My Guarded Valentine (Hope Peak’s Valentine’s Day)

5. Mitzi

Chapter 5

Mitzi

A fter we ate, he wandered into his office. I never asked him what he did. But I had a feeling he would not tell me either. I sighed as I stared at my phone. I realized there was one thing I had to do that was to tell my boss that my plan article would not happen and that I was working on a backup. Considering the vibe of the stories he gave me, I unfortunately realized that Buck was right. A small town story would be perfect. He didn’t want a hard-hitting expose on the potential crime of O’Brien in industries. No, they wanted something that could inspire people or something. Something that gave Hallmark feelings, something that would make people think there’s better in the world. I had this crazy thought that maybe if I wrote this groundbreaking article, it would somehow be picked up from a different publication, and my life would change. My life needed to change. I wandered around Buck’s living room before I texted my boss to explain to him the article on O’Brien Corp wasn’t happening.

I pulled out my laptop and searched for different places in Hope Peak. Nothing I found showed me a story that could save my job. Was my job even worth saving at this point? According to Nadia, they would always find a way to screw me over. Next time, what’s gonna happen? There will always be a next time.

I took a break from my laptop and looked around his living room. My fingers caressed the spines of his books and I admired the bricks of the fireplace. That’s when I saw it. Due to my research on O’Brien Corp, a picture of a man that I saw before. This was a picture of the brother of Connor O’Brien. Why was his picture here? He’s been gone for fifteen years. My brows furrowed as I tried to figure out what could’ve happened. Why was his picture here?

I pulled it apart to see if there was anything written on the back. There was nothing. I laughed at myself like I expected a key to fall out or a written letter on the back of it. All of a sudden, there was a commotion from Buck’s office. I put the picture back inside and flipped it back down on its face. I tried to look normal as he climbed down the steps.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

I smiled uncomfortably and walked towards him. My hands waved towards the fireplace. “I was admiring the brickwork of this fireplace. I watched a whole deep dive video about mason work and different styles of masonry and I was curious what style this one was in. Unfortunately, I forgot that I don’t remember hardly any of it because obviously I’m just saying mason work four or five times,” I babbled. I laughed nervously and twisted my hair on my finger.

Buck chuckled before he grabbed my forearm and led me away. “Unfortunately, I don’t know much about masonry or brickwork or different style choices like that, so I can’t really answer those questions for you. But I thought you would like to go into town. We’ll talk to Mitch. Mitch lives right above the diner and we can grab a bite to eat. Maybe Mrs. Dolly might know of something interesting. You could write for your magazine. She knows all the hub bub. I don’t think she could fail us.”

“I would like that very much!” I said as I walked towards the door where my jacket was hanging.

Buck recoiled as I touched it. “Is that all you brought to wear that jacket?” he asked with a concerned expression on his face.

“Of course. Why would I bring anything thicker? I don’t try to stay outside much in the winter. I didn't know I’d be 20° colder, or I’d be stuck in the mountains for more than a drive in a warm car. I don’t really keep big heavy coats around. They take up too much space. I usually wear hoodies and jackets like this, and I keep an extra blanket in my car, just in case.”

Buck shook his head before turning around and grabbing something out of a closet. “Wear this. I think it should fit you.”

I grabbed the coat from him and winced. “I don’t know if skinny boy clothing can fit me. You’re really fit.”

“Try it on before you say no. It’s actually one of my friends. They left it when they came up here hunting a while back. It will fit you.”

Huffing, I shrugged it on, and surprisingly, it fit me. Although it was a little short at the hips; I tried to tuck it, tug it over my wide hips. It didn’t really help much, but it did fit over my breasts, which was saying a lot. I inhaled deeply and surprisingly, even though it had been in a closet for quite a while, it smelled nice. Reminded me of the time when Buck got close to me. “It smells nice for being in a closet.”

“Well, that’s because I wore it a while back. I layered it when we had a bad snow.”

I blinked as I tried to figure out what I needed to say next. Buck was devastatingly handsome, with a bushy, black beard, kind blue eyes, and I could see hints of muscles from hard work underneath his shirt. Even though he worked in the office in his house, I wondered if he did other things? My eyes flickered to the fireplace. A stack of wood laid beside it. My eyes trailed back to Buck’s muscles straining against his flannel shirt. Maybe he chopped wood sometimes? I bit my bottom lip as I quickly fantasized about him topless chopping wood like I’ve seen in the thirst traps.

Buck grabbed my hand as he led me out the door. “I’m rather glad that you’re not gonna freeze your butt off now.”

I giggled as he shoved me inside his truck. “Hey, be gentle with the goods. You might hurt my bottom.”

Buck’s arm pressed against the top of the truck as he paused with my comment. It was like he was warring with himself as his eyes traced my face. His jaw clenched before he pulled away. He chuckled as he walked away and got into his side of the truck. He put his keys in the ignition and drove down the road. This was the first time I was able to see Hope Peak, since it was dark by the time I came through here. I didn’t realize how far off I got as we drove. I pointed down to a fork in the road.

“I think I actually was lost when my car broke down because I was at this fork and I took the wrong road, I think.”

“I figured you might also be lost, but I wasn’t sure and I didn’t want to accuse you of being lost because I didn’t want to sound misogynistic. But these roads are easy to get lost in.”

I laughed lightly and nodded. “I’m really grateful you didn’t mention it last night. I would’ve probably flipped out on you. You wouldn’t have deserved it, but frustrated with the strange man situation. I wouldn’t be able to help it. Now I can see it.”

On the way down the mountain, I pondered what I found this morning. Why did he have Lance O’Brien’s picture on his fireplace? Did he know the O’Brien’s? That one picture was the only personal effect I saw of Buck’s. I couldn’t figure it out. Maybe it would have been easier if I had deep dived into Lance. Maybe he was a friend or a partner? I glanced at Buck and back out the window. In the afternoon light, I could see a few wisps of gray at Buck’s temples. How old was he? There was something going on and I wasn’t sure what yet.