One

ONE

Mia

Pride.

I'd always viewed that word as something negative. Like when someone was too proud to admit they'd done wrong. Practicing some humility always seemed like the better route to take.

Now, I knew differently. I understood just how wrong I'd been.

Of course, remaining humble was a good thing. I wholeheartedly believed that to be the truth.

But pride wasn't necessarily the awful thing I'd initially believed it was.

Because in this moment, an overwhelming sense of accomplishment had moved through me, my chest expanding with it, and I didn't think I could contain it.

Wearing a proud smile, I glanced around the space, taking in the emptiness and thinking of all the ways I intended to make this house truly feel like a home.

I'd done it.

I was officially a homeowner.

While there had been moments in my life when I'd felt proud of myself—graduating, landing my first real job in my chosen career field—nothing before now had felt like this.

My first home. I still couldn't seem to wrap my head around my new reality.

The hard work had paid off. I'd graduated from college eight years ago when I was twenty-two and immediately enrolled in a master's program for speech language pathology. From the moment I left home and began my undergraduate degree, I'd also been working.

Initially, I'd been working part time, since I was living on campus, but once I graduated and decided to get my master's degree, I needed to increase my workload to full-time hours, so I could pay for rent.

It took me two years to get my advanced degree, and another year to gain the remaining work experience and testing required by the state for my licensing. And before I knew it, I was officially licensed and working at my dream job.

For the last three years, I'd been working my tail off—doing it while renting—and saving up as much money as I could.

The hard work mixed with the sacrifices I'd made had brought me to this point, where I could feel a sense of pride over having just moved in to my very first home. And it felt amazing to be here. There wasn't a chance anything was going to top this feeling.

"Are you going to start crying?"

My grin grew as I spun around in the middle of the room until my eyes landed on my big brother, Albert. "I promise they'll only be tears of joy."

His features softened as he entered the room fully and moved in my direction. Much like I had just done, he glanced around the mostly empty space, taking it in. "You know, there's the part of me that's so proud of you for this. Honestly, Mia, I can't tell you how happy I am for you. But I'd be lying if I said there isn't some small part of me that kind of hates this."

Standing right by his side, I slid my arm around the middle of his back and leaned my weight into him. "I know. But you should be used to it by now. I've been gone a while."

He let out a laugh. "Yeah, but there was always the possibility of you coming back. That you've now bought a house here squashes the chance of that happening."

Albert wasn't exaggerating.

I'd left my hometown in northern Connecticut eight years ago to attend college here in Charter Oak. Other than returning home during semester breaks or summer during the four years of undergraduate, Charter Oak had become my new home. I was still in Connecticut, but I now lived two hours south of where my parents and my brother lived. Close yet far.

"All of you can always come to visit me here. We're not that far away from each other," I reasoned.

"You know we will. Mom and Dad were telling me two days ago that you already asked them to come and spend Christmas here this year."

I bit my lip and feigned innocence. "You don't mind coming here this year, do you? I just thought it would be fun to celebrate my first Christmas here. Plus, it's a matter of weeks away, so we'll see each other again very soon."

Albert's arm had wrapped around my back, and his hand had landed on my opposite shoulder. He gave me a squeeze and insisted, "Not at all. Like I said, I hate that you're far away, but I'm really proud of you."

He was.

I knew he was.

They all were.

I allowed that feeling to settle within me before I said, "Thank you for helping me move in today. I couldn't have done this without you."

"You are pretty lucky you have me, aren't you?" he teased.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head in mock disappointment. "You should get on the road, so you can get back at a reasonable time. It's getting dark out."

Albert released his hold on me, took a step back, and turned his concerned gaze on me. "Are you going to be okay to finish things up here on your own today?"

I shook my head. "No. But that's mostly because I'm not planning to do a whole lot more than what we did together this afternoon. Honestly, I'm more tired than I thought I'd be after this."

My brother gave me a nod of understanding. "It's been a long day."

