Snow Place Like Home

Chapter Twenty-One

Shonna

Once in the room at the inn, Penny barked happily to see her dancing around anxiously.

"Sorry, girl. I know you have to go."

She took the dog for a quick walk before returning to the room so Shonna could shower and get dressed. Her phone was lit up with messages. She had several missed calls and text messages from Braydon, of all people. She ignored them and made her way downstairs for breakfast.

Jason was already in the restaurant speaking to a table of customers, and when he spotted her, he motioned for her to sit at a nearby table.

"We are swamped here, and we have hours of prep work to get ready for tonight."

"So, I guess you can't join me for breakfast?"

"I'd love to, but we're behind schedule because yours truly slept in."

"Sorry about that."

"I'm not," he said with a devilish grin.

Then he kissed her. It caught her off guard, and they weren't exactly alone. Shonna didn't appreciate public displays of affection. It annoyed her when others did it, and she had never been one to take part.

She glanced around the room. The restaurant was full of customers enjoying their breakfast. A few had stopped to throw cursory glances their way before returning to their own conversations.

"Sorry," he said, noticing the look on her face. "I didn't... I wasn't thinking."

It was the first time she had seen him flustered. He was always so confident, and his arrogance bordering on cockiness was what attracted her to him, to begin with. Now they had slept together, and he was turning into a pile of mush. She didn't know what to think.

They hadn't talked after they had sex about what it meant, but he knew she was leaving. He had to know it was a one-time thing before she would head back to her real life. That was all she could offer him right now. She had a meeting with Mr. Longfellow on Monday morning. Jackie and Darren wanted her to come to their Christmas dinner tomorrow night, but she wanted to spend the holidays here.

Even with YoYo gone, Christmas in Blackstone had been her intention all along. A promise she felt she needed to keep, even though YoYo hadn't been here when she agreed to it.

"It's fine," she assured him. "Let's just keep things behind closed doors from now on, okay?"

The corners of his mouth twitched, but his dark eyes were unreadable. He nodded and smiled politely.

"You got it," he said, then hustled back to the kitchen.

The server came by shortly after he left and set a plate of food down in front of her.

"Oh, I didn't order yet," she said.

"Mr. Locklear asked me to bring it to you."

Of course he did.

She thanked the server before he scurried away to the other tables. As long as she was around Jason, she would never get to see a menu or order for herself. She shook her head and dug in. The food was amazing and exactly what she wanted. Fluffy, buttery eggs, waffles, and crispy bacon.

After breakfast, Shonna took Penny for an extended walk around town since she had a short one this morning. The sun was shining brightly, and the sunny morning seemed to coincide with everyone's bright attitude.

In Blackstone, the people smiled at each other as they passed, making conversation about their lives, and asking about their families, rather than ignoring one another like she was used to in Phoenix. As she studied their attire, it was difficult to tell who was well-off and who wasn't because everyone dressed for comfort and warmth. All the houses were modest, and the cars weren't flashy or expensive but practical. A lot of tan-colored sedans and minivans. As an outside observer, she would have guessed that everyone in town came from the same class and financial status, but that couldn't be true. Where she came from, people preferred to show off the size of their bank account or lie and live above their means, but these people didn't.