Chapter Two

John

Standing in the middle of the living room, I smile as I take in my surroundings. The room is somewhat put together, thanks to my mom and grandma. If I was left to my own devices, I would have unloaded the television and my recliner and that’s it. However, since both women showed up at my house around ten o’clock, right after the moving truck, I have a mostly complete house with only a few bigger pieces of heavy furniture left to unload from the moving truck. My old buddy, Linus, promised to come over tomorrow and help me unload my bed, dresser, and the couch, and once that’s done, my house will be set.

I grab a bottle of beer from the fridge and kick back in my recliner. Again, thanks to my mom, I have a mostly stocked refrigerator, at least with some necessities. Grandma even made a few of my favorite casseroles for my freezer, which I’m excited for. Not being home in a while has left me with a huge craving for some of the home-cooked meals I grew up enjoying.

Home.

I wish I could say I never thought I’d return to Snowflake Falls, but the truth is, I always wanted to come back. Someday. After my military career was complete, I planned to travel the world before settling down, getting married, and having babies. Thanks to a nasty break-up with a former co-worker and teammate, my plans derailed pretty quickly. I ended up discharging from the military at thirty and moved back home to Colorado a few months later.

As I look around the quaint little house I now own, all I can do is smile. And think how much Melissa would have hated it here. Everything from the cold weather to the Christmas celebration would have been something she’d turn up her nose at. Melissa was definitely a warm-weather gal, and her only appreciation for Christmas was what was wrapped beneath the tree. Growing up in Snowflake Falls, the Christmas capital of the world, I learned at a young age to appreciate the holidays, and for me, it’s more about giving than receiving. That worked well for Mel, since she was a big fan of receiving, especially if it was big, sparkly, and cost more than a few paychecks to buy.

Pushing all the thoughts of my ex out of my head, I give the room one more glance. I still have to hang stuff on the walls and bring in the couch, but for the most part, the living room is set up. At least I have my TV and chair. Everything else is just fluff.

I hear noise in the kitchen and glance in that direction, just as Biggie squeezes through the cat door. I got lucky when I bought this place, and the back entrance was already equipped with a door for my cat. He’s a big boy, tall and muscular, and weighs in at about twenty-four pounds. My vet says he’s perfectly healthy, despite the higher weight, thanks to his bigger size.

When I found the stray cat about four years ago, even as a kitten, he was a big boy. Hence the name. He was in a trash can, dumped at the Army base, and I instantly fell in love with the big guy and brought him home. Melissa wasn’t impressed and demanded I get rid of him, despite the fact we had just started dating. I refused, eventually getting rid of her and not the feline. Too bad it took me a couple of years before that happened. That gave Biggie two glorious years of pooping in her shoes until we finally broke up and she was gone for good.

Happiest day of my and Biggie’s lives.

Not that our relationship was all bad. It wasn’t. Melissa was just high-maintenance, despite being an Army medic like me. After her time in the military, she had her sights set on an easy life, someone who would spoil her rotten and dote on her. I was that guy for a while, but eventually realized I wasn’t happy and ended the relationship.

In return she cut the crotch out of every pair of underwear and pants I owned.

Biggie struts into the living room, a smug, pleased look on his face. When he jumps up on my lap, he curls up and starts purring. “Someone seems awfully happy. Did you find a lady friend already?” I ask, feeling a pang of jealousy.

Jealous of my cat.

Biggie’s both an indoor and outdoor cat, but he’s never lived in this kind of weather before. While I unlocked the cat door earlier, I gave him explicit instructions to come home before it got dark. He stayed in the yard for the most part, and when I felt comfortable enough to leave him to explore his new surroundings, I came back inside to find something to eat. It’s past dark, but Biggie’s not a fan of rules. Plus, he’s a cat and probably had no clue what I was saying.

Just as I start to scratch under his jaw, I’m startled by a loud pounding on the door. I glance up to the front entrance but realize it’s not coming from there. To Biggie’s dismay, I set him down on the floor and get up. The persistent pounding starts again before I can get there, and since this is Snowflake Falls and there was no need to lock the door, I pull it up in a rush and glare at the person on the other side.

My heart stops beating.

There, staring fiercely up at me as if I ate the last donut in the employee breakroom, is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. The same one who haunts my dreams still to this day. The one who got away all those years ago.

Eve Campbell.

“That cat!” she bellows, her eyes searching behind me. “Where is he?”

The corner of my mouth curls up as I lean against the door. “Biggie?”

Those beautiful green eyes narrow slightly before slamming into mine like a Mack truck. I almost have to take a step back from the force. It’s a mixture of anger, familiarity, and shock. Her mouth falls open as she gapes up at me. “John?”

I give her a full wattage smile. “Eve Campbell, well, I don’t believe it.”

