Chapter SeventeenFischer
Chapter Seventeen
Fischer
By the time Micah and I get everyone back on their bus and on the road late Saturday afternoon, I am more than ready to close up the lodge and never look at the place again until next Friday.
Somehow, Micah kept the group entertained with campfire stories and group games, while I sat down with Grant and walked him through everything we planned for the lodge.
Though I disagreed with Micah, I followed her lead and told him that Lila planned it all while he was indisposed.
Once Grant decided he had had enough business talk, he and Lila camped out in one of the hot tubs despite neither grabbing a change of clothes, but I honestly didn’t care what they were doing out there as long as they left the bus passengers alone.
As soon as we had the lodge locked up, I told Kenny to go straight back to Ember Events without any detours, to which he happily agreed.
He seemed more than ready to drop off his charges and get back home to his family.
Besides, Lila and Grant were both pretty subdued as they climbed into the car to head back.
Maybe their hot tub adventure wasn’t as fun as they seemed to think it would be.
Micah was quiet too, and I hope it’s just because she’s exhausted, like I am. After digging out my car from the quickly melting snow, we head to the highway in comfortable silence. Comfortable for me, at least. No idea how Micah feels about it.
I keep thinking about that kiss. Not the kind of kiss I would have liked, but Micah making that move and pressing her lips to my cheek has my mind spinning in a way that makes me dizzy.
She’s probably the kind of person who kisses everyone like that, but she knows how much I struggle with touch. She wouldn’t do that just to do that.
As we cruise toward Sun City, I scratch my cheek and pretend it’s because the scruff is itchy.
Not because I can still feel her lips against my skin.
I nearly broke down when Alice demanded a kiss in exchange for her charger, and I was ready to step fully clothed into the nearest shower just to try to get the feel of her off of me.
But Micah? I nearly threw caution to the wind and pulled her in for a real kiss, consequences be damned.
I glance at her, but she’s looking out the window at the passing scenery.
I have no way of knowing if she’s feeling this strange pull between us or if it’s just me.
I could ask her, but I’m too much of a coward for that.
Her natural friendliness and bubbly personality could mean she is affectionate with everyone, and I don’t have the heart to be tossed aside again.
At this point, I wonder if I have a heart at all.
“How’s your brother?” I ask, breaking the silence for the first time since we started driving twenty minutes ago.
I don’t know the answer to this question already because I’ve been actively avoiding her since she kissed me, which doesn’t exactly send the signal that I am interested. Maybe that’s why she’s so quiet?
She glances over, her smile small but warm. “He’s fine. He wouldn’t tell me much, but he said they made it through the storm without any trouble.”
“He and his neighbor.”
“Neighbors. Plural, apparently. The woman next door and the guy who lives down the street, so now I can’t decide if he’s falling in love or not and it’s driving me crazy.”
Chad’s love life is his own business, but I don’t say that out loud. That feels like a bad idea after the thorough setdown I got after criticizing romance novels. “I’m glad he’s safe. And that he knew about the batteries in the fireplaces.”
“We would have had to cuddle together for warmth if not. Huddle! I meant to say huddle.”
Or did she really mean cuddle and she’s as annoyed as I am that Grant and Lila interrupted us this morning?
She definitely startled me awake, but as soon as I realized she was beneath me, all sense of reason fled my brain and I wanted nothing more than to kiss her.
We’ll blame my lapse in judgment on exhaustion.
Exhaustion also explains why I reach over and grab her hand now, pulling her arm onto the console between us. “I would have cuddled with you for warmth,” I say, almost too quietly for her to hear. Saying it any louder feels like tempting fate.
Micah snickers. “I’m not sure you were meant to say cheesy lines like that.”
It was supposed to be romantic.
I clear my throat. “So, you and your brother are pretty close? What about Houston?”
She must know that I’m changing the subject on purpose, but she doesn’t say anything about it.
Instead, she tells me about how she has many half siblings and stepsiblings, but Chad, Houston, and Houston’s twin, Brooklyn, are the ones she’s closest to.
Her dad is a serial groom but genuinely loves all of the women he marries, and from the sound of things, Micah’s mom was probably the love of his life.
