Chapter 19
CHAPTER 19
brIAN
“ I mean…do you want me to stay in Springside?”
I hear the question, but it takes my brain a moment to catch up. Instead, I stare at her dumbfounded, before I register the hesitant look on her face.
My God, I’m an idiot. I’ve spent the last month consumed by this beautiful creature in front of me, but I’ve never been direct about what I want after tonight, scared I’d run her off. And now, she’s thinking about leaving.
“Mills, I realize I haven’t made myself clear. But I think it’s my turn to beg. Please stay. Yes, this town has its quirks, but I promise they’ll grow on you. Please, be mine. To be honest, I don’t think… I just need you to know there’s no way I’m letting you leave. Not without a fight. I know this place can be a little too much, and God only knows you’re way overqualified for the job here at Deer Valley, but you belong here.
“Also, while we’re just putting everything out there, I know you said you didn’t want a label right now, and I promise, I get it. And I know it’s probably too fast after everything you’ve been through over the last few weeks. But, Millie Pouncey, I’m completely in love with you,” I admit, unable to stop the words from coming out of my mouth.
Her face morphs into shock, and I briefly worry that I’ve freaked her out, so I rush to say, “You don’t have to say anything back. I’m sorry, I—”
“Brian, damn it, would you let me talk?” she interrupts, drawing my attention back to her perfect face. I realize then that her previous shocked expression has turned into a grin that takes up her whole face, and I feel a surge of hope that she might feel the same way I do.
“What I was trying to say,” she starts, once she’s sure she has my full attention, “is that I love you too. You’re right…it’s probably a little crazy, but you’ve filled the last month with more laughter, fun, and love than I’ve had in the last ten years… So, if you want me…I’ll stay, because I’m just as completely in love with you too.”
I feel the smile taking over my face and pull her closer to me. She rests her head on my shoulder, and we dance for a moment before I whisper, “There is one thing I feel like I need to confess.”
She pulls back and I don’t miss the concerned look on her face. “Uhh, okay, what is it?”
“You know all those lattes you’ve been bringing me?” I ask as we continue to sway to the music.
“Yeah, what about them?” she inquires warily.
“Umm, I actually can’t stand the taste of cinnamon. Basically, anything other than vanilla makes me gag. But you were so excited about them, I couldn’t make myself tell you to stop bringing them.”
I fight the urge to laugh at her expression as she says, “You mean you’ve been drinking something you can’t stand for a month now, just because you wanted to make me happy?”
“Well, yeah, I guess that about sums it up,” I tell her with a laugh.
“God, I really do love you,” she whispers, and the look of sincerity on her face makes all the cinnamon sips worth it.
After that, I don’t think about anything other than the need to kiss her. Ignoring the fact that we’re in public with a room full of people who definitely will notice what I’m about to do, I lean down and pull her into me, kissing her hard. Her mouth meets mine, and I fight the urge to groan at how good she always tastes. I run my tongue across her bottom lip, urging her to open for me and deepen the kiss until we’re both panting.
As we pull apart, I realize the rest of the room has erupted into cheers. Millie and I look at each other and then out at the crowd of people celebrating like their team just won the Iron Bowl.
“By golly George, it really is a Christmas miracle,” Huey hollers, clapping his hands as a huge smile takes over his face.
“It’s about damn time,” Miss Ethel yells from over by the bar.
“Hell yeah! Pretty sure I won the bet,” Miss Agnes cheers.
Millie and I shoot each other confused looks, neither of us really understanding what’s going on. “Umm, someone wanna let us in on the good news?” I ask, waiting for someone to let us in on whatever secret we’ve obviously been left out of.
Everyone in the room looks around at each other, before Huey finally says, “Well, you see there may have been a little bit of meddling going on behind the scenes.”
“May have been?” I question as Huey glances down, unable to meet my gaze.
“All right, fine. Everyone in this room is guilty of being a nosey son of a bitch,” he admits.
Millie and I look at each other before both erupting into laughter. “No shit, Sherlock. So, go ahead and admit whatever it is you’ve done,” I command.
“Well, we might have meddled a bit, okay? We just saw immediately how good you and Millie would be together, so we made sure y’all had an opportunity to really get to know each other,” Huey says, still refusing to make eye contact with either of us.
“Okayyyyy… How exactly did y’all manage that?” I ask, ready for him to spit it out.
“Ugh, y’all the gig’s up. Plus, it looks like it worked anyway. We might as well tell him what we did,” Bridget says, stepping out of the crowd.
“Thank God,” I murmur under my breath, waiting for her to continue.
