Love is Lovelier

by Donna Simonetta

  Gloria’s eyes widened and she stepped back, her spine stiff. “A simple ‘no’ would have sufficed. Good bye, Michael.”

  She turned on her heel and rushed out of the barn.

  A horse whinnied softly, and Michael walked over to the stall to stroke the animal’s glossy, chestnut nose. “Can you believe what just happened?”

  The horse bumped his hand gently.

  “I guess my bloodlines aren’t good enough for her, and considering she’s the kind of woman who would tell a man, who’s not her fiancé, she wanted him to fuck her in a barn, it’s really saying something about how low she thinks I am.”

  ****

  Jason dragged Heather out from behind the bar and took over her mixologist duties. Heather took advantage of the free time to chat with her sister and her friends, but kept an eye on the barn. Gloria rushed out, looking fit to be tied, Heather caught a glimpse of an angry scowl marring Gloria’s pretty face, before the woman ducked her head and rushed to her car. Good. It looked like Mick had sent the shrew packing.

  But where was he? Gloria didn’t speak to anyone before she peeled out, kicking up gravel, at least five minutes ago, and Mick still hadn’t come out of the barn and rejoined the party.

  Totally distracted, and a little worried about Mick, she made an excuse to Deidre and her friends, and made her way to the barn.

  The lighting inside was low, and she was momentarily blinded when she left the glare of the day for the dimly lit barn. She heard the soft nicker of her brother Jason’s horse, and called out in the direction of his stall, “Hiya, Buddy.”

  “Hi Heather.”

  She jumped, and then laughed as her eyes adjusted and she saw Mick leaning against the stall door. “I was talking to the horse.” She pointed to the sign above the stall. “His name is Buddy.”

  Mick smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I’ve been wrong about a lot of stuff today.”

  She patted Buddy’s neck. “I saw Gloria running out of here. Are you okay?”

  He stroked the horse’s neck on the other side, and she realized if she stretched her fingers out just the littlest bit she’d be touching Mick, but friends didn’t stroke each other’s hands, while they imagined stroking other body parts, so she resisted the impulse.

  “Why wouldn’t I be okay?”

  To hell with these friend rules. She stretched her hand across the warm muscles of Buddy’s neck and touched Mick’s hand. “I heard Sam and Hadley talking. I know Gloria is going to marry someone else, and I’m sorry.”

  He scowled. “And you think that’s what’s bothering me? Gloria marrying another man?”

  She raised her eyebrows and looked around. “Well you are spending the best party of the year in a dark barn with Buddy.”

  A slow smile replaced the scowl, and he waggled his eyebrows. “I’m more interested in being in a dark barn with you.” He scratched the horse’s neck. “No offense, Buddy.”

  Heather felt her face heat up, and she snatched her hand back. “I’m not much into being second choice.”

  “Trust me, you’re not. Going out with Gloria was a total rebound thing for me. That woman is a piece of work. But you, Heather, sometimes…” His voice was serious and ardent.

  “Sometimes, what?” She prompted in a whisper.

  His voice went low, husky, and his sexy southern accent made an appearance. “Sometimes I want you more than I want my next breath.”

  She inhaled sharply. That was not what she was expecting to hear. The gears in her mind turned so loudly while she tried to figure out what was going on she was amazed it wasn’t spooking the horses.

  He shoved both hands in his pockets and slouched out of the barn. He muttered as he brushed by her, “Forget I said anything.”

  A rectangle of bright light appeared when he opened the door, and she was again plunged into darkness when it slammed behind him.

  Heather’s jaw dropped, and she looked into Buddy’s huge brown eyes. “Forget what he said? Not freakin’ likely.”

  ****

  Mick blinked in the glare of bright sunlight. He wondered if he could just get to his car without anyone seeing him—he wasn’t feeling up to an afternoon of dodging Heather after his colossal fuck-up of telling her how much he wanted her. He’d been reeling by Gloria’s rejection, and he said things he shouldn’t have. Nothing he did would ever be good enough for the people who mocked him for his background, so why the hell did he even try? He never dreamed Gloria was just looking for a roll in the hay. He really thought she wanted to make him her next husband.

