Snowmen In Paradise (Book 2 Tj Jensen Paradise Lake Mysteries) (3 page)

“Tha
nks. I might take you up on that.” Jenna slid a cup of hot coffee across the counter to Tj. “If the schools are closed, it might be busy, and I could really use Bonnie’s help here at the restaurant.” Jenna pulled a tray of cookies out of the oven and set them on the cooling rack. “Want a cookie to go with that coffee?”

Tj hesitated
. While her downhill team, in their youthful exuberance, had torn up the mountain with all the fresh powder, after spending several hours in the whiteout conditions, she was cold and wet and exhausted. What she really wanted was to go home and curl up by the fire with her Bernese mountain dog, Echo, and huge orange tabby, Cuervo, and drift into a dreamless sleep. On the other hand, something did smell awfully good, and she had a date that night, so an early bedtime was out of the question anyway.

“Chocolate oatmeal crisps hot
out of the oven,” Jenna encouraged as she put two on a plate and set it next to the coffee she’d poured. You can’t be best friends with someone for twenty-three years and not know that they never turn down an offer of chocolate. “I changed up the recipe a bit and added just a bit of caramel. I think it gives an interesting twist to an old favorite.”

Tj took a bite
; it was delicious. In all of the excitement brought about by the new snow, she’d barely eaten at all that day. “These are really good. Can I have a couple more and a glass of milk?”

Jenna piled four more cookies on
the plate while Tj got her own glass of milk from the restaurant-sized refrigerator.

“Where are the girls?” Tj wondered. Most afternoons
, they could be found sitting at the table Jenna kept tucked into a corner of the kitchen, doing their homework.

“Up front with
Mom and Bonnie,” Jenna answered. “Mom went to an estate sale last weekend and picked up a bunch of stuff from the turn of the century. She’s completely redesigning the window display to accommodate her new pieces. Bonnie and the girls are helping.”

Tj knew
Helen was meticulous in her mission to buy the highest-quality antiques, then painstakingly restore them to their original magnificence. Each piece was grouped in a period exhibit in which scrupulous attention to detail provided for museum-quality displays.

“Ashley got into another fight today,” Tj informed Jenna
as she settled in with her snack.

“Oh
, no,” Jenna sympathized as she began gathering ingredients for what looked like clam chowder. “She’s been doing so well. What happened?”

“Loretta is having a birthday party. She invited the whole class with the exception of Ashley.”

Jenna frowned. “That’s mean. I can’t believe her mom would let her do that. I know Kristi got an invite, but I’ll talk to her about doing something fun with Ashley on the day of the party instead.”

“That’s r
eally nice, but I don’t want Kristi to miss the biggest party of the year just because Ashley wasn’t included.”

“I’ll see how she feels about it,” Jenna promised. “My guess is that she won’t want to go
after she hears that Ashley wasn’t invited, but I’ll leave the decision up to her.”

“Kyle and I have been talking about taking the girls to the C
hildren’s Museum in Carson City,” Tj informed Jenna. “Maybe we’ll do it on the day of Loretta’s party. Kristi and Kari are both invited if they want to go. Having something fun to do should take Ashley’s mind off the fact that she wasn’t included in the biggest social event on the third-grade calendar.”

“Sounds fun
.” Jenna smiled. “The girls love the museum. By the way, how did Kyle do with your band of misfits?”

“They loved him.”
Tj bit into the gooey concoction created when chocolate and caramel meld into something rich and chewy.

“I knew they would.
” Jenna began dicing potatoes for the soup.

“By the end of the period
, all the girls were drooling over him and all the guys were talking jam sessions and electronic equipment. When Kyle started talking mash-ups and computer-generated special effects, they were sold. I think your spectacular idea to ask Kyle to help out with the kids is going to be even more of a godsend than I originally thought.”

“Glad I could help
. Still, if it were me, I’d choose a warm classroom over three hours in a blizzard any day.”

Tj laughed
. A five foot two spitfire who could outride, outrun, and outswim most of the men in town, Tj didn’t know the meaning of staying inside and sitting around. Not that Jenna sat around. She owned her own business, had two young daughters, and was an active volunteer in the community. It was more that Jenna was polished and perfect, with long and lean limbs, perfectly straight blond hair, and porcelain skin, while Tj more often than not was muddy and sweaty, with a long, frizzy braid and sun-kissed cheeks.

Tj tucked
up her legs under her body as she remembered the exhilaration of the day. “I know what you mean about staying warm, but when you’re on the slopes shredding through all that glorious powder, the subfreezing temperatures and biting wind seem to fade away. There’s this awesome feeling of oneness with the universe when the only thing you can see is the mountain ahead of you and the only thing you can hear is your own breath. At this time of year, there’s nowhere I’d rather be than on the mountain.”

Jenna opened
the oven to check on the progress of her second batch of cookies. “You park rats are crazy. It’s got to be like two degrees out there and it’s still impossible to get you off the mountain before the sun goes down.”

Tj laughed
. “Speaking of crazy, you’ll never guess who wants to have input about the music my kids will perform for the carnival opening ceremonies.”

“Who?”

“Travis Davidson. I guess he’s acting as some sort of honorary master of ceremonies. One of his conditions for accepting the gig was that he wanted to be given creative control over the entire ceremony, including which songs my group will perform.”

“Wow, really
? The kids have been rehearsing for months.” Jenna had been a steadfast supporter of Tj and her attempt to convert the misfits into a choir. “There’s no way there’s enough time to change things at this point.”

“Tell me about it
. I’ve been fuming since I found out about the ridiculous request. Greg seems to think that if I meet with Travis and explain things, he’ll understand our predicament. I agreed to meet with him, but if I know Travis the way I think I know him, he’ll demand changes just to be an ass.”

