Chapter 15 #2
“I’m not sure how accurate that is anymore. This is one of those cases of the student surpassing the teacher. She’s started making stuffed animals that are so detailed and beautiful, you wouldn’t believe it.”
Lena swept her long hair over her shoulder. “And you’re giving her cooking lessons?”
“Yes. She and Boone are interested in getting better in the kitchen.”
Lena snorted as if Mila had said something ridiculous. “Right. I’m so sure Boone wants to learn how to cook.”
Her sarcastic tone had Mila’s hackles rising. It was clear the woman was here for a specific purpose, and Mila wished she’d just get to it. “He’s actually becoming a very good cook.” She felt a strong need to defend Boone.
“I suppose I’d have to see that to believe it. Boone’s one of those old-fashioned type of guys. A woman’s place is in the kitchen and all that.”
Mila shook her head. To hell with playing nice and not contradicting this woman. “That’s not true at all.”
Lena laughed in disbelief. “Well, people can change, I guess.” Then she sobered up. “That’s why I’m here, after all.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m sure you’re wondering why I wanted to speak to you,” Lena said, finally getting to the point of this visit.
“I’ll admit I’m curious.”
“Sadie talks about you quite a lot. She seems to be growing fond of you.”
“I’m fond of her, too.”
“I’m going to be very frank with you, Mila. You wouldn’t be the first woman to cozy up to a man’s child to get close to him.”
“Excuse me?” Mila considered herself a peaceful person, but Lena was testing that.
“Don’t take that the wrong way,” Lena started.
“How am I supposed to take it? I’m not using Sadie to get to Boone. I care about Sadie because she’s bright and inquisitive and fun to be around.”
Mila wasn’t sure Lena was even listening to her.
“Look. You’re a pretty young woman, and I’m sure Boone, with his rugged good looks and slow country charm, must seem very appealing to you.
But I need to warn you—whatever you think is going to happen between you and Boone, won’t.
He won’t make you his girlfriend. He won’t marry you.
And there won’t be any happily ever after with him. ”
Mila narrowed her eyes. “You and Boone have been divorced for ten years. I hardly think you—”
“That’s right,” Lena interrupted. “We’ve been divorced for ten years, and he’s never once seriously dated anyone in all that time. He’s never told another woman he loves her. Has he told you that?”
Mila pursed her lips. “That’s none of your—”
“He’s never asked anyone to move in with him and Sadie, never wanted anyone else to be a mother to her. Has he asked you to move in?”
“We’ve only known each other a few mon—”
Lena had a very bad habit of interrupting.
“Mila, I was very young when Boone and I got married. Just twenty. We were madly, passionately in love. Our romance was a whirlwind, to say the least, and we got so wrapped up in it that we went too far, too fast. I was too young for the kind of relationship Boone wanted.”
“A marriage?” So Lena was old enough to say “I do,” but too young to understand what that meant?
“Once Sadie came along, I felt stifled, smothered.”
Mila recalled Boone commenting that his controlling nature wasn’t well received by someone in the past. Guess Mila now knew who.
“Most of my girlfriends were still single, going out every weekend, having fun. They weren’t dealing with baby weight or shitty diapers or sleepless nights. What’s that expression? The grass looks greener on the other side,” Lena added, with a tittering laugh.
Wow. It was official. Mila hated Lena.
“I thought I wanted what my girlfriends had, so I left. Boone was devastated, obviously, but I figured he’d get over it and move on. I’ve come to see that I made a mistake. If I’d known Boone would suffer with a broken heart for so many years…”
Lena thought Boone was suffering?
Mila might have refuted that, but Boone’s ex-wife was on a roll.
“The timing wasn’t right for us back then.
I needed time to spread my wings, to grow, and I have.
Now…well, now, I think the time is right.
I’m older and wiser. And obviously, Boone has waited for me.
He never found anyone else because there wasn’t anyone else for him.
I’ve always understood him best, been able to tolerate his demands and his grumpiness and—”
“Grumpiness?” Mila asked. Boone wasn’t grumpy at all.
Lena scowled. Apparently, it was okay for her to cut Mila off whenever she wanted, but the same didn’t hold true when she was the one interrupted mid-sentence. “You don’t know him as well as you think, Mila. Certainly not as well as I do. I was his wife.”
Lena wasn’t in Gracemont for Sadie. She was here for Boone. But why now? After all this time?
“I think you can agree that Sadie’s at an age where she needs her mother,” Lena continued.
Mila wanted to correct her, wanted to say Sadie was at an age where she needed a mother. Not necessarily her own. Lena hadn’t been batting a thousand the past decade, so Mila wasn’t sure why she suddenly thought she’d grown some sort of great maternal instinct.
