The Cottage on Juniper Ridge (4 page)

“I know. And now it’s on the market. My Realtor is holding an
open house this weekend.”

All right. Spontaneous was one thing, but this was crazy. “You
can’t put your place up for sale just like that,” Toni protested.

“Yes, I can,” Jen said, her tone of voice deceptively sane.

“No. You can’t. You don’t have any equity built up. You won’t
make a cent.”

“I don’t need to make anything. I need to get free of my debt.
Never mind the cheese, let me out of the trap.”

Toni frowned. That didn’t sound like something her sister would
say. “What’s this all about, anyway?” And then she remembered. The book. She
groaned. “Oh, no. Don’t tell me.”

“Don’t tell you what?”

“You read the book I gave you.”

“Isn’t that why you gave it to me? And yes, I did, and it made
perfect sense.”

“That was to help you prioritize your life, learn how to be
less busy.”

“That’s exactly what I’m doing,” Jen said. “I’m shedding all
the things that have been complicating my life and holding me down.”

“I didn’t give you that book so you could go off half-cocked,
sell your place and move to the mountains.” She’d only wanted her little sister
to learn to say no, to manage her time better. She should’ve known this would
happen. This was such a Jen thing to do.

“I don’t know if I’m going to move to the mountains yet. I’m
taking this slowly, checking it out.”

“Slowly? You read a book and two weeks later your place is up
for sale!”

“Okay, fine. If you don’t want to go...”

“Oh, no. You’re not going up there without me,” Toni said
firmly. Who knew what her sister would do if left to her own devices? “I’ll pick
you up Friday at eleven, after I’m done at the gym.” The romantic Friday night
dinner with her husband would have to wait. Right now she had to keep her sister
from simplifying her life with a new complication.

And so that Friday afternoon the sisters were on their way to
the quaint Washington town of Icicle Falls. Nestled in the Cascades, it was the
ideal place...to visit.

“Why up here in the mountains? Why Icicle Falls?” Toni
demanded.

“That’s where Muriel Sterling lives.”

“Muriel Sterling?”

“You know, the woman who wrote
Simplicity.
I read it in her bio on the back of the book.” Jen frowned. “Sometimes I
wonder if you even read that book.”

Of course she’d read it. That was why she’d given it to her
sister. Now Toni wished she’d never heard of it.

“So, on a whim you decided you want to live there?”

“I’ve been looking it up on the internet,” Jen said. “Did you
know the town sponsors a yearly chocolate festival?”

“Well, there’s a reason to move.”

Jen matched her sarcasm with a grin. “I thought so.”

“This is nuts,” Toni said, frowning at her sister.

“Hey, watch the road.”

“Don’t worry. I can drive in the snow. And the Outback has
all-wheel drive and snow tires. We’re fine.” She shook her head. “But listen to
you. We’re on the highway and the snow’s hardly sticking and you’re already
nervous. You hate driving in this stuff, so you’re moving to the mountains? That
doesn’t make sense.”

“I hate driving in the snow in Seattle, which is all hills,”
Jen corrected.

“This, in case you didn’t notice, isn’t a hill. It’s a
mountain.”

“It’s a highway and you just assured me we’re safe.”

Toni sighed. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.” Aiding and
abetting her sister in her insanity—what was she thinking?
I must be crazy, too.

But once they hit the town she could understand why her sister
had wanted to come here.

“Look how cute this is,” Jen said, gazing out the window at the
Bavarian architecture of the shops as they drove down Center Street.

The downtown was cute, Toni had to admit, and especially with
everything all decorated for the holidays. The old-fashioned streetlamps were
bedecked with fat, red bows and greenery, the trees were strung with lights
waiting to bloom come evening. The town was surrounded by glorious mountain
peaks frosted with snow. So were the rooftops here in town. It all made Toni
think of gingerbread houses.

“Let’s check in and then come back and shop,” Jen
suggested.

That sounded fine to Toni and they drove to the Icicle Creek
Lodge.

“Oh, my,” Jen breathed as they pulled up in front of the
rustic, old place.

It looked the way a mountain lodge should—large, rough-timbered
and accented with stone. The sweeping lawn was thick with snow. A trio of
children, probably staying there, was busy taking advantage of the white stuff
and building a snowman. Inside, the lobby was done up to the nines for the
holidays with greens and ribbon and little twinkle lights everywhere. And in the
center of the lobby sat an old-fashioned sleigh, piled with presents. Somewhere,
someone was roasting nuts and the aroma filled the place.

Toni could envision bringing her family up here for a holiday
vacation. Jordan would love this.

