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Guilty as charged.
“If you don’t want to reach out to him, that’s fine,” Lane went on, rising from the lounge chair. “It was just a suggestion. He probably isn’t all that you remember, and it would ruin it for you. You’re probably right that you should just let it all be in the past.”
What Mia should do, and what she wanted to do were two separate things.
She had a new job, new friends, and a new life. She couldn’t hold onto the past anymore.
It was time to forget about Grant Anderson and that crazy hurricane night. Living on unicorns and dreams wasn’t going to get her anywhere.
* * *
After his breakup with Ashley, Grant had done some deep soul-searching. Inside it was clear he hadn’t moved on from Mia. He’d been fooling himself and acting like what happened to her didn’t matter.
It did matter. Although he’d always felt like closure was an overblown and overused phrase, he needed some in this situation. If he just knew that Mia was okay, he thought he’d be able to better put the past where it belonged. He couldn’t keep comparing every woman he dated to someone he’d only known for one night. It wasn’t fair to anyone.
Grant clicked on the file that his cousin Jason had sent him. Jason was former DEA and owned a private investigations and consulting firm. In other words, he had connections and knew what he was doing.
As a cop, Grant wasn’t a slouch when it came to digging into someone’s background, but he was no match for his cousin’s resources which were vast, and possibly just inside the line of legal. He was still of two minds as to whether this was a good idea or if he was simply acting like a creepy stalker. For three years, he’d been telling himself that if Mia wanted to reach out to him, she could.
But…what if she couldn’t? What if her ex found her and did drag her back?
That begged the question - what Grant would do if that was the case? Was he ready and willing to go in - guns blazing, if necessary - and rescue her? What would that even look like?
The information that Jason had sent to him was short and to the point. Grant hadn’t asked for much detail. He just wanted to make sure that Mia was okay. Safe.
Mia Gamble had changed her name to Mia Cook. She lived in Naples, Florida, and was co-owner of a web design company with a person named Lane Bradford. This made sense to Grant as Mia had called the friend in Naples who had said she would help. She’d also mentioned having a job in technology.
So, Mia was alive and prospering. At least on paper.
Her ex was named Kevin Fuller. Jason was able to get the name easily, apparently, as they’d shared an apartment at the time when she’d made a run for it. Kevin had worked for a cable company doing installs and repairs. He’d used that knowledge to run a burglary ring, using his job to case homes.
Kevin was currently serving six years in a medium security facility just outside of Savannah after a plea deal. He was up for early parole, however, in about ten months.
In the past, Kevin had had a couple of assault charges, and had been directed to complete an anger management course. He’d been arrested only a few months after Mia had left. Whether Kevin had come after Mia when she’d ran wasn’t in the file.
Grant was sure she was sleeping far better at night now. Mia had been safe and secure since she’d left. She could have reached out to him, but she hadn’t. She was safe and hopefully happy. She’d moved on from him and their one night together. She’d let it go, and he needed to do the same. He was probably a painful reminder of her past, and now she had a fresh new start.
He closed the file and then sat back in his office chair, contemplating his choices from here. There was really only one that made sense.
Put it in the past and move on. It was time. Stop thinking about her. Perhaps he’d helped Mia a little bit, and now she’d put her life back together. She didn’t need him - a huge reminder of all that she’d gone through - gumming up the works.
He needed to look forward from now on.
8
“I just want you to meet him,” Lane said with a roll of her eyes. “If you don’t like him, I’m not going to make you marry him or anything. It’s one drink. That’s it. He’s Mike’s friend from work, and he’s a good guy.”
Because it was only one drink, Mia had agreed to have drinks at a local sports bar with Lane, her husband Mike, and one of Mike’s friends named Cory. Lane and Mike were enthusiastic matchmakers, claiming that she and Cory had tons in common and would make the cutest couple ever in the history of the world. They were made for one another, and if they didn’t meet, they’d be cheating the universe who clearly wanted them to be together.
Mia had a feeling it was more like Lane and Mike wanted Mia and Cory together because it would be easier to do couple stuff. Lane and Mike were all about wanting more “couple friends” so that everyone could rent cabins in the mountains together and have movie nights with pizza and popcorn. Mia’s friends loved to entertain and have people around them all the time.
Mia, on the other hand, liked her quiet time. She didn’t want to be surrounded by people twenty-four hours a day and sharing a cabin vacation with three or four other couples sounded like one of the rings of hell. After living alone for the last few years, she didn’t want to share a bathroom with others.
If that made her spoiled, so be it.
“One drink and then I’m going home,” Mia sighed. They’d been through this before. None of the men that Lane ever fixed her up with had ever gone past the first date. “I just want a nice relaxing evening at home watching television and eating takeout.”
“That’s what you did last night.”