It’s a pity he only got to keep her for a few years, and I feel even worse that Micah never really knew her mom.
“It’s why I was so eager to work on the Greenwood event,” she tells me as her thumb rubs a featherlight line along mine. “I hoped it would feel like my mom, you know? That maybe I would feel closer to her by being in the same place.”
“And?”
She smirks at me. “And maybe I was a little distracted.”
My heart rate picks up speed, and I force myself to stay relaxed so I don’t accidentally swerve the car or something. Is she saying…?
“That storm was crazy,” Micah continues. “But I’m so glad we were able to help all those people.”
Right. Of course I wasn’t the distraction. I don’t know where all this unfounded hope is coming from, but I need to tamp it down before I have another Miranda situation on my hands.
I mentally groan. Why in the world would I compare Micah to Miranda?
Outside of their names starting with the same letter, they have absolutely nothing in common.
And Micah would never betray her business partner and steal money from all of her clients and investors.
That’s not my problem, and I know it, but blaming my issues on Miranda is a whole lot easier than acknowledging my own faults and shortcomings.
“Maybe at the reopening,” she says, “when everything is decorated and party-like, it’ll feel like it did when my parents got married.”
I hope it does. She deserves to have some brightness added to her life when she’s so good at bringing light to everyone else’s.
“What about your parents?” Micah asks.
I tense. “What about them?”
I refuse to look at her expression, though I would imagine she’s trying to interpret mine. “How did they meet? What are they like? Are they still together?”
If she was anyone else, I would tell her it’s none of her business, but I can’t stop myself from answering all of her questions.
“They met at Yale. They’re both in investments, and yes, they’re still together.
” My answers are pathetic and won’t satisfy Micah’s curiosity, but that doesn’t mean I want to talk about my parents.
They made sure I got a good education, but I can’t say they were loving parents.
Or that they are capable of love to begin with.
I’m not sure they ever loved each other .
I can practically feel her questions, but to my surprise she moves on. “What about your brother? What does he do?”
I glance at her, a small part of me wishing she wasn’t holding onto my hand so I could pretend there’s some sort of barrier between us now. This isn’t how I wanted to fill the silence—I didn’t want to fill it at all—but what can I do? “He’s in business. Like me.”
“You said you’re close but don’t want to be. Why is that?”
I’m walking a dangerous line right now, but I make the mistake of looking at her and seeing the warm and reassuring smile she’s giving me. “Because he can be difficult most of the time,” I reluctantly answer. Because how can I not? Micah has a way of getting under my skin without even trying.
“Siblings are always difficult.” She laughs. “But do you ever try to work with him and make things better?”
I growl, gripping the steering wheel until my knuckles turn white. No, I don’t try. But neither does he.
“How do you do that?”
I glance at her. “Do what?”
She makes a scratchy noise in her throat. “Growl. You make it sound so easy, but I haven’t been able to replicate it.”
The question sounds so ridiculous that I can’t help but laugh. “You want to know how to growl? You ?”
“Hey, I can be grumpy sometimes.”
“I don’t think you’ve been grumpy in your life.” Is that how she sees me? Grumpy? Okay, I shouldn’t be surprised, but I hope she doesn’t always see me that way. Hopefully there have been some moments she enjoyed my company.
Not that it matters. Though, holding her hand like this, I in no way want to think about the moment when all of this ends.
With a squeeze of my hand, Micah pulls my attention to her long enough to see the squished-up face she makes.
I raise an eyebrow. “Is that supposed to be your grumpy face?”
She laughs, returning to her bright and beautiful smile. “Did it really look that bad?”
“You looked constipated.”
“Yikes.”
I nod seriously, even though she’s as adorable as ever. “It’s a good thing you’re incapable of being in a bad mood because no one should have to see that.”
Her laughter sparks my own, though hers is definitely more exuberant than mine. It feels good to laugh, especially after all the stress of yesterday and this morning.
“Hey, Fischer?”
“Yeah?”
“Would you rather be a dolphin or a shark?”
***
By the time we make it back to Sun City, I am so ready for a shower and my bed. Maybe a meal first. Micah and I stopped for lunch in the first town we came to, but after going twenty-four hours with only a few snacks to tide me over, I feel like I’m going to be hungry for the next week.