5. Mia
MIA
David Bennett came into my library.
Not only that, but I almost had to go over and shush him. He and Charlie were talking by the door and got really loud at one point. I’m dying to know what they were talking about. It looked like Charlie was telling David something important and interesting.
In my library.
I’m used to seeing Charlie Bennett, but when I saw the two brothers together today, I was struck by how very different they are.
Charlie is a bookworm. Quiet. Thoughtful. He has a sarcastic sense of humor, has eclectic reading taste, and is incredibly creative.
David is rugged, much broader, and more muscular than Charlie. He’s also quiet, but where Charlie gives you the impression he’s in his own head mulling things over, imagining or creating something, David seems to be watching, observing, and taking in all the details around him.
It seems to me that Charlie’s world is very internal, while David is all about the external world.
Charlie is all about words, thoughts, and ideas.
David wants to do things—get his hands dirty and be out experiencing the world instead of just reading about it.
Of course, I could be wrong. They’re brothers, and I’m sure Charlie has been out hunting and camping with David. And I’m sure David reads. At least the sports section, weather reports, and…other things.
God, that sounds so judgmental.
And I’m projecting. I’m sure of it.
Charlie and I have a lot in common. We’ve gotten to know each other well, not just through his regular patronage of the library but also our love of fanfiction.
Especially the one we both write. I’m a lot like Charlie, but sometimes I think I need to be more like David.
I love to curl up with a book and forget about the real world.
Fictional worlds are safe. I can know the ending of the story before I even start—and can avoid the sad, scary, or painful ones.
I like hiding away. I love when things are predictable. I really love when I feel in control of outcomes.
Of course, that all comes from my childhood. I’ve had enough therapy to know that.
But what am I missing in the real world?
I wonder that a lot.
There’s surely a whole bunch of amazing, wonderful things out there.
People like David sure love it out there.
Of course, when I try to get out there, I end up with flat tires, wild animals, and tornadoes…
But then very handsome men with big trucks and shiny badges come along and save me.
Just like in the stories.
I smile as I think about that.
Yeah, last night actually did nothing to quash my thoughts of ‘maybe you should venture outside your comfort zone a little’.
It had turned out pretty great, actually.
And while I should probably be interested in Charlie Bennett—with his clean-shaven face and his glasses, khaki pants, and extensive Tbr—I couldn’t stop staring at David in his uniform, with his hair just a touch too long, scruffy jaw, and his big, calloused hands.
And then I found out that he’d brought me plaster molds of six different animal tracks.
That’s why he’d shown up at the library.
He’d gone out and gotten the animal track molds I’d wanted.
Six of them. I never would have gotten six myself.
And one mold is of a mountain lion print.
But he left the molds—and a note telling me that he’d towed my car to the garage and that they’d call me when it was ready—on the desk rather than talking to me.
He’d waited until I was helping someone else, then he’d ducked out.
He’d completely avoided me.
I’ve been telling myself all day that I do not have a thing for David Bennett.
But he came to my library. Looking even better in broad daylight than he had last night. And he brought me animal track molds.
So, I definitely do have a crush on him, and I’m not sure what to do about it.
Last night, when he’d driven me home and come around to open the truck door for me, his parting words to me had not been, “This was fun,” or “Can I call you?” or “Would you like to go out sometime?”
Nope.
They’d been, “You probably shouldn’t tell your dad I found you and that we hung out for a couple of hours.”
Right.
David doesn’t want me to tell my dad we spent time together.
That makes having a crush on him rather inconvenient.
I just need to get over it. Probably. That would be the best idea.
Instead, I’m driving home from dropping food off at his house.
Just to say thank you for the molds, and the tow, and saving me from the tornado.
Sure. That’s why I’m so disappointed that he wasn’t home.
I’ve just turned onto my street when I get a text. I press the button for it to read aloud.
Hey, I’m at your house. Where are you?
It’s from my sister.
I can’t decide if I’m excited to see her or not.
