Discovering You (Miller Lodge Romance Book 1)
Page 3
Jason fished out another skipping stone, weighing it in the palm of his hand before letting it fly. “I haven’t really decided yet. Someone always needs a programmer, so I’ll have the education to look around and see who’s doing something interesting.”
That was it? Lisa was surprised he had no other plan than ‘something interesting’. She still had two years left on her degree and was already weighing the pros and cons of pursuing a master’s versus a combined master’s and doctorate program or a working internship with one of the three companies in two different states who showed the most promise in the aspects of biotech she found the most interesting. How could he be so blasé about his future?
A moment passed and Jason gave a soft laugh. “And there’s that awkward silence again. My brother likes to call it reality shifting without a clutch…that moment when someone says or does something that totally doesn’t fit in your worldview.”
“And makes your gears grind?” Lisa asked. “I can’t drive stick, but I get grinding gears.”
“I get that too.”
The silence rose again, this time more contented, almost companionable. The wind shifted slightly bringing with it the rich scent of barbecue roasted meat. Lisa sniffed. “Oh! That smells really good.”
Jason nodded, turning away from the lake. “That’s the smell of perfect barbecue ribs. One of my favorite meals we have up here.” He grinned and gestured toward the path. “We should head back, I suppose.”
But he didn’t take a step, and Lisa felt like there was more he wanted to say. She arched an eyebrow, encouraging him with the gesture.
“The next couple days will be busy. You have no idea how crazy tomorrow will get. But Friday night there’s a cover band doing all 80s hits down at the Piano Bar at the mouth of the canyon. Wanna come with me? We can see if they do justice to our favorites. And they have a really good fried onion appetizer that’s totally bad for you.”
Lisa almost said ‘no’. Her classes started again on Monday, he lived far away, and they couldn’t be more different people. But they did like the same music, and she was determined to get out more this semester. She offered him a smile and a nod. “I’d like that.”
The wattage on his smile turned up, and he finally started down the path. “Me too.”
3
“Lisa!” Beth’s shout was only partially blocked by the door, not enough that Lisa could claim not to hear her. Not to mention there was the pounding accompanying the shout. She wasn’t going to be able to ditch her roommate, even though she was down to the last two chapters in her book and really wanted to. Reluctantly, Lisa put her bookmark in place and rolled off the bed. She stepped into her slippers – the hardwood floors were pretty, but they were cold – and opened the door, letting in the noise and the sight of her roommate.
Beth stood on the other side, dressed in a silky black dress with the ends of the sleeves and skirt cut in wide triangles. A black corset cinched the dress at her waist, covered in sparkling purple rhinestones. A matching black cloak hung from her shoulders and a classic black witch’s hat was perched on her head, the purple band sporting spiders with glowing red eyes.
Lisa blinked, looking over the ensemble. “I thought you said the grownups didn’t wear costumes to this thing?”
“No. I said the grownups didn’t have to wear costumes to this thing. But I’m not going to miss a chance to dress up. It’s fun! I have a hat for you too, if you want one.”
“Does it have light up eyes on it?”
“Of course!”
Lisa laughed and shook her head. “I think I’ll pass.”
“Party pooper.” Beth grinned, taking all sting out of the tease. “Okay, fine, no hat. But the party has been going for an hour and you’re still up here. You promised you’d join in. Not to mention you’re missing the food.”
“We ate lunch at two.” Lisa protested. “I’ve eaten more in the last twenty four hours than we usually eat in like three days.”
“I know. And it’s all good food, much better than eating at the cafeteria.”
“I suddenly understand why you like to run. It’s the only way you can fit into your pants after a week with your family.”
Beth snickered, spinning around on her pointed shoes. “No lie.” She grabbed Lisa’s hand. “Come on! I have a surprise for you, and you’re going to miss it if you don’t get a move on. You’ve been book girl all day. Now come play.”
