“And one more thing...” He handed her a felted snowman. “Keep your eyes open.”
“What?”
He chuckled. “There’s always more than one path to get where you’re going, and if you aren’t paying attention, you could miss the path that will change everything.”
She wanted to ask him what exactly he meant by that, but he didn’t seem interested in talking anymore and she didn’t want to push him.
“You know what would be good? Some hot chocolate. There’s nothing like hot chocolate when you’re decorating the tree.”
Bella laughed and kissed him on the cheek on her way into the kitchen.
Unwilling to go home to a quiet apartment, Jeremy instead headed to the Knot, the local pub. It was Thursday, guys night. Or what had been guys night. To be fair, he hadn’t been to the Knot on a Thursday in months, so he couldn’t be certain it was still a thing. For a while, he’d avoided going because Damon was back in town and married to Katie. It had gotten a little awkward after Jeremy had punched him that one time, but then he’d just gotten busier and busier with work. And truthfully, when he did have a quiet night, he was more inclined to spend it relaxing in front of the TV before he fell asleep.
Probably not the best thing for his social life, but he was pretty sure the guys wouldn’t hold it against him.
Sure enough, there were a few familiar faces around the usual table at the back of the room. Logan, Brody, and Damon greeted him with smiles and fist bumps when he grabbed a stool and pulled it up to the table.
“Good to see you,” Damon said. “Really. It’s been a long time.”
Jeremy nodded. They’d been close once. Hopefully they could put all the Katie stuff behind them, and get back to that. Especially because, for Jeremy, it really was already behind him.
The men slipped into easy conversation, catching one another up on what was going on in their lives and with their wives. Jeremy still thought it was crazy that they were all married. It was a strange thing to see your childhood friends grow up and turn into responsible adults. Strange in a good way. Although, at times, Jeremy caught himself wondering whether he’d ever meet a woman he’d want to marry.
At least, he had wondered that.
A smile crossed his face as an image of Bella filled his mind. He shook his head and lifted his beer to his mouth, but not before Brody noticed.
“What’s that smile all about, Davis?”
“It’s nothing.” He tried to redirect the conversation to the subject at hand—Nick Newton and the baby who had shown up in a strange woman’s arms the night of Logan and Faith’s wedding. Jeremy didn’t know Nick very well. He was a new friend of Damon’s from the city. A billionaire due to the microchip that they’d developed and sold, making them wealthy beyond their wildest imaginations. Nick had come to Glacier Falls for Damon’s wedding and never left. Jeremy himself hadn’t had much of a chance to get to know him, although he seemed like a nice enough guy. And then the baby had shown up and Nick left. “I was just thinking that while I feel for Nick being blindsided that way, I’m glad it wasn’t me.”
All the men nodded in agreement, but Logan narrowed his eyes in question. “For sure,” he said with a nod. “But I don’t—”
“Has anyone heard from him?” Jeremy cut his friend off before he had a chance to dig any deeper. “Stephanie said she hadn’t, but they were close, weren’t they?”
Logan shook his head. “I don’t know about close, but they were getting to know each other, I guess. And from what I understand, she hasn’t heard from him. Damon?”
Damon shrugged and lifted his glass. “Only a few short texts to say he’s figuring things out. Knowing Nick, we’ll get answers when he’s ready. Until then…”
“Until then, maybe Jeremy can tell us about Bella.”
Jeremy almost spat out his beer. He wiped his mouth and turned to Logan, who sat back with his arms crossed over his chest and a smug look on his face.
He looked around the table for help.
Brody, who was pretty new to town himself, shook his head and chuckled. “Who’s Bella, Jer?”
Damon raised an eyebrow and grinned.
Jeremy muttered a curse word under his breath and spoke to Brody, because the others knew damn well who Bella was. “Bella is an old friend,” he explained. “She used to spend her summers here with her grandfather when she was a kid.”
“And Jeremy was madly in love with her.”
He shot Logan a look. “I was a kid.”
“Doesn’t mean you didn’t love her.” He shrugged. “I know a bit about that.”
Jeremy couldn’t help but laugh because Logan had been in love with his now-wife, Faith, since they were kids. Even though he hadn’t outright admitted it, they all knew it was true.
“And now she’s back?” Brody prompted. “To stay?”
“No. Which is why, even if there was something—which there’s not,” he added quickly. A lie and they all knew it. “Nothing would come of it. She’s a professional singer. Glacier Falls is no place for her.”
“Tell that to Steph,” Logan said. “She’s quite literally the most famous actress in the world right now and she’s not in a hurry to leave. She’s talking about buying land.”
“I don’t think Bella is in the market for any land in the middle of nowhere.” Jeremy looked down into his almost empty beer glass and for a second allowed himself to think about what that might look like. Bella staying in town. It looked good.
Very good.
“She’s only in town for the holidays.” Saying it out loud left a sour taste in his mouth.
“You should bring her to the ranch on Saturday.”
Jeremy looked at Logan. “The ranch? What’s on Saturday?”
“Don’t tell me you forgot. No, wait, tell me you forgot,” he added with a grin. “Because Faith will kill me if she thinks I forgot to invite you. I didn’t, did I?”
Jeremy laughed at his friend as his memory came back to him. “I didn’t forget,” he said but added, “Okay, well, I did. But I remember now. That’s why you needed all the lights.”
“Exactly.” Logan raised his glass. “Bring Bella. It will be fun. We’ll have sleigh rides and hot chocolate and a big bonfire in the yard. Very festive.”
Jeremy nodded. Cuddled up in a sleigh with Bella? It did sound like fun. A lot of fun.
Chapter 6
Bella hadn’t believed Jeremy when he told her that they could have warm days in the mountains. Especially considering it had taken her two full days to warm up after their tree-cutting expedition. But he was right, and it was a perfect winter day. The sun shone in the blue sky, making it almost warm enough to unzip her jacket. Almost.
She’d been excited to join Jeremy at Ever After Ranch for a day of Christmas festivities and not just because she wanted to spend more time with Jeremy—although that definitely factored. Ever since arriving in Glacier Falls, she’d been excited about Christmas in a way that she hadn’t been since she was a little girl. Spending the holiday with Papa had a lot to do with it, she was sure. He genuinely enjoyed every single moment of the season. The day before, they’d spent time in the kitchen trying—and mostly failing—to recreate some of her mother’s Christmas baking. All recipes that apparently used to be her mother’s. But if her grandmother and her mother had the baking gene, Bella certainly hadn’t inherited it. Which was why she’d ended up in town at Sweetie Pies, buying a platter of Christmas baking.