He enveloped his tiny mom in a bear hug. “For me too, Ma, I wasn’t expecting Billy until tomorrow.”
Billy dropped a box on the floor with a thump, and they did the one-armed man hug as Billy said, “Mrs. Braden called to invite us to Heather’s surprise party, so we came today instead.”
Their brother Dave stood with his hands on his hips as he surveyed the room. “Bro, this place is sweet!”
His father and Danny snorted derisively in response, but Billy didn’t seem to hear them, as he looked around and nodded. “It looks way better than when Mr. Miller showed it to me. Where’d all this stuff come from?”
Mick smiled, and felt his heart swell with pride for Heather and the other citizens of his newly adopted hometown. “Heather got the whole town to pitch in. People have been donating stuff and their time to fix it up for you. What do you think?”
Billy stood in front of the television set Mick bought last night and mounted on the wall this morning.
“Sweet flatscreen! Who would give away something this nice?”
Mick shifted on his feet. “Uh…it’s from me.”
“No way, man! It’s too much!”
“Think of it as a housewarming present.”
“Wow. Thanks, Mick!”
Mick nodded in reply. He hadn’t intended to admit the TV was a present from him in front of the whole family. If the old man and Danny had lasers in their eyeballs, he’d be a burnt-up little pile of ashes on the floor with the way they were glaring at him.
Time for a subject change, “Where’s Susie Q? Didn’t she come with you?”
His mom smiled. “She did. Martin and she ran down the street to get coffee at a little place we passed on the way through town.”
“The Nosh Pit? Heather’s sister owns it, but she’s at Heather’s graduation this morning, so she won’t be there now.”
“How come you’re not at the big graduation ceremony? Since you and Heather are such good friends and all.”
The oily insinuation in Danny’s voice made Mick bristle, but he tamped down his anger. Danny was just trying to get his goat, and he refused to take the bait.
“She only could get four tickets, so her mom, sister, and two brothers are going.”
“Her mother sounded like a lovely person on the phone. It was so nice of her to invite us to the party today,” his mother said with a gentle smile.
“The Bradens are a nice family,” Mick replied.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” His father’s chest puffed out like a bantam cock ready for a fight.
“Just what I said. They’re a nice family. They’ve made me feel really welcome here in Rivers Bend.”
“I’m looking forward to meeting Craig Braden at the party,” Dave piped up, “He’s Heather’s nephew, right? He’s going to WVU next year too! Billy hooked us up and we’ve texted a couple of times this week. It’ll be nice to know someone there when I start school.”
“If you came to work in the mine, like the Evans men have always done, you’d know everyone, and you wouldn’t have to worry about meeting new folks.”
Mick didn’t like the direction his father was trying to take the conversation in so he changed the subject again. “I’ve just got to put some stuff in the dumpster and recycling bin outside, then I’m going to run home to clean up for the party.”
“I’ll help you bring the trash out,” Billy volunteered eagerly. “It’s the least I can do, with all the work you and everyone else has done on the apartment.”
The tension still shimmered in the air when Susan burst into the apartment with her new husband in tow, both holding Nosh Pit coffee cups. Susan’s trademark positive energy was in full force, and blew away the tension like cobwebs in a breeze. “What a cute little town! And this is a great place, Billy! I thought Mom and I would be so busy cleaning it for you we’d miss the party like a couple of Cinderellas, but it’s spic and span, which is great! We won’t get all messed up before the party.”
Mick wiped his dirty hands on his jeans. “Speaking of getting messed up, I’d better head out now, because I certainly did get dirty this morning. Billy, can you find your way back to the Retreat, or should I come back here to show y’all the way?”
“I’m good.” Billy winked. “It’s not that a big a town; I can find the way. See you at the party.”
****
Heather and her family were all in her sister’s super-sized SUV, coming back from her graduation ceremony. She couldn’t believe it was over. It took her so many years, and gobbled up so much of her time outside of work she felt at loose ends now, and a little uncertain about her future.
