by Eve Gaddy
“I know how lucky I am to have Maya, Gina, Carmen and the baby. To have a second chance at that kind of happiness. I know, partly because I’ve had almost everything taken away.” He drank some coffee and half-smiled at Wyatt. “Yes, I have a point. If you’re lucky enough to have found something good with Mia, go after it. You never know what’s going to happen.”
Because he loved his brother, he tried to choose his words carefully. “What about the lie? Am I just supposed to forget that, like it never happened?” He wondered what Jack would have done faced with the same problem. He doubted he’d be so ready to blow it off as no big deal if Maya had lied to him.
“No, you obviously can’t forget it. I probably couldn’t either. But it looks to me like you can keep focusing on the lie and lose her, or try to work through it.” He pulled out his phone and looked at the time. “I’ve got to go, but don’t take too long to figure out what you’re doing.”
“Why?”
“Glory took Mia to the airport.”
“What?” He sat up. “Mia’s gone? When did they leave?”
“Forty-five minutes, maybe an hour ago. Glory says Mia’s flying standby. No way of telling when she’ll get on a flight.”
“Shit. Why didn’t you tell me this first?”
“Because it would’ve taken you this long to figure out what you wanted to do. I probably saved you time.”
“Like hell.” Ignoring Jack, he dialed Glory’s cell. She answered on the first ring.
“Wyatt, where have you been?”
“Never mind that. Have you dropped Mia off yet?”
“Yes, but—”
“Did she get on a flight yet?”
“No, but—”
“What airline is she flying?”
“If you’d shut up for a minute I’ll tell you.” Wyatt gritted his teeth but didn’t say anything. “Mia decided not to fly. She rented a car.”
“She’s driving to Denver? Today? Now?”
“Yes. She left not too long ago. You might be able to catch her.”
“I’ll call her.”
“You can try.” She sounded doubtful.
“You think she won’t answer.”
“I don’t know. But I wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t. You broke her heart, Wyatt.”
Other way around. He called Mia and sure enough, she didn’t answer. Whether she was in a dead spot or she didn’t want to talk to him, he had no way of knowing for certain. According to Glory, the latter was more likely.
Jack had been looking at his phone frowning while Wyatt was on the phone. “There’s a blizzard forecast for Wyoming. Along I-25, north of Casper,” he added.
“Great, exactly where she’ll be traveling. What do you want to bet she didn’t look at the forecast?” She was driving into a blizzard, in a rental car that might not even have four-wheel-drive. And she was upset.
“Mia’s pretty levelheaded,” Jack said. “I’m sure she’s keeping an eye on the weather.”
He could follow her to Denver. But he didn’t know if she’d take him back. Hell, he didn’t know if she’d even want to talk to him again if he let her go back to Denver without even attempting to stop her.
His chest hurt. When he thought about life without Mia, it made him ache. It made him crazy to think about never touching her, never kissing her, never making love to her again. Worse, Mia was his best friend. Even more so than his brothers. What would it be like to never be able to talk to her, have fun with her, just be with her?
Damn lonely, that was what.
Mia had messed up. She’d made a mistake and she’d owned it. He’d had his share of fuck-ups. Having sex with Loretta in the first place was a biggie.
“Right. Completely levelheaded right now, I’m sure.” He went to the mudroom, retrieved his heaviest coat, grabbed another coat and returned to the kitchen for his keys. “I don’t know when I’ll be back,” he told Jack.
“Be careful. And good luck,” Jack said.
“Thanks.” He had a feeling he’d need it.
Wyatt made it as far as Kaycee, Wyoming, before he had to stop. It had been snowing lightly since before he left Montana, continued to snow more heavily past Buffalo, and had turned into a blizzard before he reached Kaycee. He hadn’t seen a sign of Mia, but he’d picked up a stranded family along the way. He didn’t know whether he or the parents wanted to stop more desperately.