Lisa considered explaining to Beth that reading was playing, but they’d had that conversation before and generally agreed to disagree, and something out there did smell good. She could people for a while. She glanced over herself deciding that if anyone asked she was costumed as a college student on vacation reflected by her cozy pink sweater, comfy jeans with sparkles on the butt pockets, and the poofy unicorn slippers on her feet complete with little golden horns.
She laughed and pulled the door shut behind her. For all that people had been coming and going all day, they’d been really respectful about her privacy. Except for the time when one of the kids playing hide-and-seek had burst in, but he’d been quick to apologize and retreated before she could even say anything.
“What is that smell?”
Beth grinned, leading the way down toward the great hall. “Pumpkin cake.”
“Pumpkin cake? I’ve had pumpkin pie, but not…” Lisa’s words came to an abrupt halt as they stepped into the open. “Holy moly…”
During the hours she’d been reading, the lodge had been transformed. Everywhere she looked, there was another little, or large, Halloween touch, from the flickering orange lights in the huge antler chandelier, to the puffs of dry ice fog that blew through the room at random intervals. Black lights decorated the hallway, making her unicorn slippers glow under the UV light, and tiny candy corn twinkle lights were wrapped around poles and door frames. If she listened hard, she could hear a spooky music soundtrack playing, but it was struggling to compete with the mutter of conversation created by the people crowding the great hall and the kitchen.
Beth paused next to her, looking over the set up with a wide grin. “Perfect, isn’t it? Aunt Marge outdoes herself every year, while making sure all the favorites are still here.” She waved toward the kitchen where the doors had been propped up to allow easy coming and going. “Come on. The food and the best games are this way.”
“Games?”
“Yeah. Eating doughnuts off a string, apple bobbing, pin the eyes on the ghost, all kinds of things. Some of them are really for the little kids, but not everything. I think there are a couple of movie rooms set up too, one for kiddy movies and one for really scary ones.”
Lisa listened as Beth kept babbling on about all the features of the Halloween party. It was amazing and all a bit overwhelming. She’d stopped trick-or-treating when she was about twelve, and most of her Halloween memories consisted of handing out too much candy to the ten or fifteen kids who showed up, and eating most of the rest while watching Charlie Brown with her mom. She’d gone to a haunted house once, but had decided it was dumb, and that had been the end of that.
She felt Beth put a drink in her hands and glanced at the amber liquid with a raised eyebrow. “What is it?”
Beth snorted. “Just apple cider. Well, not just apple cider. Fresh pressed apple cider from the apple farm a few miles away. It’s like the champagne of apple cider without any booze. Because kids and booze are bad, but there will be options for the adults later. Not that I count as a drinking adult because dammit I’m not 21, but sometimes I still get a sip of something good.”
Lisa burst into laughter. “Beth, breathe! Are you sure you haven’t had anything to drink? You’re usually talkative, but this is extreme even for you.”
Beth took in a deep breath, her pretty eyes widening. “I know. I know. I’m just excited because this is a great party. And also because I did something, and I’m starting to wonder about the something, but it’s kinda too late to stop it.”
“What did you do?”
>
Before Beth could answer another voice spoke up. “Hello, Lisa.”
Lisa knew that voice. She knew that voice all too well even if the last time she’d heard it was in August. Charles. Beth had been so sad when Lisa and Charles had broken up. She’d really liked Charles. Apparently, she’d done something about it. Lisa was certain Beth meant well. She was certain Beth didn’t know how much Lisa didn’t need to see Charles. She was certain she could survive one night in his presence. And, she was very certain she was going to strangle her roommate.
Almost against her will she turned toward the voice. One thing Charles had never been was hard on the eyes, and a few months hadn’t changed that. He was several inches taller than she was, with a slender runner’s build. His blonde hair was just long enough to be casually unkempt, a look she knew took him at least fifteen minutes and a lot of gel to manage. High pronounced cheekbones set off eyes that watched everything around him with a sense of cool amusement.
