Taking Chances Preview Snow-

Taking Chances

Snowy Ridge

Love at Starlight Series, Book 2 (Preview Edition)

Kris Jett



Taking Chances Snowy Ridge: Love at Starlight, Book 2 (Preview Edition) By Kris Jett

Copyright 2017 by Kris Jett

This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and events are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved.

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this ebook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this ebook and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Amazon.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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WELCOME TO STARLIGHT

A family-owned pub in the picturesque snowmobiling town of Snowy Ridge, Wisconsin. The weather may be cold outside, but things are sizzling indoors.

Fall in love with the new small-town romance series beginning with:

Christmas at Starlight – Amber & Nick (Snowy Ridge: A Love at Starlight Novella)

Coming Home – Jessie & Cade (Snowy Ridge: Love at Starlight, Book 1)

Taking Chances – Wynn & Bryce (Snowy Ridge: Love at Starlight, Book 2)

Finding Me – Luci & Evan (Snowy Ridge: Love at Starlight, Book 3)

Chapter One

“Oof,” Wynn Foster let out in an exhale. Melody was straddling her chest and patting her cheeks, one tiny hand on each side of her face. Nothing like being woken up by a thirty-pound toddler launching herself at you, Wynn thought. “Mommy, Mommy, Mommy,” Melody sung out. “Wake now.” Wynn peeked one eye open and slowly smiled at her eighteen-month old daughter. “I’m awake, sweetie.” “Mickey?” Melody asked. Melody wanted her to go flip on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the television in the living room. It’d become her morning ritual lately since they’d moved back to Wynn’s home town, Snowy Ridge, Wisconsin, and in with her mom. Cartoons and cereal in front of the TV while Wynn dragged herself around the kitchen, making and then downing her first cup of coffee. She never had been a morning person. “Mickey?” the toddler prodded again. “Okay, okay, honey. I’m getting up.” Melody leaped off her mother, grabbed her stuffed Mickey Mouse doll from the bed, and raced out to the living room to wait. Wynn sighed and stared at her bedroom ceiling, trying to will herself to get up. She couldn’t believe she was here, in her childhood bedroom. Twenty-eight years old, divorced, and a single parent. And living with her own mommy again. It was pathetic. She felt like a total loser. The one bright spot in her day everyday was Melody. She loved her daughter to pieces and she had to get her act together if not for herself, then for Melody. She crawled out of bed, shoved her feet into her old

worn-out frog slippers, and tip-toed out of the bedroom, careful not to wake her mom who was still asleep in her own bedroom across the hall. Her younger sister, Luci, had also recently moved back home from New York City and was in her old bedroom as well. Their baby sister, Jessie, was the only one of the family who had her act together. She lived in her own place and co-ran the family business with their mother. When their mom could work, that was. She’d been going through chemotherapy and resting as much as possible, so, it was really a good thing that the girls were all at home right now. Even if it wasn’t the reason for them coming home in the first place. Wynn turned on the television and tuned the channel to Disney before patting Melody on the head. “Be right back with your cheerios,” she told her. Melody squeezed her Mickey to her chest and stared at the TV in delight. The kid was obsessed with the show. Wynn padded into the kitchen and begun making breakfast as she thought about her day. She was going to drop Melody off at daycare and then head to work at Starlight for her shift. She perked up when she remembered she had an errand to do before work. Today was the day she enrolled in the local community college. Just last week she’d decided she had to do something to really shake up her life; change the course of direction she’d been on for way too long. Wynn was always floating in and out, from relationship to relationship, job to job. She needed a path, a goal, for her and Melody’s life. No more messing around. She had the scare of her life a few weeks back that really shook her up. She was being stalked by a crazy ex-boyfriend, named Billy. Maybe she should have seen that Billy was bad news from the start, but, she was so vulnerable back then.

