Side Squeeze (Jasper Falls 6)

SUGGESTED PLAYLIST

“The Scientist” by Coldplay

“Ho Hey” by The Lumineers

“Thinking Out Loud” by Ed Sheeran

“Say You Won’t Let Go” by James Arthur

“Lost Boy” by Ruth B.

“Don’t Give Up on Me” by Andy Grammer

“Come and Get Your Love” by Redbone

“Daddy’s Little Girl” by The Mills Brothers

“I Won’t Give Up” by Jason Mraz

“A Million Dreams” from The Greatest Showman

CHAPTER 1

“Don’t fuck up. Don’t fuck up. Don’t fuck up.” Mariella flipped open the mirror on the overhead visor and glared into her chestnut eyes. “Do not fuck this up. Everyone deserves a second chance. The past is in the past. Who cares what they think of you? It’s time to set the record straight. You’re smart, professional, and more than capable. You’ve got this.”

Flashing her teeth, she checked for food then smiled, scuffing a smudge of red gloss off her incisor before running her tongue under her lips. Her gaze shot to the dashboard clock. Time to go.

Maybe just a few minutes longer. She was early, anyway. She waited in the heat of her Volvo, questioning her sanity. This interview could go a long way in healing old wounds, or it could massively humiliate her.

She stared up at the towering hotel, designed to look much older than it was. The building boasted a level of fancy Jasper Falls had been missing for years. Maybe something too fancy for their little backwoods town, because beneath the mayor’s revitalization projects, their town was nothing more than a blue-collar lumberyard.

A few government grants spurred small businesses to set up shop, and those businesses triggered a slight boom in their little economy that enabled the town to progress from a dial-up state to something less Podunk. But nothing was as impressive as the Brick Hotel.

The Brick Hotel had nothing to do with grants or government incentives to rebuild. It had everything to do with the funding provided by the very wealthy and successful Gage King, now husband to Perrin Harris King.

Jasper Falls never had an upscale hotel before—just a crusty little Motor Inn on the outskirts of town. Truckers needing a hot shower and high school students looking for a hideout to drink or hook up made up most of the clientele.

Like everyone else who grew up in Jasper Falls, that Motor Inn reminded her of a time when fun was free and consequences were too far off to worry about. Adulthood was different. Messing up as an adult in a small town had a way of scarring a woman for life, and for the past few years she’d been trying, unsuccessfully, to outrun her past.

Mariella’s bad reputation wasn’t even her fault. Well, not all of it. Bran had played her for a fool. He’d strung her along, manipulated her, and in the end she’d been just as wounded as the other woman.

Unfortunately, in a small town like Jasper Falls, the gossip moved faster than the Wi-Fi. The town folk loved villains as much as they loved rallying behind their victims. In Mariella’s situation, Perrin had the engagement ring, so Perrin was the obvious victim. Mariella had nothing so she’d been unfairly saddled with the label of “other woman”, which was not the case at all.

The town didn’t realize she’d been with Bran longer than Perrin. They didn’t know that Perrin was actually the other woman.