Bo shook her head, giving me the same disappointed look my Ma had when I answered ‘no’ to her inevitable question about my love life. “Nope. I already told you why but you’re big stupid ego just won’t believe it.” She looked at me, eyes growing wider as if she were trying to figure out if I was from this planet or another.
Maybe Bo was right and I really was only hearing what I wanted to. “So I should leave her alone.” It wasn’t a question, not really, it was exactly what I needed to do. If she was willing to give up her social life to keep the peace, then leaving her alone was the right thing to do.
“I didn’t say that,” Bo blurted out, shocking the hell out of me. “What? I’m just saying listen to the woman, for crying out loud, because you are crap at listening. But I never said leave her alone.”
I pressed the cool bottle to my lips and took a long, slow pull of the hoppy beer as I replayed our entire conversation and she hadn’t once, told me to leave Mikki alone. “What do you know?”
She shrugged. “I know that you like her and I like her for you. So try not to screw it up again, yeah?”
“Fine,” I growled at her and finished my beer, before taking a walk around the property and making my way home. Bo and Mikki had given me a lot to think about and I needed to be alone to do it.
Mikki
The phone chimed beside the cash register, vibrating across the glass just to make sure I knew there was a new text message. Other than Mikki and Rocky, no one else had been calling so I picked it up and frowned at the sender.
Nate. Would you like to have dinner with me?
I frowned at the message. Was this a joke? No, thanks.
His next message came right away. C’mon. Let me show you I’m not the dick you think I am.
I frowned again, wondering what he was up to. This was the problem with secrets, they caused unnecessary stress, more stress than if you just revealed the secret right off the bat. I knew I had to tell him, and soon. But I wasn’t ready. Why do you even care what I think? It wasn’t like he wanted more than a few nights of fun in the sack, which I was more than up for. Until the nausea and the dizziness.
…that’s what I’m trying to figure out. So, dinner?
No was the right answer, the only answer but my thumbs hesitated over the screen, thinking maybe this was my chance to tell him about the baby. What the hell, right? Things couldn’t possibly get any worse between us and even if they could, the news would be out there. Delivered. Sure. When and where?
Tonight. Your place. I’ll surprise your taste buds.
Now I was truly suspicious. Is there some sporting even airing tonight and you don’t have the necessary cable package to watch it? It was a stretch but it was also the only option that made sense.
Nate surprised the hell out of me, replying with several rows of laughing crying emojis. Trust me that my cable package is more than sufficient, Mikki. And the fact that you think that’s why I want to come over is exactly why I need to come over.
I don’t think you’re a bad person, Nate.
Just not someone worth your time?
I shrugged and bit my bottom lip. I gave you all the time you wanted. I’d let him set the tone for the relationship and somehow I’m still the bad guy.
That’s what you think and I’m happy to prove you wrong.
You’re certainly welcome to try.
Good. What’s your favorite dish?
The thought of food, so early in the day, wasn’t something my stomach appreciated, flipping at the very thought of shrimp po boys. Still, maybe getting on a friendlier foot would ease the tension between us. Shrimp and lobster po boy sandwiches.
I would’ve said bacon and lobster mac & cheese, but I’m not fancy.
That pulled a laugh from me. Who knew Nate could be funny? Certainly not me. Since I came to Tulip he went from gruff and scowling one moment to sexy and flirty in the next. Neither am I, just as my mama and she’ll tell you how uncultured I am. Why did I share that with him?
Then she’d think I was a full on Neanderthal, he typed back quickly.
Aren’t you?
He took a moment before responding and I belatedly wondered if I’d offended him. Wouldn’t you like to know? And there was the Nate I knew, casual and easygoing, unable to let anyone or anything come close to scuffing his ego.
I wondered again what his angle was but I decided to shake it off and accept his offer at face value. For now. According to you, I already do.
See you tonight, Mikki. Don’t be late.
