Page 1 of Falling for Mindy

CHAPTER 1

MINDY

The pulsing music and the green flashing lights were definitely a change of pace. Usually by this time I was in my pajamas watching Virgin River, reading a book, or commenting online in my local community action group. Instead, I was at a noisy club with my little sister Katie who was showing a typical twenty-one-year-old’s excitement for colorful cocktails and sweaty guys. I was ready to have some fun before the semester began, but I still felt so much older than her; more than the two years between us.

“You’re so serious!” she laughed, handing me a drink. It was neon green, smelled like melons and one sip told me it was strong.

“I was born serious,” I said with a shrug. “Somebody has to be responsible and keep you alive.”

“I’ve never been in serious danger. You’re just a worrier. Cut loose, one time before classes start. I know you have a big semester coming up.”

“Yeah, but I’m super pumped about the internship I got.”

“Please do not say super pumped and internship in the same sentence,” she shook her head at me, smiling. “You’re embarrassing yourself, you big nerd.”

“I’m not embarrassed by anything except this Crayola jungle green drink you got me. Did they not have anything normal?”

“Like what? Some stuffy merlot?”

“Michelob Lite,” I said with an eye roll. “I like wine, but I’m not going to order it in a club.”

“Min, I thought you might be a little rusty at going out since you seem to think going to a study group is a social life,” she teased.

“Katie,” I said fondly, “we don’t all get ready for midterms doing body shots at a frat.”

“Hey, we have different learning styles,” she laughed.

I slung an arm over her shoulders and sipped my drink. “Did I mention I don’t know what I’d do without you?”

“You’d have some horrible roommate who burned flowery candles all the time and cried over This Is Us.”

“Wait, you mean I’d be rooming with Mom?” I laughed.

“Exactly,” she said. “Someone like Mom. Because you’d advertise for a quiet roommate who wouldn’t bother you when you study all the time.”

“Maybe it would be an old lady with cats. I like cats.”

“No. You’re not getting a cat. You would turn into a recluse. You’d talk to your cat all the time and call it your baby.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing. Mr. Furrington would be a very well-read and compassionate listener.”

“Mr. Furrington? Your imaginary cat even sounds boring. Look, we’ve got to have some fun before the clock strikes midnight, the semester starts and you turn into Sister Mindy, Mother Superior of the workaholic college students.”

“It’s a great internship. I’ve been working toward it for the last year, and I had to meet the GPA requirements, take a background check, write an essay—”

“Babe. I love you. You’re my big sister and my best friend for life. But you gotta loosen up a little! I read your essay, remember? It was fantastic. Let’s not talk about it while we’re at a club ok? Let’s dance!”

“I’m not a nun. I don’t live like a nun. I date.”

“Focus. Let’s go have some fun. You can defend your convent lifestyle on the way home,” she laughed.

I laughed with her. We finished our drinks and hit the dance floor. Katie was singing along with every song.

Within minutes I realized that Katie was right. This was exactly what I needed. In time with the pulsing beat, the lights skated across our bodies, making Katie’s smiling face glow with lime and chartreuse. I liked the sense of being in my body and being part of a teeming crowd at the same time, all of us trying to sneak in moves we learned on TikTok and sliding between the shadows and the citrusy light.

The energy was wild, and it got me out of my head. Katie spun me around and made me laugh. After a few songs, I’d lost track of all my mental lists and my concerns over balancing a full course load and an internship. The rhythm felt galvanic, sparking through me like it took control of my body and my limbs moved as if I were part of it. I pushed my hair back and turned, my eyes on the confetti that was drifting from the ceiling.

We barely brushed against each other, but I felt it before I even saw him. As if my body was somehow calibrated to react to his, some biological programming that went beyond just attraction.

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