Newly divorced and feeling unlovable, she glommed onto the first guy she met in a Single Parents Under Thirty chatroom. Hello red flag. And the jerk wasn’t even a parent—just a creep trolling the chat room. Ugh, she couldn’t believe she was so stupid. She’d moved back home to Snowy Ridge with Melody not only to save money, but to get away from Billy. He seemed like such a winner at first. Of course, don’t they all? But he pushed too hard, wanted too much, and moved too fast. She just couldn’t give him what he was asking for. When she broke things off, it seemed to only make him crazier. He was suddenly everywhere, all the time. He sat outside her job and her house for hours. He sent non-stop notes and presents. He wouldn’t take no for an answer. When Billy crossed over from creepy stalker to downright terrifying nightmare, her sister Jessie got involved. She’d told Billy that Wynn was in the hospital with a rare blood disorder and to please stop texting. When that didn’t work, Jessie told him Wynn had passed away. While dramatic and cruel to do to someone, they just didn’t know what else to do to make him go away. And it didn’t work anyway. Billy showed up in Snowy Ridge and confronted Wynn and Melody in the town square. He had a knife and wanted to force her to go with him to “talk.” Luckily Jessie was also there with her boyfriend, Cade Stone. They’d defended her and then Jessie’s old ex-boyfriend from high school happened to be walking by at the right time, saw the struggle, and ran to help. Cade and he took Billy down. Thankfully, Billy was behind bars now, serving time. It seemed Wynn wasn’t the first woman he’d stalked and threatened. Though it was a completely frightening experience, it opened Wynn’s eyes and she was more determined than

ever to stop the chaos and make a stable home for her and Melody. Life wasn’t going to just keep happening to her. She was going to decide what she wanted and go out and get it. And she was going to forget all about men, at least for a while. She was putting herself on a boyfriend time out until further notice. Valentine’s Day was coming up in a few weeks and she hadn’t experienced the holiday without a Valentine since she was sixteen years old. But she didn’t care. She had her baby girl and she was all she needed. “Coffee?” Luci asked, with a skip as she entered the kitchen. “Turn the perkiness down a notch, would ya?” Wynn asked. “You should try yoga in the morning, sis. A nice sun salutation would really kick your day off to a good start.” “Why on earth would I want to salute the sun? I hide from it as long as possible. I would still be under my covers now if Melody hadn’t woken me up.” Ugh, that was right. She was supposed to be making cereal. Wynn set her coffee cup down with a thump and quickly made Melody her bowl of cereal with sliced banana and filled a sippy cup with milk. She walked it out to the living room and set it down on the coffee table in front of her daughter. Melody jammed one fat little hand right into the bowl and then shoved some cereal in her mouth, stray little O shaped grains falling down the front of her pajamas. They hadn’t quite worked out the spoon business yet so she just let Melody eat how she’d like. At least Wynn didn’t have to sit and hand feed her. Luci joined them in the living room, two cups of coffee in her hand. She set one down in front of Wynn and then curled up in the corner of the couch with her own cup, blowing lightly into it. “So, what are you up to today?”

Wynn’s face instantly brightened. “It’s a good day,” she told her sister. “First stop for me is the junior college. I’m enrolling today. I can’t wait!” Luci beamed at her sister. “That’s so great, Wynn. I’m so proud of you!” Wynn took a big gulp of coffee. “I’m proud of me too. You’re going to see a new me, Luci.” “I already see a new you. You’re shrinking away, these days. How much weight have you lost? Easily twenty pounds.” Wynn’s cheeks reddened and she glanced down at herself. It was true; she had been steadily dropping weight, but she wasn’t even trying. She’d just been under so much stress between moving back home with Melody and the whole Billy situation that she hadn’t been able to eat a lot. “I don’t think I’ve lost that much.” “Well, you look amazing.” Wynn smiled at her sister. “Thanks. I’m feeling good, too. Hopeful, ya know? Like, I’m finally going to turn things around and make everything go my way.” “You can do it,” Luci said. “I have faith in you.” “Thanks, Lu.” “Shhh!” Melody scolded. She threw an annoyed look at her mom and aunt. “Mickey!” Wynn and Luci exchanged glances and burst into giggles. “Mommy!” Melody whined. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. sweetie,” Wynn said, holding her hands up in surrender. Just then her text alert went off on her phone and she glanced down at it. Hey Wynn. I’m coming to Snowy Ridge for the weekend. I’ll be in Friday around 6. I want to see Melody. – Eric “Shit!” Wynn exclaimed.

“Mommy!” Melody said again, irritated. “What is it?” Luci leaned toward Wynn on the couch and cranked her head to see the phone. Wynn quickly pulled the phone to her chest, not wanting Luci to see. “Nothing. Just a bill I forgot to pay.” Luci seemed to accept her response and sat back against the couch. Wynn looked down at her phone again. The text was from Melody’s dad. And he wanted to see her.

