Chapter 10
Jason
‘You don’t have to get up yet,’ I say to Mia as my alarm goes off. ‘I set it early so I’d be up before you.’
I grab my phone from the nightstand and shut off the alarm.
Mia turns to me, shielding her eyes from the sun peeking through the blinds. They’re cheap blinds and one of the slats is broken. I need to buy new ones, but I don’t want to spend the money when I still have debt to pay off.
Why did I tell Mia that last night? She doesn’t need to know about my financial problems. Now she probably thinks I’m irresponsible.
By 28, I should know how to manage my finances, and I do, but helping Brody out really set me back.
I’m in a lot better place now than I was a couple months ago, but I’m not even close to where I’d like to be.
Like I told Mia, I wanted a house by now but instead I’m in this one-bedroom apartment.
I don’t regret helping Brody. I just wish I’d kept better tabs on him.
I was trying to stay out of it and not interfere, but he needed my help and I wasn’t there for him until it was too late.
‘What time is it?’ Mia asks.
‘Just after six. You can go back to sleep. We don’t have to leave until quarter to eight.’
‘I’m ready to get up, unless you want to use the shower first.’
‘You can use it.’
I turn to face her. ‘You feeling better?’
‘I am,’ she says with a soft smile. She has such a beautiful smile, and beautiful brown eyes. And I love the way her voice sounds in the morning, low and raspy. I’d love to wake up like this every morning, with Mia in my bed. But I know it’s not possible so I need to stop letting my mind go there.
‘You want some coffee?’ I ask.
‘No.’
‘Really? I thought you told me you can’t get through the morning without coffee.’
‘That used to be true, but not anymore. I cut out caffeine a few weeks ago. It was rough at first, but it’s getting better.’
‘No alcohol? No caffeine? Are you doing some kind of detox diet?’ I laugh as I say it because she doesn’t seem like someone who’d be into those things.
‘I’m just trying to be healthier.’ She glances down, then back up at me. ‘Thanks for your help last night.’
‘Of course.’ I move some strands of hair off her face and tuck them behind her ear. ‘Even though we can’t be together, I still care about you, Mia.’
She doesn’t say anything. I made her uncomfortable. Shit, that’s not what I was going for. I just wanted her to know how I feel.
‘I think I have some juice,’ I say. ‘You want some?’
‘Sure.’ She sits up, then squeezes her eyes shut and puts her hand on her stomach.
‘You okay?’
‘Yeah.’ Her eyes pop open and she forces out a smile. ‘I just got dizzy for a moment.’
‘Maybe you’re still sick. I can call my mom and tell her we can’t be there.’
‘No, I want to go. I just need some water, and maybe the juice would help.’
‘I’ll go get it.’ I hurry up from the bed. ‘Be right back.’
I bring her both water and juice. She takes a few sips, then slowly gets up. She says she’s not sick, but she doesn’t look like she feels well. I hope she’s not just telling me she’s okay when she’s not.
By seven, we’re both ready to leave so I text my mom to let her know we’ll be there early.
‘Jason!’ a girl yells as Mia and I are walking to my truck.
I turn around and see Danielle running up to me.
She moved into the building about a month ago and keeps flirting with me.
She invited me to dinner last week, but I told her I was busy.
I don’t want to go out with her. She went out with a friend of mine and he told me she went nuts whenever he wanted a night to himself.
She expected him to spend every second with her and when he didn’t, she’d get angry and break his stuff, including smashing his phone. So yeah, we won’t be going out.
‘Hey, Danielle,’ I say. ‘I was just heading out.’
She glances at Mia, then looks back at me, giving me the smile she uses when she’s attempting to flirt. ‘I just wanted to let you know that I can go to your brother’s wedding with you. I heard your mom telling someone at the grocery store that you still needed a date.’
‘I don’t need a date. I’m good.’
‘We wouldn’t have to call it that.’ She steps closer to me. ‘Unless you want to.’
‘I don’t. I mean, I don’t need a date. And I really need to get going.’
‘Did you already ask someone? Because if you did, I—’
‘I did,’ I tell her, knowing it’s the only way she’ll leave me alone. ‘I’m already going with someone.’
‘Who?’ she asks, in a tone that says she doesn’t believe me.
‘Mia.’ I put my arm around her. ‘Mia is my date. Mia, this is Danielle. She lives in the building. Danielle, this is Mia.’
Danielle looks Mia up and down before looking at her face. ‘Do you guys work together?’
