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

doing just sitting here like it’s any other day?”
    “Because it is.”
    “You don’t want to go talk to her?”
    “And say what, Nikki?” Jake looked at his sister. It might have sounded like a rhetorical question but it hadn’t been. He had no idea what to say to her.
    “I don’t know!” Nikki’s hands flew up in the air. “Find out how she’s been. Ask her how long she’s planning on staying. Tell her you never stopped loving her.”
    “What the hell are you talking about?” Jake never talked about Tessa. No one knew how he did or didn’t feel about her.
    “I know you still love her,” Nikki said with a cocky expression on her face. It was the same expression she’d had when she was a kid and tried to blackmail him to keep her quiet when she figured out that he’d been sneaking out.
    How ironic that, at the time, he’d been sneaking out to meet Tessa.
    “You don’t know shit,” Jake snapped as his jaw tightened. He wasn’t trying to be a dick to his little sister but he was not going to discuss this.
    A wide smile slowly spread across her face. “Yes, I do. I wasn’t sure until right now. I had a suspicion since that night at JT’s when I was upset about Mike and you told me that if I walked away from him, I didn’t deserve him. I thought it sounded a tad personal and the only girl I knew you ever really cared about was Tessa. And she left. I don’t know what happened between you guys, but I do know that you would not be this upset if you didn’t still love her.”
    “Why don’t you go practice your psychology on someone else? I’m not upset. I’m just trying to work.” Jake tried to keep his tone as even as possible. Frustration and anger were pulsing through him and he didn’t want to take it out on Nikki. He knew she wasn’t trying to be a pain in the ass. She just couldn’t help herself.
    “So if you’re not upset, then you won’t mind if I invite her to Sunday dinner?” Nikki said with a challenging twinkle in her eye. “I’m sure Mom would love to catch up with her. You know how much she adored Tessa.”
    Okay, maybe she was trying to be a pain in the ass.
    Jake shrugged nonchalantly. “Whatever floats your boat.”
    “Good,” Nikki said with a smirk.
    Jake could practically hear the gears turning in her head as she formulated some sort of plan. Well, she could plot and scheme until the cows came home. Nothing was going to change how he felt.
    Nikki stood to leave, but just as she reached the door, she turned around and asked, “So what happened with Adie?”
    Jake knew how much Nikki had loved Tessa’s grandma. She used to spend hours upon hours at her house. They would knit, color, and bake. Everything a grandma does. He hated being the one to break the news to her. “She passed away.”
    “I know. Tessa told me. She said it was about nine months ago,” Nikki spoke quietly, and Jake could tell she was getting choked up. “But do you know what happened?”
    “No, I didn’t ask.” Jake knew he should have and guilt pressed on his chest.
    “I didn’t either.” Nikki shook her head and wiped her eyes. “I was just so surprised to see her and then finding that out was just a lot to process.”
    Tell me about it, Jake thought. His sister was preaching to the choir. Jake didn’t respond. He knew anything he said could send his sister off on a tangent, and he just wanted to be alone. Because, like she’d so accurately pointed out, Tessa’s return was a lot to process.
    He looked back at his computer and began to type. Instead of taking the hint and leaving, his sister walked around the desk and threw her arms around his neck.
    “I love you, Bubbas,” she said, using the name she had called him when she was little because she couldn’t pronounce Jake.
    He could feel the emotion radiating off of her. Nikki didn’t really show her emotional side that often. In fact, this behavior was very un-Nikki-like. But he knew that she’d always had a hard time with