Chapter Two

It was fine. It was going to be just fine. He was her dad, after all. What did Wynn think, that Eric would never want to see Melody again? Well, yes, that was what she thought, actually. It had been about a year since he’d last seen her. Melody had no clue who he was even. Oh my gosh, Melody was going to think Wynn was leaving her with a complete stranger. She’d be completely terrified. She couldn’t do that, could she? But didn’t he have rights? What was she supposed to do? Wynn drove toward Melody’s daycare; Melody strapped happily in her car seat in the back. Ever since Eric’s text came in that morning, Wynn had been wracking her brain as to what to do. Why did Eric suddenly want contact now? He was hardly around when Melody was an infant and when he left Wynn when Melody was only six months old, he’d never looked back. That was not to say he was a total deadbeat or anything. His child support checks arrived at the first of every single month. When Wynn had told Eric that she was moving back home to Snowy Ridge, all he’d said was to send him the address so that he would know where to send the checks. It was kinda sad, really. But she’d accepted that this was how he wanted things. And it wasn’t like she could force him to be a good father to Melody. So why the sudden interest? Wynn pulled into Little Apples, Melody’s daycare. It was only her second week there, but Melody loved it. She already had a sweet friend, a cute, pig-tailed, two-year old named Ashley, that she palled around with for most of the day. And it wasn’t like Melody could keep hanging out at the pub all day, every day. Her co-workers had been so nice letting Melody stay in the kitchen, playing

with her toys while Wynn worked, but it wasn’t an ideal situation. It was better that she be with kids her age and have a little more structure to her day. “Here we are, sweet pea,” Wynn sang out as she parked the car. “Ashee, Ashee!” Melody squealed, clearly excited. “Yup, we’re going to see your friend Ashley, aren’t we?” Wynn helped Melody out of the car and brought her inside. As soon as Melody hit the door, she was off running, looking for her friend. Wynn smiled as she watched her go. “The two of them are just the cutest together,” Miss Tara, one of the teachers said as she sidled up next to Wynn. Miss Tara was only about twenty and not a teacher but that’s what all of the kids called her so the parents tended to as well. “She’s so happy here.” Wynn unconsciously ran her hand over her back jean pocket where her phone was sitting, almost like she had to remind herself that a situation counter to their happiness was still waiting to be dealt with. And was that even fair? How did she know Melody wouldn’t be happy seeing Eric? Really, Wynn was the one who wouldn’t be happy with his visit. Melody seemed to love everyone she met. “We’re happy she’s here, too.” The young teacher flipped her head toward a pile of blocks tumbling to the ground off of a small table and her long, thick, ponytailed hair practically slapped Wynn in the face. “Don’t worry Sammy,” she said to the teary-eyed toddler eyeing the mess, “you can rebuild.” Wynn side-scanned the teacher’s outfit choice: a short, tight pink tee-shirt that didn’t cover her black, spandexed rear end. She looked like she should be running a marathon, not a daycare. It wasn’t the most professional

of outfits for a teacher, but she bet the fathers dropping off their kids sure appreciated it. And when did it become a style for what was the equivalent of tights, really, to be outerwear instead of paired with a skirt? Ugh, Wynn sounded old and she knew it. Miss Tara was fine. She probably spent half the day crawling around on the ground with the kids. Her outfit was fine. Wynn knew she was being judge-y right now and it was all because of her ex’s text. Why did he have to turn up now? And was he still with that teenager? “Well, I’ll be back then,” Wynn said, and handed over Melody’s diaper bag and food and snacks for the day. She went to Melody and gave her a quick kiss goodbye on the cheek but her daughter didn’t even look up. She was already too involved in hammering a mound of blue playdoh with her little BFF to be bothered. Wynn waved to Miss Tara as she left the building and headed for her car. She ran her hand over her back pocket again and thought, okay, I just need to handle this now before it distracts me all day. This was supposed to be her great day, after all; the day she enrolled in college. She wasn’t going to let Eric ruin it for her. She pulled her phone out and slid into the driver’s seat of the car. Before she could think about it anymore, she zipped off a text to her ex-husband. Sure. We can meet you at 6. How about meeting us at MoonBeans? It’s a little coffee shop on Main St. She hit send. There. It was done. They would meet him for a coffee and he’d get to see Melody and get it out of his system. Then, hopefully, he’d go back home to St. Louis and leave her and Melody to get back to their normal life. Without him. Fifteen minutes later, Wynn bounded up the steps to South Lake Community College, clutching a folded-up

