Snow Angel (The Hope Falls Chronicles) (2 page)

---~---

Eric’s hand flexed around the frosted beer mug he had just been handed. Patience was a virtue he had

always prided himself on, but Maci Wallace was seriously testing its limits.

“Sooooo anyways, I told him that he should do the world a favor and crawl into a hole and die. Ugh! I

just hate it when guys come up to me and think that they can just
talk
to me. Like, who do they think they are?” Her large blue eyes looked up at Eric through long, dark eyelashes. Fake, long, dark eyelashes if his detective skills were still on point. “It’s so exhausting constantly being hit on. You know, I think if I had a big, strong,
badass
boyfriend then maybe I wouldn’t get bothered as much. I don’t know… What do you think?”

“Sounds like a solid plan.” Eric downed his Coors and stood up from the bar stool. “Excuse me.”

He turned to find his brother Jake and let him know that he was done being his wingman for the night

when he felt Maci’s hand wrap tightly around his bicep.

“Hmm, you have such strong arms. Do you think you’re up for the job?” she purred seductively.

“No, not interested,” Eric stated bluntly. He did not lead women on.

He saw what he thought might be hurt flash in Maci’s eyes before it was quickly replaced with anger.

“You’re an asshole.” Grabbing the small purse that was sitting on the floor beside the barstool, she

huffed loudly as she pushed past him dramatically. “Nora, let’s go!” she yelled loudly across the bar to the pool table area where Jake was busy sweet-talking Maci’s friend.

Nora looked up, and when she saw the look on Maci’s face, she said something Eric couldn’t hear to

Jake and then reluctantly stepped out of his arms. She rushed to her friend’s side and gave Eric the stink

eye as she and Maci exited the bar.

Eric sat back down. No need to rush off now that he could sit and enjoy a beer in peace.

Jake slapped him on the shoulder as he sat beside him. “Thanks a lot, bro.”

Maybe leaving wouldn’t be such a bad idea
.

Ignoring his brother, he motioned to Levi, the bartender and new owner of JT’s Roadhouse, to get his

attention so that he could close his tab.

“You couldn’t have just entertained Maci for another ten minutes? You are a piss-poor excuse for a

wingman,” Jake complained.

“I’m not a wingman,” Eric said flatly.

“No shit, Sherlock,” Jake replied sarcastically

As Levi approached with the check, Jake sighed dramatically.

“Damn, I was so close.” His brother held up his hands positioned closely together to illustrate his point.

He clapped them together as he said, “I was just about to close the deal when you blew it.”

“Don’t blame your inability to hook up on me, little brother. You had plenty of time to make it happen.

You obviously aren’t as irresistible as you think you are.”

Jake just smiled at him. “Now I know you’re just
cranky
. Because we both know that’s ridiculous. Who could possibly resist this?” Jake motioned his hand from the top of his head down to his feet.

“Apparently Nora.” Jake’s cockiness was actually fairly amusing to Eric, and he thought it was a large

portion of his brother’s charm, but he didn’t want Jake to know he thought that.

“Nah, she’s calling me right after she takes Maci home. We’re hooking up later,” Jake said with a

satisfied grin on his face. “I just wanted to bust your balls.”

Eric shook his head at his little brother as he took his credit card slip from Levi.

“You’re bailing? Come on, stay and have another beer. It’s only nine o’clock.”

“I have an early morning,” Eric explained. Which, although very true, had nothing to do with him

wanting to leave.

Hanging out in bars, even JT’s, which he enjoyed, didn’t have the same appeal it had held for him in his

twenties. He wanted more than just empty conversations and random hook-ups. He wanted something
real.

“I’m buying,” his brother offered hopefully.

“All right. One more.” Eric had always had a tough time saying no to his brother—or his sisters for that

matter.

As Levi set down two more cold ones in front of Eric and Jake, he asked, “How’s the promotion,

Chief?”