It used to seem like he was just a little bit better than everyone and everything around him. Right now it felt like he just thought he was, and she was very aware of her ponytail and unicorn slippers. He wasn’t dressed in anything so gauche as a costume, going for a long grey designer sweater and slacks with iron straight creases, though he held a silver mask in one hand. A smile tugged at the left side of his mouth.
“How have you been?”
His question pinged around in her mind as she pulled herself together. She was good without Charles. She didn’t need Charles. But some part of her wanted him to know just how much she didn’t want or need him. She straightened and found a little smile, ignoring Beth’s thumbs up behind Charles’s head. “Fine. I’ve been fine.”
It was going to be a long night.
Jason toweled his hair dry, or at least as dry as it was going to get, and flicked it out of his face. He had intended to shave today, but his plans had been merrily trampled by the demands of his family. Aunt Marge needed someone to string lights and Uncle Dale noticed that there wasn’t nearly enough firewood split for the pit. He’d been trying to do it himself but his son, Robert, had put an end to that and pulled Jason in to help. None of it was bad stuff, or anything he wasn’t actually willing to do, but it all took time and had left him hurrying to clean up so he could join the party.
He ran his hand over his jaw and decided scruffy would have to do. It’d go with the werewolf ears Beth brought for him if he decided to wear them. He didn’t even know they made werewolf ears, but there they were. Idly he wondered what Lisa thought of scruffy. She seemed a clean shaven guy type to him, but he still didn’t know her well enough to really guess. He had the feeling she might surprise him.
He grabbed the werewolf ears as he headed downstairs. He loved Aunt Marge’s Halloween Party, even the corny parts of it like the costume parade and the lame party games. It felt like some little part of his childhood preserved. He didn’t think he’d always be able to come, and who knew how long the parties would go on anyway, but he was going to enjoy it while he could.
Jason took the stairs carefully, concerned about the combination of fog machine and wool socks, but he found someone had put down bat-shaped anti-skid stickers, which eased his worries and amused him. Tumbling down the stairs would be the kind of dramatic entrance he wasn’t interested in.
He caught sight of Beth’s witch’s hat over the crowd of relatives and headed that way. Beth usually staked out a place near some of the best treats, and it was likely Lisa would be around there too. Despite their differences, he found Lisa good company, and he didn’t think it was just because she was the only non-related female in ten miles.
The music changed and Jason whistled Monster Mash under his breath as he came up from behind Beth. “Hey.” The word got out of his mouth as his gaze found Lisa and…some guy. Jason ran through his mental rolodex of all the cousins and came up blank. This guy didn’t even look like a Miller. He kinda looked like a blond toothpick in a grey sweater.
Jason bent down, whispering in Beth’s ear – and getting a nose full of candy corn scented perfume. “Beth, who’s the guy?”
Beth startled, whipping around and nearly spilling her drink on him. “Oh, don’t DO that.” She straightened her hat. “That’s Charles. Lisa’s ex-boyfriend.”
“She brought her ex-boyfriend to the family party?” Jason couldn’t help the way his voice rose, though it still didn’t penetrate the din further than he and Beth. She shushed him and pushed him toward the counter.
“No, no! I invited him.”
“You what?”
“I invited him. Their breakup was so sad, and it happened on the phone, which seems like the wrong way to go about it. So I got to thinking that maybe it’s like one of those Hallmark movies and they really do still love each other. They just needed a chance to try again. I could be their…well, usually it’s a Christmas Angel, but their Love Witch?”
Jason watched as Lisa handed Charles a drink, stepping away from him to rearrange the table nearest her with brisk efficient movements. She didn’t seem like someone thrilled to see her ex, but she wasn’t getting away from him either. “Beth. You need to stop watching the Hallmark station.”
“Why?”
“Because one of these days you're really going to hurt someone, and it's going to bite you in the ass.”