Well, maybe. Jordan would have loved it a couple of years ago.
These days she didn’t enjoy doing much of anything with her family. Dad was
mean, Mom didn’t understand and Jeffrey was stupid and a pest. Sigh.

Their room was all charm—wood paneling, two double beds with
white down comforters, a view out the window that took Toni’s breath away. It
would be so easy to fall under the spell of this place.

Jen joined her at the window. “Gorgeous, isn’t it?”

Oh, no. Jen couldn’t afford to fall. “Great place to vacation,”
Toni said, hoping her sister would get the message.

“It might be a good place to live.”

Living here would feel like stepping inside a storybook. But
her sister had some real-life issues to deal with. “You have a place in Seattle
you haven’t sold.”

Jen frowned. “You don’t have to remind me.”

“Yeah, I do.” Someone had to keep Jen in line. Toni felt a
sudden respect for Jiminy Cricket. Keeping someone out of trouble who was always
bent on diving in nose-first was
not
a simple task.
“I don’t want to see you put the cart before the horse.”

“I’m just looking. Remember? Come on, let’s go check out some
of the shops.”

Jen had been right about the shops. The first one they walked
into sold imported lace goods and teapots, and within ten minutes Toni had
purchased a lace tablecloth for their grandmother. And a holiday table runner
from Germany for herself.

That was only the beginning of the shopping spree. After that
she went on to buy novelty hats for both her kids in the hat shop, several
ornaments for the tree in a shop that specialized in all things Christmas and a
box of chocolates from Sweet Dreams, the town’s chocolate company.

Jen purchased some, too. “For later tonight,” she said. She
gave Toni’s arm a sisterly hug. “Isn’t this fun? Aren’t you glad you came?”

“I am,” Toni admitted. Who didn’t enjoy girl time and shopping?
And everyone here was so darned friendly. Even she was beginning to harbor
dreams of moving to Icicle Falls, ogling the beautiful scenery and stuffing her
face with chocolate. “But remember, I have to be back by six tomorrow evening,”
she told both her sister and herself. “Wayne and I have reservations for seven.”
She was still determined to get in that dinner with her husband. They were going
to be romantic if it killed them.

“Hey,” Jen said, stopping in front of Mountain Meadows Real
Estate. She studied the pictures of homes for sale displayed on the window and
her eager smile fell away. “Prices up here aren’t cheap, are they?”

“Looks like real estate has held its value,” Toni said. Another
plus for residents of the town, but Jen couldn’t afford those prices. “Of
course, these are houses. Condos might be less.” What was she saying?

“Good point. Let’s go in and find out what’s available,” Jen
said, starting for the door.

Toni held her back. “Come on, Jen-Jen, let’s just have fun this
weekend and leave it at that. You really shouldn’t even be looking until your
place is sold.”

“It can’t hurt to look,” Jen insisted, and went in.

“Yeah, it could,” Toni muttered, and followed her inside.

Once in the office, the woman on duty was happy to show Jen
what they had in her price range...which wasn’t much.

“None of those condos were as nice as what I have in Seattle,”
Jen said as they left the office.

“Then maybe you should stay put.”

Jen frowned. “I really want to change my life.”

“That’s all well and good, but what would you live on if you
moved up here? You work in Seattle. Remember?”

“I saw help-wanted signs in a couple of windows. I could find a
job in town.”

“Oh, yeah. You’d make a lot of money working in some shop,”
Toni scoffed.

“You don’t need a lot of money to live simply,” Jen told her.
“That’s what Muriel Sterling says.”

“Muriel Sterling has never gone shopping with you.”

Jen didn’t answer. Instead, she pulled her cell phone from her
coat pocket and began to surf the internet.

“Great,” Toni muttered, “I feel like I’m back home with my
daughter, being ignored. What are you doing now?”

“I just had a thought.”

“What kind of thought?” What was Jen up to?

“Maybe I could rent something.”

“You don’t want to have nothing to show for your money but rent
receipts,” Toni protested.

“Not down the road. But for right now, it might be nice to
rent. No responsibility. If there’s a problem, the landlord fixes it.”

Toni shook her head. “I think you’re nuts.”

Jen held her phone out. There on the screen was the picture of
a cottage with wisteria climbing up the front porch railing and along the roof.
“That’s cute. And look at the price.”

“For that price there must be something wrong with it.”

“Well, I’m going to call and ask about it.”

From a nice condo to a teensy house in the mountains—her sister
really had lost her marbles. “I wish I’d never given you that book,” Toni
said.

Jen ignored her. “Hi, I’m calling about your ad on Homelist. Is
that house still for rent? Great. I’d like to see it. Tomorrow morning? Yes, I
can do that. Ten? Perfect.” Jen ended the call and smiled as if she’d
accomplished something important. “We’re all set. The owner will meet us
there.”

