Done (Harmony Haven #1)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

JESSE

Leaning up from my place on the couch, I blew out the candle on the coffee table and smiled as I watched the smoke dissipate in the air. It was the first candle I’d ever created with my mom before she passed away. The memories it evoked in me would always make it my favorite as she lived on every time I smelled the lavender and eucalyptus.

Not only did it have the powers of remembrance, it also gave me a sense of pride in what I had accomplished. Turning a hobby into a business made me feel like I had succeeded at something important.

My mom and I created candles as a form of therapy during her cancer treatments. We’d put funny labels on them and give them to the nurses at the hospital. Who knew they’d be so popular?

I sighed as the memories came back in a wave of emotion. My mom passed away, but not before she saw me quit my day job. Not before she saw me become a mom. Not before she saw me launch Wax & Wonder. And not before she saw that I would be okay when she let go.

There wasn’t a chance in hell I’d ever make enough from selling candles to buy a yacht or Gucci shoes, but I had managed to make enough to give Max and me the life we deserved.

Including making the move to Harmony Haven.

It wasn’t much, but the small rental I found was a gateway to the fresh start we needed. And before long, I would add more furniture and decorations. I’d be able to fill the place with something special that made the old house our home.

In the meantime, my most special possessions were my mom’s old couch and a small lamp she used to keep in her bedroom. My mom loved lamps for the ambiance they created, which is the same reason she loved candles. Having her favorite lamp on made me feel as if she were always close by. I left it lit up downstairs all night, so I’d feel safe.

The house had two bedrooms upstairs, and I had every intention of putting Max in his own room when it was ready. But until his bed was delivered, he was sleeping soundly in mine.

Looking down at my little three-year-old angel and the way his lips moved ever so slightly as he slept made my heart feel full. If I had done everything else in my life wrong, I knew for certain that having Max was right. He was the only person who mattered to me. The reason I made every decision I had since the moment I found out he existed.

“Sleep soundly,” I whispered, always in awe that I got to be his mom.

After plugging my phone into the charger and turning on the lamp on the nightstand, I backed away into the adjoining bathroom. It had only been three weeks since we moved in, but I had yet to take a proper shower. Most of the time, I was scrambling to hurry while Max was distracted by a cartoon or a coloring book.

I needed a break and a chance to soothe my aching muscles from the move with the hot water, especially since I had done almost everything alone—even carrying my bed upstairs, one piece of wood at a time. Thank goodness for the delivery guys who took my mattress up. Paying the set-up fee was the easiest two hundred dollars I’d ever spent.

“Yes, Jessica, you deserve a hot shower,” I groaned, turning the water on as hot as possible.

The bathroom wasn’t big, and the shower could barely fit me, but what it lacked in size was made up for with the extra hot and pulsating water pressure. I hung my head, letting the stream massage the back of my neck. With the room being silent, I could hear my moans echo off the wall, and I bit my lip, telling myself to be quiet so Max wouldn’t wake up.

Dammit, I wanted more.

With Max and me sharing a room, it had also been weeks since I allowed myself a moment of bliss. The kind where I could close my eyes and picture Chris Hemsworth crawling over me. He’d tell me what an idiot my ex was and how he couldn’t wait to ravish me with his mouth. Then he’d tell me to relax, to let him do all the work, that he knew exactly what I needed. It felt silly, thinking of a fantasy that could never come true, but surely I wasn’t the only woman closing in on thirty who thought dirty things in the shower.

Laying my head against the tile, I snuck my hand down my stomach, tempted to give myself just two more minutes than I had originally planned. It wasn’t like Max was going anywhere. Even if he woke up, he’d open the door to the bathroom and yell, “Mama,” but I was behind the curtain, so he wouldn’t catch me. He could try leaving the bedroom, but I had a gate keeping him from being able to go down the stairs. So what was the harm?

With the worst-case scenarios settled and shifted to the back of my mind, I lifted my leg onto the side of the bathtub to get a better angle. The water was pulsating hard, and I thought I could get it to hit directly onto my clit. But when I adjusted my foot, a shampoo bottle fell, making a loud bang and stinging my little toe.

My yelp was loud, louder than my moans, and the bottle hit hard on the fiberglass of the tub. Max most likely had woken up, and just the thought was all it took to ruin the mood I had gotten myself into.

“Just as well, Jessica,” I once again spoke to myself, using my full first name to drive home the disappointment in my small moment of weakness. “Get it together.”

I picked up the shampoo bottle and opened it, squirting a small amount into my palm. As I massaged the soap into my scalp, I realized Max must have slept through the noise, or he’d already be in the room with me. It made me reconsider my original plan, but I scrapped the idea just as quickly and decided to get out.

In the coming weeks, Max would start at a preschool, I would get back to working full-time on my candle business, and he would have his own room ready. I’d get a chance to relax. I’d see to it that I took care of myself so that I could be the best version of myself for him.

But I never could have expected that when I stepped foot out of that shower, my entire life was going to be flipped upside down. Every ounce of control and balance I had as a mother would be tested. Every fiber of my being would be tried. And the woman I thought I’d be while living in Harmony Haven would be gone.