  Lost in his thoughts, he jumped at the gentle throat-clearing to his left.

  “Hi, Mick. Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you, but I saw you come out of the barn, and I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

  “Hi, Magda. I’m fine, but thanks for your concern.” He pasted a smile on his face as he answered.

  Magda raised her eyebrows, and put her hands on her hips. “Really? Because you don’t look fine. You look all agitated, and kind of like you were figuring out how to make a break for it.”

  He chuckled. “Okay, you got me. I had a little run-in with Gloria, and then Heather, and I thought maybe I could head home before anyone saw me.”

  Magda tucked her hand in the crook of his arm, and led him to a bench in the shade a little away from the entrance to the barn. She sat, and pulled him down with her.

  “Tell me all about it.”

  He grimaced. “There’s nothing to tell. Gloria is marrying someone else. Which doesn’t bother me, because I sure as hell didn’t want to marry her…”

  “But it’s still a slap in the face.”

  “Yeah. You sound like you really understand.”

  “I think I do. I was engaged to someone else before I met Jeff. I didn’t love the other man, our relationship was a huge mistake, but still, when he cheated on me, I was shocked and hurt.”

  “But it was for the best, because now you’ve got Jeff.”

  She nodded and smiled, deep dimples peeking out as she did. “Absolutely! But Pierce thought so little of me solely because of who my father was.”

  “Who was your father?”

  “To Pierce, my Dad was a nobody, just a regular, blue-collar guy. Totally beneath his notice, but my maternal grandmother is the queen bee of their social circle, so he deigned to become engaged to me. In his heart, he would never have been able to get past it, and would’ve spent his whole life looking down on me. Who needs that kind of disrespect?”

  “Not me,” Mick agreed.

  They watched Heather come out of the barn, and rejoin the party without noticing them on the bench.

  “No, you deserve much more out of life, out of love. You deserve a woman who loves you for you, the way Jeff loves me for me.”

  Mick knew Magda wanted that woman to be Heather, but he knew the truth. He was in no way good enough for Heather.

  “Yeah, well, I’m gonna go it alone for the time being.”

  They sat in silence for a few moments, before Magda said, “I know what it’s like to straddle two worlds, and not to feel like you belong in either one. It’s how my life used to be, and it sucked, but it doesn’t have to be that way.”

  Mick rested his forearms on his thighs and turned his head to look at her. “What did you do to change it? Was it hard for you to get past?”

  She bestowed a beaming smile on him. “It was the easiest thing I ever did.”

  “Really? Is it something I could do?”

  “You’ve already done it, Mick. I moved to Rivers Bend, and found my love here, found my home here. It’s the round hole for my round peg, and I think it might be yours too, if you let it be.”

  Chapter 20

  Stretched out in one of the porch chairs, the river burbling by next to him, the sunlight dappled through the green leaves, a cool soda, and the Sunday Washington Post to peruse…in Mick’s opinion you couldn’t ask for a better Sunday afternoon. Unless a certain sassy member of the Braden family was in
the other chair, and he didn’t mean Jason.

  He thought about what Magda said to him yesterday. He was glad moving to Rivers Bend had led her to Jeff and changed her life, but it wasn’t that simple for him. He had to be brutally honest with himself, and admit there was more of his old man in him than he liked. He could be moody, and had a dark side he didn’t want to inflict on Heather, so he didn’t see the same happily-ever-after happening for him that had happened for Magda.

  But he could make a nice life here for himself, nonetheless, and it was what he was going to try to do. Seeing Heather at work every day would be rough, and he didn’t want to think about how hard it would be to watch when she started dating someone else, but it was a sacrifice he was willing to make for her.

  Certain he was doing the right thing, he took a sip of his coffee, picked up the magazine section to flip to ‘Date Lab,’ the blind date story was a guilty pleasure for him, although he didn’t know why he enjoyed it. The people could really irritate him. Sure, sometimes the paper screwed up and put together people who were clearly wrong for each other. But a lot of the time, like today’s couple, the people were perfect for each, but too blind to see it. He tried to ignore any similarities to his own life.

