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Dread filled her as she made her way to the elementary school. Would the other teachers grill her for details? Would the principal call her into his office and give her the lecture on not tarnishing the school’s reputation like he had with their prior art teacher?
Thankfully, neither happened. Yet.
Ugh, this—this was why she’d been in no hurry to date. Because dating would bring rumors and gossip and attention she didn’t want. Especially if it led to her being left again.
She hadn’t been able to be completely honest with Alex last night, when he’d asked her why she wasn’t seeing anyone. Yes, part of it was because she wasn’t in a hurry to get into another dud relationship. But mostly she was scared of being cheated on again. Of learning that the person she thought she trusted most in the world was actually the person she should have been trusting the least.
Three years, she’d been working to restore her faith that there were honest men out there, who wouldn’t cheat on the ones they loved. And she was mostly there. But it was a whole lot easier tosayshe believed they existed than actually having to trust someone new.
Was Alex even someone she could really trust, especially with him (1) being so incredibly handsome, and (2) living an hour and a half away?
Of course, if he left town today and couldn’t find his way back, all this was a moot point.
But he sent her a text at lunch, giving her the heads up that he’d sent her a Facebook friend request. Okay, that was a good start, right? Then he gave her reason to believe he’d be back in town at least one more time: to get his car. Unlike him, it was staying in town for repairs. He’d be back at the end of the week, though, to swap it for his rental.
The end of the week—that was doable. It gave her time to devote toward all the projects she had in motion, plus it gave her time to start mentally preparing for this leap of faith she was taking, actually starting to date again. She prayed it wasn’t too soon, and that it wouldn’t come back to bite her in the butt.
Man, she really didn’t want the whole town giving her those pitying glances again.
She managed to push him from her mind for the afternoon, but the daydreams started again the minute she got home. The kitchen still smelled like him. So did the guest room. Mia cleaned the downstairs but left the upstairs alone. No one coming over for their Meeting of the Minds would bother going up there.
Though it did get her thinking—should she get the guest room ready again in case he wanted to stay over this weekend? Brooklyn would be at her dad’s, after all. There wouldn’t be any need to sneak around—
“Fill ’er up, buttercup.”
Mia blinked away her daydream and topped off Margaret Harper’s mug of hot cider. It was now seven o’clock, and she had a kitchen full of Bourbon Falls’ greatest brainstormers. They were also some of her favorite people on the planet: Del, Brooklyn, and Aunt Faye, her bestie Robyn Owens, Gina Pickett from the Sweet Mash, and the town’s three elders known affectionately as The Sisters: Margaret Harper; her younger sister and self-professed hippie, Nancy Harrington; and their youngest sister and retired baker extraordinaire, Barbara Thompson.
“You need me to add an extra shot in there or did you bring your own?” Del asked.
Margaret produced a silver flask from her pocket. “I never leave home without it.”
Brooklyn appeared in the cider line next, watching Margaret resume her seat at the table. “Why does Mrs. Harper always add something to her drink?” she murmured.
“She says it helps her think,” Mia said.
“Then she sure does a lot of thinking.”
Del grinned. “Don’t we know it.”
“So, what’s all the hubbub about, Mia girl?” Gina asked. “Supply chain problems for the upcoming ornament event?”
Nancy waved her off. “Forget the ornaments. I want to hear all about this handsome mystery man you kept under your roof all weekend.”
Mia shot a dark look to Margaret, who simply shrugged.
“Not my fault you don’t always close your front curtains.”
“Maybe I need to stop opening them,” Mia said. The resulting smirk on Margaret’s face suggested she’d find other ways to peek inside. “But if you must know, yes, an old acquaintance from college ran into a bit of car trouble while he was passing through town on Saturday, so we offered him a place to stay until the mechanic opened this morning.”
“And?” Nancy leaned forward in her seat, eyebrows raised.
Mia subtly tipped her head in Brooklyn’s direction. “And nothing. The three of us spent some time together this weekend, and Alex left this morning.”
“Ooo Alex,” Barbara said. “Even hisnamesounds handsome. What’s he like?”
“Funny. He broke Mom’s tree,” Brooklyn said with a grin. “You should have seen the looks on both their faces. But he felt bad about it, so he took us to Aunt Del’s tree lot and bought us a real one.”
A round ofawww’s sounded.