He’d come upon Parker and Liv Crenshaw, their three kids, their half-grown Newfoundland dog, and their broken-down car about half-an-hour after he left Buffalo. In hindsight, he should have stopped in Buffalo, but at the time the weather had looked like it was improving. That only lasted long enough to make it just as reasonable to go on as to turn around. With the snow blowing in near whiteout conditions, he’d slowed to a crawl and looked for a place to stop, but he was almost certain there was nothing until Kaycee.
He saw the dog first, pulling a child clinging to a leash, with a man chasing behind them. Next, he saw the car, and finally the rest of the family, who came boiling out of the car when he stopped. A short time later, the Crenshaws, their luggage, and yes, their very wet, very smelly dog named Jasper, had all piled into his SUV. They were all talking, or in Jasper’s case, panting. Wyatt liked dogs, but he could have done without Jasper hanging over the seat, laying his enormous head on Wyatt’s shoulder and panting hot doggie breath into his face.
He almost missed his exit due to the fog on the windows, courtesy of humidity Jasper and family brought with them. Even going full blast, the defroster wasn’t cutting it. He used his hat to wipe the windshield every few minutes. Thank God, he saw the exit sign for Kaycee before he had a nervous breakdown.
The desk clerk at the tiny Star Motel wasn’t surprised to see them. Jerry said they’d already had several travelers stop because of the storm. “Problem is, what with the storm and all, we only have one room available.”
“Of course you do,” Wyatt muttered.
“What’s that, sir?”
“Nothing.” Resigned, he sighed. “Obviously, the family gets the room.”
Jerry beamed at him. “I knew you’d understand.”
“Oh, now, we can’t take the only room,” Parker said. “I’ll tell you what, you can stay with us.”
Wyatt felt the blood drain out of his face. “No, no. You’re very kind, but I’ll sleep out here.” He motioned to the short, and undoubtedly lumpy, couch. The last thing he wanted was to share a room with two adults, three rowdy kids, and a Newfoundland that had decided Wyatt was his new best friend. Wyatt looked down at Jasper, who’d been sitting on his foot for the last ten minutes, and tried to move. No luck. Damn, the dog must weigh a hundred pounds. And Liv had said he was still a puppy.
Finally, the Crenshaw crew left. Jerry gave him a pillow, a blanket, the remote to the TV and an offer of hot chocolate. He took them all, but when he asked about food, Jerry shook his head. “The diner’s closed. But we do have candy and snacks for sale. In the snack bar room beside the desk.”
Candy for dinner. Could be worse. He chose a couple of chocolate candy bars, a bottle of water and a bag of pretzels. Jerry had told him since there wasn’t a room for him, to help himself to anything there was, free of charge.
Wyatt decided to try one last time to see if Mia would pick up. He was about to hang up when she answered.
“There’s no point in calling me, Wyatt,” she said. “We’ve said everything there is to say.”
“We sure as hell have not. Where are you? Why did you take off like that? My God, I thought you’d been stranded in the snow storm.”
“I am. Sort of. I stopped at a motel before the weather got really bad.”
“Thank God for that. Every time I saw a stranded car, I worried it was you.”
“Every stranded car? Did you follow me?”
“Yes, I followed you.”
“Why?”
“What kind of a question is that? I wanted to talk to you. It didn’t occur to me you would take of
f without even a goodbye.”
“I thought it would be better that way.”
“In what universe? You can’t drop a bombshell on me like you did and not expect a reaction. That didn’t mean I wanted you gone.” The more he thought about it, the more irritated he was. “We should be able to talk about this like adults.”
“Gee, pardon me, Wyatt,” she said, dripping sarcasm. “I was just a tiny bit upset.”
So was he, but that wasn’t getting them anywhere. “Where are you? At the moment I’m stuck, but I can try to get to you tomorrow. Right now I’m holed up in a small motel in Kaycee, Wyoming.”
“Kaycee, Wyoming? What’s the name of the motel?”
“The Star. Why?”
Silence. “What room are you in?”
