Suddenly in Love (Lake Haven#1) (28 page)

Twenty-eight

Mia was thinking of getting a television. She’d made enough money now that she could afford things like that, and she really wanted to see
Project Runway
.

“Are you kidding?” Wallace demanded one day when she mentioned it. “You would put money toward a television before a car? Do you think I
like
driving you hither and yon?” he asked, waving his hand about.

“Yes. I do.” She smiled.

Wallace had groaned and stalked to the back room of the shop. But she noticed he hadn’t denied it.

“I’m getting a TV, Wallace!” she shouted after him.

Another reason she wanted TV was because she wanted a little company. She loved her apartment, she loved the serenity of the lake. But sometimes she hated the silence and the emptiness. The silence filled her brain with thoughts and what-ifs, and the emptiness seemed to sink deeper, turning into a bottomless pit. The truth was no matter how busy she made herself, she couldn’t stop thinking about what had been.

She was looking at different TV brands on her laptop, wondering when they’d all become so much smarter than her, when she heard music. Mia paused, cocked her head to one side, listening. She didn’t hear it again, and turned her attention back to the computer. “Dalton and his get-togethers,” she muttered. Since summer had officially arrived, people came and went all week to the main house, and on weekends, she typically saw a slew of young, handsome, and incredibly fit men wandering about in tiny Speedos.

Samsung, RCA, Sony, Toshiba.
The list was long and confusing—

There it was again. Music was drifting up through her open French doors. A guitar by the sound of it. Mia’s heart leapt; her hand was shaking when she shut her laptop and looked warily at the open French doors, listening.
She knew that song.
She’d heard it played once before, and she would recognize that song anywhere. Now her heart was pounding so hard she could hardly stand up.

He couldn’t be here. But that would be just like him to show up, uninvited, unannounced. Still, it couldn’t be him—she would have heard about his arrival in town. She moved cautiously toward the open door, her heart racing so hard now she feared there was a strong possibility of heart failure before she found the nerve to look outside.

At the open door, Mia could hear the music so plainly. She slid one foot out on the balcony and leaned forward. She still couldn’t see. So she stepped out with the other foot, to the railing, and looked down.
“Ohmigod,”
she whispered.

On the lawn below her, Brennan stood with a guitar in hand, playing “Come Closer.”
Behind him, near Dalton’s pool, several young men were congregating near the diving board so that they could see who was playing. Brennan didn’t notice them—he was looking at Mia as he reached the chorus. He sang through it once, then paused and lowered his guitar. “Hey,” he said.

“What are you doing?” she asked frantically. She was shaking as she gripped the railing.

“I was hoping it would be obvious,” he said. “Serenading you. It doesn’t work like it does in the movies, by the way. It took you forever. I was starting to get hives.”

“
Why
are you serenading me?”

“Why?”
He muttered something under his breath and pushed his hand over his hair. “See, here again, I thought it would be obvious. But okay, it’s not. I am serenading you because I love you.”

“Brennan—”

“And I screwed that up the first time I told you. I was an idiot, Mia.”

“What?”

“Great—should I not have said that?” he asked, peering up at her. “It’s true. I made it sound like it would be so hard, and that’s not . . . I didn’t mean that. I meant . . .” He paused, ran a hand over his head. Someone behind him said, “Is that Everett
Alden
?”

Yes. Yes, it was Everett Alden telling Mia that he loved her. He
still
loved her.

Brennan glanced back at the group of buff young men gathered at the deep end of the pool now. He looked back to Mia, his expression pleading. “I really wasn’t expecting an audience. Can I come up?”

She hesitated, biting her lip. What did it mean if she let him in? Was she opening the door to something more? Was she giving in to her feelings for him, no matter how hard the fall would be if it didn’t work out?

“Please, Mia. Let me say it one more time and if you want me to go, I’ll go. I’ll never bother you again. Deal?”

She couldn’t
think
! She wanted to slide down onto her bottom and process this. But she didn’t do that. She said, “Okay.” And somehow, she managed to turn around and dip back into her apartment like she was accustomed to famous rock stars showing up to serenade her.

Mia glanced around and whimpered. The place was a mess, and she was wearing a jumper made from aprons. Her hair was tied back, she wore no makeup—

She let out a little cry of alarm when he knocked on the door. She hurried the few steps to the door and flung it open so hard that it hit the wall and rattled the windows. Below her, a cheer went up. But Mia didn’t move—she stared at Brennan, taking in every single thing about him. Nope, she hadn’t forgotten a thing. But other than that single thought, she had no words—her mind was a complete blank. All of her reasoning about why she had broken up with Brennan Yates began to break apart, floating away like leaves from a pile.

“Could I please come all the way in?” he pleaded.

“I don’t . . . I’m not—”

“Mia, just let me say something. And then you can kick me out if you want. Okay?”

Okay, okay, say anything.

“I messed up,” he said. “I really, seriously, messed up. More than once. I don’t have any excuse for it other than to say I wasn’t expecting you, and then when you were there, and you were in here,” he said, tapping his chest, “I should have told you the truth from the beginning.”

