Chapter 5
5
J ackson drove over to the library first thing in the morning. He had overslept after not being able to fall asleep until close to five a.m. Mia was gone by the time he got up, so he hadn’t had a chance to speak with her this morning. He pulled into the parking lot to see her car, along with one other that was there frequently.
When he walked inside, Allison sat at her usual table and didn’t look up from whatever she was working on. Mia’s head popped out from between some shelves, and she smiled when she saw him.
There was no denying his best friend was beautiful. Her blonde hair was wavy. She wore a green summer dress that hugged her up top, but was loose from the waist down. It was the same shade as her eyes.
Jackson moved toward her and walked down the row where she was putting books away.
“You look beautiful,” he said.
She blushed. “Thank you.”
“Any special reason you’re dressed up?” He couldn’t help the jealousy that he tried to force down. Was she dressing up for Jimmy? Did she even have a date with him? Did she like him?
But, most importantly, why did he care? He wanted her to be happy. And if dating Jimmy made her happy, then who was he to get possessive?
They were only friends, after all.
“No reason,” she said.
Relief flooded through him. He leaned against a shelf with his arms across his chest. “Going on a date with Jimmy?”
She glanced at him before looking back at the book she was holding. “I think so. Waiting to hear from him.”
“So you’re going to say ‘yes’?”
“Yes. Unless there’s a reason I shouldn’t?”
Her eyes met his, and he tried to come up with a reason she shouldn’t, but he didn’t have one. They weren’t together. They were just friends, and unless he wanted them to become more, he couldn’t tell her not to go on a date. Especially because Jimmy was a nice guy.
“No reason. Have fun.”
Her eyes bounced between his before she nodded and turned back to the books. “I have a class coming in shortly.”
Jackson nodded. “Oh yeah. Of course. I need to get to work anyway. I was just wondering if you wanted to meet up for dinner tonight?”
“Yeah, that sounds fun.”
“Okay.” He rubbed his hand across the back of his head. “I’ll see you after work, then.”
She waved goodbye with a small smile on her face as he made his way outside. A group of students had just crossed over into the parking lot from the school, heading inside the library.
Jackson pulled himself into his truck and drove the short distance to the resort. He had a feeling the day would drag on, especially with how exhausted he felt. He got out of his truck and made his way toward the shed to get his supplies. The planters around the back of the resort still needed a lot of work. Several of them were overgrown with weeds, which had him cringing far too hard. Being short-staffed made it hard to keep up on all the chores, but this one was bugging him enough that he needed to take care of it.
Ethan stood out on the back lawn with a group of people around him as he explained the different trails they could hike. Jackson waved at him as he passed by and unlocked the shed. He pulled out the wheelbarrow and gloves before making his way to the planter closest to the back door.
“Hey,” Ethan said as he approached.
Jackson looked up from where he was kneeling. The guests had all dispersed and were taking the various trails into the woods.
“Not going on a hike?”
“Not right now. Just directing people with where to go. I have a group of bikers I’m taking up the mountain in an hour.”
Jackson grabbed the weeds around the planters and pulled them out, tossing them into the wheelbarrow as he went.
“Any plans tonight?” Ethan asked.
Jackson shrugged. “Just doing dinner with Mia.”
“I’m surprised she isn’t going out with Jimmy tonight. He seems to be excited.”
Jackson leaned back on his heels and looked up at Ethan, shielding his eyes from the sun. “What was the deal with that anyway? I didn’t know he had a thing for Mia.”
“I guess he always kind of has and decided he better take a chance.”
Jealousy flooded through him. But why? She deserved to be happy. Mia deserved everything. She was the best person he knew.
“Did you know he was going to ask her out?”
“I suspected. But that’s cool, right? You always say you two are just friends.”
Jackson knew Ethan was right, he always said that. So why did it now feel weird to see another guy asking her out?
“Yeah, it’s cool. He better treat her right, though.”
“He will,” Ethan said before looking down at his watch. “I need to get stuff together for the ride, so I’ll catch you later.”
