chance, Simplicity by Muriel Sterling?”
Stacy nodded. “It’s our book club pick for this month. Have you read it?”
“I have. In fact, that book inspired me to simplify my life and move here.”
Stacy blinked. “You just up and moved?”
Okay, did she sound totally wacky? “Well, I only moved here from Seattle. It wasn’t that far.”
“I’m impressed,” Juliet said in awe.
“Where are you staying?”
“I rented a cottage on Juniper Ridge.”
“It’s nice out there,” Stacy said. “I still can’t believe you just moved here after reading that book.”
“You need to come to our book-club meeting,” Juliet told her. “We’d love to talk to someone who’s putting what’s in the book into practice.”
“Gosh, I don’t want to crash your group.” What was she saying? Yes, she did. She wanted her simple life to include more than trees, snow and silence 24/7.
“You won’t be,” Juliet assured her. “Come check us out. You might like us.”
She already did.
The other two women also urged her to come, so, after pretending to consider for a decent amount of time, she agreed and got Stacy’s phone number and address. Then Juliet recommended a couple of good reads and she walked out carrying two romance novels and wearing a big grin. She was going to love it here.
The grin faded once she left the quaint downtown area. The snow had been falling aggressively while she ran her errands and visited in the bookstore and she swerved as she turned onto Icicle Road. Oh, this was not good.
It’s all flat, she reminded herself. And you only have one more turn onto Juniper Ridge. You can do this.
She gripped the steering wheel firmly and took a deep, calming breath. You can do it, you can do it, you can do it.
When an SUV zipped up from behind and passed her, she frowned and gripped the steering wheel harder. Of course, she was going to irritate the more experienced drivers, creeping along like this. But better to irritate people than to lose control of her car and hit them, she reasoned.
The car skated down the road with no problem and she let out her breath. Okay, all was well. She’d be home before dark. Boy, that was like something a little old lady would say. She had to stop being such a wimp if she planned to live here. She decided to go a tiny bit faster simply to prove she could. Nothing awful happened. The car kept moving straight ahead. There. See? Driving in the snow isn’t that hard. You knew you could handle it and you were right.
Anyway, other than that one vehicle, there was no one out here. She had the whole road to herself.
Except...what was this bounding out onto the road? Oh, no! A deer!
She hit the brakes and the car went into a slide. The deer raced off into the woods and Jen veered toward the other lane going sideways. Oh, no! Oh, oh, no! Turn into the spin, turn into the spin. Which way was she spinning?
And what was this coming from the other direction? Noooo.
Chapter Eight
Relationships don’t have to be
complicated.
—Muriel Sterling, author of Simplicity
G arrett had joined the Icicle Falls Fire
Department for two reasons. First, he’d wanted to help people. Second, he’d
wanted a job that provided some excitement. Firefighting met both of those
requirements.
His attitude regarding excitement had changed since he’d joined
the department, though. Something he’d known on a mental level quickly hit home
at a gut level—one man’s adventure was another’s disaster. The fire that took
out Zelda’s restaurant had been the final tipping point for him. It was the
first one he’d fought in which everything was lost, and seeing the bleak look on
Charlene Albach’s face as she watched her business go up in flames had been
terrible. He still wanted to help people but now he hoped he never had to fight
another fire. Still, living in the mountains meant there was always the danger
of forest fire, which could be devastating for Icicle Falls. He prayed it
Stacy nodded. “It’s our book club pick for this month. Have you read it?”
“I have. In fact, that book inspired me to simplify my life and move here.”
Stacy blinked. “You just up and moved?”
Okay, did she sound totally wacky? “Well, I only moved here from Seattle. It wasn’t that far.”
“I’m impressed,” Juliet said in awe.
“Where are you staying?”
“I rented a cottage on Juniper Ridge.”
“It’s nice out there,” Stacy said. “I still can’t believe you just moved here after reading that book.”
“You need to come to our book-club meeting,” Juliet told her. “We’d love to talk to someone who’s putting what’s in the book into practice.”
“Gosh, I don’t want to crash your group.” What was she saying? Yes, she did. She wanted her simple life to include more than trees, snow and silence 24/7.
“You won’t be,” Juliet assured her. “Come check us out. You might like us.”
She already did.
The other two women also urged her to come, so, after pretending to consider for a decent amount of time, she agreed and got Stacy’s phone number and address. Then Juliet recommended a couple of good reads and she walked out carrying two romance novels and wearing a big grin. She was going to love it here.
The grin faded once she left the quaint downtown area. The snow had been falling aggressively while she ran her errands and visited in the bookstore and she swerved as she turned onto Icicle Road. Oh, this was not good.
It’s all flat, she reminded herself. And you only have one more turn onto Juniper Ridge. You can do this.
She gripped the steering wheel firmly and took a deep, calming breath. You can do it, you can do it, you can do it.
When an SUV zipped up from behind and passed her, she frowned and gripped the steering wheel harder. Of course, she was going to irritate the more experienced drivers, creeping along like this. But better to irritate people than to lose control of her car and hit them, she reasoned.
The car skated down the road with no problem and she let out her breath. Okay, all was well. She’d be home before dark. Boy, that was like something a little old lady would say. She had to stop being such a wimp if she planned to live here. She decided to go a tiny bit faster simply to prove she could. Nothing awful happened. The car kept moving straight ahead. There. See? Driving in the snow isn’t that hard. You knew you could handle it and you were right.
Anyway, other than that one vehicle, there was no one out here. She had the whole road to herself.
Except...what was this bounding out onto the road? Oh, no! A deer!
She hit the brakes and the car went into a slide. The deer raced off into the woods and Jen veered toward the other lane going sideways. Oh, no! Oh, oh, no! Turn into the spin, turn into the spin. Which way was she spinning?
And what was this coming from the other direction? Noooo.
Chapter Eight
Relationships don’t have to be
complicated.
—Muriel Sterling, author of Simplicity
G arrett had joined the Icicle Falls Fire
Department for two reasons. First, he’d wanted to help people. Second, he’d
wanted a job that provided some excitement. Firefighting met both of those
requirements.
His attitude regarding excitement had changed since he’d joined
the department, though. Something he’d known on a mental level quickly hit home
at a gut level—one man’s adventure was another’s disaster. The fire that took
out Zelda’s restaurant had been the final tipping point for him. It was the
first one he’d fought in which everything was lost, and seeing the bleak look on
Charlene Albach’s face as she watched her business go up in flames had been
terrible. He still wanted to help people but now he hoped he never had to fight
another fire. Still, living in the mountains meant there was always the danger
of forest fire, which could be devastating for Icicle Falls. He prayed it
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