King (Maine Silver Foxes #1)

Chapter 15

M ia

Mia knew she’d messed up when King didn’t contact her after she’d blown up on him on Monday. She was ashamed of herself for confronting him at his job site in front of his men. Not her proudest moment. It was so unlike her to let her emotions get the best of her like that. But she’d been hurt and angry, and the fact that he hadn’t reached out to her hurt even worse.

Cody’s suggestion that she and King both needed time came back to her as she relived the scene over and over again. She couldn’t help it. She dissected every word she’d spewed at him, and while she’d been so sure at the time that she had grounds for her outburst, she hadn’t been fair to King. She hadn’t given him a chance to talk until she’d pushed him into anger, into saying something hurtful.

It had been torture sitting out on the porch every day, listening to the sound of chainsaws in the distance, and knowing that King was out there, just a short walk down the road. But Mia knew she wouldn’t go to him. She was too afraid of his rejection.

The door opened and Sammy stepped out onto the porch with two tall glasses of iced tea. “This is my favorite time of the day.” She handed Mia a glass. “Downtime after a day at work.” She plopped down into the chair next to Mia with a sigh. “I’m so glad it’s over.”

It was Saturday. “You only worked half a day,” Mia chortled.

“The overtime is nice.”

Mia guessed that now that Sammy and Ben were together, her cousin didn’t mind having to go in to work as much, not when she had a chance to see Ben at lunchtime.

“Thanks.” Mia took a sip of tea. “For a northern girl, you make a great glass of sweet, iced tea.”

They both laughed, and then Sammy quipped, “I had a good teacher. I got hooked on it when I went to Texas to visit my cousin one summer.”

“That was a good summer.” Mia smiled over at Sammy.

“One of the best.” Sammy held her glass out as if getting ready to make a toast. Mia acknowledged the gesture by lifting her glass, and they carefully clinked their glasses together. She took a sip of her drink, giving Mia a look. “You’re not still beating yourself up over what happened on Monday, are you?”

Mia released a loud sigh. “I can’t help it, Cuz. I feel so bad about attacking King like that, and in front of his men. Even if what Sheila said is true, he deserved a chance to defend himself.”

“You were hurt. We’ve all said and done things in the heat of the moment that we wish we could undo.”

Mia gave her a sad smile. Sammy was right.

“Hey, listen—” Sammy’s tone picked up as she changed the subject. “Birdie just called.” Birdie was Sammy’s friend from work. “We got an invite to a cookout at her place on the lake. She and Bruce throw great parties, and you’ll know a lot of the people there. It will give you a chance to reconnect. What do you say?”

After stewing all week with her thoughts, a distraction was just what Mia needed. A laugh that sounded more like a snort escaped her. “Today?”

Sammy nodded. “Later this afternoon.”

“Shouldn’t we bring something?”

“Got it covered. We haven’t touched the cake I made yesterday, so we’ll bring that. And we can stop at the store on the way and grab a couple cases of beer.”

“I’ll pay for the beer.” It was then that Mia remembered that Sammy had had plans for this weekend. “What happened to you and Ben going away for the weekend?” She frowned. “Don’t tell me there’s already trouble in paradise,” she said with worry. She liked Ben, and she thought he was good for Sammy.

Sammy quickly shook her head. “No, we’re good.” She glanced away as if she didn’t want to disclose anything else, but as the silence between them grew she finally admitted, rather reluctantly, “It’s just that...things were moving too fast.” Her eyes returned to Mia. “And going away together for a weekend...” She hesitated. “I guess I wasn’t as ready as I thought I was.”

Mia reached over and grasped Sammy by the hand, giving her an understanding smile. “That’s okay, honey. I’m sure Ben understands.”

“He does.” There was relief in Sammy’s tone. “He said we’ll move forward at my pace.” A soft laugh escaped her. “He wasn’t even mad when I canceled.”

“Honey, what’s to be mad about? The fact that he’s willing to give you the time you need without pressuring you says a lot.” Mia released Sammy’s hand and picked up her tea where she’d set it down next to her chair. “I’m liking him more and more,” she quipped right before taking a drink.

It grew quiet between them for a minute. Mia thought about the people she might run into at the cookout later that day. She was good at recognizing faces, but not at remembering names so much. But she’d grown up and gone to school in Coldwater. She was certain that once she saw the people she’d known growing up, their names would come to her. She was looking forward to going and mingling with old acquaintances. She only hoped that Sheila and King weren’t going to be there, but she wasn’t going to ask.

Without warning, the silence was abruptly and rudely shattered by the sound of a single chainsaw starting up. It came from the direction where King and his crew had been cutting all week.

“I’m surprised they’re working today.”

Mia chuckled. “Loggers don’t work on the weekends?” Movement drew her gaze downward. Precious didn’t care for the sound of the chainsaws either and got up from her spot next to Mia’s chair and went to the door and looked back expectantly. Before she could get to her feet, Sammy got up and opened the door so Precious could go inside.

“Well, around here, weekends are spent doing family stuff. Ball games, racing, fishing—you remember, right?”

That was just the tip of the iceberg. There were church activities, dances, things going on at the legion hall, and parades. The town of Coldwater managed to turn any little holiday into a celebration. There was sailboat racing on the lake, festivals, baking contests.

Mia gave a nod. “Of course. Growing up in a small town was the best.” She thought for a minute. “Maybe King’s crew is on a deadline.”

“You’re probably right, because King and the men that work for him are mostly retired. They’re clearing the land for a big house that’s going up. A retired dentist from Bangor bought enough acres to plant a Christmas tree farm behind his house.”

A confused frown appeared between Mia’s brows as she considered what Sammy had just told her. “How can they be retired? They’re not old enough to be retired.” She’d seen the men who worked with King and had gauged their ages to be somewhere between their late forties to mid-fifties.

“Honey, those men are all retired from the Navy. From what I understand, they put in like twenty years, were even Navy Seals at one time. King’s family owns the logging company, although he’s the only one who runs it. He bought the others out. He, Cody, Max, Lincoln, and Cramer left the navy at the same time, and he convinced them to relocate here on the idea that they’d spend their days hunting and fishing but that didn’t last long before they got bored.” She laughed. “So they do a little tree-cutting, a little construction, just to keep busy, but they don’t have to work. King has the logging company, but he’s basically a silent owner.”

Wow, Mia thought to herself. It sounded like they were living the life. And they were all handsome men, too. From what little she’d seen of them; they took care of themselves. “They must be tight to have followed King here.”

Sammy nodded in agreement. “You know how it is with life-long friends. And can you imagine what they went through together in the Navy? What kind of bonding? They’re closer than blood brothers. The only one who had to move his family here is Cramer. The others are divorced, their children grown.”

Mia didn’t bother asking Sammy how she knew all this, because Sammy had lived in Coldwater all her life and she knew everyone. As the chainsaw continued, Mia wondered who was working. Was King? She was tempted to go over and find out, because until she apologized to him for her behavior the other day, it was going to bother her. And what if he didn’t forgive her? Was she ready to face that possibility?

“We should think about getting ready,” Sammy said, finishing her tea and getting to her feet again. “Wear a bathing suit under your clothes in case you want to go swimming.” She turned away from Mia and went inside.

Good idea, Mia thought.