I rolled my eyes at that message and got back to work, rearranging shelves and updating the social media accounts to keep myself distracted. Sometime later the chime over the door sounded and Max strolled in. Alone, this time, which I made sure not to comment on. “Max, good to see you again. Not here for a return, I hope?”
“No,” she said on a nervous sigh and I was on my feet instantly, recognizing that look of panic. “I’m here for some lingerie. Something sexy but not impractical.”
I knew just what she wanted, it was exactly what a woman wanted when she jumped back into the dating pool. “Something you wear under your everyday clothes?”
She nodded. “Something like that, yeah.”
It took all the willpower I had not to ask a thousand different questions, namely who was it that had finally snagged the single mom’s attention. Instead I nodded for her to follow me and picked up a few of my favorites. “Hope’s Everyday Sexy line is perfect, colorful and simple, and perfect to seduce with a quick striptease.”
Her cheeks stained and I smiled. “Very funny. I just want to remember I’m a woman, you know?”
I did know. “Well you certainly have the body of a woman, Max, and you’ll wear all of these well.”
“Is this what you wear for Nate?”
I tripped on a flat piece of ground, catching myself and instinctively wrapping an arm around my midsection before recovering quickly. If Max noticed, she didn’t say and I was grateful. “There is no me and Nate,” I told her firmly.
But Max was a strong woman and not easily put off, certainly not by something as non-threatening as a scowl. “Yeah, but there was. Did he prefer over the top sexy or,” she slid her gaze to the wall of lingerie, “Everyday Sexy?”
“Both,” I admitted. “Men are simple, visual creatures. As long as it shows off the goods, they’ll like it. Sure, they really love the over the top stuff, but it all ends up on the floor anyway, right?”
Max stared at me, mouth open. “You’re more cynical than I thought.” The tone said she approved of that fact and I smiled at her, thinking maybe keeping my distance wouldn’t mean complete isolation.
“Not cynical, practical.”
“Okay. I think I’ll try these four on for now.” She turned and hurried into one of the fitting rooms and I stayed close, grabbing a few more options for her to try.
“You buying these for someone in particular or is this just a pre-emptive type thing?” It was a prying question, I knew, but I was starting to enjoy the nosiness of small town living.
“Neither. I’m hoping this and the new wardrobe will make me feel more confident and remind me that I’m not just a mother, which might attract some kind of masculine goodness.”
“What’s it like Max, being a mom?”
“Exhausting. Thankless.” She laughed and the sound was pure affection. “But it’s amazing, watching this person you created grow and morph into a version of the adult they’ll soon be. But also exhausting.”
To me it sounded kind of wonderful, much better than the way Rocky and I grew up. We had it great, I know that, but everything was so formal and stiff, and so focused on appearances. I wanted to give my child the kind of childhood Max’s little girl had, playing with bugs and going to sleepovers. Adventure. Excitement. Dirt.
I could almost see it in my mind’s eye, a little girl with Nate’s bright red hair and my hazel eyes, maybe a few of his freckles on her nose as she ran barefoot across the grass, laughi
ng while butterflies, bees and a golden retriever pup chased alongside her. The question was, would Nate be in that picture and if so, would he be right beside me watching as proud parents, or at a safe distance as equally proud co-parents? Maybe he wouldn’t be there at all, opting instead to send a check in the mail that we didn’t even need. If he chose that option, I wondered if staying in Tulip was even an option, but I wouldn’t abandon my shop, not for him. Not for anyone and not when I had a child to support.
No, I wouldn’t even think of leaving. I would stay and face the music, whatever tune it turned out to be.
“Hey, you in there? Earth to Mikki.” I blinked and found Max standing in front of me, waving several sets of lingerie in both hands. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine, just not sleeping well. I have a lot on my mind.”
Max laughed. “I know all about those kinds of sleepless nights. Believe me, they never stop,” she said with a knowing smile I couldn’t quite decipher. Had she figured out my secret?
“If you sign up for the Pretty Feathers newsletter, you’ll get a ten percent discount.”