“You’re lovely and young, and I’m sure you could have your pick of any of the men around here. That’s why I’m asking you to step back with Boone.”
Mila wasn’t sure why Lena was so certain there was anything going on between her and Boone. Obviously, there was. But they’d taken care to hide it from Sadie. “Lena, I don’t know what you think—”
Lena raised her hand. “We’re both grown women. No need to lie to each other. Boone is a virile man with strong sexual needs. But you shouldn’t mistake those needs for affection.”
Mila felt the strong urge to throw something at this bitch. “Don’t presume to know anything about what’s going on between me and Boone.”
“Please. I’m asking you very nicely to step away from Boone so that we can work out our issues and become a family again. For Sadie’s sake. She needs her mom and her dad. You claim to care about my daughter. Prove it,” Lena added, attempting to use Mila’s own words against her.
Mila drew in a deep breath, weighing possible responses, which was an act of futility since Lena wasn’t the type to listen. The woman rose, smiling as if they’d just solved all the problems of the world.
“Well, I’m off to surprise Sadie and Boone. I suspect I’ll be around the farm a lot from now on. This winery is absolutely adorable.”
What. The. Fuck?
Lena reached out and took one of Mila’s hands in hers. “I do hope we can put all of this behind us and be friends.”
This woman was off her fucking rocker. As Grandma Sheila always used to say, “Never engage crazy, you won’t win.”
Lena waved and walked away as Mila remained at the table, reeling.
She tried to piece together the bits and pieces Boone had said about not wanting a relationship. For the most part, they all had to do with Sadie, or him being too old and set in his ways.
But what if those were just the reasons he’d listed out loud?
He never talked about his relationship with Lena. All Mila knew was that the woman left them when Sadie was two, and while Boone had eschewed dating, Lena had not. His ex had moved on, while Boone remained frozen.
Or he had.
Mila couldn’t dismiss the past few weeks. Boone no longer felt like a man who was holding back or standing still, as Remi suggested.
She’d believed they were genuinely embarking on a lasting relationship.
No. Not past tense.
She still believed they were. Boone cared for her. Maybe they hadn’t said the L word, but there’d been plenty of times she’d felt it from him.
Hell, he’d shown her earlier today when he sought her out, brought her lunch, and worried about her working too hard.
“Wow. That’s some hardcore thinking going on. Surprised there’s no smoke coming from your ears.”
Mila looked up and found her cousin Theo standing next to her. She hadn’t even seen him approach.
He tilted his head, concern in his gaze. “Everything okay?”
Mila started to nod, to offer him a generic “fine”—but everything was not fine. “I just met Boone’s ex-wife.”
Theo glanced over his shoulder. “I wondered who the blonde was. Passed her when I was walking in. She here to see Sadie?”
Mila shook her head. “She’s here to win Boone back.”
Theo crossed his arms, scowling. “But Boone is yours.”
She gave him a quizzical look that Theo answered with one of his affable, warm grins.
“You and Boone are about as subtle as a sledgehammer to the skull. The whole family suspects, but we agreed not to say anything until the two of you did first. Mom thinks you’re probably taking it slow because of Sadie.”
“That’s exactly what we’re doing, but obviously we’re doing a crap job of it.” Mila hadn’t mentioned her belief in the legend to her sisters, afraid they’d think she was nuts. Theo, however, was a different story. “Theo, you said when you shook Gretchen’s hand that first day…”
Theo’s eyes widened. “You felt the lightning with Boone, didn’t you?”
“I fell off a ladder, taking down Christmas lights. He caught me and… God, Theo, I swear I’ve been falling ever since.”
“Hot damn,” he breathed. Theo placed his hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “The legend claims another. Welcome to the club!”
She sighed, afraid the congrats were premature.
“I’m really happy for you and Boone. He’s a great guy and lucky as hell to have won your heart. I’ll make sure he knows that,” he added, in true overprotective cousin style.
Mila closed her eyes, suddenly feeling very tired. “Maybe you missed the part where I said his ex-wife has returned to reunite with him.”
“I didn’t miss that part. Just don’t think it’s important.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’re a Storm. We’re fighters, a force of nature. And when we find our soul mates, our true love, nothing stands in our way.” Then Theo frowned. “You weren’t sitting here actually considering giving up, were you?”
Mila shook her head. That hadn’t even occurred to her. She and Boone had something special, something worth fighting for tooth and nail. Mila knew it all the way to the depths of her soul.
“Good for you. Let me know if you need any muscle,” Theo offered jokingly.
Mila laughed. “Thanks.”
“Got a meeting with Nora, and I’m now four minutes late,” he said, feigning horror.
“You’re in trouble,” she teased, shooing him on.
Alone again, Mila leaned back, her shoulders relaxing, because her path forward was clear.
She was fighting for her man.