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Chapter One
Jana
Tears roll down my cheeks as I throw things into the suitcase I brought with me two years ago. I can hear George’s voice outside the locked door, the pounding of his fist against the wood doing nothing to calm me. Two years down the drain, and for what?
“Jana?” My best friend’s voice echoes into the room, and I scramble to grab the phone from my bedside table. “What’s wrong? Isn’t it late there?”
“He’s banging the receptionist!” I sob into the device, cradling it against my ear as I toss my favorite sweater into the suitcase.
“Who, George?” Hadlee sounds incredulous, and I can almost picture her pretty face pinching into a scowl.
“What am I going to do, Lee?” Adrenaline pulses through me, pushing me to finish packing everything I can, as fast as I can. George has stopped trying to break down the door, but I can hear his heavy breathing on the other side as I sink to the floor beside the bed.
“Please, Jana,” he calls out, and I close my eyes, fresh tears sliding out. “Let me explain!”
“I moved out here to be with him,” I say to Hadlee on a hiccupping breath. Dropping my head against my knees, I suck in a deep breath. “I’m in a dead-end job with no prospects, and I can’t stay in this house. Not after this.”
“Jana, please let me in.”
“Come stay with me, J.” Hadlee’s voice rings loud and clear through the phone, and I blink away the tears that blur my vision.
“I couldn’t do that, Lee,” I say softly. I can still hear George outside the door, and my breaking heart reaches out for him. “I don’t want to put you out like that.”
“You know you’ve always been welcome here, Jana.”
“I know.” My breathing slows, the tears drying on my cheeks. I glance around the bedroom, the soft gray and blue hues bringing a sad ache to my chest. This is the first house I’ve lived in that really felt like home after my parents died, and now, I’m losing it. “I just don’t know if I can go back. I haven’t been home since their funeral.”
“I know, sweetie.” Her voice is low, and I know she’s feeling the same melancholy. Hadlee grew up in the house down the street from me, our parents best friends since college. When hers divorced, Hadlee practically lived at our house. Losing my mom and dad had been equally as hard on her. “But don’t you think it’s time? It’s been six years.”
I stay silent. Maybe she’s right.
“Jana, please. I can explain.”
“Maybe you’re right.” I catch my breath, looking around the room again. “It’s time I go home to Harmony.”
???
Snow falls in what feels like slow motion as I step out of the airport, my lightweight jacket doing little to keep me warm in the chilly winter air. I can’t fight the smile that pulls at my lips, or the warmth flooding my chest seeing Hadlee standing a few feet away wrapped in the biggest coat I’ve ever seen. Her dark hair pokes out from her hat, and I can barely see her smile behind the many layers.
“Jana!” she squeals, throwing her arms around me. I laugh, hugging her back. “I’m so happy you’re home!”
“Me too, Lee,” I say, pulling away a little. I brush her hair from my mouth and laugh again, tugging my bag closer and glancing around. “I forgot how much it snows out here.”
Her eyes dart over my figure. “You must be freezing! Did you bring a better coat?” she asks. She takes my bag and leads me to a waiting Subaru.
“I didn’t need anything heavier than this back in Louisiana.” I laugh, watching her struggle to heft my suitcase into her trunk. “Actually, this is heavier than what I needed in Louisiana.”
“I can’t even imagine living out there, J,” Hadlee says, slamming the hatch and hurrying around to the driver’s seat. I climb into the passenger seat, the heater slowly defrosting my frozen fingers. “The humidity alone would’ve been a disaster on my hair.”
Looking over at her as she strips off her hat and overcoat, I grin. Her sleek black hair wouldn’t have lasted a day in the New Orleans humidity. “You’re right—you’d be doomed out there. My hair was curlier than ever, though.”
“Oh, I love your curls.” Hadlee pulls out of the pick-up line, and I watch out the window as we pass by parked cars, my heart sore at the sight of reuniting families and couples. Hadlee turns on the radio, the local station playing Christmas classics.
The drive back to Harmony takes just under an hour, and Hadlee fills my silence with stories of the salon she works at and the people around town. I don’t hear much of what she says, though; my mind is stuck on George and the life I left behind. My head rests on the window as I watch the trees fly past, and it’s not until I see the town limits that I perk up.
Harmony, Montana
Where you’re family