I am never going to be able to lie to her about where I was. And if I tell her, she’ll know that I am not feeling just grateful and friendly toward David.
But maybe that’s a good thing. Harlow will make me talk about it.
Harlow is so much like our dad. I know she’ll feel protective. She has lots of opinions about my life. But she doesn’t have any bad blood with David that I know of.
And she’s the only other person who knows what it’s like to be Scott Hansen’s daughter. Our experiences with that are a little different, but she’ll be able to give me advice about our dad.
I hit the button to call her. The call connects, and she picks up immediately.
“Hey! Jefferson has something going on with the football team. Are you free to hang out?”
“Definitely. I need to talk to you about something.”
There’s a long beat of silence on Harlow’s end. My sister isn’t great with surprises, particularly ones that have to do with the family and especially ones that have to do with me. I quickly add, “A good thing, I think.” Then I say the words she loves more than any other. “I need your advice.”
“Oh my God, where are you?”
“Just pulling in.”
She’s at my front door and turns as I pull into my driveway.
She holds up a bag and grins. It’s clearly a to-go bag from the bar downtown, the Come Again. I’m not sure what’s inside the bag, but it doesn’t matter. All the food is good, and I know Harlow will have ordered curly fries.
Since I was hoping to eat frozen pizza and tater tots with David, and I left all the food there for him, I haven’t eaten yet, and my stomach rumbles happily at the idea of seasoned curly fries dipped in the Come Again’s secret sauce.
I meet my sister on the porch. “You have perfect timing. I’m starving.”
“Awesome. Is everything okay?” she asks as she pulls me in for a hug.
I smile and let her squeeze me. The most important thing in life to Harlow is that all of us are okay all the time.
We’re not, of course. But we try our best to only let her know when things are really bad.
At which time she gets upset because we didn’t tell her sooner.
Then we promise to do better, she promises to stop worrying so much, and we all go back to doing things the way we always have and never really change.
My family isn’t perfect, but our intentions are good.
“Yeah. I just have an interesting story for you,” I say as she releases me, and I can unlock the door and let us in.
She actually gives a little squeal. “I love interesting stories.”
Yes, yes, she does.
I decide to give her another little bit. “And…it’s about a guy.”
I turn as Harlow freezes in the doorway to my house.
“Shut up,” she says, her eyes wide.
I laugh. “Seriously.”
“A guy and you ?”
I nod and smile, kicking my shoes off and padding into the kitchen to grab plates.
“Mia!” Harlow is hot on my heels. “Spill!”
I hand her two plates, and she dumps out grilled chicken sandwiches and curly fries.
“Let’s sit down,” I say. “It’s a long story.”
“Oh my god.” She’s actually bouncing a little as we reheat the food in the microwave, then settle around my little kitchen table with our plates and sodas.
And I proceed to tell her everything about the previous night.
Even the parts she won’t like. Like the fact that I was out by myself, where there were wild animals, where I got a flat tire, and there was a tornado.
She lets me just talk. She doesn’t eat even one fry.
When I’m done, I dip a fry, pop it in my mouth, and chew, waiting for her reaction.
She takes a deep, dramatic breath, and says, “Okay, you’re sitting in front of me, completely fine, and David was the one who showed up to help you, so I am going to skip over all of the dangerous shit and not lecture you about any of that.”
I nod and pop another fry in my mouth. “And not tell Mom and Dad.”
She narrows her eyes. “I promise not to tell Mom and Dad if you swear you won’t go anywhere else alone, outside of town anyway, until you have a new phone.”
“Fine.” I eat another fry. “I did drive out to David’s tonight, though.”
“Wait, what? Did you just come home from there?” Her eyes scan my hair, my face, and my clothes, then come back to my eyes. “You look totally normal. Please tell me this is not how you look after sex with David Bennett.”
I nearly choke on a curly fry. “Harlow! What?”
