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It was New Year’s Eve, and she was still in Landstad, North Dakota. She knew she would never get out of here. She was trapped. Sadly, she had even worked a full shift today, just to show the world she wasn’t leaving anytime soon. But she had grabbed a bottle of whiskey to help her forget. Alone.
It had been three weeks since she had crawled out of Rafferty’s bed in the middle of the night, scared of her feelings for him. She hadn’t been back. Not that she hadn’t wanted to, but she knew that if she crawled back in, she would probably stay and accidentally tell him she was in love with him. He would dump her, and she would be humiliated, heartbroken, and sexless. Instead, she was sexless and heartbroken. But at least her humility was intact—whatever good that did her.
Her Christmas Carnival had been a huge success. Next summer, the high school gym would have a new floor. And she hadn’t even had to ask Ruth for any extra. She had made that floor happen. Her. Mia Brooks. Shaking her head at that thought, she chanted,Mia Lawson, Mia Lawson, Mia Lawson.Not that she needed to be reminded of it.
Of course, now that she was staying in Landstad, she had no idea how she was going to get divorced. The plan was so easy before, but now she had to either stay married to him, or it would be in the paper.
Yes, Landstad still listed when divorces were finalized.
So, there was the need for a stiff drink or two today. At the last moment, she decided to check to see if her cousin was still at work. Mandy was always up for spending some time with Mia, and getting drunk together seemed like it was going to be a blast.
Mia smiled when she saw her cousin sitting at the reception desk, daydreaming. Maybe she was thinking about having a receptionist to fill the desk. Not having one was a pain in butt for her cousin. Pushing open the door, Mia was surprised that her cousin didn’t hear the noise the door made, making her even more nervous about what was happening in Mandy’s life.
An hour later, she was still nervous about her cousin, but now she knew that she needed to be. Her cousin had a secret, too. And now, Mia knew her secret. Well, two secrets, but one was way bigger.
One was that she had the hots for her neighbor. That wasn’t a big one; Mia had heard something about that a few weeks ago. The big one was that she was pregnant and wasn’t telling anyone. Not because she was ashamed that she was unwed and pregnant, but because with her history of miscarriages, she was sure she was going to lose it. Mia made her promise to call when it happened. Mandy didn’t need to be alone. Sadly, Mia didn’t think Mandy would call her.
So now Mia carried another secret with her. Over the last few months, everyone in this town had secrets she had to hide. Well, not everyone, just her friends, because everyone else’s were available for discussion. But what if there were more things that happened in this town without her knowing? What were others hiding from her?
Though she had downed a few glasses of whiskey with Mandy—Mandy didn’t drink any, of course—she wasn’t drunk. She really wished she was. And she wished she wasn’t going home alone. But she didn’t want to go to the bar—too many people. Going to the Landing to see who was around used to be her favorite time, but not anymore. She didn’t even care today.
Heading back to her apartment after leaving Mandy’s clinic she missed her turn. Missed it by two blocks. Looking at the big house that needed to be painted again, she walked up the eight steps to the front door.
Do you knock on your husband’s door, or do you just walk in? What was the etiquette on that? Deciding that if he had a date, she needed to know so that she could file for the divorce with good reason.
Opening the door, she was surprised it wasn’t locked. Inside she saw that all the walls had been painted since she had last been here. They were now a soft, warm white, and it made the woodwork shine just like she thought it would. Kicking off her shoes, she wandered around the main floor and saw he had bought some more stuff, trying to fill the mostly empty house.
But he wasn’t around, not in the kitchen or the dining room or the living room. Up the stairs she went. On the top step, she heard the shower running somewhere on this floor. As she walked to the master bedroom, she saw it wasn’t the hallway bathroom but the master bathroom. Which she should have guessed since he would use that one the most.
Putting the bottle of whiskey on the bedside table, she slipped off her jacket and hung it on the door knob to the bedroom. As she pulled out her phone to kill time while she waited for him to come out of the shower, she wished she had taken off her work clothes. Black jeans and a pink T-shirt with her logo on it was now feeling uncomfortable and dirty since she had put it on close to twelve hours before.
Quickly, she dug through his drawers until she found a T-shirt she could replace the pink one with. Slipping her shirt and bra off, she pulled on his Landstad Tigers shirt from Thanksgiving. It looked way better on him, but had to do.
Looking at the bed, then down at herself, she suddenly wondered what was really on her pants. Quickly, she shimmied out of them and climbed into the bed. Sitting against the pillows, she started to look at what she had missed on Facebook that day. She wasn’t surprised that it was nothing. Nothing ever really happened there just like in town, usually.
Closing her eyes, she tried not to think about all that Mandy had said earlier. Why did she think it was better for her to suffer in silence? Everybody who loved her saw that something was up and were worried about her.
She smiled at the thought that the two of them should move in together. They would be fun maiden aunts to all their nieces and nephews. It would always be a fun place. They would get along as well as their moms did. Maybe, they would even fight over who had more nieces and nephews.
“Sleeping?” Rafferty asked quietly.
“Not sleeping; just thinking.” Opening her eyes she wished she hadn’t. He was only in a towel, and he was still very wet. Did he even try using the towel?
“She’s just as cute thinking as she is sleeping.” He sat down on the bed. Still in the towel.
“Raff, you’re getting the bed all wet,” she said, watching to see if the towel was going to fall off. Sadly, it didn’t.
“Are you scared of water, Mia?” he asked, grabbing at her.
“No, but you need to learn how to use a towel on yourself. You obviously know how to use one on someone else.”
He stood up and pulled it off his waist and handed it to her. Naked. “Show me how to use it.”
Her gaze raked that splendid, sexy, naked body. Sitting up, she couldn’t take her eye off his chiseled chest and the fact that he was there, standing at attention. Full attention. Grabbing the towel, she slid it down his still-damp chest and then down his back, pulling him closer as she did.
Taking the towel, she started to stand up on the bed to dry his hair. As she did, he pulled her to him, knocking the towel from her hands. But she didn’t care. His mouth was kissing her neck, and his hands were already under her shirt, making her forget everyone’s secrets. Even her own.
CHAPTER22