Adding to those anxious feelings was the fact Jeff hadn’t said anything about his proposal to Magda. She’d expected news of their engagement to be the first thing out of Jeff’s mouth this morning, but he’d said nary a word. Had Maggie said no?
Jeff’s voice broke into her fretful thoughts. “Hey, Deidre, can you swing by the Retreat so we can pick up Sam and bring her to lunch with us?”
His voice was casual, but his question increased Heather’s uneasiness. She’d assume Sam was with Maggie, and they’d both be joining the family for lunch, but Jeff only mentioned his daughter.
Her heart tightened at the thought Maggie might have rejected her brother, but also, because she’d grown to love Maggie too, and worried her friend might leave Rivers Bend if her romance with Jeff ended.
Heather thought they were blissfully, disgustingly happy together, but you never really know what went on in other people’s relationships. Maybe Maggie wasn’t happy living in such a small town.
They pulled up to the front entrance to the Retreat, and Heather peered out of her window, but didn’t see any sign of Maggie’s Mini Cooper. She might be parked in the back, though. A lot of people chose to bypass the front door and use the back door, which went straight into the kitchen of Jeff’s private living quarters.
She didn’t want to ask him in front of the rest of the family, because as far as she knew, Jeff hadn’t told anyone else he planned to pop the question to Maggie in Washington.
“Um, Heather…” Jeff’s voice sounded hesitant and a little nervous, which made Heather’s heart sink. Her über-confident, alpha male of a brother never sounded nervous. “I need something from your office. Sorry to bother you on your big day, but would you mind coming in with me?”
Oh God! Maggie had turned him down, and Jeff wanted to tell her in private. It was the only reason Heather could think of to have Jeff nervously trying to get her alone.
“I need to use the powder room,” her mother said.
Deidre chimed in, “Me too.”
“Looks like we’re all going inside,” Jason said with a resigned sigh.
So much for getting Jeff alone to ask him what the heck happened with the proposal. The stop at the Retreat was turning into a field trip for their entire family.
Heather trailed up the front steps after them, distracted by her worried thoughts. She was the last one through the front door into the lobby.
“Surprise!”
Heather jumped out of her skin at the roar of what appeared to be the entire town of Rivers Bend assembled in the Retreat’s ballroom and spilling into the lobby.
“What are y’all doing here? What’s going on?” She clutched her hand to her chest.
Jason’s lazy smile creased his face. “You don’t think we’d let a big occasion like you finally graduating from college go unnoticed, do you?”
Tears formed in her eyes, and she blinked rapidly as she looked around at everyone. There was a huge banner reading ‘Congratulations Graduate!’ stretched across the lobby, and balloons and flowers were everywhere.
“How did you pull all this off without me knowing about it? I was working here all day yesterday.”
“I know! We thought Mick and you were never going to get out of here so we could start decorating.” Bethanne laughed.
“And cooking,” Mrs. Wilson added.
“I’m surprised I
have any air left in my lungs after blowing up so many balloons in such a short time.”
The last came from Magda, who stood next to Jeff’s daughter, Sam. Heather tried to discreetly look at Maggie’s left ring finger, and in spite of her happiness at the surprise party for her, she felt a pang of disappointment when she didn’t see the sparkle of a diamond there.
She saw Mick standing in the doorway to the dining room and asked him, “Did you ask me to go shopping last night to get me out of here?”
He grinned, in the flirtatious way he reserved for only her, which never failed to rev her engine. “No. I asked you to come with me because I hate shopping and wanted your help. Did I know there was a barn full of people anxiously awaiting our departure, so they could get into the house and get all this ready for you? Yes. Yes, I did.”
Heather beamed and looked around the room filled with all the people she loved best in the world. “Oh my gosh…this is just…oh my gosh…”
Jeff hooked her around the neck with one of his brawny arms, in a move part noogie and part brotherly hug. “This truly is a day for the record books; we’ve made my chatterbox sister speechless.”