piece of notebook paper in her hand. She couldn’t help feeling giddy. Having a goal and direction gave a huge jolt of excitement to her dreary life. She wouldn’t be wading through anymore. She had an objective. Wynn grinned wildly at the students bustling around inside the college. The first day of school was next week and it was all the last-minute people hanging around today, like her. She marched up to one of the glass windows under a sign that read, “Admissions,” and smoothed out the piece of paper on the ledge between her and a woman who looked to be in her late fifties. “Going back to school?” the woman asked, peering at Wynn over her glasses. Wynn blinked and gave an emphatic, “Yes!” The woman chuckled and shuffled some papers on her side of the glass. “All right then, let’s get you going.” An hour later Wynn was headed back out to the parking lot with an armful of pamphlets and paperwork and her newly printed class schedule on top. She’d registered for three courses: Intro to Computer Information Systems, Intro to Web Design, and Intro to the Internet. Which was really kind of hysterical. If anyone was familiar with the Internet, it was her. She’d met many a man online in the past ten years. Some might call her an online dating expert. Although she was fairly sure that wasn’t what they would be teaching. All of these classes were required for the Computer Information Systems degree Wynn had decided to go after. Her first class was Intro to Web Design on Monday morning and she couldn’t wait. Still feeling a buzz of excitement, she climbed back into the car and headed to Snowy Ridge and Starlight Pub for her afternoon shift of work. She’d decided to keep her exciting news to herself for just a bit longer.

Jessie was coming over to the house for dinner that night and Luci was cooking. They’d all be together as a family and it would be the perfect time to tell them about her new major then.

Chapter Three

Bryce Alexander moved to South Lake, Wisconsin, to forget. Or, if not to forget, to just go numb temporarily; like a Novocain shot to the whole body. He needed something to help him not feel so damn much, all of the time. He’d only moved thirty miles away from where he had lived with his wife. Correction, ex-wife. He had to get used to saying that now. He never thought that when he was swearing before God and his church and his childhood priest, who not only baptized him but confirmed him in high school, to love and honor Julia until death did they part, that a mere two years later he’d be divorced and living alone in a one-bedroom apartment, facing an icecovered lake. Although, the lake view was actually kind of nice. It was like Julia had completely gone mad. They’d dated for six years, long enough to feel like you really knew a person, and she’d been so excited to get married and spend their lives together. But then they said their I Do-s and it was like a switch had flipped. She had suddenly become this woman who’s personality changed from hot to cold as fast as you could google “personality disorder.” And he never knew what would trigger her to flip. One minute she’d be laughing at a rerun of Seinfeld on TV; and in a blink of an eye, she’d be swearing and whipping magazines off the coffee table at him. Really, she’d throw anything nearby that she could grab quickly: mugs, empty takeout bag, Kleenex boxes, and one time, even her winter boots went soaring through the air toward his head. It was like she had a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde thing going on. And when he suggested that she see someone to talk things over, and maybe get a diagnosis, though he

didn’t say that part out loud to her, it only enraged her more. Bryce had moved to South Lake after Julia so kindly moved all of his belongings on to the front lawn about eleven months ago, when she’d decided they were separating. He’d gone out to get the groceries, like she’d asked, and when he’d returned, there was everything he’d owned, scattered about on the grass for all the town to see. He ran up the walk to the house and tried to get in but she had bolted the doors. He’d like to say he was shocked, but it wasn’t the first time Julia had done something this crazy since they’d been married. Her highs were always super high and her lows were near destruction. But this was the worst time. There wasn’t any really coming back from this. Bryce was angry and humiliated. Even more so when his older neighbor Bob, the local high school principal, came out front to help him pick up his stuff and load it into his truck. Bryce was beyond hurt and had no idea what Julia had thought he’d done that time. She had been cheery and had given him a goodbye kiss when he’d left for the store. She’d even reminded him not to forget the laundry detergent. And then it was all over. He remembered sitting in his truck, stuffed with everything he owned, in a McDonald’s parking lot wondering how he was going to explain this all to his parents. It was the worst day of his life. Bryce ran his own web design company out of his home. He designed, created, and maintained Web sites for a huge list of customers ranging from local businesses, like plumbers and accountants, to authors and local bands. That’s where he met his client-turnedfriend Ed Stevens. Ed played the drums in a band with a bunch of other thirty-something year old guys. Top 40s kind of stuff. They mostly did bars and festivals. The