“So, basically everything we’ve told y’all since Millie got into town is a complete lie… All those nights that you were supposed to have help, or the lights went out, or Huey had to run, or for an emergency, or whatever… We set all of that up to make sure y’all had to spend time together,” she admits proudly.
“I knew it,” I yell, shaking my head. “Stomach bug, my ass. And every time we couldn’t get anyone to answer the phone…”
Millie just laughs, thinking about all the “accidents” we’ve seen over the last few weeks before gasping. “Wait… My room… There’s no way…”
My eyes widen, looking at Bridget who grins. “Guilty…”
I groan. “Bridget, do you know how many times I’ve called the insurance company and the contractors… I wondered why you kept insisting that I didn’t need to go in there…”
She lets out a laugh before saying, “Relax, Brian. John with insurance and the contractors were all in on it too. And don’t pretend that y’all being roommates didn’t have its advantages.”
Millie and I shake our heads again at her comment before Millie says, “Y’all are too much. Wait…what if we really couldn’t stand each other, or I got freaked out, or…”
“Uhh, and this was where I came in.” I hear a voice say, causing Millie to look around frantically for the source. Wait… Is that who I think it is… There’s no way…
“Is that…” Millie says, continuing to look around at the faces in the crowd.
“Here, sis,” Lizzie’s voice calls and Bridget holds the phone up in front of her face where she’s FaceTiming my sister. “Damn, I really wish I was seeing that expression in person.”
With this latest twist, we’re officially speechless, so Millie just stammers. “Wh-wh-what? How? I don’t…”
“Well, you listed me as your emergency contact when you filled out your employee paperwork that first night, and after Bridget and Huey talked, they realized that y’all could be really good together. But we all knew it would take months for y’all to make the moves… So, they called me to see what I thought about doing a little matchmaking under the mistletoe.”
Millie’s no longer able to stop the laughter that has been building since her sister started her explanation, bursting into a fit of giggles. “Oh my word, you are such a traitor,” she accuses.
“Meh, don’t even pretend that you weren’t into him, sis.” Lizzie shrugs through the camera. “My job was to call Bridget if you started to get freaked out or if you didn’t seem too into him. If I did, she was going to claim that the room was fixed, and all our antics would stop. But we both know that didn’t happen…”
“And what about me?” I ask, not because I’m angry but more because I’m curious what their plan was.
“Uhh, sorry bro,” Will calls out sheepishly. “You know I usually stay out of stuff like this, but Caroline and the girls roped me in. When I showed up the other night, it was to see if their plan was working. If not, I was supposed to text Huey, and more of the volunteers would have shown up. But again…we both know how that went.”
It’s clear neither of us know what to say, because we stare at the room in shock for a few more minutes. Finally, I shake my head and admit. “This is not what I was expecting, and like you said, I can’t be too upset with the outcome. But did anyone ever tell you that y’all are the noisiest group of people I’ve ever met? Like seriously, y’all have a problem.”
The room erupts into laughter at that, with several of the ladies nodding and giggling at my statement. Several of the locals start to make their way toward us, either to congratulate us or pester us for details, but before they get too close, I lean down and whisper in Millie’s ear. “Are you ready to get out of here? The band is finishing up, and if we don’t leave now, we’ll never get away from ‘em.”
“Brian, we can’t just leave! What about the clean up?” she asks, clearly already dreading the couple of hours it will probably take for us to get everything put away.
“Bridget can shut it down. Pretty sure it’s the least she can do after everything she pulled the last few weeks,” I growl, making her laugh before adding, “Plus, if I don’t get inside you soon, I’m gonna lose my fucking mind.”
“Let’s go,” she whispers, just as Miss Sally and Miss Ethel come closer. I try not to let my face show my impatience as they start asking questions, but our earlier confession has me completely focused on getting out of here as quickly as possible.
“Well girl, I reckon I was wrong about you,” Miss Sally admits begrudgingly to Millie. “But you just know, I ain't letting my guard down completely yet.”
I don’t miss the look of mistrust on her face while Millie and I fight the urge to laugh at her antics. “Yes ma’am,” she says with a smile.
“Honey, I need to know all the details…when did all this happen?” Miss Ethel asks. “You know I’ve been suspicious for the last few weeks, but Huey and Bridget refused to tell us much, I—”
“Oh well…actually, I’m so sorry, Miss Ethel, but we’ve gotta go,” I interrupt. “I promise Millie will talk to you soon!” I call over my shoulder as Millie grabs my hand and we make our run for the exit.