He raised his voice over the answering laughter. “Thanks to all of you for coming today to celebrate Heather’s graduation. There’s plenty of food and drink in the ballroom, and we’ve set some tables up out back, if anyone wants to sit outside. Maggie and Bethanne even tried their hand at creating a special cocktail to honor the woman of the day, the way she’s done for all our special occasions since she turned twenty-one. Much like the real person, the ‘Heather’ cocktail packs quite a wallop! Cisco and I have been taste-testers, and can vouch for their potency, so if anyone needs a designated driver, my niece and nephew will be happy to oblige.”
“The Heather?” She arched one eyebrow at her two best friends, who’d come up with her namesake drink.
“Yep.” Bethanne nodded with satisfaction as she handed a cocktail glass filled with a frosty, purple beverage.
“We used a berry puree to get the color. See, it’s purple, Heather, like the flower you’re named after, get it?” Maggie bounced on the balls of her feet in excitement.
Heather took a sip and her eyes popped. “Holy moly! Jeff wasn’t kidding about the wallop! Folks, be sure to take advantage of Caitlin and Craig’s offer of rides home, y’all are gonna need it! What’s in here besides berry puree?”
“What isn’t in it?” Cisco winked as he leaned down to kiss her cheek. “Congratulations, Heather, I’m proud of you, meu amiga.”
Mick joined them, and placed his hand on the small of her back and leaned down to kiss her cheek also. As the subtle, spicy scent of his expensive cologne teased her nose, she marveled at how Cisco’s kiss had been brotherly, and left her unstirred, but Mick’s almost identical smooch, had her hormones all churned up, like butter at a pilgrim’s house.
“Me too, Heather. Working here, and let’s face it you keep this place running, so it’s not a low-pressure job, and going to school took a lot of hard work and dedication. Good job.”
“What he said,” drawled a deep voice with a strong southern accent behind her.
She whirled around. “Chase! What are you doing here?”
Chase hugged her, and she caught a brief glimpse of fire in Mick’s whisky-colored eyes.
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world, are you kidding? I have to leave early to get to our Saturday night gig in D.C., but I had to be here for you, darlin’.”
Heather heard a low rumble from Mick that sounded suspiciously like a growl. She shook her head once. It must’ve been her imagination. However, the devilish glint in Chase’s eyes as he looked over her shoulder at Mick, made her think maybe it wasn’t her imagination after all.
Chase slipped her drink out of her hand and said, “The Heather, huh? I’ve gotta take me a taste of that.”
He held her gaze over the rim of the glass as he sipped, and now there was no mistaking the tension radiating from Mick’s big body at her back.
Heather was usually adept in social situations, but she had no clue how to handle this one. She didn’t want to hurt either man’s feelings by siding with the other, although she was fairly certain Chase was playing an impish game, while Mick was deadly serious.
“Hello, gentleman.”
The sound of too vigorous backslapping pulled her out of her thoughts with a jolt. Her little brother Jason, well little only in the sense of age, as genetics and working the farm had made him big and strong. Currently, he had one muscular arm around the shoulders of each of the two men vying for her attention.
Jason’s smile looked easy, but Heather felt a flicker of unease. Maybe it was the way Chase tried to use a sinuous twist to get away before he winced and stayed in place, but Heather just knew Jason had a death grip on Chase and Mick.
Her brother jerked his head toward the dining room. “Why don’t you go on in and greet your other guests. We’re just going to hang back here for a minute. Have a little guy talk.”
Easy Virginia charm rolled off Jason in waves, but Chase and Mick both regarded him with wariness.
Over the years, having two overprotective brothers taught Heather putting the fear of God in potential dates wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Jeff did this handshake thing where he’d greet Heather’s date at the door—and back when they lived together, he always greeted her dates at the door—he’d look all friendly and harmless, kind of how Jason looked right now, but shake their hands with some sort of Vulcan death grip designed to weed out the weak and the ill-intentioned. If Heather thought a guy was a keeper, she always thought she’d warn him, but she’d never really felt any of her dates were keepers.