  He heard the rumble of a powerful engine and threw the magazine on top of the rest of the newspaper strewn at his feet. Sounded like his brother Billy had arrived!

  He grinned as the ancient red truck rattled into view. He whistled low between his teeth, wait a minute, rattled was unfair. The chrome gleamed, the fresh paint job shone, and the engine purred like a contented lion. His brother restored the old wreck into a glistening gem. Looked like this mechanic thing might be the perfect gig for his little brother after all.

  He grinned, amazed to feel so much happiness at the sight of one of his family members pulling up to his cabin.

  Billy sat in the cab of his truck and gestured to Mick with his index finger he’d be a minute longer. It looked like he was on his phone; he must’ve called Mom to let her know he’d arrived safely.

  Finally his brother tossed the phone on the seat next to him and got out of the truck. A wide smile split Billy’s face.

  In some ways, looking at Billy was like looking at himself ten years ago. The family resemblance was strong between them, they had the same brown hair and eyes, the same tall athletic build, high cheekbones, but Billy had a natural, good-natured easiness about him Mick had never possessed.

  “Hey bro, this place is freaking awesome!”

  Mick went down the stairs and they did the one-armed guy hug and back pat thing.

  “Thanks, I like it here. Jeff and Cisco have made a really nice place.”

  His brother’s face beamed with pride. “And they brought you in to make it even better.”

  Mick felt a little embarrassed by the brotherly pride; it was a new thing, and he didn’t quite know how to feel about it. “That’s the plan. Hopefully I won’t fuck it up too bad.”

  “You won’t,” Billy replied with confidence. He joined his hands and lifted his arms over his head to stretch, and looked around while he did. His eyes lit up when they hit the river. “Is that the Potomac down there?”

  “Yep.”

  “Sweet.”

  Billy opened the passenger door of the truck and pulled out a duffel bag. He grabbed the phone and tucked it in the front pocket of his jeans, before slamming the door shut.

  “Nice ride, I didn’t see it when we were there for the wedding. You do all this work yourself?”

  “It was at a buddy’s garage when you were in town. He let me do the paint job there.” Billy’s chest puffed out with pride. “And yes, I did all the work myself.”

  Mick shook his head once. “Drive this truck to the interview, and Ed Miller would be a fool not to hire you.”

  Billy blushed and scuffed his sneaker in the dirt. “Thanks. It’s sort of what I was hoping when I drove it here.”

  “I bet the old man is not happy about this trip.”

  One side of Billy’s mouth turned up. “You could say that. His face turned so red, I was afraid he might pop a blood vessel. Everyone else is being supportive, although Mom isn’t thrilled about me moving away, but she took me aside and told me I should follow my dreams.”

  Mick cocked his head. “Everyone else is cool? Really?”

  Billy shrugged. “Not Danny, but I can’t be worried about what he thinks. He hates everything.”

  “Healthy attitude.” Mick wished he had felt the same way when he left home.

  Billy slung the duffel bag over his shoulder and loped up the steps to the porch.

  “You can either sleep here, on the sleeper sofa, or take a room up at the Retreat, where you’d have an actual bed and some privacy.”

  Mick hoped his brother would stay with him, but he didn’t want to force the issue, if Bill would rather have some distance between them. He’d been a strictly long-distance brother for a good chunk of Billy’s life, so if his brother didn’t want to get too close now, he would respect his decision.

  “I’d rather stay with you, if that’s cool.”

  Mick felt tension he wasn’t even aware he’d been holding, release from his shoulders. He opened the screen door and stepped aside to usher his brother inside. “Of course it’s cool with me. I kinda wanted the chance to hang out with you.”

  Billy tossed his duffel down on the wide plank pine floor, and looked around the rustic cabin with interest. “Me too, but I thought staying here might cramp Heather and your style.”