“Just remember. You’re only looking,” Toni cautioned.

“Of course,” Jen agreed.

The next morning when they pulled up to the place, Jen quickly
slid from looking down that slippery slope into lusting. “Oh, it’s
adorable!”

Yes, Toni had to concede, with its white shutters and little
front porch it was darling. Camped out at the end of a long scenic road, it sat
on a large lot surrounded by pine and various fir trees and came complete with a
snow-capped roof. Some kind of tree, possibly a fruit tree, occupied a corner of
the lot. But the place was tinier than Jen’s condo.

“It’s not very big,” Toni pointed out.

“There’s only me. I don’t need a big place,” Jen said, and
climbed out of the SUV.

She’s going to do something crazy,
Toni thought. Was it too late to demand that Jen hand over her checkbook?

A big black truck drove up and parked in front of them and out
of it stepped a six-foot hunk of dark-haired gorgeous. Toni forgot about getting
her sister’s checkbook. For a moment she even forgot she had a husband and a
romantic dinner waiting for her in Seattle. By the time she remembered, Jen and
the hunk had shaken hands and were halfway up the walk.

“Jen, wait,” she called, and hurried after them. But she knew
she was too late.

Chapter Four

Never be afraid to start again.

—Muriel Sterling, author of
Simplicity

G
arrett Armstrong was the owner of this cottage. That meant he’d be Jen’s landlord? She’d take it. No wedding ring on his left hand. She’d take him, too.

Don’t be in a rush,
she warned herself. She’d been there, done that. Serge had been a big, hormone-fueled mistake and she didn’t need that kind of heartbreak again. One romantic misstep equaled a starter marriage, but two equaled no brains. She was going to be smart the next time around and pick a man who had his act together. No more falling for a pretty face.

But, oh, what a pretty face this guy had—dark eyes, square manly chin, big shoulders.

You’re here for the house.
Oh, yeah. That.

“Where are you from?” he asked as they walked up the little path to the cabin.

“Seattle.”

“Where people have neighbors,” Toni added, an oh-so-unsubtle reminder that Jen was a city girl.

“I’m sure there are neighbors here somewhere,” Jen said.

“There are,” Garrett assured her. “They’re half a mile down the road.”

“Well, that’ll be handy if you want to borrow a cup of sugar,” Toni said with a sneer.

“So I’ll stock up on sugar.” Jen sent her a look that said, “Shut up already.”

She shut up, but scowled in disapproval.

“Anyway, this is only a few minutes from town,” Jen mumbled.

“You’re moving over here for...?” he asked.

A chance for my eggs to meet a nice sperm.
“I’m simplifying my life,” Jen said.

He nodded. “Always a good idea.”

“Right now she’s just looking around, getting ideas,” put in Toni, and it was all Jen could do not to kick her.

Garrett the Gorgeous frowned.

Jen could hardly blame him. No doubt he had better things to do than waste his time with someone who wasn’t really interested in renting his place. Was there someone in his life he was doing those better things with? Not that she was rushing into anything. She was just wondering. And wondering wasn’t rushing.

“I’m definitely interested in renting up here,” she said, sending her sister’s mouth slipping even farther down at the corners. “Do you have cable? Wi-Fi?”

“Just got it,” he said.

“That’s great.” Jen wanted to live simply, not primitively.

Then they went inside and she came to a complete, startled stop.

“Oh,” Toni said faintly from behind her.

Oh,
didn’t begin to cover it. The cottage’s inside definitely didn’t match its cute exterior. It was one level and that consisted of a great room (well, sort of great) that included a kitchen, a dining area with a rickety wooden table and four equally rickety chairs and living room furniture that no self-respecting thrift store would accept. A tiny hallway scooted past the kitchen, probably leading to the bedrooms and bathroom. The place smelled musty and Jen wrinkled her nose.

Garrett must have noticed because he said, “It’s been closed up for a while. All it needs is a good fire in the woodstove.”

The woodstove was a bonus, she had to admit. Once she imported her furniture and hung some nice curtains at the windows, the living area would look totally different. She moved toward the kitchen, half the size of the one she had at the condo. The cabinets were old and battered, but they could have a second life if she painted them white.

Nothing would make those mustard-yellow Formica counters anything but disgusting, though. Jen pushed away the image of her spiffy granite counters in the condo. Instead, she pictured herself setting out freshly baked bread, making this kitchen homey with a mason jar full of wildflowers on the counter. There was enough room there to work. She could master the art of making pies, can fruit.