Fourth of July fest circuit always kept them pretty busy. Ed had been on him to start getting out more; going on about how it wasn’t healthy to sit in the house day after day. Since Bryce did work from home, he rarely felt the need to go anywhere or even get dressed for that matter. Between Amazon Prime and Netflix, he didn’t see much need for donning pants when there was no real reason. But Ed was relentless in his quest to get Bryce out the door and back in the land of the living. He’d gotten him a side job for extra cash at the community college in town. Once a week, Bryce would need to show up and teach an Intro to Web Design class, which he was pretty sure he could do in his sleep. And the college was so relaxed in their hiring process; he never even had a proper interview, just a welcome email with pay information and paperwork to fill out. And there was zero guidance in what his job even entailed. They basically gave him a free for all. He could do whatever he wanted with the class. They didn’t even require him to turn in a syllabus for review. And since it was effort enough for him to shower and show up once a week, he decided this class wouldn’t get a syllabus. He’d wing it. His first class was coming up that week and Bryce wondered what kind of people would fill out his student roster. Probably a bunch of eager teenagers all still living at home, dreaming of life as an adult; like it was so great to be old and alone and taking care of yourself. He’d definitely dash their dreams fast with his cranky old man attitude, he was sure. Or, maybe there would be an older crowd of people returning to school, looking for a new career. He would enjoy that group better than the former. At least he’d be able to relate to them. Bryce yanked open his freezer and pushed around the contents within until he found half a bag of pizza puffs.

Dinner of champions. He dumped the remainder of the bag onto a small metal pan, pushed it into the toaster oven, and set the time for ten minutes. A Game of Thrones marathon for one was on the agenda for that night. Maybe he needed to get a cat or something. Then again, that might be more responsibility than he could handle. He flipped through the mail on his crowded kitchen table and stopped at a small envelope with the return address of his former home with Julia. What the heck is this? he thought. Why would Julia be writing him now? He stared at it for a moment longer, wondering if he should just dump it straight into the trash. Nothing good could possibly come from it. He hadn’t heard a word from Julia since their divorce was final and that had worked for him. Curiosity got the better of him, however, and he ripped open the envelope. Save the Date! For the wedding of Julia Alexander & Mason Reynolds This June the 3rd. What? Bitch! Bryce thought. Why the hell was she sending this to him? Is she that crazy? Flippin’ psychopath! So, his ex was getting re-married and to some poor sucker named Mason. “Good luck, Mason,” Bryce said out loud. “You’ll need it.” Bryce couldn’t figure out why on earth Julia thought sending a save-the-date to him made any kind of sense. Like he would ever attend her wedding. She was a cruel, cruel woman and Bryce, once again, thanked God he never procreated with this loose cannon. Bryce ripped the card into tiny pieces and was just about to find a lighter to burn them when he noticed a

flier lying on the table. Ed had given it to him a couple of weeks back. His band was performing at a local bar that night. Ed was always inviting him to these things even though he knew Bryce would never go. Well, maybe he’d have to change that. Bryce crossed the small apartment and begun rifling through his tiny closet, not quite sure what he was looking for. A nice-ish shirt and pants. Most of his clothes were shoved into the tiny bureau of drawers, but he kept some stuff hung in the closet for when he needed to look professional and see clients. Luckily, this didn’t happen too often. He didn’t necessarily want to go out in a business-y type shirt though. What were people wearing to bars these days? At only thirty-two years old, it was sad that Bryce even had to wonder this, but he was so far removed from the nightlife scene he really didn’t know. He finally settled on a dark pair of jeans and a soft navy blue polo. He hadn’t worn the shirt in some time and the fabric was a bit snug on his arms, chest, and shoulders. He’d started lifting weights more regularly after he moved out of the house he’d shared with Julia. One of the items he was glad to take was his old bench and weight set from high school. Bryce ran his hands through his short brown hair and patted his mustache and beard. He kept it short and neatly trimmed. Another change he had made after separating from Julia. She’d always hated any facial hair at all so the first thing he did was stop shaving. He briefly wondered if he should run a little gel through his hair, and then if he even owned gel anymore, before deciding to just forget it and go au natural. With one last mirror check, Bryce grabbed his wallet and keys off the table and headed out of his tiny apartment. He wasn’t sure what he was looking for that

evening; but, he knew whatever it was, he’d never find it if he stayed home.

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I hope you’ve enjoyed this preview of Taking Chances, the second book in the Love at Starlight series. If you want to keep reading, find the full novel on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2no1OHJ.

If you’d like to check out the first book of the Love at Starlight series, Coming Home, find it now on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2iEcKJP.

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About the Author:

Kris Jett is a romance writer from Chicago who loves love! When she’s not working on her small-town contemporary romance series, she can be found at the theater with her main man, doing a mean Peacock Pose in her favorite yoga studio, or walking her adorable cavapoo, Sammy.