Eric had recently been promoted to Hope Falls Chief of Police. He hadn’t exactly wanted the position,

but when Chief Randall retired suddenly, he had been offered the job and knew it was the right move to

make. So he had accepted. Because Eric
always
did the right thing.

“It’s good. Just a lot of paperwork,” Eric explained and as he rolled his neck, which had tensed up at

the mere mention of his job.

A desk job. That’s what it was. It was a lot of meetings, paperwork, and even more meetings. Eric had

only held the position for two weeks now and he already missed being a detective. Sure, there weren’t

really a lot of exciting cases in the sleepy town of Hope Falls, but he had been able get out among the

community, and that’s what he missed the most.

“So what happened with Maci? She was totally into you.” Jake moved the topic along to something that

he was interested in, e.g., women.

“I could not listen to her speak for another minute.” Eric took another swig of beer.

“Who said anything about listening to her speak?” Jake looked at Eric like he was moments away from

being fitted for a straightjacket because he’d officially lost his mind.

And maybe he had. In the past, he probably wouldn’t have had an issue taking Maci home, having

some fun, and then sending her on her way. She was attractive—
really
attractive—and Jake was right—

Eric could tell that she was into him. But the thought of spending another second with her, even if it

involved them both being naked, held absolutely zero appeal.

“Don’t you ever get tired of one-night stands with random women?” he asked his brother seriously.

Jake’s face contorted as if he’d smelled something bad or Eric had grown another head before he lifted

his arm and pressed the back of his hand to Eric’s forehead. “Are you feeling okay?”

Eric slapped his brother’s hand off of him. “Never mind.”

He didn’t know why he had thought for even a second that Jake, of all people, would understand. Jake

was the self-proclaimed King of Casual Sex. Jake prided himself on keeping things “simple.”

Eric used to buy into that philosophy. He enjoyed women; they enjoyed him. Lately, however, “simple”

just sounded boring and definitely not worth the effort it took to get them out the door.

“You know what? I’m not sure I like”—Jake lowered his voice an octave—“Police Chief Eric.”

“This has nothing to do with me becoming Chief,” Eric clarified. He would have explained further but

saw that his brother, who had the attention span of a gnat, had already gotten distracted. He was now laser-focused on two attractive brunettes that had just walked in.

Without sparing Eric a glance, Jake threw a couple of tens down on the bar and then finished his beer

before he stood and nodded to the ladies. “You sure you don’t want in on this? I’ll give you first pick.”

“I’m good.” Eric waved his brother off.

Eric sat back and watched as Jake approached the women, and their faces lit up at his brother’s fickle

attention. Games—that’s all connections made in bars like these were. Which was great if both parties were

playing with the same set of rules.

No commitments, no promises, no regrets.

But Eric was done playing. He wanted to live his life by a new set of rules.

Chapter Two

Lily walked down the short hall, quickly running a brush through her long, dark hair. Well, quickly

might be pushing it since getting a brush through her thick mane was like walking on a treadmill. No matter how hard she worked, she never felt like she made any progress.

As she reached the small bathroom door, she had officially given up on any hope of having a good hair

day. Setting her brush down on the bathroom counter, she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror.

That’s not good!

Lily saw that her normally olive-toned skin was looking a little pale and she had fairly dark circles

under her eyes.

Glancing down at the watch she wore on her left wrist, she noted that she still had a little time. She had

five minutes before she was meeting Lauren, who was a realtor, downstairs at Sue Ann’s Café. Perfect. Just

enough time for lip gloss and mascara. Maybe then she would look a little more…presentable.

Lily was meeting Lauren to look at some properties to lease while she staying here in Hope Falls. Lauren

was one of Karina Black’s best friends and a celebrity in her own right. She co-hosted “Home Sweet

Vacation Home,” a television series that toured magnificent vacation properties. Lily had caught several

episodes and had immediately noted that Lauren and her co-star Ben had crazy chemistry. She now knew

that Lauren and Ben were, in fact, a couple and engaged to be married.