True, but that wound had healed.

“And then I wanted you to come with me. But I haven’t had to ask, you know? I’m rusty. Hell, I’m more than rusty, I’m awful. I said it all wrong. I told you that it would be hard and lonely instead of telling you how amazing it would be.”

Oh God, yes, it would be so amazing if she could trust her own feelings about it. “Stop,” she said. She didn’t want to hear more, she was afraid of what more would do to her resolve.

“No, I want you to—”

She put her hand to his mouth in a desperate attempt to guard her heart. “
Stop.
You’re forgetting the most important thing. We come from two different worlds. And I don’t want your world, Brennan. I would be miserable alone or with you.”

He looked stunned. “You don’t even know,” he said. “You have no idea what it would be like. You’re making an assumption it won’t work, Mia, and maybe you’re saying that because of what I said to you that day, but you’re making the
wrong
assumption.”

“I don’t think—”

He suddenly sank down onto his knees and cast his arms wide. “What I am trying to say, and very badly for a man who makes his living with love songs, is that I can’t stop thinking about you. I can’t keep you out of my mind for even a day. I don’t want to be without you, Mia Lassiter. I don’t want to be without you so bad that I am here on my knees, begging you to reconsider.”

The pile of leaves that were her excuses was almost gone. “Brennan—”

“I know, I know—you don’t want my life, I get that, but there has to be a way, because I
love
you, Mia. I
love
you,” he said, reaching for her. “And I can’t stop loving you. Believe me, I have tried. But you won’t go away.”

Mia stared at him. She was waiting for him to say
but.
She was waiting for a bolt of lightning to hit her, because that would be her luck if a man like Brennan made this declaration to her.

He dropped his arms and stood up. “Okay, well, here is the part where you say, thanks for stopping by, and I slink off to my mom’s—”

No
. It was time to let go of old hurts and focus on the promise he was making her. How could she ever live with herself if she let a man like him walk out of her life for good? How could she create beautiful things if she didn’t allow herself to experience the love he was offering her? She could no more let him go out that door than she could stop sewing.

Mia couldn’t say all those things—they were a mishmash of desperate emotions—but she definitely couldn’t let him go. She launched herself at him, her arms around his neck, her lips on his face. She hit him so hard that they fell back against the door before Brennan managed to stop their fall by grabbing her waist. Mia kissed him. She covered him with kisses and grabbed fistfuls of his shirt, clinging to him, her grip as strong as steel.

“I’m going to take that as a ‘you’ll think about it,
’
” he said breathlessly.

“I love you, too,” Mia said as he started walking her backward to her bed. “I was afraid to say it—”

“Me too. God, me too,” he said, nipping at her lips.

“I think this is crazy,” she said, kissing him as she spoke. “I don’t think it can work. You’re a summer person, and I’m a year-rounder, and that never works. Especially with
you.
And I’m not moving to LA and I’m not going to any more tent parties—”

“Remind me not to come to you for preshow pep talks,” he said, and kissed her lips. “Are you going to let me stay? Tell me now before I lose my mind, Mia. Don’t let me kiss you if you won’t let me stay—”

“I want you to stay,” she said. “God, Brennan—I care that you’re here, and you said you loved me, and I love you, and you’re
here
.”

He groaned, pressed his forehead to hers. “I’ve missed you so damn much.”

“I’ve missed you, too. Brennan, listen,” she said, and grabbed his face between her hands. “I can’t do something like this halfway. I can’t go into something thinking it’s going to end.”

“Do you think I can?” he asked. “I have spent my entire life avoiding this very thing because of my fear of what would happen if I allowed myself to love someone.
Really
love someone. But I found out I don’t get to decide that—my heart wants you, and it’s a risk I’ll gladly take. Even if it kills me.”

This was surreal. Mia’s heart slammed against her chest and left her almost breathless. She couldn’t believe that this man, this beautiful, soulful, talented man, was saying these things to her. It was almost too good to be true. She held his face between her hands, studying it, feeling the image of him imprint on her. “I love you,” she said again. This was the first time she’d said the words aloud to anyone who wasn’t family. “I love you, Brennan Yates. So much. So very much.”

The relief in his expression and the happiness that sparked in his eyes shook her to her core. No one had ever looked at her like that. He
did
love her. She could see it and she could feel it and all she wanted to do was make sure he felt the same thing from her.

“Those boy toys aren’t having drinks here, are they?” he asked as he pulled his shirt over his head. “Because I’m not through telling you things.” He tossed her down on the bed, then jumped on top of her, straddling her, grinning down at her. “Like how much I enjoy the way you kiss,” he said, and kissed her. His hand slid down her body, to her leg. “And I like the way you feel,” he said, and slipped his hand in between her legs. “And I really love the way you f—”

“You’re talking too much,” she said, and silenced him with a kiss.

Some day, she thought, as Brennan’s hands moved on her body, and her clothes flew across the room, she would paint this moment in vivid colors and with lots of light, the shadowy shapes of two lovers on a bed. But first, she was going to float around on a little cloud of happiness and let the man she loved ravage her.

And tomorrow, she was going to make them matching pajamas.