Her voice sounded odd. As if she were trying not to laugh. He didn’t see anything particularly funny about the situation.
“I don’t have a room. I’m staying in the freaking lobby. They’re out of rooms.”
“Come to room twelve. And bring your stuff.”
What stuff? She hung up before he could ask any more questions. But she’d answered his main one. How in the hell had they both happened to stop at the same tiny motel in the same tiny town in Wyoming? With close to three hundred miles of highway to choose from? The storm played a big part, obviously. But still, what a ridiculous coincidence. Or maybe it was fate. Not that he believed in that sort of thing.
Coincidence. Fate. What difference did it make when they were both stranded at the same motel? In a blizzard. Possibly for days.
Maybe fate had played a bigger part than he’d thought.
Chapter Nineteen
Wyatt came after her.
Of course, he did. He knew she was driving into a snowstorm. She wouldn’t answer her phone, so he followed her. That was the type of man Wyatt was. She shouldn’t read any deeper meaning into it.
Except she did.
He knocked and she opened the door, then stood there drinking in the sight of him. Which was silly, admittedly. He hadn’t changed since she saw him yesterday. Except yesterday he’d been stunned. Tonight he looked annoyed.
“Can I come in?”
“Oh, sorry.” She stepped aside.
He entered, dropped his coat on the floor, walked to her, snatched her up into his arms and hugged the stuffing out of her. “Damn it, Mia, you scared me to death.”
Oh, God, it felt so good to be in his arms again. “I’m sorry.” Trying not to cry, she buried her face in his shoulder. And sniffed. Good God. What—
“What’s that smell? What happened to you?” It wasn’t skunk odor, but it was almost as bad.
He put her down and glanced at his shoulder where a big wet spot was apparent. “Jasper, the Newfoundland.” He walked to the small couch and sat down.
“A Newfoundland dog?” Wyatt nodded. “I don’t understand. Did you get a new dog at the ranch?”
“Mind if I take off my boots?” She shook her head and he did so before continuing. “No new dog for us. At least, there wasn’t when I left. Of course, for all I know, Dylan could have taken in twelve more today. This”—he gestured to the wet spot—“is courtesy of my new best friend. He came with the stranded family I picked up along the way.”
“You picked up a family?”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Yes, and I’ll think twice before I do it again.” He went on to tell her about the family he’d rescued, their dog and the interminable remainder of the trip to the motel.
Soon they were laughing as if... as if there was no black cloud hanging over them. Like old times, before he knew the truth.
“It’s no wonder the shirt smells,” he said. “Jasper’s breath could have knocked over a Clydesdale.”
Mia laughed. “Surely not that bad.”
“You tell me. You couldn’t get away quick enough when I hugged you.” He looked at her a minute. “Or were you pushing me away for another reason?”
“No. Wyatt—”
“Then they offered to share their room with me,” he said, finishing up. “I’m pretty sure there is no worse fate than sharing a small hotel room with a family of strangers. Mom, Dad, three wild kids and a large, smelly dog. Although, come to think of it, the dog was better behaved than the kids.”
“It sounds challenging.”
“Too much for me to attempt. Speaking of smelly, can I use your shower?”
“Of course.”
“When I get out we need to talk,” he said, and closed the bathroom door.
A short time later he came out, shirtless, barefoot and wearing only a pair of jeans. “I washed out the shirt.”
“You didn’t bring anything? A change of clothes?”
“There wasn’t time. Once I knew you were driving and heard about the storm, I took off after you, hell-bent for leather.”
“I didn’t mean for you to go to all this trouble. I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’m not.” He sat beside her on the bed and took one of her hands in his.
“You-you-you’re not?” she stuttered.
His thumb rubbed slow circles in her palm as he smiled at her.
“No. Because now that we’re stuck here”—he kissed her cheek—“in a blizzard”—kissed her jaw—“for no telling how long”—kissed the corner of her mouth—“we can talk this out.” His lips claimed hers.
