Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Mila pulled a tray of scones from the oven and placed them on the cooling rack.
Ordinarily, she would have been in bed a couple hours ago, but today was the gift that just kept giving.
She’d started her day at five a.m., so ending it at midnight was pretty painful.
Unfortunately, she’d gotten slammed from all directions today.
Gretchen, who was doing an amazing job as event coordinator, had managed to schedule a large wedding at the barn last weekend.
Weddings in early March weren’t exactly unheard of, but they also carried a bit of risk, given the possibility of winter weather.
Damn if it hadn’t been a huge hit. Mercifully, the weather more than cooperated, offering three mild, sunny, fifty-degree days in a row.
Thanks to the large wedding party and family members in attendance, the B&B as well as every cabin had been rented out as well.
While they’d been thrilled by the business during what was typically their slow season, it had added a lot to Mila’s plate, as she spent the past three days systematically cleaning her way through all the rental cabins.
It wasn’t a quick or easy process, since the wedding party and guests hadn’t limited their celebrating to the event barn, so nearly every cabin looked like it had been hit by college kids on spring break.
Because she still needed to do her other daily chores, she hadn’t managed to clean more than three cabins each day—and that was with Remi’s help. Today, they’d tackled the final—and dirtiest—two, but it had taken them the better part of the morning and early afternoon.
Originally, the farm had ten rental cabins, but that number had been shaved by two in the past few months.
Boone and Sadie occupied one, and Theo was in the process of renovating the cabin he wanted to share with Gretchen.
Or maybe it was more accurate to say they were already sharing it… part time, at least.
When Gretchen first arrived on the farm last September, she’d escaped an extremely abusive relationship, and it had taken Theo some time and effort to earn her trust. While her cousin was no doubt chomping at the bit to get to the next part—forever—with Gretchen, Theo wasn’t pushing her into anything she wasn’t ready for.
So nowadays, they were splitting their time between living together at the cabin and Edith Millholland’s boarding house, depending on which part of the cabin was torn up during any given week.
Mila suspected once Theo completed all the renovations, they’d make the cohabitation plan permanent.
In addition to cleaning the cabins this week, Mila had continued to keep the brewery and winery kitchens stocked, the food prepped, as well as decorating the brewery for a big St. Patrick’s Day event and helping Aunt Claire at the B&B.
When one of the winery cooks called in sick today, she’d volunteered to work the shift, even though it set her behind on her baking for the B&B.
She could have asked Aunt Claire to take care of the baking for tomorrow, but her aunt’s sciatica was acting up again, so she knew it was hard for her to be on her feet too long.
Mila was exhausted, but at least she was starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel as far as today was concerned. Wrapping the scones, she placed them and the two apple pies she’d baked aside. She would deliver them to Aunt Claire first thing tomorrow morning.
Putting the kettle on to boil, she dropped down into one of the kitchen chairs. Despite her exhaustion, she struggled to fall asleep each night, so she’d picked up her aunt’s habit of drinking a glass of chamomile tea before bed.
She knew why she wasn’t sleeping, but she didn’t see that problem resolving itself anytime soon.
She revealed too many cards during her last encounter with Boone, and she saw the very moment he’d shut down.
So, for the past three weeks, she’d tried to do a system reboot, returning to the Mila she’d been pre-New Year’s.
Sure, that Mila had been slightly overwhelmed and not entirely happy with her life, but at least she’d held on to a minimal amount of hope that she would still meet “the one,” fall in love, and find some sort of happily ever after.
That Mila was blissfully unaware of Boone Hansen.
She wanted to be her again.
Because this—living so close to the man who made her heart race, who made her body sing, who made her feel protected and seen and even sexy—was torture.
Mila rubbed her eyes wearily, recalling Maverick stopping by this afternoon while she was working in the kitchen at the winery.
Three p.m. seemed to be his witching hour, as far as snacking was concerned, so it wasn’t unusual for him to arrive in search of food.
While she made him a pepperoni flatbread pizza, he leaned against the counter, regaling her with gossip.
She’d been so busy with the wedding—prep and then cleanup—that she’d been out of the loop, too tired and depressed to pay attention to the chatter.
Boone had begun sending Sadie on her own to eat with them on Sundays, offering his regrets with some fill-in-the-blank excuse.