“Don’t let Tra
vis push your buttons,” Jenna counseled. “I know the two of you have never gotten along, but it seems like he has a tendency to bring out the worst in you.”

“I know
, but he’s just so . . .” Several adjectives came to mind, none of them appropriate for polite company. As far as Tj was concerned, Travis was an arrogant cuss who came to the community for help when he needed it and then dumped the people who cared about him when he got a better offer. Tj had convinced her dad to put up a considerable amount of money to back him, only to be told that his sponsorship was no longer needed once Travis had become a name on the pro circuit. Travis didn’t deserve the consideration the mayor appeared to be granting him.

“I realize that my problems with Travis are my problems
, and I know I can’t let my personal feelings get in the way of making sure the toad doesn’t ruin the show the kids have poured their heart and soul into,” Tj continued. “But if that guy thinks he can waltz into town and mess with
my
choir, he has another thing coming.”

Jenna smiled. “You know
, that’s the first time you’ve referred to the kids as
your
choir with quite so much ownership. They’ve gotten to you in spite of the fact that you didn’t want anything to do with the group in the beginning.”

“Yeah. I
’ll admit I fought the assignment when Greg first approached me with it, but the kids are really awesome. They deserve this chance to shine and I don’t want Travis messing with it.”

“What are you going to do?”

“My gut tells me I should just wring the guy’s scrawny neck and be done with it. But I guess I’ll pretend to be the responsible adult everyone seems to think I should be and have a chat with him, as Greg requested. I assume we’ll still meet even if school is canceled.”

“Talking is good
. The last thing we need is for the famous Tj temper to make things worse.”

“Yeah, I know.”
As a child, Tj had had a reputation for solving conflicts with her fists, and while she’d learned to curb her impulses after her dad had signed her up for martial arts classes, everyone knew she was still a force to be reckoned with.

“
I’m actually kind of surprised the guy came back to town,” Jenna added. “He ticked off a lot of people when he left. I’m betting you aren’t the only one who would love to wring his neck.”

Tj glanced out
of the kitchen window as heavy snow pelted the side of the building. “Mayor Wallaby thinks he’s some kind of local hero. From what I hear, the carnival committee wasn’t even informed about the invitation until after Travis and his new agent had already signed the contract for him to appear. I guess a lot of the committee members were upset, but Wallaby is insisting that our little event needs a national spotlight and Travis is just the one to give it to us.”

“I get why Wallaby might want Travis to attend the event
, but what I don’t understand is why Travis agreed to come.”

“T
he guy has a huge ego.” Tj grabbed two more cookies off the cooling rack. “Wallaby is going all out to feed that ego and make him feel welcome. There’s even going to be a reception of some type up at the lodge. As a coach for a high-school team I got an invite, but I’m seriously disinclined to go.”

“Does Chelsea know he’s back?”
Jenna asked.

Chelsea
was Tj’s ex-boyfriend Hunter Hanson’s sister.

“She must
. Everyone is talking about it.”

“After he dumped her for that Swedish supermodel
, I thought she was going to kill him. They dated for a long time.”

“I thought I’d text her later
; see if she needs talking down. Not that the punk doesn’t deserve whatever he gets, but Chelsea really doesn’t have the coloring to pull off an orange jumpsuit.”

Jenna laughed
.

Tj took a last sip of her coffee
. “I guess I should round up the girls and get home. Dylan’s picking me up in just over an hour, and I still have to get cleaned up.”

“Another date that’s not a date?”

“Yeah, something like that. New movie at the fourplex.”

Dylan Caine, the new deputy in town, wasn’t
only a total babe and a fantastic guy Tj found herself more than just a little attracted to; he was also a man with a tragic past who obviously wasn’t ready to date an overencumbered schoolteacher or anyone else. While Tj would be open to moving their relationship to the next level, she was content for the time being to enjoy the friendship they’d established over the past few months.

“You’ll ne
ver guess who just stopped by.” Jenna’s mother, Helen Henderson, dressed in a smart olive-green suit, pushed her way in though the kitchen door with Jenna’s mother-in-law, Bonnie Elston, Ashley, Gracie, and Jenna’s daughters, Kristi and Kari, on her heels. Helen, a petite, green-eyed brunette, was the self-appointed queen bee of the Serenity gossip hive and therefore the frequent recipient of visits from locals with the current buzz.

“
Barney Johnson,” Bonnie, a plump blonde with short hair and a momish feel about her, supplied before either Tj or Jenna could speak.

“He’s circulating a petition to rep
lace Travis with a local athlete as celebrity guest for the carnival,” Helen added.

“Wallaby’s never going
to go for it,” Jenna speculated as she put cookies on a plate and poured four glasses of milk for the girls.

“He won’t have a choice if Johnson can get the suppo
rt he needs. I heard Travis has a sponsorship deal riding on his ability to expand his public exposure. The whole reason he agreed to be honorary master of ceremonies was to impress this potential funding source. Johnson thinks it’s a slap in the face to the local folks who contributed their hard-earned dollars to launch his career in the first place only to be shunted aside the minute he made it big.”

“According to Harriet, Wallaby is livid,” Bonnie
said, referring to Harriet Kramer, Mayor Wallaby’s busybody secretary. “He’s threatening to have Johnson kicked off the town council if he doesn’t drop the petition.”

“Can he do that?”
Tj asked.

“Not really,” Bonnie admitted, “but he can make life difficult if he chooses
. Johnson is trying to expand his feed store, and Wallaby is chair of the committee to review the project.”

Tj frowned
. “I doubt the mayor would use his influence with the committee over something as minor as a celebrity master of ceremonies.”