Heather could handle herself, and had become pretty good at weeding out the losers by herself over the years, but decided this was her party and she wanted to enjoy it, and not get caught up in this little drama, so she shrugged and flashed Jason a grateful smile.
“You’re absolutely right, Jason, I’m forgetting my manners. There’s a room full of people in there for me; I’ve got to go talk to them. See y’all later.”
****
She waggled her fingers at them, and darted into the dining room.
The traitor.
Mick frowned at Jason’s hand, where it appeared to rest on his shoulder. Actually, resting was a dramatic understatement of what Jason was doing. His grip was so tight, Mick feared he’d have a bruise in the shape of Jason’s fingers there tomorrow. He stood still as a statue though, and refused to let Jason see his discomfort.
Musician boy made one more futile attempt to escape Jason’s clutches, but gave up with a put-upon sigh and said, “I thought we were friends, man.”
Jason turned his head so he could beam at both of them. “We are friends. I’m friends with both of you; that’s why I’m helping you out here. I’m sure Jeff’s got a measuring tape around here somewhere. Why don’t we find it, and you two can just whip ’em out and see whose is bigger? It would be quicker than whatever the hell you were both just doing, which would have been much funnier to me if it wasn’t over my goddam sister! Us being friends, is the only reason I’m not taking both of you out back and spraying you down with the freakin’ hose. Listen up, Heather worked her ass off to finish her degree, and we’re all going to act like big boys and focus on her achievement today, got it? There will be no more making my sister.” He glared at them each in turn as he said the last two words, “uncomfortable with your competitive dick-swinging bullshit.”
He slapped both of them on their backs, while he grinned jovially.
Chase actually staggered forward a step at the force of it, Mick noticed with satisfaction as he stood his ground in the face of what had been a really hard shove in the back, all under the guise of a friendly back pat.
“We clear here, gentleman?” Jason nodded in approval at their silence. “Good. Good. Now let’s go get us some beers and enjoy the party.”
Chapter 25
Heather noticed Jeff
slip through the door to his living quarters behind the check-in desk, and saw her opportunity to finally get him alone and find out what happened with his proposal to Maggie.
She smiled at Mick’s mother and made a polite excuse, so she could follow Jeff. She hadn’t been able to pin him down all afternoon, and was pretty convinced he was avoiding her.
By the time she got to his half of the house, Jeff was nowhere to be seen, but Maggie’s little Shih Tzu padded down the hall from the kitchen to greet her.
“Hi Petunia. Who’s a good girl?” She gave the wriggling dog a quick scratch behind the ears. “Where’s Jeff at, girl? Can you make like Lassie and show me where he went?”
Heather was only joking, but the freakishly smart dog turned and trotted up the stairs. She glanced over her shoulder at Heather with her one good eye, as if to be sure the dopey human was following her.
Heather grinned and shrugged as she followed the dog upstairs. Now Petunia was on the hunt there was no stopping her determined progress. Maybe Mrs. Warren, who was Master of the local hunt club, should look into using a pack of Shih Tzus instead of hounds.
Petunia made a beeline for the open door into Jeff’s bedroom at the end of the hall, Heather followed, and called out as she entered the room, “Jeff, are you in here?”
“Sure am, Sis, what’s up?” Jeff sat at the edge of his bed, and looked up from smart phone as he spoke.
“I’ve been trying to get you alone all day!” Heather sighed in exasperation. “I finally had to chase you in here to talk to you in private. What happened in D.C.? I noticed Maggie isn’t wearing the ring. I’m so sorry, Jeff! Why on earth did she say no? Doesn’t she realize what a catch my big brother is?”
She heard the door to the master bathroom click open behind her, as Magda answered for Jeff, “I most certainly do realize what a catch Jeff is. That’s why I didn’t throw him back—I said yes!”
Heather whirled around to see Maggie’s beaming face. “You did?”
“I did!” Magda’s smile lit up the room, and the two women squealed as they hugged.
“That was way more girly-girl than I’ve ever seen the two of you act before,” Jeff’s amused drawl interrupted them.
Love is Lovelier Page 23