Lily could not believe that Lauren
herself
would be the one showing her rental properties. She would have expected that maybe an assistant or someone less high-profile would be doing it. Lily had even said as much to Lauren at Amanda and Justin's wedding when Lauren had offered to take her, but Lauren insisted

that she would be happy to do it. In fact, she said that she actually really missed that aspect of her work now that so much of her career was centered on shooting the show and promotion.

After she applied two coats of mascara and a generous amount of lip gloss, the alarm on her phone

beeped, alerting her that she needed to go. Not being able to resist, she glanced in the mirror once more.

Well, she definitely didn’t look her best but it would have to do.

Reaching down, she wrapped her fingers around the leather strap of her knock-off Louis Vuitton purse

as she headed out of the cozy apartment that sat above the café. Before closing the door, Lily looked around the small space once again, trying to see if she could make it work and just stay here. She knew logically

that there was no way. She had had to move several pieces of furniture just to have enough space to do her

yoga practice this morning. It would be impossible to clear enough space to provide the room she needed to

be able to dance or choreograph here.

Which, for a lot of dancers, would not be an issue if they had an adequate rehearsal studio to work at,

which she did. Lily, however, found that she often got inspired in the middle of the night. Well, inspired

might be a glass-half-full way to look at it since the inspiration stemmed from horrible nightmares she

suffered from.

When she’d wake in the middle of the night from the awful night terrors, she discovered the best way to

move past them was to dance. Losing herself in the beat of the music had been her therapy. It had also

become like a security blanket to her. A portable, personal security blanket.

Not that she had needed to dance the night before. When she had arrived past ten p.m. after being up

for nearly twenty-one hours she’d fallen fast asleep. Partly due to the fact that the instant Sue Ann had

opened the door Lily had felt at home. Safe. Secure.

Normally it took Lily months to feel that way in a new place. And there had been several times she had

lived somewhere for an entire year, moved in and out, and never felt those comforting feelings to keep her

company on long, lonely nights.

She sighed as she shut the door to the quaint apartment and locked it. No matter how badly Lily wanted

to stay there, the apartment was just too small for her needs— needs that unfortunately, at this time, did not include feeling safe, secure, or at home.

She was here to choreograph Karina Black’s tour. This was her first
real
professional job. Landing this gig meant that she had entered the big leagues, so to speak. This could lead to a whole new life for her. She just needed to focus on that. Nothing else mattered.

That thought gave her a renewed sense of purpose.

Excitement and nervousness coursed through Lily’s entire being as she practically skipped down the

wooden steps that led out to the café. As she reached the bottom of the staircase, the smell of coffee hit her like a slap in the face. She took a deep breath in through her nose and the delicious aroma caused her

mouth to begin to water.

Lily had been trying to cut caffeine out of her diet over the last year. It was part of her clean living

lifestyle. Over the last six months, she had been doing pretty well. She’d only had two sodas, which,

considering Dr. Pepper was like crack to her, was no small feat. She was pretty proud of the fact that she

had only fallen off the no-caffeine wagon
twice
.

It was about to be three times though because she was
definitely
ordering a coffee to-go. She moved between several tables and chairs as she made her way up to the counter to place her order. The moment

she stepped up, Sue Ann appeared through the swinging doors that looked like they led to the kitchen. It

was as if they’d choreographed it in a play.

“Good morning, sunshine!” Sue Ann sing-songed cheerily.

“Good morning.” Happiness filled her as she let herself soak in being on the receiving end of Sue Ann’s

happy demeanor. Sue Ann was just a lovely person, and lovely people were few and far between in Lily’s

life. Smiling, she pulled out her wallet. “Can I have a coffee to go?”

“Sure thing, sweetie. You’re up bright and early for getting in so late last night,” Sue Ann observed, her

brow arching in question.

Lily nodded, trying to keep her expression open and pleasant. Inside, her heart was pounding as fear