“I can’t think when you do that,” she said when he finally drew back.
“Funny. Neither can I.”
“Liar—” Just like that, it all came rushing back.
She was the liar here, not Wyatt. She yanked her hand from his and jumped up, turning her back to him and wrapping her arms around herself. What was there to say?
His hand fell on her shoulder and he turned her around to face him. “We need to get this out of the way.”
“Get what out of the way? How I lied to you for months? How can we?”
“Come sit down.” He led her to the couch and sat beside her. “Why did you lie to me, Mia?”
“You know why.”
“Tell me again.”
“I was going to tell you. But you told me you were moving only days after I found out I was pregnant. Did you really expect me to tell you then? What would I have said? ‘Oh, by the way, Wyatt, I’m pregnant. You’d better rethink that move.’”
“I would have,” he protested. “If I’d known.”
“Don’t you get it? I didn’t want to trap you, and I knew what you’d do. You’d marry me and then we’d be miserable since you had only married me because of the baby.”
“Mia—”
“Let me finish. If you had believed me, which at that point I wasn’t sure of, you’d have insisted on marriage. You know you would have.”
“Probably.”
She stared at him. “Probably my ass.”
“All right. Yes, I would have.”
“I wanted you to marry me because you wanted to. Not because you felt obligated to do it, but because you loved me. And you didn’t.” He started to speak but she held up her hand. “I told you yesterday, I’ve been in love with you for years. The absolute worst thing I could imagine was to marry you knowing you didn’t love me.”
Mia had been in love with him for years. She’d mentioned it the day before but with everything else she told him, he hadn’t paid attention. How could he have known her so well, yet not have known she loved him? How dense was he?
Pretty damn dense.
“I did love you, Mia.”
Her skepticism was evident in her expression. “Then why did you move without giving me a thought? If you’d loved me you wouldn’t have left so abruptly, and you damn sure wouldn’t have gone weeks without even talking to me.”
“When I left, I wasn’t sure what I felt for you. I cared about you. I loved you as a friend. But I didn’t know if what I was feeling was something more. All I knew was I couldn’t get you and our night together out of my mind.”
“So naturally, you date
d other women—many of them, from what I heard—so you could be sure of your feelings for me. Your deep feelings,” she added sarcastically.
“I didn’t say it was smart. Or that it worked.” He shrugged. “Yeah, I dated. But I told you early on, I didn’t sleep with any of them.” He hadn’t even been tempted. Which was what finally made him realize he was in love with Mia.
“Sean’s wedding and Jack’s baby were mostly an excuse to ask you to come to Marietta. At that point I would have done anything to get you to come.”
“Oh, really?” she said in clear disbelief. “You forgot to let me in on that detail. Silly me, I thought you needed me because you knew the wedding and baby would remind you of Loretta and her lies.”
“I did need you. I thought they would. They did. But once you were here, none of that was important. I was just happy you were here, whatever the reason.”
“Until you found out I lied to you and brought it all back.”
Much as he wanted to, he couldn’t deny it. He’d been blown away. Not only because Mia had lied to him, but also because of what she’d lied about.
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier? Why did you wait until—” Until I knew I loved you? Until I asked you to marry me?
“Maya had the baby the first full day I was here. I sure wasn’t going to tell you that night, after we got home. And then the wedding was coming up. I didn’t want to ruin your brother’s wedding or make it harder for you. After that, Christmas was only two days away.”
Her eyes glistened with unshed tears. He felt like a jerk, and even more so with her next words.
“You know about my parents,” she said in a low voice. “It’s been twelve years since I had a family at Christmas. Even when I spent holidays with a boyfriend, I knew it wasn’t permanent. I never felt as if his family could be mine one day.
“Your family was different. They welcomed me. They made me feel a part of everything. My God, there I was, a stranger to them, but I was with the family when Maya gave birth. They took me in because they love you. I wanted to spend Christmas with you. With you and your family. Because I knew once I told you what had happened we’d be finished.”