Speaking of fruit... “What kind of tree is that in the front yard?” she asked.

“Apple.”

“Home-canned applesauce,” she said dreamily.

He seemed impressed. “You know how to can?”

“I’m going to learn.”

Toni was standing by the window now. “Is it my imagination or is the floor slanting over here?”

“The foundation settled,” Garrett explained.

“I’ll bet that’s what they said about the leaning tower of Pisa,” Toni muttered.

Jen started down the hall. “So, two bedrooms, right?”

“That’s right,” he said.

“One for me and one for guests. You and Wayne and the kids can come visit,” she said to Toni, who was falling in behind them.

“It might get a little crowded with four of us in one bed.”

“The sofa’s a sleeper,” said Jen’s would-be landlord.

“Mmm,” Toni responded diplomatically.

Jen knew what she was thinking. The ratty, old brown couch would have to be fumigated before she’d let her children sleep on it.

They stopped at the first bedroom, furnished with twin beds covered in ancient brown bedspreads with big orange flowers that must’ve been hanging out in there since the seventies. “I suppose this is the guest room,” Toni said, her tone of voice speaking volumes.

“It’s not bad,” Jen insisted.

“The other bedroom is here,” Garrett said, leading the way to the next room. He was beautiful to follow, broad-shouldered and tall with a stare-worthy butt.

He opened the door and Jen peeked into the room and got a pleasant surprise. Lace curtains hung at the windows. Yes, they needed washing, but they were pretty, nonetheless. There, in the middle of the room, sat a double bed with a carved headboard and a beautiful quilt, done in shades of pink. Matching oak nightstands flanked it. Against another wall stood an antique oak dresser complete with beveled mirror.

“This is so sweet,” she said.

“The bedroom set was my grandmother’s,” Garrett told her.

“Did she make the quilt?”

“As a matter of fact, she did.”

“Is she still alive?”

He shook his head. “No. But my other grandmother is. She lives here in Icicle Falls.”

“It’s important to be close to family.” Toni gave Jen a meaningful look.

“This isn’t that far from Seattle,” Jen said.

“But it’ll feel like it is if you get snowed in,” Toni retorted.

“Most of us manage to get around okay in the snow,” Garrett said.

Jen thought about how poorly she drove in the stuff. Only the year before she’d slid backward down Eleventh Avenue in Seattle’s Queen Anne Hill neighborhood after a rare snowfall. She’d been afraid to venture out in her car ever since. But it was all level around here. Surely she could handle that. Anyway, they seemed to keep the roads clear.

“This is charming,” she said, glancing around the room, which was paneled with cedar. Two pictures of flowers hung on the wall. Everything about the room said family and love. If she moved into this cottage, she was sure she’d be embraced by the warm memories haunting it. “In fact, this whole place has potential. I’ll take it.”

Her sister stared at her as if she’d lost her mind. “What she means,” Toni began.

“Is that I’ll take it,” Jen said firmly, pulling out her checkbook.

He nodded. “I’ll have to do a routine credit check.”

“No problem. My credit’s good,” Jen told him.

“Which is more than I can say for your brain,” Toni hissed as they preceded him out of the room. “What are you
thinking?
”

“That this place is perfect for living the simple life.”

Toni groaned.

“If you need time to decide...” Garrett said from behind them.

“Yes, she does,” Toni said even as Jen said, “No, I don’t.” They glared at each other.

Jen wrote him a check for a deposit and gave him her contact information, and he said he’d be in touch.

Then there was nothing left to do but say goodbye and go back to the car. With her disapproving sister.

“You
have
lost your mind,” Toni said the moment Garrett and his gorgeous behind were back inside his truck.

“That’s probably what they told the Wright brothers when they invented the airplane. Or Walt Disney when he came up with the idea for Disneyland.”

“You’re not inventing anything. And this idea isn’t practical. What if your condo doesn’t sell?”

That was an unpleasant thought. Jen pushed it resolutely away. “Then I’ll lose my deposit.”

Toni’s angry expression softened. “Jen-Jen, I’m not trying to rain on your parade. You’ve got to know that. I just don’t want to see you jump from the frying pan into the fire. I worry about you.”

That made Jen smile. Yes, her sister could be a bossy pain in the patootie. But she cared. Jen reached across the car and hugged Toni. “And I love you for it.” She drew back so they were face-to-face. “I realize this seems crazy to you, but I’ve got a feeling that it’s going to be good for me, that it’s exactly what I need. Maybe I’m wrong but I’m willing to take a chance. I can’t keep going on like I’m doing. I hate my life.”

Toni sighed. “I know. I’m worried you’re going to wind up hating it even more.”