Lies. I knew Eve was still in town and have been hoping to run into her at some point. I just wasn’t expecting it to happen on my first night here.

“What…what are you doing here?” she asks, still clearly stunned to find me standing on the other side of the door she was pounding on.

“I live here,” I answer, unable to hide my smile.

“Here?” she whispers, glancing around the kitchen.

“Yep. Just bought it and moved in. What are you doing here, banging on my back door?”

As if my question pulls her out of her shocked trance, she shakes her head and straightens her back. “Your cat!”

A single eyebrow raises in question. “What did Biggie do? Dig up your tulips or something?”

Ignoring my joke, she crosses her arms over her chest and glares. “No, he…he…violated my Snowflake!”

Her snowflake? What in the world is this woman—albeit an incredibly beautiful one—talking about?

“He barged into my house and…did inappropriate things to my cat!” she declares, her face turning a beautiful shade of pink.

A wolfish grin spreads across my lips as I glance back to where Biggie lies, licking his paw. “So, he did go out and get some. Nice,” I reply.

When I return my gaze to Eve’s, there’s fire shooting at me. “You’re applauding him? Of course you are. Men!”

I open the door wider, inviting her inside. “They’re cats, Eve. Cat sex happens.”

She continues to glare at me and makes no move to enter. “Your tomcat probably impregnated my sweet, innocent little kitty.”

I’ll admit, and I’m not proud of it, but her statement takes me back…to a time when we were wrapped in each other’s arms, both naked as the day we were born, and even though I wasn’t trying to impregnate her, the memories of sex with Eve flood my dirty mind.

“Do you want to come in?” I offer, hoping she does.

Yet, again, she remains rooted in place, shooting daggers at me from her eyeballs. “If my sweet Snowflake is pregnant, you’re…you’re…paying child support, Mister!”

My mouth falls open and a laugh rumbles in my chest. “Child support?”

“Kitten support!”

The idea is incredibly ridiculous, yet completely an Eve thing to say.

I run my hand over my mouth to try to mask another smile. “So, let me get this straight. My cat, Biggie, barged into your house and had his wicked way with your cat, Snowflake? Now, in about two months, he might be a father of a litter of kittens?”

“Yes! Kittens I wasn’t expecting, nor should I have to pay for!”

I lean against the door once more. “Maybe my cat isn’t the kitty daddy. Maybe your cat has been seeing other male cats in the neighborhood. I saw a stray walking on the sidewalk earlier today with a smug look on his face. He might have just left your house.”

This is the point where smoke starts to billow from her ears and flames start to dance in her eyes. “My Snowflake has never been outside, nor has any other cat ever been in my house. If she’s pregnant, your cat, Biggie, is very much responsible! I found them…going at it on my quilt!”

Smiling, I hold her gaze for several long seconds. My God, I’ve missed this woman, probably more than I ever realized. “What are we talking about here?”

“You taking responsibility for your cat’s actions,” she insists, thumping her boot-covered foot on the concrete steps.

“Fine, I’ll take full responsibility if your cat is knocked up. Happy?”

Her eyes narrow.

“Do you want to come in?”

“No,” she quickly replies, almost as if it were a reflex.

“It’s good to see you again, Eve,” I say honestly.

“Well, the feeling’s not mutual,” she grumbles before turning around and stomping off in the snow.

I watch her go, walking to the house next door. She stomps up the stairs and grabs the screened door. Just before she enters her house, she pauses, glancing back my way. Our eyes lock for a brief second before she’s gone, entering the home and shutting the door with a snap.

Chuckling, I secure my own door, reaching down and locking the cat door. Not only do I not want Biggie to get out, but I wouldn’t want any other critters to get in. I return to my living room, to where my cat is still lounging. “You seem awfully proud of yourself,” I tell him, watching as he continues to give himself a bath.

When I bought this house, sight unseen, I was told the neighbor was a single occupant female, who was friendly with the previous owner of the house. I remember Mr. Blackwood from when I was younger but was never told who the neighbor was. Even when Mom and Grandma came to the house to check it out for me and talk on the phone, they never mentioned the fact my high school sweetheart lived right next door.

I smell a rat.

Retrieving my phone from my pocket, I pull up my first contact and make the call.

“Miss me already?” she asks, a smile in her voice.

“Always.”

“Well, at least now you’re not thousands of miles away. I can stop by for a visit whenever I want. Well, not whenever, but you know what I mean.”

“I do know what you mean,” I tell her, knowing she’ll be over every chance she gets, at least for a while. When I was in the military, I didn’t come home nearly as much as I should have, and I’ll always regret that.

“Anyway, is everything all right?” she asks.

“Yep, great. In fact, I just met my neighbor.”

There’s a pregnant pause on the other end of the line before she asks, “Oh?”

“Imagine my surprise when I opened the door and found Eve Campbell standing on my steps.”