"Exactly. But it's been very rewarding, and Todd will be coming over tomorrow, so he'll help me with the rest of the unpacking," I explained. "He felt so bad about having to work today and not being able to help me, so he promised he'd help with anything he could tomorrow."

Todd was my boyfriend. We'd been seeing each other for about a year and a half now. He worked as a barber, and Saturdays were his busiest days, so he couldn't help me move today. I could have waited until Sunday to move, but I wanted to take advantage of the entire weekend, so I was fortunate enough to have my brother willing to help with moving the few big items I had along with two movers, who'd already left.

"That's good. So, you're just going to try to settle in for your first night here, then?"

I jerked my chin down. "Yeah, I think so. First, I'm planning to muster up the strength to cook some dinner, but I might resort to getting something delivered just for tonight. Maybe I'll introduce myself to my neighbors while I'm waiting for it to arrive."

Albert laughed. "That sounds like a plan, but please be careful."

"I will be. Drive safe."

With that, my brother and I said goodbye to one another, and he took off to head back home.

For the next few minutes, I simply walked through my new home and took it all in. Though it wasn't exactly overstated or unbelievably large, it was substantially bigger than I was accustomed to in my apartment. I now had all these rooms and spaces that I could decorate and furnish however I wanted. I couldn't wait.

At one point, I'd glanced out one of the windows and took in the sight of the neighborhood. It was everything I never knew I wanted to have in my life. The homes were close enough that you could easily have a conversation with your neighbor without needing to shout at them, but they still had some pretty sizeable backyards, large enough for decks, pools, playgrounds, or even just the space for children or pets to run around.

It was at that moment when I decided I should venture out to introduce myself to at least a handful of my neighbors, even if I managed to only speak to the ones living on either side of me.

Since it was early December in the northeast, it was cold out. So, I grabbed my jacket before I walked out the door. When I closed it behind me, I gave myself a few seconds to look at everything surrounding me. Many of the neighbors had decorated for Christmas, and the second I noticed it, I realized that was going to go on my to-do list for the following weekend.

With my mind made up, I walked down the front steps and toward the house on the right of mine. It was time to meet my neighbors.

Brock

When the knock came at my door, I had a feeling I knew who I'd find on the other side.

I was working in my detached garage, where I'd been nearly all day. It wasn't unusual for me to spend a Saturday in my workshop, but I shouldn't have been out here as long as I had been today. The problem was that I'd spent a good majority of my day being distracted today.

My new neighbor was moving in.

Several times throughout the day, I had considered stopping what I was doing, so I could do the right thing and welcome her to the neighborhood.

Unfortunately, I was working on a project for a customer, and I needed to have it completed before he arrived later this evening to pick it up.

So, neighborly duties took a back seat.

Despite the number of times I'd glanced out the window at my new neighbor instead of focusing on the work I needed to be doing, I had accomplished the project about five minutes ago.

Fifteen minutes prior to that, I saw my new neighbor step outside her front door and stand there for a moment before she turned and walked toward Russ and Janel's house on the opposite side of hers. At that time, I'd wondered if she would eventually make her way to my place, believing if she hadn't intended to that Russ and Janel would urge her to come in my direction.

Now that I'd heard that knock and knew it was too early for my customer to be here, I could admit I hoped to open the door and see her standing there.

I moved in that direction, and the next thing I knew, I was finally face-to-face with the woman I'd been stealing glances at all day long.

The cold air rushed into the heated garage, and I took in the sight of this woman. While she was bundled up in her jacket, and I couldn't get a glimpse of all the areas of her body I would have wanted to, there was no question I was captivated by her face.

She was gorgeous.

She had long, straight brown hair that had golden highlights in it. Her eyes were brown with hues of amber that made them appear lighter. She had a petite button nose and a set of full lips that I was struggling to tear my eyes away from.

