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Stop it. Just because Greg cheated does not mean Alex will, too.
She needed to hold on to that thought, because it was true. Learning to trust again was all part of the healing. Why waste a perfectly good afternoon—heck, a perfectly good relationship—worrying over something that probably doesn’t exist?
So instead of asking who this Jennifer person was, Mia pushed her from her mind and snuggled into her new man. “You’ll get no complaints from me.”
*
Alex remembered midwaythrough lunch that his parents were expecting him for dinner. Damn, his father had been pretty insistent about it. Odd, because usually he’d drop reminders to Alex throughout the week if something important was coming up, but both his mom and dad had been fairly quiet this week. Not that he would blame his forgetfulness on them. This oversight was completely his own, inspired by the beauty sitting across the table from him.
And he was trying to savor every minute of it with her, which included ignoring that last hint from his editor. He still had plenty of time to get his manuscript to her.
“I’m sure they’ll understand,” Mia said after he mentioned it. “No parent would want their child out driving in this weather.”
His gaze shifted to her kitchen window. The swirling had subsided and snowfall lightened, but the skies were still overcast and dark. Alex had a feeling the storm wasn’t quite finished with them yet.
“You haven’t met my father,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m just hoping Aunt Daphne and Uncle Zeke didn’t make the drive in from Chicago. If they made it and I didn’t, I’m gonna catch all sorts of flack from my old man. But what can I do? I mean, damn, they haven’t even plowed your street yet.”
She grinned. “You’re not in Indy anymore. Here, we have two snow plows. They do the main arteries through Bourbon Falls first so emergency vehicles can get in and out of town. Then they’ll start clearing the streets downtown and slowly spiral out from there. Heck, they probably won’t reach my dad’s farm until late tomorrow.”
“But what if someone in the outlying area has an emergency?”
“Oh, we have our ways of getting to them.”
Right on cue, a motor’s high-pitched whine sounded in the distance. And another. Snowblowers maybe? No, the sound wasn’t quite right. A few moments later, a pair of snowmobiles came gliding down the street.
“Okay, nowthatlooks like a fun way of getting around.”
Mia rose to clear their empty plates. “Maybe they’ll stop and give you a lift.”
“Pfft, I highly doubt—” The snowmobiles pulled into Mia’s buried driveway and their riders dismounted, the taller one wearing a backpack. “Wait, did you know about this?”
“Maybe.” She winked. “Del gets bored when she has nothing to do. She keeps those at my father’s farm in the summer but thought to grab them before the storm. Good thing someone believed the weatherman, huh?”
Touché.“But I don’t have any of my ski gear here. I’ll be frozen in no time.”
“I told her as much, so she was having Isaac bring over an extra pair of snow pants and boots. No idea if they’ll fit, but thought we could give it a try.” She came to stand behind him, her hands on his shoulders as they watched Del and Isaac wade through small drifts of snow on their way to the side door. “But if you don’t want to go—”
“Are you kidding me? Heck yeah, let’s do this!”
Mia laughed. “Okay. I just didn’t want you getting bored, stuck here all weekend.”
“Bored? Here, with you?” He rose from the table and squeezed her adorable butt. “Not gonna happen. Just let me call my father first and give him the heads up that I won’t be leaving until they get the roads cleared.”
He stepped into the hallway to make his call.
“What do you mean you won’t be home for dinner?” his father demanded. “The roads are fine, and I expect you here as promised.”
“I didn’t make it back to Indy before the storm hit. There’s a good nine or ten inches of snow on the ground here, and they haven’t plowed Mia’s street yet.”
“Then it’s time to put that expensive Land Rover to good use.”
Alex grimaced. “I didn’t bring the Rover.”
Cursing sounded on the other end of the line. “The next time I ask you to be sure to make it for dinner, check the forecast before you leave town.”
The line went dead, and Alex was left speechless. When was the last time his father had been angry enough to hang up on him? And all over a stupid meal?
Voices drifted down the hall; the others had made it inside. With a frown, he shoved his phone into a back pocket and headed to join them. If his father thought he was going to call back and beg for forgiveness, he was sorely mistaken.