While Maverick waited for his pizza to bake, he told her about Boone joining him and a few of the guys for ladies’ night at Whiskey Abbey.
Mila had tried to look uninterested, even though she’d wanted to ask him a million questions.
Fortunately—or unfortunately—questions weren’t necessary when Maverick was involved, because he never skimped on details.
So, she got to hear all about Boone dancing with Tina Reynolds, who’d moved back to Gracemont after her divorce.
Tina had gotten married right after graduation to her high school sweetheart, Donnie, her first and only boyfriend, so nowadays, she was ready to sow some wild oats.
Maverick, who always had an opinion on everything, remarked that Tina and Boone were probably a good match, since they were about the same age, neither of them looking to get married again, and were both single parents.
Mila wasn’t sure which part of Maverick’s story had bothered her more. That Boone was better suited to Tina than her, or that Maverick knew about Boone’s desire to remain a bachelor for the rest of his days.
As much as it hurt her to admit, she agreed with Maverick…because Tina was perfect for Boone in ways she wasn’t.
Mila rose as the kettle boiled, pouring the steaming water over the tea bag, intent on drinking it in bed. She paused for a moment when she heard a tapping on the front door.
Who the hell was knocking on the door at midnight?
Leaving her tea on the counter, she left the kitchen, walking toward the door, her stomach clenching nervously. Late-night visits and calls were never good news.
She was shocked when she spotted Sadie standing on the front porch, shivering.
“Sadie! Are you okay? Did something happen to Boone?” Mila couldn’t think of a single reason why Sadie would be here in the middle of the night on her own.
“Dad’s fine. Can I come in?”
Mila swung the door open, shivering as a blast of cold air hit her. She looked at the empty driveway and the young girl’s ruddy cheeks. “Did you walk here?”
Sadie nodded. “I’m sorry I’m here so late. I just—”
“Mila?” Nora’s voice sounded at the top of the stairs. “Is someone here?”
Mila watched as Nora and Remi bounded down the steps together, Remi clenching a baseball bat, her idea of home security.
They pulled up short at the bottom.
“Sadie,” Remi said, lowering the bat. “What are you doing here?”
The young girl’s cheeks turned a darker shade of red, and Mila began to wonder if it was the cold or embarrassment driving the color. “I, um…” Sadie shuffled her feet uncomfortably.
Mila reached out, taking Sadie’s freezing-cold hand in hers. “Sadie, it’s just us. You’re safe here. What’s going on?” she asked, infusing as much comfort into her tone as possible, even though she was starting to worry.
“Igotmyperiod and Idon’tknowwhattodo.” Sadie spoke so rapidly, her words all blended together into one.
“Oh, Sadie,” Mila said, relieved. “First time?”
Sadie nodded.
“It’s okay.” Mila pulled the girl into her arms and gave her a hug.
Remi grinned, and she and Nora joined them.
“Well, you’ve come to right place,” Remi said, gesturing around her grandly. “Because this is a house of women only. We’ve got this.”
Nora rolled her eyes at Remi, taking Sadie’s hand. “We’ve all been where you are, Sadie. There’s nothing to worry about. We can fix you right up.”
“Does your dad know where you are?” Mila asked.
Sadie shook her head. “No. I waited to come here until he went to sleep. He’d kill me if he knew I snuck out, but I was just…
It started after dinner. I tried to use some toilet paper, thinking I could wait until I saw my mom tomorrow, but…
” She shrugged, still talking a mile a minute.
“That didn’t work very well. And now my sheets are ruined and I can’t go to school like this tomorrow and I didn’t want to tell my dad because…
” Sadie huffed. “That would be mortifying!”
“Take a breath,” Mila said, placing her hand on the young girl’s shoulder. “Remi’s right. We’ve got this. Come upstairs and we’ll get you what you need. Okay?”
The four of them walked upstairs, stopping by a hall closet—organized by Nora—that held all the feminine hygiene products…possibly in the world. While Mila was used to the closet, it wasn’t until she heard Sadie’s gasp of surprise that she realized just how over the top it was.
“Jesus,” Remi muttered. “You would think we were running a hospital.”
Nora, who’d bought the wide array, ignored Remi. “These two shelves are my ‘I am woman. Hear me roar’ shelves.”
Remi leaned closer to Sadie, lifted her hands in the paw position. “Rahrrr.”