‘No,’ Mia says. ‘I don’t live here. I live in Madison.’
‘How do you two know each other?’ Danielle asks.
‘We met at a friends’ wedding,’ I say. ‘We need to go, but have a good day.’ I take Mia’s hand and head to my truck. I look back and see Danielle watching us. She finally goes into the building when I pull out of the parking lot.
‘I’m really sorry about that,’ I say to Mia. ‘I didn’t mean to get you involved, but I didn’t know what else to do. She’s been trying to go out with me for weeks.’
‘Why don’t you just tell her you’re not interested?’
‘Because as you can tell, she’s very persistent. And a friend of mine went out with her and said she doesn’t take rejection well. She tried to set his car on fire when he broke up with her.’
‘Really? That’s crazy.’
‘Yeah, exactly, which is why I don’t want to piss her off.’
‘So what are you going to do? You can’t keep pretending to be dating other people. In a town this size, she’s going to find out you’re lying.’
‘I’m hoping she’ll find someone else soon. Anyway, I obviously don’t expect you to go to the wedding. I’m totally fine going alone.’
‘And I’ll be busy that weekend. I need to get some things done before my parents arrive.’
‘They’re coming the following week?’
‘I think on Monday, but I’m not sure.’
The rest of the drive Mia tells me more about her parents. She says her dad has a hard time getting around after having hip surgery. I see why she feels the need to care for her parents. It sounds like they have a lot of health issues.
My dad’s a lot younger than Mia’s, but after his heart attack last year, I don’t take my time with him for granted. It’s another reason why I don’t want to move away. Family is as important to me as it is to Mia.
‘Wow, that’s a big sign,’ Mia says as we drive down the country road that takes us to the orchard.
‘We have them all over town. There’s an even bigger one just off the highway before the exit to Haydon Falls.’
‘I went a different way so I didn’t see it.’
‘The road you took goes past G’s Brewhouse. That’s the one Sawyer’s girlfriend owns.’
‘I wish I had more time. I’d love to see it, and that shop your other brother’s girlfriend is opening.’
‘Could you stay another day?’
‘I could if I didn’t have assignments due next week. And I have three counseling appointments tomorrow afternoon.’
‘What about next weekend? Would you want to come back?’
She looks over at me. ‘I could, but you’ll be at the wedding.’
‘You could come on Sunday and then stick around for when your parents get here.’
‘I wasn’t going to see them until Friday. They’re flying here early so they can explore the area and make it into a little vacation. I wasn’t planning on joining them.’
‘It was just a suggestion.’
‘I’ll think about it. I just don’t think I can make it work. I have so much to do. And so do you. Don’t you have baseball? And you have to help with graduation.’
‘Baseball’s ending. We have a game next week and then we’re done for the season.
And the graduation planning is done. It started over a month ago.
I got out of helping with it because of Nick’s wedding.
I spent the past couple weeks cleaning up the orchard with my brothers so it looks nice for the wedding and the pictures. ’
‘And here it is,’ she says as I drive down the long gravel driveway to the house. ‘What a beautiful home.’
‘It used to look a lot better. My brothers and I kind of destroyed the place growing up. My parents fixed up the main level once we all left home but the basement and our bedrooms still need work.’ I park in front of the house and turn off the truck.
‘Good thing we had the orchard and all this land to play on or the house would look even worse.’ I glance at Mia and see her gazing at the row of apple trees just beyond the barn.
‘You want to look at the orchard before we go in?’
‘I’d love to.’
We get out of the truck and I take her hand and walk her down to the orchard. I took her hand so she wouldn’t trip, which is easy to do if you’re not used to walking through an orchard. Or that’s what I’m telling myself in my attempt to deny the feelings I’m having for her.
Those feelings are even stronger after spending last night with her. We didn’t even kiss, but lying beside her, talking to her, holding her in my arms, had me wanting that, for more than just a night. I know I shouldn’t, but I want to see her again. I don’t want today to be it.
‘It’s absolutely beautiful,’ Mia says, gazing out at the orchard.
The apple blossoms are in full bloom, covering the trees in bright pink and white.
It’s really pretty, which is why Lyndsay wanted to get married here in the spring.
Personally, I prefer the fall. The leaves on the apple trees are green, but when you look farther out at the countryside, all you see is fall color.
Bright red, yellow, and orange. It’s gorgeous, and the air has a crispness to it you don’t get in the spring.
If I ever get married, it’ll definitely be in the fall.
‘All of this is your parents’ land?’ Mia asks.