Page 20 of Burden to Bear

While the cold temperatures had been around for a while, we’d had a relatively uneventful winter in terms of snow.

Until last night.

We were in the last third of January, and we’d finally had our first big snowstorm of the winter season.

It snowed all night and through the early morning—coming down at a rate of one to two inches per hour during a four-hour stretch at one point—until it eventually tapered off around nine o’clock this morning. If I had to guess, we’d gotten a good eight or nine inches by the time it was over, so even though it was a Thursday, my job wound up closing.

I took advantage of it and allowed myself to have a slower morning this morning. I stayed in bed a little longer before heading downstairs to grab some breakfast. It would have been nice to have the whole day with nothing pressing to do, but that wasn’t an option.

Once I’d noticed the snow easing up, I’d decided it was time to get myself ready to head out and start clearing the walkway in front of my house, the driveway, and the sidewalk.

By the time I’d gotten myself dressed in my gear and went to put my boots on, I glanced outside again and was shocked to see Mia was already out and working on clearing the snow at her place.

I smiled at the mere sight of her and the prospect of being able to talk with her while it wasn’t getting dark out right before dinner, when we’d both had long days at work.

As quickly as I could, I got my boots on and walked out through the garage, opened the door, and grabbed my shovel. I had a snowblower, and I’d likely pull it out at some point, but since I hadn’t gotten a workout in this morning like usual, I figured the shoveling would be a great way to get some exercise.

I began shoveling out a pathway and worked hard at it for a solid twenty or thirty minutes, when I glanced up and saw Mia looking in my direction. I smiled and waved at her. “Hey, Mia.”

She waved back, but there was no smile on her face. “Hi, Brock.”

I was going to return to shoveling, but I noticed she had started to trudge through the snow in my direction. Deciding to meet her halfway, I made my way through the snow toward her.

Once we were close enough to be able to speak without the rest of the neighborhood hearing us, Mia declared, “I figured it out.”

Confused, my brows drew together. “You figured it out?”

Nodding and out of breath, she clarified, “The downside to homeownership.”

Immediately, it clicked. “Shoveling snow.”

“Yep. I was in an apartment complex before, and the snow removal was always taken care of, so I never gave it a second thought,” she shared. “Ever since I moved in here, I’ve been nothing but happy about the house. I love living here, and I enjoy every other aspect of owning my own place. But I totally didn’t think about this part.”

I sent a look of understanding in her direction. “I get it. When I moved into my place, it was July, so I didn’t think much about the snow at first. Then again, my mind was focused on something else when it came to home maintenance.”

Surprise and curiosity washed over her expression. “Oh, no. Did you have something that needed to be repaired after you moved in?”

Shaking my head, I answered, “No. I don’t want to alarm you, but once spring hits, the grass cutting begins.”

“That’s going to continue through the summer when it’s sweltering hot outside, isn’t it?” she questioned me.

“I’m afraid the grass grows in the summer, too,” I returned.

Her shoulders fell as she dropped her head back and closed her eyes. “Maybe I’m not going to like this as much as I thought.”

Laughter spilled out of me. “It’s not so bad. The snow can be a bit cumbersome, but the grass cutting isn’t horrible.”

Mia shook her head. “I don’t think I’m cut out for either of them.”

Surely, Mia had to have considered that she’d need to do regular maintenance around her property. It was an obvious part of homeownership. Or, well, it should have been. Maybe she had believed her boyfriend would help her with tasks like snow removal and grass cutting—it’s what I would have done for her if she was mine—but considering how selfish I knew her boyfriend to be, it didn’t surprise me that he clearly hadn’t told her he’d come by to help her today. He was probably still pissed that Mia bought the house without him and decided this would be the perfect way to show her how he felt about it. He likely thought he’d be teaching her a lesson.

It blew my mind.

I couldn’t imagine having a woman like Mia in my life and not bending over backward to do everything I could to show her how much I cared for her.

Hell, she was merely my neighbor, and she always made me feel happier whenever I had the opportunity to talk to her. It was only when I had those lingering bouts of jealousy or bitterness about her being with a bad guy that I ever had a negative thought. And those thoughts were never directed at her.

Unwilling to put myself in a bad mood by even mentioning her boyfriend and asking her if he planned to come and help her, I reasoned, “Well, there are people you can hire if you decide you don’t want to do it.”

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