Page 30 of Keeping Happily Ever After

She shook her head and changed the subject back. “So?” she asked. “Are you? Stressed, I mean. About Bella being away so much.”

Clearly, she was not going to drop the subject. The truth was, Jeremy hadn’t been stressed about it at all. Probably because he’d had so much else on his mind that he hadn’t had time to think about what it would mean when she left. In fact, they hadn’t even had time to talk about her schedule. So, no, he hadn’t been stressed. Key word,hadn’tbeen stressed at all. That was, until Lisa mentioned it to him earlier. No, she hadn’tmentionedit so much aswarnedhim about her daughter’s busy schedule and what that was going to mean.

Yes. It had definitely been a warning.

“Hello?” Natalie had broken her pose and waved a hand in front of his face. “Where did you go there?”

He forced a grin. “I was just thinking.” Jeremy shook his head. He was not about to tell her that her comment had sparked concern in him. Major concern. Whatwouldit mean when Bella started working? When would they see each other? Would they be able to find time for each other? Would he be okay with the distance? One simple comment had opened the gates of more questions than he had answers for, and the last thing he needed to do was explain any of that to Natalie.

He scrubbed a hand over his face and finished the rest of the soda in his can before wiggling his eyebrows and shifting the conversation to safer ground. “So why haven’t you had a boyfriend before? No one worthy of the job?”

ChapterTen

The next morning,Bella woke up with a headache throbbing just behind her left eye. She would have preferred to roll over and go back to sleep, but she had a date with Jeremy. Normally that would have been enough to get her up and out of bed, but she couldn’t seem to shake the feeling of worry that had settled over her at some point in the night. She’d tossed and turned for hours, thinking about what her mother had said about Jeremy.

He had a life in Glacier Falls. A good life. A life that had a lot of opportunity for him. After all, he was going to get the fire chief job. He’d be settled for life.

But Bella’s future was anywhere but Glacier Falls. Everyone knew that. Sure, Stephanie spent lots of time in the small town, but that’s only because she was already a star. She’d hit a completely different level of fame than Bella could even dream of reaching one day. The level where you set your own schedule and could live wherever you wanted because everyone would come to you and work around your needs and wants. That wasn’t normal and Bella knew it.

She might not know much about the industry yet, but she knew enough to know she had to pay her dues. She had to be where things were happening and decisions were being made. And that wasnotGlacier Falls.

Something would have to give. She just hoped like hell it wasn’t her brand-new relationship.

She let the hot, steamy water of the shower wash her concerns down the drain as she came to a decision. Maybe there was something to worry about when it came to her and Jeremy, but maybe there wasn’t. What she did know was that it would make her crazy to keep obsessing about it. And that’s the last thing she needed because Steph was right:Bombshellwas huge and she deserved to enjoy every second of it. And she would.

She would also enjoy every second of Jeremy.

Bella dressed and dried her hair. She’d just finished packing her things up and wiping down the counter, when she heard his truck drive up. Her mother had left earlier that morning, and Bella was checking out of their rental house as well, opting to spend the last few days she had in town at Jeremy’s apartment.

She closed the door behind her and walked down the sidewalk just as Jeremy hopped out of his truck.

He tucked his phone into his back pocket and greeted her with a warm smile and kiss on the cheek. “I’m sorry, Bella. I wanted to pick you up at the door, like a gentleman.” He waved his arm dramatically down the sidewalk and she laughed.

“Not to worry. You are very much a gentleman.”

“I needed to take that call,” he explained. “It was the chief. He’s been in touch with another fire chief on the East Coast. He’s helping me line things up for Char. It shouldn’t be too long now and we’ll have her home.”

“Oh, Jer. That’s amazing. You must be so relieved.”

“So much.”

Bella could see the effort he made to keep things casual, but she’d noticed the strain his worry had caused him. He’d been under a huge amount of pressure trying to work things out for his sister, as anyone would be. “If you want to talk about—”

“You know what? I appreciate the offer. Really, I do. But I think today, the best thing to do is just enjoy my time with you. I’ve done everything I can today and having a great day with you will help me take my mind off things because there’s nothing more I can do right now.”

“I can definitely help distract you.” She grinned and impulsively pressed up to her tiptoes to kiss him.

He dropped her bag and wrapped his arms around her in reflex, kissing her back. Hard.

“Ummm.” Jeremy touched his fingers to his lips. “I like that kind of distraction. That was nice. It almost makes me want to cancel our plans and take you straight home.” He wiggled his eyebrows and she laughed, smacking him playfully in the chest.

“No way.” She shimmied her hips as she slipped by him on the sidewalk and made her way to the truck. “You told me you had a special day planned and I wantallof it.” She turned, her hand on the door handle. “Oh, and I want the special night, too.”

Behind her, she heard him groan. “Oh, baby. I’ll give you all the special you can handle.”

Two hours later, special was only one of the words that Bella could use to describe what Jeremy had planned for them. She stood in a small clearing in the forest and looked straight up into the snow-covered pines that towered over her. The sun sparkled off the snow, creating aspecial,magical wonderland that they were right in the middle of. Jeremy had driven her out of town on the forestry back roads until they found a trailhead. He’d helped her into the snowshoes he’d brought for her and together they’d set off down the trail for a winter hike.

Bella had never been snowshoeing before, but it didn’t take her long to work it out. Once she got used to the large pieces of metal and plastic strapped to her feet, there was nothing to it. It was a gorgeous day. The sun was warm, flashing through the trees as they progressed down the trail.

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