Page 35 of Recklessly in Love

Once she drops us off, Mia keeps me from heading into the wellness center.

“Have you told Greg yet?” she asks.

I shake my head. “He’s at the community center today, so I came straight to you. Besides, I figured once we tracked down one of the council members, I’d have more to share anyway, so I wanted to wait until I had more to tell.”

Mia nods distractedly, and I can tell her mind is racing through what this means for her and Nate.

“Hey,” I say softly. “Is this okay? I’m mostly doing it for you. But if this causes too many waves, I don’t have to go all Hurricane Joanie on Alpine Ridge.”

Mia huffs a laugh. “It’s more than okay. If I had the time and energy, I’d be going after this too. Which has been tearing me up because I knew if it didn’t happen, all the time and energy I’m using on the bakery instead would be a waste.”

“Honestly, you’re right, it would be. While I haven’t seen your financials, even my generous calculations for the businesses here weren’t pretty,” I admit. “I don’t want to see you put your heart into this only to have it die, babe. The world deserves your pastries, after all.” I wink at her playfully, trying to lighten the heaviness of the conversation.

“Is that all this is?” she asks.

My brows dip together. “What do you mean?”

“I mean … are you maybe doing this because you can see yourself spending more time here with a certain mountain man?” she clarifies with a mischievous smile.

I press my lips together. “Okay, maybe a little?” I admit cautiously. Mia gets a look on her face, and I hold up a hand. “Let’s not make it a thing, okay?”

“I mean, I’m not, I just …” she trails off, chewing her lip nervously.

I sigh heavily and cross my arms. “Okay, fine. Get whatever it is you need to say off your chest,” I say, gesturing for her to continue.

She rolls her eyes. “You know you’d give me the talk, too,” she points out. I nod resignedly and gesture again for her to continue. “Just ... don’t move too fast with Greg, okay? Keep your options open. Maybe even start looking for jobs back in Seattle?”

I narrow my eyes at her. “Are you trying to get rid of me?”

“No, of course not,” she rushes to assure me. “I just can’t see you being happy staying in a small town long-term. And it won’t hurt to keep your options open,” she reiterates.

I take a deep breath and try to focus on where I know this is coming from. “I hear you. I know you’re trying to look out for me. And that’s good advice.”

“But?”

I let out a breath and laugh. “God, you know me a little too well, Mia.” I shake my head. “But I don’t know any other way than all in,” I say with a shrug.

Mia steps forward and wraps her arms around me. “I know. It’s one of the things I love most about you.”

I hear her unspoken concern that it’s also the thing that might get me burned.

I want to dismiss it from my thoughts as easily as I did in our conversation, but her words niggle at the back of my mind as we say our goodbyes and I head back to Greg’s.

Will I be happy here? I’d been so caught up in my budding relationship with Greg and the thrill of taking on the town council that I hadn’t thought too hard about the future.

Maybe she’s right. Maybe I’m not cut out for small-town life. Maybe I’m not cut out for a relationship and the thrill of being with Greg will wear off. Hell, maybe Greg will get sick of me.

That thought makes me laugh. Because based on my history, I’m far more likely to get sick of him first. And he seems like a relationship kind of guy.

When he returns from the community center, I’m still stewing on it an hour later, curled up on his couch that faces the expanse of forest behind the house.

“There’s my girl,” he says with a smirk, settling beside me.

“Hey,” I reply. And then I look closer at his face. “What’s with the smirk?”

“A little birdie told me you and the girls visited the tavern this afternoon.”

I huff a laugh. “Jesus H. Fucking Christ, news travels fast in this town,” I grumble. And then, to cover my ass, “I was going to tell you.”

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