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“You could make the turkey,” he suggested, leaning against the counter next to her.
“No way. For one thing, I have this little apartment. For another, I would have to invite all my sisters and their families. And then I would miss my favorite part of Thanksgiving.” She had the plates nearly loaded with food.
“What’s that?” he asked when she wasn’t going to answer.
“Leaving,” With a grin as she took one plate and put it in the microwave.
“Leaving is the best part?” he asked in confusion.
“Oh, yeah. They all have to stay because they’re staying with Mom and Dad, but I get to leave. They can spend the entire time bragging about their husbands, jobs, kids, and big-town living, but I get to walk out the door after a few hours,” The microwave went off, and Mia took out the hot plate and put the cold one in.
“But when you move, you’ll have to stay, too,” His stomach growled at the smell of the holiday, dry or not he was eating everything on the plate.
It was down to nearly a month now before her self-imposed deadline. And he had no idea how close she was to making her dream come true.
“No, that’s the beauty of living not in Landstad. Mom doesn’t know whether you’re really busy or not. I can say I’m busy, and she won’t be able to question it. I don’t have to go to holidays at all unless I wanted to.” Mia put the hot plate on the table, indicating him to sit down.
Sitting, he said, “Holidays without family aren’t as much fun as you think.”
He should know, he had spent most holidays without family. To tell the truth, his parents hadn’t even tried to keep those types of traditions going. This wasn’t his first year alone, and it wouldn’t be his last.
“Having to put up with your sisters rubbing your nose in the fact that you live here and have no boyfriend or life is not fun.” Her plate complete, she carried it to the table.
“But your life is fun. You’re busy all the time, and you have book club, and everybody goes to the café to see you,”
“But I don’t belong to agymAnd according to Darcy, I should join a gym. And there are no coffee shops.”
“First off, you don’t need a gym. But if you do want to join one, there is one here in town.” He had been there today after all, because what else do you do when you are alone.
“I’m not going to stand in line for the treadmill.”
“There are two, smarty pants. And Ruth has that fancy coffee machine, so you can go see her anytime for a fancy coffee. Or you could even get one of those machines for the café.” Anderson sometimes went over to see Ruth and brought back coffees. They were amazing, but Rafferty knew how much that machine had cost. It wasn’t that amazing.
“Ha, her coffee machine cost a fortune,” Mia told him with a pout.
“Everything of Ruth’s costs a fortune. But as for a boyfriend, you don’t need one. You have a husband,” he said, pointing at himself.
“That doesn’t count. We’re not really married.”
“Just say the word, Mrs. Brooks, and we’ll make this thing real.”
Laughing, she asked, “What’s the word?”
He looked at her closely. Was she joking, or was she serious? He couldn’t tell. “Make it real. Just say, ‘make it real.’”
Her head jerked up and she caught his eye, but didn’t say the word. Instead, she shook her head before setting down her fork, “You bought the Baker house. At least, that’s what Mom says. Is it true?”
Dang it.
So much for the surprise and the happy ending he had planned. When will he realize he can’t hide anything in this town? Especially from the biggest gossip in it. “Yes, I really liked it after seeing it.”
“Why couldn’t you just let Ruth and Anderson buy it?” She picked at her food now. He was sure she was either still full from lunch, or she wasn’t in the mood for the same meal again.
He shrugged. “Ruth didn’t want it.”
“Anderson might have talked her into it.”
“You do know that Ruth wears the pants in that relationship, right? Maybe they’ll move when the baby comes, but right now, she wants to stay downtown.” Rafferty finished his plate, the turkey not as dry as Mia indicated, or maybe it was the conversation that made the meal so delicious.
