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“Hey, Mi. Did you get rid of our—?” She came to an abrupt stop, her bright-blue gaze darting between the two of them. “Everything okay, Sis?”
Though her hair was much shorter than Mia’s and lighter in color, the family resemblance was striking. No doubt this was one of her younger sisters. He also had no doubt that she was sizing up the situation and debating to what extent she needed to intervene. Alex offered her a gentle smile, hoping to disarm her.
“Of course, Del. I’m just giving Mr. Wellington directions out of town.”
Damn, she really was trying her best to get rid of him.
“O-kay,” Del said, her gaze still wary as she walked away.
That left Alex and Mia alone once more. He kept his distance, not wanting to test his luck on the crush aspect, especially as irritated as she seemed to be by his appearance tonight. It was time to say his piece and head out. But despite spending the last week rehearsing what he might say if he found her here tonight, Alex found himself struggling to string a full sentence together.
“So…it’s been a few years, huh?”
She gave him a flat look. “Yes. Listen, Alex, as much as I’d love to chat, we’re actually closed now, so—”
“I’m here to apologize.”
Finally, his brain decided to get back on track.Come on, speech, don’t fail me now.
Mia’s eyes narrowed. “For what, exactly?”
She wasn’t going to make this easy on him. As awful as he’d been to her back in the day, he probably deserved that. Alex looked to the floor, drew in a deep breath, then met her gaze once again.
“I know that I said and did some things that were mean and mostly uncalled for back in college.”
“Mostly?”
He offered her an apologetic smile. “Let’s just say I was wrestling with some issues and didn’t handle it as well as I could have. And for that, I’m sorry.”
He’d hoped she would look surprised or maybe even relieved. Instead, Mia remained stoic as she continued to stare him down. After several seconds of the silent standoff, panic crept into Alex’s chest. Would she refuse to accept his apology, even after so much time had passed?
“Why are you really here?” Mia asked.
That was an answer he wasn’t ready to give. “To apologize.”
“Yes, but why now? All of that happened nearly twenty years ago. And don’t even try to tell me it’s been eating at you all this time.”
“I saw you on television a while back.” Which was true, though only a part of his reason. “One of our local news reporters did a live report from Bourbon Falls, highlighting your big fundraiser. Congrats, by the way. It sounded like the talent show was a rousing success.”
Her right shoulder lifted and fell. “We did all right.”
The lights in the back of the store faded to black. Alex took the hint: His time here was up. A small part of him actually felt relieved.
“Anyway, I should probably get going, seeing as you guys are closed and all.” Alex fished a business card from his back pocket. “If you ever want to talk books or feel like catching up, feel free to drop me a call or a text. I promise I’m not that big jerk anymore.”
After a moment of indecision, she stepped forward and took the offered card. “Best-selling author, huh? What are your books about again?”
“It’s a travel series, featuring American distilleries from different parts of the country. Book one highlighted distilleries of the Northeast, book two of the Southeast. I’m just finishing book three, which shines the spotlight on distilleries in the Midwest.”
“Wow. That’s actually sort of interesting. Congratulations on your latest accomplishment.”
“Thank you. I’m actually on my way to South Bend. The manager of Books-A-Plenty contacted me a few weeks ago about doing a book signing for their holiday event.”
Mia’s face darkened. “Of course they did.”
And just like that, her demeaner went from almost civil to loathing him again. No matter, he had said what needed to be said. No more sitting around regretting that he hadn’t tried to make things right. It was time to head out and cut his losses.
“Well, come again when you can’t stay so long, and safe travels to wherever you’re headed.”
