Page 46 of Burden to Bear

When I closed the door, I did it with a smile on my face. Because I’d just had the best night in such a long time.

THIRTEEN

Brock

“I wanted to see how the rest of your weekend panned out.”

For as long as I could remember, I’d always been a handy guy. I enjoyed building things, fixing stuff, and working with my hands.

My job and my side gig had always brought me a level of satisfaction, because it was impossible not to feel a sense of accomplishment whenever I was working. But in all the years that I’d been working, I couldn’t recall a time when it felt like it did today.

I enjoyed my job more than normal, and it had nothing to do with the actual work I was doing.

It was Mia.

As the hours ticked by and I moved from one machine to the next, I found my mind frequently drifting to the weekend I’d had. Sure, there’d been a passing thought about my mom’s birthday dinner, but most of my thoughts were centered around the encounters I’d had with Mia—the eggs, the cookies, seeing her standing in her doorway wearing that nightie twice, having dinner together, the conversation, walking her home, hugging her, and the overwhelming desire I had to kiss her.

Thinking about her, about the time I’d already spent with her and when I’d be able to do it again, my day seemed to pass in a flash.

And now that I’d just left work and hopped into my truck, only to get a phone call from my brother, it seemed I wasn’t the only one who spent time today thinking about my weekend.

“It was good,” I said, fully aware he was not going to just let it go that easily.

“Good? What does that mean? Did you talk to Mia?” he questioned me.

Laughter spilled out of me as I pulled away from my parking spot and toward the exit of the lot to make my way home. “I did. I spoke with her on Sunday night.”

Following a beat of silence, Chris pressed, “And?”

“And we had a great time,” I confessed. “She loved the tacos I made, we had some great conversation, and if I’m honest, I can’t stop thinking about her.”

“That’s awesome, Brock. I’m glad for you.”

Smiling, well aware that was the reaction I’d get from him, I replied, “Yeah, thanks. She’s incredible, Chris. I know it’s only been a couple of months since I met her, and even less time that I’ve had long, meaningful conversations with her, but I’ve never felt this way about another woman. There’s just something about her that’s different for me.”

“Maybe she’s the one,” he suggested.

Before he said it, I hadn’t allowed my mind to wander that far in that direction. But now that the thought was in my head, I had no choice but to consider it. If all that I’d gotten from Mia in the interactions we’d had so far was what I could expect from her moving forward, I didn’t think it’d be possible to ever feel upset around her. I certainly didn’t believe things would ever get boring—we seemed to have no problem finding something to talk about whenever we were together. And from where I was standing, there wasn’t anything I didn’t like about the way she looked.

Despite that, I said, “I think you’re getting ahead of yourself. We’ve only had dinner together one time.”

“Maybe, but you did also have peanut butter sandwiches with her before, too,” Chris teased.

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, yeah. That was all your daughter’s doing, not mine.”

Chris laughed. “My daughter is a smart cookie. But I think it’s a shame you needed your niece to break the ice for you. What about her?”

“Izzy?”

“No. Mia.”

“What about her?”

He hesitated briefly before he clarified, “Well, I’m just wondering where she stands. I mean, I’ve had several instances of seeing you react to any discussion about her, and now I have your admission that you can’t stop thinking about her. Do you have any idea where her thoughts are when it comes to you?”

That was the million-dollar question.

It would have been nice to be able to confidently declare the feelings were reciprocated, but I’d have been lying. The truth was, I didn’t exactly know if she had any feelings toward me that went beyond being neighborly. She was friendly and fun and didn’t back away whenever I offered a simple touch or even that hug, but she hadn’t done anything that outright proved she had that same desire to touch me.

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