Now that the snow had started to thaw, we were ready to break out of the house, a simple trip to town becoming a mini-vacation. The roads were slick in spots, slush kicking up under the truck tires. Silver Creek looked like the set of a Hallmark Christmas movie with white rooftops, steam curling from chimneys, and townsfolk bundled in heavy coats, venturing out after being unexpectedly snowed in for days.
The parking lot at Bennett’s Grocery swarmed with people hauling carts, trying to quickly stock back up on their essentials.
Cassie grabbed a small cart and grinned at me. “Alright, cowboy, what do we need?”
I thought about it for a second, tilting my head. “Well, that depends.”
“On?”
I leaned against the cart handle. “On how long you plan on staying at the cabin.”
Cassie smirked, pretending to study the shelves. “Forever, probably. Seems safer than braving a snowstorm alone,” she joked, but the word forever played on repeat in my head. She couldn’t literally stay with me forever; Cassie had her own house and her own life—so did I. And instantly merging the two would be impossible. But the possibility that it could happen one day made me happier than I cared to admit.
Without thinking, I reached for her hand and pulled her closer. “Forever works for me,” I said, low enough that only she could hear.
She opened her mouth to say something, but I kissed her first—right in the middle of the aisle, surrounded by shelves of soup cans and coffee filters.
When I finally pulled back, she smiled up at me, eyes shining. “You really shouldn’t kiss me in public, Jace. Half this town will post it on Facebook before we make it to checkout.”
“Let ’em. ‘Bout time this town had something worth talking about.”
“We need to hurry before they sell out of everything.” She laughed, nudging me with the cart. “We can pick this up when we get back to the cabin,” she said with a wink.
We continued down each aisle, grabbing things we needed as we noticed them on the shelves. I made sure to grab the ingredients for Cassie to make me another pumpkin roll, andshe made sure to grab two boxes of Little Debbie Christmas Tree cakes—her favorite snack of all time she said—adding a third box as we neared the checkout line.
We were debating which coffee creamer to take back to the cabin when I heard the sharp clip of heels on tile.
“Well, if it isn’t Jace McKinley,” Sally Anne said with a smile sugary enough to rot teeth. She looked the same as always—perfect curls, too much perfume, and a cardigan that probably cost more than my Lucchese boots.
“Sally Anne,” I said politely, grabbing the basket. “You holding up alright through the storm?”
“Oh, just fine,” she said sweetly, turning her eyes on Cassie, looking her up and down like she was something stuck to her shoe.
“Didn’t realize you’d be keeping company with… well, her.”
Cassie stiffened beside me. I could tell Sally Anne’s word had stung her, even if she wasn’t going to show it. By the look on her face, she was trying to find the right words to respond with, but before she could say anything, I stepped forward.
“With all due respect, who I hang out with is none of your business, Sally Anne.”
The sweetness dropped right off her face. “Funny, I didn’t think you’d be the type to settle down, even after rehab, Jace. I thought for sure you’d carry on with your wild ways. Booze and women, remember? You’ve got a roster a mile long, everyone knows it. I guess even alcoholics deserve a second chance though. Better get checked at the clinic Cassie, no telling what diseases he’s carrying around with him,” she said, her voice was just loud enough for the crowd around us to hear. Heads turned and conversations went quiet.
“Guess your stint in rehab didn’t fix you after all.”
Cassie’s breath caught as my stomach dropped. Sally Anne had just announced my secret to the entire grocery store—a secret I had managed to keep for two years.
How did she even know about my past? Only a select few people knew, and they were all so close to me. They would never betray my trust by telling someone like Sally Anne.
My cheeks burned as people around us started to whisper. Cassie took a step forward.
“Anything else you want to get off your chest, Sally Anne?” she asked in a razor-sharp tone.
Sally Anne blinked, but Cassie didn’t give her the chance to answer. “Because if you want to start talking about people’s secrets, we can do that. I’m sure everyone would love to hear what you’ve been up to after hours at the law office downtown. The one right across the street from my coffee shop that I keep seeing you come out of after hours, with your hair never as perfectly in place as it was when you walked in.”
A few gasps rippled through the crowd, as Sally Anne’s face went pale, then red.
Cassie leaned in a little. “What’s wrong Sally Anne? You’re so quiet. Guess there’s a first time for everything, isn’t there? You wanna expose the skeletons in everyone else’s closets? Then let’s take a look in yours, too.” Cassie wasn’t holding back. “Isn’t the man that works out of that law office married? Hopefully no one here exposes your precious little secret,” she said, motioning to the crowd.
The store was silent except for the hum of the refrigerators. People I’d known since I was little, some I’d even done business with, looked at me with confusion on their faces. Some pulled out their phones, probably typing up messages they’d send to their friends, spreading my secret like wildfire within the hour.
