but just as the MC was stepping onto the stage to announce their

number, the screen went black. Not just the screen but all the lights in the house. It was pitch black and completely silent.

Logically she knew that she was not in any more danger than she had been when the lights and TV had

been on. Logically she knew that she was perfectly safe. Logically she knew that no one was going to hurt

her. Too bad she wasn’t functioning on logic right at this moment.

She felt herself taking shallow breaths as fear choked her throat. Tears were forming in her eyes as

memories began to assault her.

Sitting in a dark closet. The only sound was her short pants of air. Trying to control her breathing so
they wouldn’t hear her. Wouldn’t find her. The loud pops of gunfire ringing through the air. Holding her
hands over her ears to try and mute the deafening noise. Praying for this to be over. Her body trembling
uncontrollably in fear.

She heard footsteps. They were coming closer. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t breathe.

Now, as she sat in her house, safely away from that closet, the same paralyzing fear raced through her

blood and made it run cold. She pulled her knees up on the couch and wrapped her arms around them as

tears flowed from her face. She could hear the loud crack of gunfire. She pulled the throw blanket over her head to wait for the memories to stop.

Pounding. Pounding. Loud pounding.

“Lily, it’s Eric! Are you okay?” Eric’s voice broke through the ocean of fear she had been drowning in.

She lifted her heavy head from the blanket and opened her eyes. She saw Eric’s large shadow through

her front window as he banged on her door. Her face, hands, and feet tingled from fear but she forced

herself to get up.

Her limbs felt heavy as she walked. Her hands were shaking as she turned the deadbolt, twisted the

knob, and pulled the front door open. The second she did, she felt a brush of soft fur against her hand. She looked down and saw Shadow sitting beside her, his body pressed against her legs and his head resting

under her hand.

“Lily, are you okay?” she heard Eric ask again but his voice sounded like she was floating underwater.

Her legs felt like noodles so she sat down and wrapped her arms around the comforting safety of

Shadow’s sturdy frame. As she buried her face in his furry neck, Shadow put his paw on her shoulder. She

knew it might be ridiculous but it really felt like he was hugging her. That thought for some reason made

her tears start coming harder and faster.

“Lily?” She felt Eric’s large hand rest on her back, and she could sense more than feel his presence

surrounding her. “How about we sit on the couch?”

She would probably be perfectly fine sitting here in her doorway with Shadow in her arms for the rest

of her life, but it was probably best to get up so she could at least shut the door. It was freezing.

She nodded, and immediately Eric’s strong arms were wrapped around her as he helped her to her feet.

He had the door shut and her ushered over to the couch before she had a chance to blink. Even in her

panic-ridden state, she recognized how impressive that was.

As soon as she was seated, Shadow jumped up on the couch beside her.