Read Let It Snow (The Hope Falls Series) for Free Online

his head up in confusion. Quickly taking in his surroundings he realized, he was in his office. Sitting at his desk. With a massive crick in his neck.
    A loud knock sounded at his door.
    He must have fallen asleep while he was going over the paperwork. Looking down, he saw the file on the Crescent Road fire. One glance at his computer screen told him that he hadn’t even inputted two pages before he passed out.
    Again, there was a pounding at the door.
    “Come in,” he barked.
    Jake rolled his neck from side to side, attempting to loosen it. He didn’t know who his uninvited visitor was, but it had better be important. He wasn’t even supposed to be here today. Normally when he was in his office with the door closed, the guys respected that and kept their distance.
    The door swung open and his sister walked in with a very strange expression on her face. It was equal parts bubbling with excitement and etched with worry. His first thought was that she must have gotten pregnant and was scared to tell him.
    He didn’t love the idea of his sister having a baby before she was married, but hey, she was engaged. And Mike was a stand-up guy, and Jake knew that the man would take care of his responsibilities.
    Jake made sure to keep his expression blank. He didn’t want to ruin Nikki’s grand “I’m pregnant” speech—knowing his sister’s flare for the dramatics—by tipping her off that he’d figured it out. Plus, he thought it might be fun to give her a hard time about it. Act all shocked and shaken. That could be fun, and he could use some fun.
    Stepping into his office without even greeting him, Nikki moved the pile of papers off of the green leather chair that was located in front of his desk and sat carefully at the edge of it. Her eyes lifted to meet his.
    “I don’t know how to say this,” she began before taking in a deep breath and placing her hands flat on her thighs.
    Here we go.
    “Guess who I ran into at Sue Ann’s this morning,” she said slowly.
    Sooo,—not pregnant.
    How had Jake forgotten, even for the thirty seconds that it had taken Nikki to walk in and sit down, that Tessa was back?
    “Tessa,” Jake said flatly before turning his attention back to his screen. He hadn’t wanted to talk to Eric about it last night and he sure as hell didn’t want to talk to his sister, who had practically idolized his ex-girlfriend, about it now.
    “You knew?!” Nikki exclaimed.
    Jake nodded. He hoped that she would take the hint that this was not a subject he felt like exploring and leave.
    “Who told you she was here?” His sister almost sounded mad that someone had beaten her to the punch. And that’s exactly what Tessa’s return felt like. A hard punch to his solar plexus, gut, and balls.
    “I saw her last night.” Jake knew that Nikki would find out anyway. Half the town was probably talking about it.
    “You did?!”
    Jake nodded.
    “Where? When? What happened?” Nikki shot the questions at him in rapid-fire succession.
    Jake had always known when to pick his battles. And fighting Nikki on this by saying that he “didn’t want to talk about it” or giving her half-assed answers was not going to fly. When his sister wanted information, she got it. She was relentless. Plain and simple.
    The fastest way to get this conversation over and done with was to give her what she wanted.
    “JT’s Roadhouse. Last night. Nothing happened,” Jake stated quickly.
    “Nothing happened?” Nikki narrowed her eyes at him and tilted her head.
    Jake shook his head no.
    “Did you talk to her?”
    “Briefly.”
    “What did you talk about?”
    “Adeline. Tessa’s small bladder. Her need to wear a jacket.” Jake knew Nikki might think that he was just giving her the highlights but that actually was the sum of their entire conversation.
    Nikki crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Are you trying to piss me off?”
    “No, I’m trying to work.”
    “Jake, Tessa’s here. In Hope Falls. What are you