“See ya.” Jackson went back to weeding the planters. His thoughts stuck to Mia as he ripped out the weeds with far more aggression than he planned. He stood to move to the next planter, only to realize he had already weeded all of them. He swiped the back of his hand across his forehead while surveying his work. The sun was high overhead, and the heat had him sweating. Glancing at his watch, he realized he had missed lunch.
Abandoning the supplies, he stepped inside the air-conditioned lobby and pulled in a breath. He went to the restroom and washed his hands before heading over to the restaurant. Waving at the hostess, he walked past her and went straight to the kitchen and through the doors.
Miles stood at a large prepping counter making meals for customers. He didn’t notice Jackson at first until he leaned against the counter near him.
“Hey, man. Finally coming in for lunch?” Miles asked.
“Yeah, lost track of time.”
Miles finished prepping the plates he was working on before setting them up on the counter for a server to take. Then he spun over to the grill. “Burger?”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
He watched Miles move around the kitchen multi-tasking different meals coming in while also preparing Jackson’s lunch. Miles had always been a whiz in the kitchen. He was in his element while cooking, so it was a no-brainer that he would be the head chef of the restaurant once the position opened several years prior. And the restaurant thrived because of him. His talent and kindness to the staff kept people happy.
Although most people wouldn’t realize how big of a heart he had just from looking at him. His usual stoic expression had most people thinking he was perpetually serious, but they couldn’t be more wrong. Especially when his daughter was involved.
Miles set Jackson’s burger on a plate and then slid it down the counter toward him.
“Thanks.” Jackson took a bite out of his perfectly cooked burger and groaned in appreciation. “Man, I didn’t realize how hungry I was. This is hitting the spot.”
Miles nodded in acknowledgment as he started on another dish. “So what’s going on?”
“Just weeding the planters out back.”
“No. Not with work. What’s going on? What has you distracted?”
“What makes you think I’m distracted?”
Miles stopped briefly to raise an eyebrow at Jackson. “You rarely get distracted enough to miss lunch.”
Jackson bit into his burger and chewed slowly. He wasn’t sure he wanted to confide in his brothers about his current thoughts on Mia. But out of all of them, Miles was probably the least likely to gossip and give him grief over it.
When he swallowed, he took a long sip of the soda Miles passed him before setting it down and leaning against the counter. “Just thinking about how Jimmy asked Mia on a date.”
“Does it bother you?”
“No. Not really.” Miles gave him a disbelieving look. Jackson sighed and rubbed his hand over his face. “I don’t know. It’s just weird since I’ve never really seen a guy ask her out in front of me, you know? She’s gone on dates and it hasn’t bothered me before, so why does it bother me that Jimmy asked her out?”
Miles motioned for one of the cooks to take over what he was doing and stepped closer to Jackson. He wiped his hands on a hand towel before leaning against the counter with his arms crossed.
“Maybe it has bothered you before, but you didn’t realize it until it happened in front of you.”
Jackson scratched his jaw. “Maybe. Is it weird, though? To be jealous?”
“No. You two were always going to end up together.” He stated it so matter-of-factly that Jackson rolled his eyes. There was no way anyone could know that.
“There are a million different things that could have prevented us from being together.”
Miles shrugged. “But they didn’t, and now you can be.”
“I don’t even know if I want that.”
Miles moved back to his counter to work on the next meal. “Okay.”
Did he want that? Was it really that simple? Could he picture Mia getting married and ending up with someone else? If she did, he wouldn’t be able to spend as much time with her, most likely. She’d start a family, go on vacations with her husband and children. He’d just be the best friend that would need to get along with her husband if they were to remain friends. Their dinners would likely turn into a trio, since they couldn’t exclude her husband. No longer would trivia just be the two of them.
Was he ready for that? Was he willing to lose her to someone else? But the bigger question being, could he be with her himself?
She was his best friend, his favorite human in the world, his ride-or-die. She was beautiful, smart, and so incredibly caring. But he couldn’t consider her as more. That would risk years of friendship and alter their paths entirely. Surely it wasn’t worth the risk, right?
Boy, did he have a lot to think about.