“I’m helping!” Beth scowled and turned her back on him, stomping away into another room. It was her typical way of ending an argument. Unless she was yelling, slamming doors, and cussing. But not even she would dare spoil the family party like that.
Jason tossed the werewolf ears on the counter out of the way. Somebody else could use them for the photo booth later. He was no longer in the mood for silly, at least not right now.
He picked up one of the glasses of cider and half drained it. It was cold, flavorful, and refreshing, and it gave him something to occupy his hands. Then he moved to where he could watch the room without blocking the goodies, one of the cardinal sins in the Miller kitchen. He couldn't help but watch Lisa and Chaz. Beth had said he was an ex-boyfriend. Jason had a hard time seeing what Lisa saw in the man to make him a boyfriend in the first place.
Then again, that sweater probably cost more than Jason made in a year at his part time computer lab assistant job at the university. Maybe this was the kind of guy who knew exactly what he was going to do when he got out of college. Lisa said that was what she wanted. Then again watching them together, she didn't seem overly thrilled. Maybe it wasn't entirely what she wanted, after all.
Jason's musing was disturbed as a tiny pink princess, his youngest niece, ran into the kitchen chasing a bouncing ball decorated like a pumpkin. He tried to intercept her, but he was too slow, and she banged into the leg of one of the folding tables knocking it awry. Cups and trays of cookies clattered to the floor in a multi-colored mess. Jason scooped Alana up, making sure she was all right. She squirmed in his arms and blinked up at him with big blue eyes. “Ball!”
Assured there was no harm done, he brushed the cider off her pink princess gown, fetched the errant ball, and sent her on her way before turning to the mess. To his surprise, Lisa was already at work scooping shattered cookies back onto a tray and building a dam around the spilled liquid with a handful of napkins.
Chucky, for his part, stood back watching the cleaning but not participating.
Jason grabbed a pile of orange napkins, and dropped to his knees near Lisa. He began soaking up the mess, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye as they worked. “You don’t look like you’re enjoying the conversation. Do you want me to make this guy go away?” He kept his tone light, joking even though the offer was sincere. “We could serve him up to the headless horseman out back. No one would ever know.”
Lisa didn't laugh at the suggestion, but she did smile. She scooped a bunch of wet napkins and cookies on to another tray and found the garbage for them. “I think I've got this. But I'll keep your offer in mind if it becomes necessary. Thanks.”
By the time he returned he found Beth had pulled both Lisa and Chuckles into the doughnut on a string game, and he was left to deal with the rest of the kitchen mess on his own. As far as parties went, this one wasn’t scoring in his top twenty.
Fortunately, the rest of the evening went better, though he was always aware of the not quite flirting going on between Lisa and Charly. He didn’t know why it bothered him beyond poking at his competitive streak. It wasn’t like he and Lisa were dating or anything. They’d had a couple of good conversations, but maybe that was just because he was the one who was there at the moment, not because they had much in common.
As he dragged himself back to his room, his stomach full and his head slightly buzzed from the harder cider which had been broken out after the kids were asleep, he considered calling off the dinner. He laid back on his bed, watching the patterns of the logs that made up the ceiling above him and changed his mind again. It was just one dinner and he really liked the food and the music. It wasn’t like Lisa and Charlie had been making out in the corner or anything. Maybe she was just too nice to blow him off. Though she hadn’t been too nice to blow Jason off.
He rubbed his fingers across his eyes. He was thinking about this way too hard and there wasn’t any hurry. He’d make a decision tomorrow.
4
Lisa flopped on her bed, toeing her slippers off and pressing her hands to her eyes. Her head was pounding, and she was pretty sure that was the longest party she’d attended in her life. Her stomach was overfull and she couldn’t remember half of the names of the people she’d been introduced to, though Grandma Miller charging around on her electric scooter decorated with flames and purple flowers was a highlight Lisa wouldn’t soon forget.