Thankfully, the subject was dropped as Bennett pulled up beside the houseboat to let them know it was time to head back to shore. Belle was glad for the reprieve even though those around her weren’t happy at the news that their time on the water was done for the day.
Once they were off the boats, they headed to a nearby pavilion where there were a couple of barbecues going. In addition to the barbecue, there seemed to be enough food to feed an army set out on tables. After grace was said, everyone loaded their plates and found seats. The conversation stayed on light topics as they ate, for which Belle was grateful.
Mitch sat at their table, but he was on the other side, a few people down, so Belle didn’t have to talk more with him. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to talk to him, but she knew it was better if she didn’t.
Once their meal was over, they all pitched in to clean up and get the food back to the cabin. Belle was glad to be able to help and to keep busy. Given that it was still a few hours until the fireworks, people began to find ways to entertain themselves. Some decided to play games. Others settled out on the deck to chat. A teen boy had brought out a guitar and was seated in the living room area playing.
Belle decided to head upstairs to change, taking a quick shower in the process. After making sure her hair and makeup still measured up to her standards, she returned to the main floor and joined Jasmine where she was seated in the living room, singing along with the teen and a few others. The music was a nice background to the conversations going on in the room, but gradually more people joined in with the singing, and the conversations died down.
After spending a little while admiring the teen’s ability to play, Belle started to sing along. Though she didn’t know all the songs, she knew enough of them that she could join in since they were familiar from the worship in her church each Sunday. She enjoyed singing and found that it relaxed her. The anxiety of earlier in the day seemed to be well in the past.
Now if only it would stay there.
The true test would come when she was in bed later. It was always the nighttime hours that brought about her frantic thoughts and the anxiety that often plagued her, especially if other things had kept her occupied all day. Lying in the dark with nothing to occupy her, everything she hadn’t spent time thinking about during the day would rush to the forefront. It was bad enough when it happened in her home, but it would be even worse if it happened while she was sharing a room with four other people.
That thought brought the slightest flutter to life in her stomach, which she knew was just a precursor to more. It was the start of something that would build, a feeling of butterflies storming in her stomach. Which would be followed by a tightening in her gut and nausea that just lingered. The worst part was the feeling of chills or pinpricks up and down her back which made it impossible for her to relax or get comfortable. It felt like she was crawling out of her skin.
As she started to feel the anxiety intensifying, Belle let out a quick breath, trying to focus on the music and the words of the song the teen was playing. Was she actually going to talk herself into an anxiety attack?
No. Absolutely not. Breathe in. Breathe out.
Belle brought to mind the Bible verses that had helped her in the past. Not always. Sometimes she was too far gone and then had to employ a bunch of different techniques to calm herself. Right then, she couldn’t allow her thoughts and emotions to go that far…if that was at all possible.
Be anxious for nothing.
Let not your heart be troubled.
Do not worry about tomorrow.
Cast your cares on the Lord.
Between the snippets of verses and the song the people around her were singing, the feeling of her skin crawling began to ease, and the butterfly storm in her stomach settled to mere flutterings. Belle could handle that. It hadn’t gotten so out of control that she hadn’t been able to come back from it without having to retreat and take a bath or go to bed with a book that allowed her to escape from the thoughts that were causing her the anxiety in the first place.
“He’s incredibly talented, isn’t he?”
Belle looked over to see that the dark-haired man that Mitch had introduced earlier as Ryan, had taken a seat beside her. “He is. How old is he?”
“Uhhh…I think he’s sixteen or maybe he’s seventeen now. I’m a horrible brother. The only ones whose ages I know for sure are the twins—because they’re the same age as me—and Sammi, because she’s one year younger.”
“Is he the only talented one?” Belle asked.
“We can all carry a tune, for the most part, but Dalton is definitely talented beyond that. He can play several instruments, though the guitar is his favorite. He and Danica and their friend, Devon, have a YouTube channel where they post covers and some original music.”
“Original?” Belle looked at the young man, his thin frame bent over the guitar he held.
“Yep. Dalton writes music too. Like I said, he’s super talented. Puts the rest of us to shame in the music department.”
“He should go on one of those talent shows,” Belle said, appreciating the soothing sounds of the guitar as he began to play a song that apparently only he knew.
Ryan laughed. “The last time someone suggested that, he said he didn’t need some guy with a bad attitude telling him whether or not they thought he had talent.”
Belle could understand why he’d feel that way. She watched those shows on occasion and sometimes thought the judges were a bit too harsh on the performers. Of course, she often suffered from second-hand embarrassment when listening to some of the people who went on the show. Clearly, their mother had told them one too many times that they had talent, and they’d actually believed it.
“Does he hope to do something with music in the future?”
“Yeah, I think he does. Frankly, it would be a shame if he didn’t.”
They sat quietly for a few minutes before Belle said, “So what do you do?”
Ryan glanced at her, his dark eyes serious. “I work for BlackThorpe Security in Minneapolis.”
“So you’re a security guard, or you do private security?”