Max dropped the lingerie on the counter and held her hands up defensively. “If you ever want to talk, I’m here and I know how to keep a secret.” That was all she said before turning her attention to the newsletter sign up form and scribbling down her info.
“Thanks for that, Max. If I, uh, have anything I need to talk about, I’ll keep that in mind. And same for you,” I added clumsily, making her smile.
She nodded and accepted her bag and her receipt. “I hope you figure out whatever is weighing heavy on your mind so you can get some sleep.”
‘Thanks,” I told her sincerely. “And I hope that lingerie works…as intended.”
She laughed and waved me off as she walked towards the exit, leaving me alone in my shop. With my thoughts. Once again.
Nate
“Fuckin’ teenagers gonna be the death of me.” It was now cold and thanks to hours of hiking deep into the thick brush, I was sweaty and my damn teeth were chattering. All because of a group of dumb ass teenagers.
“Maybe but that’s only if we get to them before the cold does. Dispatch says they’re possibly high. The caller said something about ‘doin’ shrooms’ and Barb wasn’t sure what that meant.” He snickered, the way we often did when it came to S&R dispatcher Barb Torken. She was the sweetest lady around but she was just as clueless.
“No doubt they were drinking too, probably how the wound up in trouble in the first place. What in the hell were they thinking?”
“You were that age once, you know exactly what they were thinking. That they’d save some money on a parking permit and spend the night together by making their own campsite.”
He had a point but I was growing colder and more exhausted with every damn step. We trained for all types of search and rescue terrains, scenarios and climates but this shit never got any easier. “Yeah, I know all that. But damn, did they have to go so deep into the forest when there’s perfectly good camping ground every fucking where!”
“Calm down. We’ve got another hour to go before we get to their last known location.”
“Don’t remind me,” I grunted. “I hope like hell we don’t have to carry anyone back to the ambulance.” We’d left the rescue vehicles about ten miles back because the trees were too thick and dense to access the site. Because it was remote as hell.
Preston stopped and looked at me, eyes wide with surprise. “You looking forward to being disappointed then?”
“Dick.”
He laughed. “It’s not so bad. We have plenty of time for you to tell me what’s been going on with you and Mikki.” Preston didn’t even bother trying to hide his laugh when my foot caught on a rock. “And don’t say nothing.”
“Sounds like you’ve been talking to Bo.” Her insight into what was going on had been helpful and we were supposed to have dinner tonight. Didn’t look like that was happening so I made a mental note to call her when I could.
“Nope, but it’s your favorite thing to bark at people when you want to know something.”
Was I that transparent? “Nothing’s going on. I was supposed to bring dinner over tonight, kind of a do over.”
“Did you call her before we headed out?” At my shrug, Preston groaned. “Nate, man, you’ll be single forever if you don’t learn this stuff. Luckily for me, Nina has no problem telling me when I’m doing something wrong.” There was nothing but affection in his voice, the opposite of what I would’ve expected given his words.
“I’m already single and that’s how I plan to keep it.”
“Yeah? Then why are you all bent out of shape every time her name comes up? And why do you need a do over.”
“You’re damned annoying, Preston. Anyone ever tell you that?”
“All the time, but usually my friend Nate when I’m not telling him what he wants to hear.” Being in love must have also given him super hearing because he managed to duck away from the punch I aimed at his shoulder.
“Shh.” Preston held up a hand and closed his eyes, a trick that was damn impressive but that I took every opportunity to mock. It’s a guy thing, sue me. “You hear that?”
I opened my mouth, a smart ass comment on the tip of my tongue but then I did hear it, a low hum of rock music. “Come on!” We were done chatting and shooting the shit, lengthening our strides to make the rescue happen quicker, before it really started to get cold outside.
Preston radioed our location and I ran towards the music, spotting the faint hints of a fire about five hundred feet in the distance. “Jase said he’ll come as close as he can get to help us carry any injured,” he relayed back when he caught up to me.
