Frost

One Year Later . . .

• And you thought I was done? Fooled ya •

"Mocha for Mitchell!"

As Summer called out the customer's name, she smiled when the man came up, paid for his drink and then left with said drink in hand. He walked out, opening the door to the chilly air that had infected Whitefish over the night. There was no ice, no snow, no nothing. Even thought it was the first of December.

"Hey..." Bev said and nudged Summer's arm when she noticed how her face had sunken down. "Are you holding up alright?"

Summer who had told Bev everything, gave her friend a brave smile, but truthfully she felt heartbroken inside. "I'm alright."

They continued to work throughout the day. Summer brewed warm coffee after warm coffee until all the orders blurred together. She hardly payed notice to Bev, let alone the customers. Last year she only had to mourn her parents' absence. This Christmas, the pang in her chest ached with another sensation. She had felt warm all year round, but then today, Christmas finally came. And then it had hit her.

As the doorbell rung for the hundredth time that day and blew in a cold wind, Summer expectantly looked up with a knot in her stomach, only to see a heavily overweight man in a leather coat step inside, shuddering off the cold. Sighing long and deep, she looked down again and turned away.

A part of her was hoping Jack would show up, admittedly a crazy part. It was self torture. To wait and wait for his return... the return that would never come. Jack was a spirit. He was only summoned when needed.

And like he had said, she no longer needed him to keep her warm.

Then why did it feel like she did? Summer silently thought, fighting the tears in her eyes.

"Excuse me? Can I leave my order?"

Summer sighed heavily, keeping her back turned to the polite customer who waited for her to take her order. After this one, she needed a break.

"What can I get you?"

"Can I get an ice caramel macchiato with a little extra ice, please?"

Her heart stopped. She couldn't breathe. The chill that went up her spine followed her as she turned around and came face to face with...

Her heart dropped again. "Of course. What name can I write down?"

Not him. Just someone with the same taste.

"Terry," He replied, just as Summer nodded and wrote it down. After that, she turned to Bev who came up with a tray of mugs.

"I need a break," She told her with a shaky voice. Bev didn't question her, just nodded and gave her shoulder a squeeze. Summer then took off her apron and walked out the back, stepping outside to catch some fresh air.

Shaking from top to toe, she leaned up against the wall and buried her face in her hands. She silently sobbed, finally letting the tears spill from her eyes and freeze on her cheeks. The pain and the miss was too hard. She wouldn't get through Christmas without him.

Suddenly, though, she felt something cold land on her cheek. Not a frozen tear... although it was frozen water.

Lifting her head from her hands, Summer slowly looked up at the overcast sky and watched as tiny, frozen flakes now started dancing down from the sky, doing their gentle, twirling pirouettes before they landed on the cold ground and melted.