Page 54 of Once Upon a Christmas Beauty

“No, you didn’t.” He grinned. “In typical Mia-style, you kept pushing for answers, wanting to know that I was truly okay. And I wanted to tell you how I felt, and why I was trying to keep my distance, but I couldn’t, not without jeopardizing what you and Greg had. The harder you pushed, the angrier I got. Because you pushing meant you cared, more than anyone else ever had, andI couldn’t have you.”

“But you didn’t know that,” she whispered.

Alex met her gaze. Mia swallowed hard.

“Maybe I’d had some feelings for you, too. It started the day we met, but they were so unexpected that I didn’t know what to do with them. I kept tucking them away, telling myself it was just the excitement of my first year at college. I refused to even let my brain go there, because I was so determined to stay committed to Greg.” She snorted softly. “And gee, look where that got me.”

“It got you a beautiful daughter, who was able to grow up in your magical hometown, where you’re both surrounded by your family and friends.” He entwined their fingers, then pressed a soft kiss to her knuckles. “You were right where you needed to be. I think, deep down, that was a big part of me choosing not to pursue you back then. I knew the career ahead of me was going to include a lot of traveling. You would have been left behind, stuck in Indy away from the people you loved. It wouldn’t have worked out.”

Mia laid her head on his shoulder. It seemed the young, dumb jerk hadn’t been either of those things after all. His confession brought some closure to the secret crush she’d had on him all those years ago. Because he was right—it wouldn’t have worked.

“You left school, and eventually the pain subsided,” Alex continued. “I met Caroline in grad school, and she started to bring joy back into my life. But we were too much alike, too driven by work to know how to make a marriage work. Our split was amicable, and for a time, I was content to accept that maybe I was just meant to be on my own. Until a few months ago, when I saw you on TV.”

“That’s all it took?”

“Yep. It’s like those cartoons where a character opens a closet door, not knowing that closet was stuffed to the max by another character, and suddenly they’re buried in all this stuff that tumbles out.” He laughed. “That was me, sitting in my recliner, buried under all these memories and emotions I’d tucked away long ago. Only, once they’d reappeared, they refused to let me tuck them away again. So, I gambled a little and made a detour to Bourbon Falls.”

Oh, he’d gambled, all right. If it hadn’t been closing time and her daughter in the next room, Mia might have given him the what for after showing up at their store. And she may not have stopped yelling, even if there were people outside on the sidewalk watching.

Funny how a few innocent overnight stays could cool tempers and allow space for healing and romance.

Mia grinned. Romance, something she’d never expected to have in her life again. Maybe Delaney’s mantra had been right all along: Life wasn’t made for worrying—it was made for living. It was time to stop clinging to the safety of solitude and trust fate to do its thing. Hopefully, this time around, things would turn out a whole lot brighter for them both.

She pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Well, I for one am glad you did. But, Alex, next time you’re struggling with something, talk to me, okay? Whether it works out or not, we each deserve to have that conversation.”

“Agreed.” He gave her shoulder a squeeze. “And no more shouting matches, either.”

Mia laughed. “Okay, now that one might be a harder promise to keep.”

“As much as I’m loving sitting here, my bladder is about to burst. Let me ease by you for a moment.”

“Sorry,” she said, shifting to let him up. “I guess I have been pumping you full of coffee for a while.”

“It’s a lazy day.” He shrugged and pecked a kiss to her cheek. “I’ll be right back.”

“Okay.”

Mia cradled the mug in her hands and shifted her gaze to the swirling snow outside. It looked cold out there today. Blustery. She counted her blessings for the roof over her head and warm space inside.

A buzz distracted her, and she glanced down to see Alex’s cell phone on the cushion beside her. It must have slipped out of his pocket while they were sitting there. She grabbed it for him, and its screen flashed the preview of a text alert from someone named Jennifer.

Wednesday at six. Do not be late.

Mia felt her smile slip. Who was Jennifer?

“Okay, much better,” said Alex from the hall.

Mia bobbled his phone, the guilt of being caught unintentionally snooping making her clumsy.

“Oh, that’s where my phone was. Wondered where I’d set it down.” Alex took it from Mia and kissed her cheek, then resumed his place beside her. “So, what’d I miss?”

“Uh, nothing. I heard your phone buzz and found it on the cushion here.”

She was trying to cover the reason she’d been holding it when he came back into the room. Mia wasn’t a snooper, not by nature. Though, she’d sure feel a whole lot better if he freely explained who Jennifer was.

“Oh?” He clicked to check its screen, then set it back down. “Eh, nothing I can’t take care of later. Right now, I’m going to focus on enjoying my snow day with you.”

Mia studied him for a brief moment and detected zero guilt in his eyes. Probably, this Jennifer was just someone he worked with. She hoped so, anyway.

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