It wasn’t exactly a rousing orgy but it was exactly what I expected of dumb ass teenagers. A half-lit fire that meant they were all damn near frozen because three of them were laid out on the ground, staring up at the sky with goofy grins on their faces. “Anybody hurt?”
Nothing but the sounds of nature and mine and Preston’s boots on the cold, hard ground.
“Hey!” Preston shouted a few times and clapped his hands to pull them out of their drug-induced stupor. “Is anybody hurt?”
“How can anyone be in pain when the sky looks so beautiful?” One of the kids spoke and then an arm raised into the air. Preston and I looked at each other and then looked up, seeing nothing but tree tops above us, and back to the kid.
“At least he’s not injured. Check him and I’ll check the others.” A blond girl was also uninjured but near unconsciousness, probably due to the cold. Or the alcohol on her breath. “What’s your name?”
She smiled up at me. “Tessa, what’s yours handsome?”
“It’s too old for you. Can you walk on your own?” It would make my job and this shift a hell of a lot easier if she could walk on her own, but I wasn’t holding my breath.
“Sure can!” She jumped up lightning quick and just as fast, her legs crumbled. “Whoopsie!”
“One’s not injured but incapacitated,” I called out a status alert to Preston and went to the other kid, who wore a serene smile, smiling either at his moving hands or the trees beyond. “Hey, kid. You all right?”
“Is anybody really all right? Are they?”
“I don’t have time for this shit,” I grumbled and gave him a quick pat down, checking for any obvious injuries.
“Everything under control here?”
“As much as it can be. I’ll have to carry Tessa down but it looks like this kid,”
“Ronnie,” he said. “Call me Ronnie, mister rescuer.”
“It looks like Ronnie can walk on his own. So lets get going.” It was slow going at first, the kids too cold and too high to do anything more than amble a few steps at a time like zombies, but with our blood and adrenaline pumping now, Preston and I managed to get back to the camping site in half the time.
“Simona! Kyle!” Those were the names of the two unaccounted for campers and none of the other
kids had given us any useful information. “Simona! Kyle!” Preston called out to them a few more times while our flashlight beams bounced across the area looking for disturbances in nature.
“Over here!” The voice was faint but we both heard it and made our way over to Simona. “Over here. I’m over here.”
“Careful, Pres. It’s a drop off right ahead.” That was bad news and even worse if what I was starting to suspect was true.
Preston was at the girl’s side, assisting. “Where are you hurt?”
“My wrist. I was trying to help Kyle when he fell over and I think I dislocated my wrist or whatever, when he slipped out of my grip.”
Shit. He went over the edge. I flashed my light down there but it was pitch black. “Kyle, you down there?”
“Yeah. I’m down here.”
Which meant one of us—me—was going down. “Preston, I’m dropping down about fifty feet to get the final kid.”
“You sure?”
It was part of the job and Preston had a fiancée at home, besides I’ve been hiking and climbing this park since I was a boy. “Yep. It’s an easy up and down rescue.” As long as the kid didn’t freak out, which I wasn’t banking on because they always freaked out. It took a couple minutes to get my rigging set up, but I was down on the next ledge in another minute, introducing myself when the searchlight landed on Kyle’s face.
The kid couldn’t be older than sixteen and here he was, deep in the woods, high and injured. “I’m Nate, search and rescue. You hurt?”
“My pride hurts like hell but mostly it’s my back. And my wrist but only a little. I can feel my toes so I think I’m fine.” At my look he attempted a shrug and winced. “I’m junior S&R.”
Which meant he knew protocol. “Then what in the hell were you doing anywhere near this ledge with drugs in your system?”
He smiled when I came closer to examine him, talking while I checked him over for cuts, bumps and lacerations. “Simona Caldwell. A riot of red curls and big blue eyes. She pressed her lips to mine and I was a goner. I took too many steps back until I ran out of ground.”
Mastering Her Curves: A Curvy Girl Romance Page 9