  His eyes caught on the two framed football jerseys on either side of the stone fireplace and his face lit up with boyish glee. “Are those Jeff and Cisco’s jerseys?”

  “Sure are.”

  “They should put up yours too.”

  “Nah, I only played one season before I got hurt, no one would want to see my old jersey. And about Heather and me, well, there is no Heather and me, so there’s no style cramping happening with you staying here.”

  “Oh man.” Billy’s face crumpled before his eyes narrowed with suspicion. “What did you do to mess it up with her?”

  “Nothing!”

  “Hmph,” Billy expressed some brotherly skepticism, and then his eyes searched Mick’s face. “I hope this won’t be weird then, but Heather invited us to dinner at her mom’s house, and I kinda already accepted for both of us. She said to come over anytime, and told me you knew how to get there. I’m sorry, Mick, I thought you were a couple.”

  “It’s okay. Heather and I aren’t going out, but we are friends. Dinner with the Bradens will be fun.” He looked down at his bare feet, grubby shorts, and ripped T-shirt. “Guess I’d better change though, huh?”

  ****

  “That’s all of us, don’t worry, we won’t expect you to remember all of our names straight off.” Joyce Braden smiled, after she completed the lengthy introductions to her big family.

  His brother was looking a little dazed by the warm, loving Braden family, which was so very different from their own.

  “Not quite like the Evans homestead, huh?” Mick spoke quietly to his brother, as the babble of conversation and laughter resumed around them.

  Billy grinned and shook his head. “Nothing like it, but I have to say, I like it!”

  Across the room, Deidre and Hank’s daughter, Caitlin, flushed a pretty pink and smiled shyly at Billy before quickly looking back at the baseball game on television.

  A feeling of déjà vu spread through Mick. Before he could warn his brother Caitlin was just a kid, Heather appeared with two beers. She handed the bottles to them. “Welcome to Rivers Bend, Billy! How do you like it here so far?”

  Caitlin peeked at them out of the corner of her eyes, and a wide grin spread across Billy’s face. “I like it just fine.”

  Heather followed his gaze to her niece. “Why don’t you head over to watch the game?”

  “Thanks, I think I will.”

  As his brother planted himself on the sofa right next to Caitlin, Mick
frowned. “You shouldn’t encourage that situation.”

  Her brow furrowed. “Why not? He’s new in town, and I thought he’d like to get to know some young people. Plus your brother Dave and Caitlin’s brother Craig are both going to WVU next year, I thought Billy would like to meet him.”

  Before Mick could answer, Jeff came up and slapped him on the back. “Hey man, good to see you here.” He smiled at his sister. “Ty tells me we have to have some sort of death-match thingy to get tickets to see you graduate.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Not true. I only get four tickets, which is just enough for Mom, Jason, Deidre, and you. The death-match thing was just some warped flight of Ty’s imagination.”

  “Sounds good. Next Saturday then—you walk.”

  She smiled at her brother. “At long last!”

  Jeff’s expression grew somber. “I’m sorry my issues delayed all this for you.”

  She punched her brother’s arm. “Never say that! Helping with Sam, watching her grow into such an amazing person, has made it all worthwhile. I wouldn’t change a thing.” Jeff wrapped one arm around her neck and pulled her to his side for a combination of brotherly hug and stranglehold. “I’m proud of you, sis. You’ve worked your ass off to get here. And Sam and I never would have made it without you.”

  “Dinner’s ready!” Joyce Braden called from the dining room, which set off a stampede of Bradens to the table.

  ****

  Having the top down on Lola for the drive home made conversation with his little brother difficult, as the wind whipped around their heads, but he felt they needed to have this talk, and sooner rather than later.

  “You spent a lot of time with Caitlin today.”

  Billy stuck his arm on the window and smiled. “Yeah, she’s a great girl.”

  Mick’s chest tightened. “She’s just a kid.”

  Billy shrugged. “She’s three and a half years younger than me.”

  Mick gripped the steering wheel and said through gritted teeth, “She’s still in high school—”

  “For another month.”

  “She’s only seventeen!”

  “She’s turning eighteen soon.”