“The company as a whole does do some private security, but I work on special projects. I do evaluations.”
“Like for HR?”
“No. Well, yes, I handle some of that, but mainly I evaluate people and situations for accuracy. To tell if they’re lying. That sort of thing.”
Belle turned to face him more fully. “You can tell if people are lying?”
Ryan shrugged. “Usually. It’s part observation. Part intuition.”
“That must be an interesting skill to have,” Belle said. “I’ve managed to be a pretty poor judge of character in my life. Having a skill like yours would have been invaluable.”
“It can be helpful, for sure, but sometimes—often—we see what we want to, even if the signs are there to the contrary.” Ryan paused. “We ignore signs because we don’t want to see them. If you want to see the truth, you have to set aside your own desires for a specific outcome.”
Belle was amazed at how much sense that made. And how true it had been with her and Andre. She should have known he wasn’t right for her, but she hadn’t seen that truth because back then she’d still wanted her dream. He’d dangled the chance for that dream—love and appreciation—in front of her, and it had drawn her in, blinding her to the truth about him that she hadn’t wanted to see for far too long.
“You’re doing the wedding for Gabe and Maya?” he asked.
“Yes. I’m helping them plan it. Jasmine helped Maya pick out her dress.”
“Are us groomsmen going to have to wear penguin suits?”
Belle smiled. “Not to spill the beans or anything, but yes, I’m afraid you do.”
Ryan sighed as he flopped back against the couch. “How much would it cost me for you to help plan a different direction for the wedding attire? I can get it to you in small bills. Anything to not have to wear a tux.”
&
nbsp; “Sorry, but this was Maya’s concession to her mother, and the last time I checked, Maya’s mom—and most likely Maya—have more money than you and I put together.”
“That is so true. I love Maya, but her mom can be intimidating. Almost more so than her dad, and that’s saying something.”
“Maybe you should ask her if someone’s life would be in danger if they refused to wear a tux,” Belle suggested. “Then see if she’s lying when she tells you no.”
Ryan stared at her for a moment before he burst out laughing. When he’d finally stopped laughing, he said, “I can see why Mitch likes you.”
Belle looked away as she searched for a suitable response. “Uh…he likes me?”
Ryan gave a snort of disbelief. “I would say that if you’re uncertain of that, you need to revisit our conversation about seeing the truth beyond our own desires. Which is curious. There have been women who have thought Mitch liked them and pursued him. Those situations were clearly cases of the women not seeing the truth because of their own desires.” He paused. “I think this is probably the first time it’s been the reverse. Which honestly, confuses me.”
Belle couldn’t keep from looking at him. “What do you mean?”
“I would just say that you’re either extremely naïve or your desire is different from the truth.” Ryan hesitated. “And that would mean you don’t want Mitch to like you.”
“Should I expect a bill?” Belle asked, trying to ignore the sudden increase in the fluttering in her stomach.
“Nah. I don’t bill for consultations with family and friends.” Ryan touched her hand briefly, and Belle noticed that her skin didn’t warm the way it did when Mitch touched her. “But just know that Mitch is a good guy. A great guy.”
Belle hesitated before she nodded. “I had noticed that.”
“He said that you were able to tell he wasn’t Gabe without even talking to him. That’s almost a superpower where those two are concerned. I mean, yeah, anyone who has spent any amount of time around them can tell them apart, but after just one meeting and without even knowing that Gabe had a twin? Seriously impressive.”
“Not so much, considering my sisters are identical twins,” Belle said, trying to brush aside the significance of what she’d done. “That made it easier for me to pick up on the subtle differences and see them for who they were.”
“Regardless, Mitch is a decent guy. One of the best, really. He deserves someone who sees him that way and appreciates that about him.”
“Did he ask you to talk to me?” Belle asked, unwilling to respond to Ryan’s statements about Mitch.
Ryan laughed. “No. In fact, I can feel the daggers he’s sending my way even as we speak. If he knew what we were talking about, he’d probably kick my butt right back to Minneapolis.”
Belle turned her gaze back to Dalton without responding. Though the storm hadn’t escalated into anything more, the butterflies were still agitated. And they likely would be until that conversation was over.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Mitch wanted to march over to where Ryan sat by Belle and move him away from her, especially after he saw Ryan touch her hand. What was he trying to do? They didn’t put the moves on girls the others were interested in. That was the bro code. And as brothers, they’d all agreed to it.
He didn’t think Ryan would abandon the deal they’d made, but still, it bothered Mitch to see him sitting there with Belle.
A hand landed on his shoulder as Gabe said, “Settle down, bro.”
Mitch glanced over at him with a glare. “What do you mean?”
“For once, everything you’re feeling is on display.” Gabe dropped down on the chair beside him. “And for no good reason. You know as well as I do that Ryan would never, ever make a move on a girl you’ve got feelings for.”
“I know. It would make things so much easier if she would just give me a sign that she thought of me as something more than the man working on her building.” Mitch sighed as he flopped back in his chair. “She keeps her emotions on lockdown. I can’t tell a thing.”
