Free Operation: Endgame by Christi Snow Page B

the shower, while Cassie worked on the dishes.
    She thought about the sudden turn of events over the last twenty-four hours. Yesterday at this time, she wasn’t even sure if she could still count Jake among her friends and now he was living with her. Yes, it was because of bad circumstances, but the fact he was here infused Cassie with a feeling of peace and security. She had no idea what he planned for today, but she was thankful they were doing something together as friends, without any residual awkwardness from the events in May. She hoped it continued that way.
    At that thought, Jake walked out of the bedroom. He was fully dressed, but his hair was still wet from his shower. “I need to go take my shower before we head out, but I forgot to ask, how many days are you home for? Do I get to enjoy having you as a roomie for longer than the weekend?”
    Jake gave her a slow, lazy smile and drawled. “Darling, you have me for the whole month. My leave doesn’t end until January 3 rd .”
    Cassie couldn’t help the smile which spread from ear to ear and suddenly she threw herself into his arms. “Yes, that’s the absolute best Christmas present you could ever get me. A whole month?” Jake nodded. “Yes!”
    Jake continued to hold her in a light hug, simply enjoying the feeling of her in his arms. “So go get that cute little ass washed,” he patted her on her butt, “because there’s something noticeably absent from your house. Darling, today we’re getting this house decked out for Christmas.”
    Cassie’s joy was complete and overwhelming. She kissed him on the cheek and took off down the hall, singing, “Deck the halls with boughs of holly…fa, la, la, la, la….”

Chapter 17
     

    After a quick run to the tree lot, Jake and Cassie came home with a gorgeous blue spruce taking up most of the bed space in the back of his truck.
    Cassie’s house was a little bungalow that had been built in the Park Terrace neighborhood of Lubbock during the 1950’s. Colton, Chris, and Cassie had all come here to live with their grandfather when their parents died suddenly in a plane crash. At the time, Colton was ten and the twins were six. It had been a shock for all of them, including their single grandfather. Their grandfather from their mother’s side of the family had been their only living relative willing to take in all three kids. He filled their lives with all the love he could and they quickly learned to love their modified lives in this quaint little house. He’d died when Cassie and Chris were in college and had left the three of them the house. Because Cassie was the only one still living in Lubbock, she had taken over ownership of it and had spent years renovating it to the serene beauty it was now. In the back, was a detached garage she used for storage, Jake and she headed there now to retrieve her Christmas decorations.
    As they headed through the doorway, Jake was taken up short by the object that was placed front and center in the garage…Chris’ truck. That truck had been his baby. It was a black GMC 2500 4WD. Chris had spent hours customizing and accessorizing it and Jake had been right there with him for much of the work. The shock of seeing it and the memories it invoked was like a blow to his gut. God, he missed Chris. That thought was followed quickly by an onslaught of guilt over the many ways he had failed Chris starting with the crash. This was never going to get any easier, this missing Chris, and the emotions were swamping him.
    He glanced over at Cassie, but she had never even looked at the truck and didn’t seem to notice his reaction to the shock of seeing it here. She was rooting through the boxes in the corner of the garage. Why did she still have Chris’ truck? Why hadn’t she sold it?
    Cassie had her own vehicles that she treated like her babies. She drove a fully restored 1979 Toyota FJ Cruiser. It was red with a khaki soft top. Chris and Jake had done tons of work on her vehicle