Chapter 1-2
1127 Words
There’s no place like home.
Jace Applewhite took his time crossing the town green, enjoying the sight of the enormous town Christmas tree. The Bradford pears lining Main Street were wrapped in twinkle lights, and the light poles had regimented lines of lit wreaths marching all the way around the green. Beautiful. And with the unseasonably cold weather, it actually felt like winter. Of course, give it a day or two and it’d be 75 degrees. Such was the nature of December in Mississippi. His sister Livia and their cousin Jessie had a long-running bet on whether they’d be able to wear t-shirts for Christmas Day.
Jace stepped into The Daily Grind, scanning the faces for his friends. Grad school exams had wrapped a bit earlier than expected, so he’d come on home to Wishful to help with the family business for the remainder of the holiday. He’d head out to the farm and surprise his parents after catching up with the guys.
Across the room, Eli lifted his hand in a wave.
“Well, you’re a sight for sore eyes,” Jace said, pulling him into a back thumping hug.
“That’s what you get for doing the grad school thing, man. Lots of tiny print. While you’re up to your eyeballs in textbooks, I’m out in the good clean air.”
“And how’s the Forestry Service treating you?”
“Can’t complain,” Eli said.
“How’s my cousin treating you? Or maybe I should ask how you’re treating Jessie.”
“He’s whipped,” Zach Warren announced, rising from his chair to repeat the man hug routine.
“As he should be. She’s too good for him. Where are Leo and Reed?”
“Leo’s running the lighting and sound for the community theater’s production of White Christmas, and Reed is in Connecticut with his lady love and her parents.”
“I still can’t believe he’s engaged,” Jace murmured.
“Brother, you and me both,” Eli said.
“You worried Jessie’s gonna get ideas?”
Eli’s face paled. “Dude, don’t even talk about that. We haven’t been dating that long.”
Laughing, Jace slapped him on the shoulder. “Only a matter of time, buddy. Let me grab some coffee.” Jace joined the short queue at the counter, tapping a finger against his leg in time with the rhythm of the music playing over the sound system. What was that? Charlie Brown Christmas?
“Welcome to The Daily Grind. What can I get you?”
Jace focused on the girl behind the counter. Your number.
Tall and willowy, her sandy blonde hair was piled on top of her head in some updo that left her long, graceful neck bare. His fingers itched to trace it, to see if her skin was as soft as it looked. Her hazel eyes were expectant, and Jace realized he hadn’t said anything. He cleared his throat. “Um, what do you recommend?”
“For light roast today, we’ve got a Nkurubuye from Rawanda. Our dark roast is an Idido from Ethiopia. This late in the day, I’d be inclined to go for the dark. Less caffeine.”
“Really? I thought darker roasts had more caffeine.”
“Other way around,” she said. The name tag on her holly red apron read Tara. “The roasting process destroys some of the caffeine, so the lighter the roast, the more potent.”
Her voice was deeper than he expected. A throaty, rich alto. Talk about potent.
“I’ll have the dark then. Just black.”
Tara punched at the iPad mounted at the register. “Any nibbles to go with it?”
Jace could think of several of her inches he’d like to nibble. Jesus, he really had been stuck in a book too damned long. “No, nothing to eat, thanks.”
Her slender fingers punched in the rest of the transaction and tipped the iPad toward him to pay. “I’ll just get this started for you.”
Jace pulled out his wallet and swiped his card before he forgot how to use it. Tara seemed to float across the floor, graceful and unhurried, almost like a dance. How did she do that?
“Here you go.”
He took the steaming mug she offered. “You aren’t from around here.”
She tipped her head in question.
“I’d remember if I’d seen you before,” Jace clarified.
“You haven’t been in for coffee in a year and a half? I know all the regulars.”
“Grad school at Mississippi State,” he explained. “I’ve been having my caffeine directly by IV drip.”
Her lips curved a little, and Jace found himself wanting to see her full smile. He’d bet it was stunning.
“Home for the holidays, then,” she concluded, friendly but not exactly a green light to his flirtation.
“I am indeed. A full month until I have to go back. I’ll be one of those regulars before you know it.” Jace grinned, hoping she’d respond in kind.
But Tara wasn’t quite paying attention. Her head angled slightly, her eyes unfocused and heartbreakingly sad.
The sight of it struck a deep, painful chord in him, reminding him of another pair of somber eyes. He wanted to reach out and stroke her cheek. Don’t be sad. The music on the sound system had shifted to The Nutcracker. Not exactly a melancholy tune.
Before he could work that out, she shook herself, plastering on a smile that was stiff around the edges. “You have a merry Christmas.”
It was a polite brush off with an underlying message of hands off.
“You, too,” Jace murmured, lifting the coffee in a toast and heading back to his friends.
“Need a fire extinguisher?” Eli asked.
“Huh?”
“Because you just crashed and burned, brother.”
Jace glanced back at Tara, who was helping another customer. “What’s her story? Is she seeing somebody?” Which was only half what he wanted to know. He wanted—needed—to know what had put that look in her eyes.
“Oh no, the Snow Queen shoots down all comers,” Eli said. “Many have tried. No one has succeeded.”
“Snow Queen? Isn’t that kinda harsh?” Jace felt offended on Tara’s behalf.
“She’s never rude, just kind of holds herself apart. More important things to worry about than dating.”
“You’re taken,” Jace reminded him. “By my cousin.”
“I’m off the market. I’m not blind,” Eli protested.
Zach picked up the thread. “She’s been here a bit over a year, I think. Not sure where she came from, but she’s got guardianship of her two half-siblings.”
“She’s young for that isn’t she?” Jace didn’t think she was more than twenty-two.
“Got them at nineteen.”
“Holy crap. Why?”
Zach sipped at his coffee. “Mom left for parts unknown a few years back. And their dad is in jail on burglary charges. Tara’s the only other family they’ve got.”
That was certainly adequate reason to be sad. “Wow. How old are the kids?”
“Third grade and fifth from what I remember when I did school pics earlier this fall,” Zach reported.
So, for the time being, anyway, she was a single sort-of mom. The hands off vibe made total sense in that context. Jace should probably respect that. But as he sat catching up with his friends, he knew he’d spend the next month feeding his coffee habit.
- Writer