“That alone should tell you something,” Gabe said.
“Like what?”
“If she weren’t so concerned with you seeing something below the surface, she probably wouldn’t work so hard to keep her emotions on lockdown, as you put it.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that. I really don’t want to be reading things into a situation that might not be there.” Mitch paused. “That way lies heartache. I’m better off waiting for a woman who is happy to embrace how she feels about me.”
“And what does your heart say about that?” Gabe glanced up as Maya brought him a soda, smiling as she bent down to kiss him. “Thanks, babe.”
She gave Mitch a smile then left them to their conversation.
“My heart will get on board eventually. It has before.”
“But has your heart felt like this before? Truly?”
Mitch didn’t bother to respond. He and Gabe both knew the answer. They’d talked at length about the women he had dated over the years. Gabe would have known there was something different when Mitch had talked with him about Belle over the past few months.
Maybe he should have kept his mouth shut.
By the time ten-thirty rolled around, Mitch was ready to call it a day, even though they still had the fireworks to do. Not that they were setting off the fireworks themselves. Their dad had an agreement with the people on the other side of the lake whereby he contributed to a community display. Their nephew worked for a fireworks company, so he was experienced enough to put together quite a show. It was the highlight of the Canada Day weekend for those celebrating at the lake.
Mitch wanted to sit with Belle while they watched the fireworks, but somehow, he got out to the deck too late, and she’d already found a seat between her sisters once again. So instead, he settled for one of the chairs behind the girls, next to Ryan and Denise.
Jasmine spotted him and turned around with a smile. “This is awesome. The last time I tried to watch some Canada Day fireworks, I had to battle crazy crowds to get home afterward. This…well, I get to just walk upstairs when it’s done. It’s perfect.”
“Yeah. It’s the best way to watch fireworks,” Mitch agreed. “We’ve been doing this for the past several years. Each year the display seems to get better and better.”
“Is it just for Canada Day?” Jasmine asked.
“Yeah. Although I think they have, at times, set off fireworks for their own personal family events.” Mitch leaned forward to point at a section of lights in the distance. “The family across the lake are the ones who arrange it.”
Belle turned toward him, but just then, the lights behind them disappeared as his dad shut them off. Total darkness was the best way to view the fireworks, and it wasn’t long after the lights had gone off before the first of the fireworks lit up the night sky.
There were plenty of oohs and ahhhhs as one after another, crackers exploded above them in a kaleidoscope of color. Though Mitch viewed the display each year, he never ceased to enjoy it, and each year it seemed to get better. The only thing that would have made this year better would have been if he could have shared the experience more closely with Belle.
He had held out hope that during the weekend he’d be able to spend some time with her—quality time—but as usual, that wasn’t to be. The next day, they would be heading back into the city. He’d felt that being together in the same place that weekend would be his opportunity to see, once and for all, if there might be something between the two of them.
However, the fact that she seemed determined not to be alone with him was discouraging. Well, they’d had time together on the jet ski, but that hadn’t been very conducive to a good conversation. He’d thought he’d accepted it, but he’d had one last hope that maybe this would be his chance. That she’d see him there amongst his family and friends and realize he was trustworthy and wouldn’t hurt her.
Once the last of the fireworks had f
aded away after an explosive finish, his dad turned the lights on, and people began to get up and move back into the house. The ones staying elsewhere headed off while the rest began to head upstairs to the bedrooms.
When Mitch saw Belle go up with Jasmine, he decided to call it a night for himself as well. He made sure that his parents didn’t need any more help before he headed upstairs. Once there, he went straight to the guys’ room, walking in in time to hear Gabe and Ryan arguing over some sports game result. Normally, Mitch would join in, but this time, he just went and grabbed his toiletry bag.
It didn’t take him long to get ready for bed, and even though the others in the room didn’t show signs of sleeping any time soon, Mitch crawled onto the lower bunk of one of the beds and stretched out. He, Ryan, Kenton, and Gabe all had lower bunks while the teen boys and Benjie, Avery’s son, had the upper ones.
Thankfully, the bunkbeds weren’t like ordinary beds that could be bought in a furniture store. With an eye to his sons growing into teenagers and then men, their dad had ordered the bunkbeds custom built. They were long enough to accommodate heights of up to six foot two inches and were wide enough to be comfortable for even grown men. They were also sturdy enough that the movements of either person wouldn’t wake the other.
Mitch was glad when Kenton called it a night for them all and turned off the lights. The glow of cell phone screens punctuated the darkness, but there was no further conversation. Mitch looked through his email and social media accounts before setting his phone down on the bed beside his pillow.
He spent some time in prayer, asking God for patience and wisdom in his dealings with Belle. More than anything, he didn’t want to push for something that wasn’t God’s will, but it was hard to accept that. In getting to know Belle, Mitch had found himself drawn to her more than any other woman he’d been interested in before. She made him want to be an even better man. A man who could help her shoulder the stresses of her life.
A Touch of Romance Page 23