Epilogue

One year later

Tuesday’s End went on tour the following summer, debuting an album that had been proclaimed “The Album of the Decade” by Rolling Stone. It was a new departure, reviews said. A welcome change, others said. The film accompanying the music would be released in the fall, just in time for Oscar season. There was speculation in the music world that Everett Alden would be nominated for his work on the album in the category of Best Original Song for “Come Closer.”

The Ross house renovations were finally completed, but not before a fallout between Wallace and Nancy Yates. Wallace had different ideas for how to improve that awful interior, which, after a lot of shouting and threatening to hire Diva Interiors, Nancy came around to seeing.

Wallace had taken over for Mia when she decided to rent a little storefront in Black Springs and make clothes for summer people. She and Emily had discovered that summer people were willing to pay a whole lot more for her dresses than the year-rounders in East Beach.

Mia loved what she did. She loved dressing women in colors and shapes that made them happy, and she wondered why she’d never thought of this before. The painting door had closed for her, other than for her own edification, and the world of fashion had opened up to her.

Brennan was there for the opening, as proud as he could be of his fiancée. He even wore a pair of pants she’d made him . . . although he confided to Chance that he couldn’t wait to get them off, as they were a little too far out there, even for him. “Give them to me, man,” Chance said. “They’re
sick
.”

The shop was sparsely decorated, but there was an eclectic collection of art on the wall: The Eckland lanterns painting hung in a place of prominence. The red door from the art festival was near the cash register. And a chunk of brick mortared together, painted blue, with shadowy houses and a dog and pine trees was fastened to the wall near the dress racks.

Brennan had kept it all this time.

There was one more piece of art on the wall in Mia’s apartment—she still rented it from Dalton because she loved it—and that was the drawing of Brennan in bed she’d made at the resort in Stratford Corners. That was for her and her alone, and in those long stretches of time when she didn’t see him, it was the drawing she turned to for comfort.

At the grand opening, all of Mia’s family came to toast her. “Does this mean you’re giving up painting?” Derek asked. “Because this looks like it could actually pay something.”

“Derek, that is none of your business,” Mia’s mother said.

“But aren’t you going with Brennan?” Emily asked as Elijah tried to reach the clothes hanging on the rack and Ethan pushed a truck around the floor.

“Eventually,” Mia said, and smiled up at her rock star. He put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. “We’re still working things out. But we’re cool for now.”

They
were
cool. They had not yet made any immediate plans for a wedding because they were still too happy to explore what they had. It would come when the time was right, but for now, what they had was perfect—Mia was happier than she’d ever been in her life. Brennan said she was the thing that completed his life, the thing that had been missing all along. He truly seemed to mean that—even when he was away, not a day went by that he didn’t call her. He sang love songs to her, told her how much he needed her. He asked for her opinion and he asked about her design work, how she came up with ideas, how she constructed things.

The truth was that Mia needed him more than she would ever have believed was possible. Brennan had become her rock, always there for her, even when he was on the other side of the world.

After the opening, she and Brennan returned to her little apartment. They made monster salads and drank wine and talked about the recent earthquake in China. Brennan wanted to gather his friends and do a charity event to aid the victims.

“I really admire that about you,” Mia said. “Always willing to help others.”

“Oh yeah?” he asked. “Are you still going to say that when it keeps me from East Beach for a couple of months?” He kissed her bare shoulder.

“You know what? There is something I want to show you.”

“Not now,” he begged.

“Yes, now.” She grabbed his hand and tugged him along with her. She led him down to the beach, then headed for the north end. Sunlight was waning and the shadows on the beach looked foreboding.

“Where the hell are we going?” he asked.

Mia didn’t answer, she just pulled him along, made him follow her up the path from the parking lot of the boat slip toward Lookout Point. But halfway there, she stopped. She dropped his hand, then crawled out over a rock and lay down on her belly.

“No way,” Brennan said. He crawled out and lay down beside her. In the warm, pink light of the end of the day, they gazed down at a nest of eggs. Mia reached for Brennan’s hand and squeezed it. “You know what’s cool about those owls? They mate for life. And they always come back to the same place.”

Brennan turned his head to look at her. “I mate for life, too,” he said somberly. “And I will always come back. No matter how far I fly, I will always come back here. To you. Because you know what, Mia? What we have is really all there is in this life. The rest of the world can go to hell as long as I have you.”

He made it sound so simple, as if there was nothing more than loving someone to cause two people to alter their very different lives and make them intersect. Regularly. Always. But she believed him, truly and deeply. “That’s what I love about you, you know that?” she said.

He smiled. “I know. I’m a catch.”

Mia giggled and pushed herself up to her feet. “So you keep saying.”

“When I forget it, I only have to look at this,” he said, and standing up, reached for his wallet. He withdrew a folded piece of paper and opened it, showing it to Mia.

She burst into laughter. It was the drawing she’d sketched of Brennan as a knuckle-dragging ape.

“It’s not
that
funny,” he said, but he was laughing when he swept her up in his arms and kissed her with the energy of a thousand lights held up in a darkened arena.