“If you went out there and had hot sex with David and came back looking like this—not a hair out of place, not a wrinkle, not a centimeter of whisker burn, I will be very disappointed.”
I’m staring at her. “He…he wasn’t home. I didn’t go out there for sex. I took him pizza and tater tots.”
She opens her mouth. Then stops and smiles. “Aw, because you didn’t get to have that last night together. That’s cute.”
“Shut up. Why did you assume I’d gone out there for sex? And why do you assume I’d look all…” I wave my hand, not sure what word to use.
She sits back in her chair. “Because that guy has amazing-in-bed written all over him, and that means you would not only be very rumpled after, you should not be able to find your panties or even string coherent sentences together. In fact, you shouldn’t be sitting here with me right now, eating curly fries.
You should not leave that man’s bed until late tomorrow morning. ”
I’m just staring at her. All of that sounds…awesome.
“What if he didn’t want me to stay over?”
She grins. “He brought you animal track molds this morning. He’d want you to stay over.”
My heart does a little flip in my chest. “Maybe he just doesn’t want to have to come tow my car again. Or do the paperwork required when I’m mauled by a mountain lion. Getting the molds himself keeps me away from danger.”
She nods. “Okay, maybe. You should probably test that theory.”
“What do you mean?”
“I think you need to find a way to be in David Bennett’s company, just the two of you, for another two hours—or more. The tornado was kind of a cock-blocker.”
“Harlow!” But I’m laughing now, feeling lighter. Harlow isn’t acting like this is a horrible idea.
“I’m just saying, see what happens when he’s not worried about the weather, and you aren’t squatting in someone else’s house.”
I reach for a fry. This is intriguing. It sounds like fun, actually. Who says I have to wait for David to call me or ask me out? I’m a grown woman. If I want something, I need to find a way to get it. Like spending time with David Bennett.
The only problem is…
“What about Dad?” I ask.
“What about Dad?”
“He and David don’t get along.”
“So don’t invite Dad on your date,” she says.
I roll my eyes. “Harlow, you know what I’m saying. And David has already brought it up. He doesn’t want Dad to even know he rescued me last night.”
My phone lights up at that very moment with a text. My heart kicks. I don’t know why. There are a dozen people who could be texting me.
But for some reason, I know it’s David.
In the note I left with the pizza and tater tots, I told him to give me a call.
A text is not a call. And I’m not surprised he’s not calling.
“Hang on,” I tell Harlow.
She leans in, propping her chin on her hand, and watches me read my text.
Thanks for the food, but no need to thank me. Happy to help.
Another text comes in right after that one.
But you know I can’t call you. You know we can’t see each other. We really can’t be friends. I’m really sorry.
My stomach drops.
Another text comes in.
You’re great. But we can’t be more than that either.
Ugh. I feel a little sick now.
Which is stupid. This is what I expected. But I’m shocked at how disappointed I am.
I show Harlow my phone. “This is worse than a tornado.”
She scans the text. Then grimaces. “He’s talking about Dad there?”
I nod. “And doing something that would disappoint Dad would be really hard for me.”
“I know.” She dips another fry, then says, “You know that Dad really only wants you to be happy, right?”
I do know that. “Yes, but I also know he thinks he knows how to make that happen better than anyone.”
She nods. “So…maybe there are two men you need to prove something to. One needs to realize that you’re perfectly capable of figuring out what and who makes you happy for yourself.
And another needs to figure out that there is absolutely no use in trying to resist you.
” A little smile teases the corner of my sister’s mouth.
I let her words sink in. As they do, my smile grows bigger and bigger. “I think you might be onto something there.”
“God, falling in love myself has made me a sucker for this shit,” she says with a little sigh.
I laugh. “Well, perfect timing. You can help me with my idea.”
“Ooh, yes. What are you going to do?”
“Well, I’m going to have to work out the details,” I tell her, feeling a rush of excitement and, if I’m not mistaken, empowerment. “But if I had to summarize it, I would say I’m going to seduce David Bennett.”