Free Sierra Hearts (Part One) by Ash Elko

Chapter 1

    Your body never forgets the cold , she
thought.
    Even after all the time away, all the time she swore
she would never return, she never forgot the piercing cold of the
mountain air. Underneath her heavy winter coat, Jenn focused on the
crisp inhales filling her lungs, holding it a pause longer than she
needed to, and then, finally, exhaling until her body felt
completely deflated.
    She pretended her footsteps crunching in the snow
and ice sounded like left, right , keeping time as if she
were in a high school marching band.
    Left, right .
    The sky above was a dark inky black. No stars
tinkled above. Ahead of her was the bright white light of the
MacKenzie General Store. How many times had she been in this spot
as a young girl? How many times had she been walking home just like
tonight feeling the cold and dark envelop her with her thoughts
focusing on the warm fire her father had going, the soft orange
glow it produced almost nuzzling her? Jenn shook the thought away.
That was when she was a girl.
    Stop being nostalgic , she thought. You are
a grown woman who ran all the way home because your boyfriend
dumped you.
    She was suddenly very aware of the fact she needed
to remind herself that Max was now her ex-boyfriend.
    At the store steps, she unconsciously took the steps
up to the porch two at a time as she always had. The MacKenzie
General Store was just that. It was a tiny one-stop supermarket,
post office, saloon, and all-purpose hang-out for the citizens of
Bear Lake to come in from the cold and chat with others who were
tired of the four walls of their homes of the tiny village in this
part of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. At the top of the steps, Jenn
stomped her boots on the well-worn welcome mat that said Get a
Warrant . Her dad’s joke. The porch to the General Store was
just wide enough for a person to sit in a chair with their feet up
on the railing. This time of year it was just virgin snow bank
where the overhang of the roof didn’t quite cover the wood planks
with the occasional small critter paw print.
    Jenn hesitated before she reached for the door. Deep
breath. She turned the knob and heaved the door open. Immediately
she could feel the warmth of the room on her face. She could feel
the heat push up against her nose. With it came the savory smell of
the woodstove and the fire in its belly. Almost as immediately, she
could feel the eyes of the room all shift to her. She could see her
dad, Mick, behind the narrow bar leaning in to speak with Big Paul
with intense, almost terrifyingly focused eyes, paired with a
disarming grin. This was the look her father had when discussing
something at once trivial yet of the utmost importance, perhaps who
was the greatest football player of all time or which brand power
tool was the best or what qualified as the worst winter experience
or some such nonsense. But, with her entrance, the conversation was
paused so her father and Big Paul could turn around to get a look
at her. It wasn’t just them, either. All the other regulars were
there too, all reeking of cheap booze. About a half a dozen locals
with nothing better to do besides get drunk. All men. All had known
her since childhood. All eyes were on her. None dare do any more
than ogle her with her father in the room, but Jenn knew, knew , that every single one of these men was undressing her
in their minds. Jenn shuddered.
    This , she thought. This is why I left this
town to begin with.
    She didn’t bother taking off her jacket despite the
warmth of the room. She didn’t want to fuel the twisted old
imaginations of the men in the room.
    “Come on in daughter o’ mine and take a seat by the
fire,” Mick said. “Did you have a good phone call?” he asked. He
signaled for her to take a seat near him at the bar.
    Jenn approached the bar and took a seat next to Big
Paul, a man who, despite the nickname, was average sized. He was
Big Paul and his son was Little Paul. Last time she checked, Little
Paul was in