“Eve is such a lovely young woman, isn’t she?” Mom asks.

My mind draws up an image of Eve standing at my door, her cheeks cold from the temperatures and her eyes full of surprise. “Yes, she is. I’m just a bit stumped as to why you didn’t mention the fact Eve was my neighbor when we talked on the phone. All you said was the neighbor was great and you were sure I’d get along with her well.”

“Well, you will!” she insists. “It’s not like you and Eve broke up on bad terms. You two were very cordial after high school.”

“We were,” I reply, but that’s not where my mind goes.

It goes back to that one night, three years after we graduated. The night I was home from leave and ran into the first girl I ever loved in a bar. We enjoyed a few drinks while catching up, the chemistry still very much there and alive. I ended up back at her place and spent the most amazing night with her in my arms.

The problem wasn’t the fact we had sex. Any anger she feels toward me stems from what happened the next morning. While I was lying there, holding her, I realized saying goodbye to her a second time was too difficult. All those feelings I had for her rushed back to the surface, and the last thing I wanted to do was say goodbye. So I didn’t. I kissed her while she slept and snuck out of her bed. When she woke, I was long gone, and not just from her apartment, but from town. I ran like the bastard I am, despite leaving a piece of my heart behind.

Eve’s always had it.

“She’s doing so well for herself,” Mom says, making me realize I haven’t been listening. “She works with her mom at the salon, but I’m sure you know that already. She’s not married, despite a close call a couple years ago.”

That makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. After that night when we were both twenty-one, I made it a point never to ask about her. I was afraid I might hear all about how happy she was, married and with kids, and while I would want her to be happy, a part of me was always sad it wouldn’t be with me.

“Uhh huh,” I mutter, trying to catch up.

“Anyway, I’m so glad you two were able to reconnect. I’m sure it was good to catch up after so long.”

I picture the heat in her eyes as she chewed my ass, demanding I pay kitten support on the off chance her cat is pregnant, and I’ll be damned if I don’t get hard. It’s been a long damn time since I’ve had this sort of reaction to a woman, especially one who was angry the entire time I was in her presence.

“…this weekend?”

“What?” I ask, trying to get my head away from recollections with my gorgeous neighbor and back to the fact I’m talking to my mom on the phone.

“I was just asking what your plans were for the weekend. You don’t start your job until Monday, right? Well, the Snowflake Falls Festival kicks off this Saturday. Plus, you need a Christmas tree.”

“I’ll just pick one up at the super center,” I say, taking a pull from my beer bottle.

Mom gasps. “John Michael Mitchell, you will do no such thing. You know artificial trees are frowned upon here.”

A chuckle slides easily from my mouth. “What if I’m allergic?”

“The only thing you’re allergic to is commitment.”

Now it’s my turn to gasp. “What are you talking about, woman? I’ve been in two committed relationships.”

“I’ll give you the first one, even though it was high school. You both knew it was going to end when you went into the military. But that other one,” Mom starts, but doesn’t finish. She was never a huge fan of Melissa’s, and not for a lack of trying.

I can’t help but laugh. “Yeah, fine, I see your point.”

“Anyway, I know Linus is coming over to help you tomorrow, but Grandma and I have already planned to stop by and help you decorate.”

“I don’t need help decorating,” I insist, even though I truly do.

Mom snorts a very unladylike noise. “Stop the lying, John Michael Mitchell.”

“Stop with the middle naming, Patricia Leah Mitchell.”

“We’ll be there around noon.”

I sigh goodheartedly. “Fine.”

“See you tomorrow,” she sings before adding a quick, “Love you.”

“Love you too, Mom.”

Smiling, I hang up the phone and take another drink of my beer. Biggie is sound asleep on the rug, probably annoyed I haven’t found the box with his cat bed in it yet. Oh well, I’ll get to more boxes tomorrow. Tonight, I’m planning to kick back in my new house and relax. Everything else can wait.

My mind drifts across the driveway to Eve. What is she doing over there? Decorating for Christmas? Ha, I’m sure that’s been done since Halloween. I mean, her front porch and shrubbery look like the entire Christmas lights aisle threw up on it, and since she’s always loved the holiday, I’m certain she’s been decorating for weeks.

Speaking of wondering what she’s doing, I’d be willing to bet my military pension she’ll be attending the pageant this weekend. While it was never my thing, I know she went every year growing up. I’ll never forget the year she won either. It was our senior year, and we’d been dating for about six months. That red velvet dress was something dreams were made of to a horny eighteen-year-old boy like me. I enjoyed peeling it off her body later that night when we snuck away to celebrate her win.

If I had to guess, Eve will be there with her family. She never misses the festival or the pageant.

A slow grin spreads across my lips as a plan falls into place.

I know what I’ll be doing Saturday night.