Camaro SS.
His destination was the tiny town of Forestwood, New York, where he’d rented the bottom floor of a house from a website he’d found on the internet, hoping it would look the same as the pictures that had been posted. He no longer would be teaching college. Instead he would open his own business doing something that until now he’d considered only a hobby. He planned to start an entirely new life, focusing on his son and keeping his head down.
* * *
Though her new tenant was supposed to pick up his keys today, Julia Jacobs eyed the blizzard raging outside and figured he’d call her to reschedule. According to the stern yet clearly excited weatherman on TV, officials were advising people to stay off the roads. Whiteout conditions and extreme cold didn’t make for safe travel.
JJ didn’t mind. She’d been anticipating the snow with the eagerness of a child. She’d dreamed it, after all. And snowfall brought her joy. In all kinds of ways. At the first sight of big, fat snowflakes drifting down from the leaden gray sky, she was filled with the excited anticipation of a kid on Christmas Eve.
Though she knew she was out of sync with the rest of the world, winter was her favorite season. The crisp bite of the cold air, her breath pluming as she exhaled. She loved the bundling up, the sweater and scarf and coat and hat and gloves and boots. Stepping out into the white wonderland and making the first set of footprints to mar the unblemished perfection. The way the world went absolutely still and quiet the morning after a snowfall, and how wonderful it felt to sit inside her warm house by the fire drinking cocoa and watching the snow fall. Snow always felt like a new beginning, a chance to start over.
She sighed, glad once again that she was alone, that she’d left Shawn and the hustle and bustle of New York City behind. Even before his true abusive nature came out, her ex-boyfriend had ridiculed her love of all things winter, one of her many character traits that he’d found distasteful and disgusting. Of course, he’d been a summer person, while heat and blazing sunshine had only depressed her. That had just been the beginning and she’d finally broken free. This blizzard, already being ominously forecasted as the storm of the century, brought her nothing but joy.
She felt sorry for her new tenant, though. When he’d rented out the bottom floor of her house, his Norwegian accent had intrigued her. Of course, she’d Googled him after getting his name, noting he’d immigrated to California. She’d been impressed by his academic credentials. A college professor on sabbatical, he’d said. With an infant son.
The last might have given other landlords pause. After all, babies cried, and even though he’d be on another floor entirely, sound drifted in older houses like hers.
But JJ had never been a landlord before—heck, she was a brand-new homeowner—and she adored babies, so she’d immediately granted Mr. Eric Mikkelson the lease. He’d paid for two months up front, along with a perfectly reasonable security deposit. He didn’t smoke or have pets, so she privately thought she might have actually managed to find the perfect tenant.
Even the few fuzzy photos of him she’d seen online jibed with his career. He looked the part, a stereotypical professor, round wire glasses and hair in a ponytail. She hadn’t been able to tell if his hair was blond or gray, but supposed it didn’t matter. He had a baby, which made up for a whole lot of other things, including any lingering intellectual snobbishness. Lord knew she’d had enough of that with Shawn and his Wall Street friends.
Again, she quickly put the thought from her mind. Enough time had passed that she ought to be able to relax, but she still jumped every time someone moved too fast or she heard a loud, unexpected noise. At least she’d retaught herself not to keep her gaze trained on the ground anymore lest she be accused of flirting.
And the nightmares featuring Shawn had finally stopped. The horrible, awful dreams had her questioning her own sanity.
Heaving a sigh, she walked to the window to watch the beautiful snow fall, knowing this would instantly put her in a better frame of mind.
Meanwhile, meeting her new tenant would have to wait until after the storm. Which meant she was free to putter around the house, put a pot of butternut squash soup to simmer on the stove and go out and play in the snow.
Until she’d moved in with Shawn, she’d lived all her life in an apartment in New York City with her parents. If she and her friends had wanted to make a snowman, they’d gone to the park. Now, thanks to a distant great-aunt she’d barely known leaving her this house upstate in Forestwood, New York, she could make a snowman in her own front yard. The prospect excited her, probably more than it should considering she’d just turned thirty-four. She’d have to wait to build it until after the snowfall stopped, but still wanted to go outside and check out the snow.
After bundling up—two pairs of socks inside her snow boots, scarf, and wearing a soft knit cap under her hood—she took a deep breath and stepped out into the swirling storm.
Wow. Stopping just outside the front door on her stoop, she stared. This was coming down fast and furious. She guesstimated already six to seven inches had fallen.
And so beautiful. Slowly she turned, squinting as she tried to see down the street to the other houses. Other houses! She’d lived her entire life surrounded by tall buildings, in the crowded city. She thought she could get used to this new life. Everything moved slower here. The pace suited her just fine.
One month and she’d unpacked nearly everything. Of course, she hadn’t had much to unpack. Luckily, all her great-aunt’s furniture had come with the house, since JJ had none of her own. When she’d moved in with Shawn, he’d convinced her to get rid of her own few eclectic pieces. After all, they’d clashed with his sleek, modern furniture. Bohemian, he’d called it, with the same disparaging intonation one would use with a curse word.
Shawn. She hated how her thoughts kept returning to him when they shouldn’t. That part of her life was over. He no longer had any hold on her. He would never find her here. Even her mother had been sworn to secrecy, though she hadn’t been told why. Pushing him and her former life out of her head, JJ returned her focus to the perfect snowstorm.
Unable to resist, she dropped to the ground and made a snow angel, even though fresh flakes would fill it in quickly. With her face lifted to the sky, she felt like a kid. The icy flakes stuck to her eyelashes and her lips, even her teeth, since she was grinning. The cold air hurt her skin, which meant she wouldn’t be able to stay outside much longer, but she planned to enjoy what time she had.
The sound of a car door slamming made her sit up and blink away the snowflakes stuck to her lashes. What the... Someone had pulled up to the curb in front of her house. Driving some sort of compact SUV that she’d never in a million years have believed could make it more than a mile in this snow without snow tires and chains.
A tall, bare-headed man came around from the driver’s side. As she stared, her first thought was of the mythological Norse god Thor. She forgot about the icy wind, the snowflakes swirling like dervishes. Because as he strode toward her, his long, wavy blond hair swirling around his shoulders, her entire body came alive. He moved with a confident, easy stride, as if the snow and ice didn’t exist for him.
Damn. Realizing she was still on the ground, she clambered to her feet, dusting as much snow off her as she could before she looked up at him. And she meant up. This guy had to be way over six feet tall. Shawn had been six-two, and she’d bet this man would tower over him. Norse god, she thought again. Odd that she hadn’t had a single dream of him. She’d bet she would from now on.
“Um, hi?” she squeaked.
“Ms.