“If this doesn’t work out, I can always move back to Seattle. And if it
does
work out, you can come up for the chocolate festival and stay with me,” Jen added with a grin.

“After you get those beds fumigated,” Toni said with a shudder.

* * *

The image of Jen Heath accompanied Garrett Armstrong as he drove to his mom’s to pick up his son who’d been staying with Grammy while Garrett worked his shift at the fire station. With her strawberry-blond hair and those freckles, Jen was about the cutest thing he’d seen in a long time. A woman who wanted to do old-fashioned stuff like make applesauce? Man, he didn’t know that kind of woman existed anymore.

His ex sure hadn’t been interested in anything domestic. And she’d proved it by letting Garrett be the custodial parent while she settled for having their son every other weekend.

When he’d first met Ashley, he’d found her party-girl attitude exciting. She was a huge flirt and she’d dance anywhere at the drop of a hat—the dance floor of the Red Barn, tabletops, his lap. Oh, yeah, the sex had been incredible. She was blonde, beautiful and the hottest thing he’d ever handled and he’d just had to have her. He’d rushed to marry her before anyone else could steal her away.

His dad hadn’t told him what to do since he turned eighteen, but his mother had been a different story. “That woman’s going to break your heart,” she’d cautioned. “Don’t do it.”

Of course he hadn’t listened, because he’d figured that by twenty-six he knew everything. So he and Ashley had the big blowout wedding and a honeymoon in the Caribbean that ate up all his savings and then came home to settle down in Icicle Falls. Only one of them had settled down, though. Ashley never quite got the concept of home, sweet home. She’d much preferred to make herself at home at a restaurant or club. And she’d never let Garrett’s work schedule keep her from going out. That was what girlfriends were for.

They hadn’t planned on getting pregnant but once they were, she seemed to get into parenthood. She enjoyed the baby showers and all the preparation for the baby (probably because it involved spending money). But after she had Timmy, she quickly tired of staying home being a mom. She jumped from one crazy thing to another— redecorating the house (more spending), going out with her girlfriends, taking line dancing lessons at the Red Barn (and having an affair with her dance instructor). That roll in the hay had spelled the end as far as Garrett was concerned, and that had been fine with her. According to Ashley, he was a controlling stick-in-the-mud.

Garrett liked being stuck in the mud just fine. Anything was better than the emotional roller coaster he’d ridden with Ashley for the past few years. And because they had a son, he still had to deal with her. Whenever Timmy spent the weekend at her place, he came home a handful, testing boundaries and wondering why, when Grammy babysat him, he couldn’t have pizza for breakfast.

And then there was the matter of money. Ashley seemed to think they were still married and she could hit him up anytime she needed a fresh infusion of cash.

He was already paying her a hefty support check every month as part of the divorce settlement so she could go to school and train for a career. As to what kind of career, she was still vague. Hardly surprising. Ashley seemed to be permanently stalled at the age of sixteen. He was willing to bet she cut more classes than she attended. And, of course, she wasn’t working. Why work when you could get money from your stupid ex-husband?

She always needed extra money for something. The requests ranged from books to new pans. All of Icicle Falls knew about the pans, since she’d announced in the middle of Hearth and Home that he’d left her so broke she couldn’t afford any. Right. He was the one who couldn’t afford pans. He was using some his mother had given him. The others he’d purchased at the Kindness Cupboard, the town’s thrift store.

Her latest ploy had been new clothes for Timmy. That one he wasn’t about to let her get away with. He was the custodial parent and his mom bought Timmy’s clothes. “I want to take him shopping,” Ashley had whined. “But if you can’t come up with a few bucks, I’m sure Timmy will understand. Daddy has other things to spend his money on than his son.”

“Don’t even try to pull that crap on me,” he’d growled.

But she had. As usual, in the end, he’d caved.

He was done caving now. He had to stop letting her use him as her own personal ATM. She was killing him.

It would help his bank account if he got this renter into the cottage his great-uncle had recently left him. It would also help if Ashley found some other sucker to marry. Surely there was someone in Icicle Falls stupid enough to do that. Maybe Billy Williams, whom she’d been seen with at the Red Barn. Except he wouldn’t wish Ash on his worst enemy, let alone poor old Bill Will.

“I wish you’d never met that woman,” his mother often complained.

Well, that made two of them. Between the money and the 2:00 a.m. calls when she was tipsy and “just wanted to talk,” he was paying big-time for his hormone-induced insanity.

He’d learned his lesson, though. At thirty-two he was older and wiser. He was never getting involved with a flake again. His kid needed stability, and the next woman he picked was going to be someone stable, someone who had her act together.