We'd been standing there in silence for a brief moment, but when she spoke, I focused my attention on her beautiful eyes again.

"Hi. I'm so sorry to interrupt you, but I just moved in next door, and I wanted to stop by to introduce myself," she started. "I also just met Russ and Janel, who live on the other side of me, and they were unbelievably sweet. Of course, they told me I should come here to see you as well, and they were the ones who said that if you didn't answer your door that you'd likely be in the garage here and that I should definitely knock. I hope that's okay."

She spoke a mile a minute, rushing to get all the words out in a hurry, even though there wasn't a sense of panic in her tone or expression.

"It's more than okay," I assured her. "I had intended to come over earlier to introduce myself and welcome you to the neighborhood, but I had a project I needed to get finished first. I just completed that about five minutes ago, so I'm sorry I didn't make it over to you."

Shaking her head, a smile on her face, she insisted, "That's totally okay. I'm just glad you're a nice guy who isn't mad I disturbed you."

Extending my hand to her, I said, "I'm Brock, by the way. Brock Benson."

"Gosh, what's wrong with me? I came over to introduce myself and never told you my name," she returned as she reached for my hand. "It's so lovely to meet you, Brock. I'm Mia Shepherd."

Mia.

I finally had a name to put to the face of the woman I'd been watching nearly all day long.

A gust of wind blew past, and I watched as the cold made Mia shiver.

"Would you like to come in for a minute and get out of the cold? It's heated in here," I explained.

Mia shook her head. "Oh, um, no, that's okay. I don't want to interrupt whatever you're doing or take up too much of your time."

"You wouldn't be. Like I said, I just finished a project."

Instead of responding, Mia allowed her eyes to shift away from my face and deeper into the garage, where she likely took in the sight of the equipment I had. Her eyes narrowed slightly, and I could only assume she was attempting to figure out precisely what I was doing in here.

When she made no move to say anything, I stepped back out of the doorway, turned slightly, and pointed in the opposite direction. "I use this equipment to do odd machining jobs for people."

Mia lifted her chin a touch as though she wanted to give me a nod of understanding, but the look in her pretty eyes told me she still had no clue what I'd just said. So, I clarified, "Sometimes, someone will have a piece of equipment they need repaired. Let's say, a tractor. Maybe something will break on the tractor, and they'll need a replacement part. If that part is either backordered, unavailable, or doesn't even exist, I can make them what they need out of metal, so they can get themselves back up and running sooner."

"That makes sense. And all of this equipment helps you do that?" she asked.

"Yep."

"I'll have to keep that in mind if I ever break something that serious at my place."

"Speaking of which, how do you like the house so far?" I asked.

The most beautiful smile I'd ever seen spread across Mia's face. She didn't need to respond, because I already knew what her answer was going to be. "I love it. I've been renting for years and saving up. This is my first real house, so it's extra special."

It was hard to look at Mia being so happy and not feel the same. I returned the smile and said, "Well, congratulations. That's awesome. You picked a great first house, and the neighborhood isn't bad, either."

Nodding her agreement, Mia said, "I'm quickly realizing that. Russ and Janel were so wonderful, and you're nice, so I was already thinking I was lucky. I'm relieved to hear I can expect more of the same being here."

Another gust of wind blew past. "Are you sure you don't want to come inside?"

She gave me another nod. "Yes. I should actually get going. It's been such a long day moving in. I didn't realize how tired I'd be."

"Did you need help moving anything else, or have you gotten it all squared away? I'm happy to help."

"Neither. Thanks for offering to help, though. I got the big stuff where it needs to be for now, so it's really just a matter of unpacking boxes of everything else at this point. I'm actually going to just get some dinner and call it an early night tonight, though," she explained.

With a nod of understanding, I offered, "Well, if anything comes up or you need a hand with something, please don't hesitate to ask. I'm usually always around."

Mia smiled brightly at me. "That's very kind of you to offer. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Following a beat of silence, she pointed toward her house and said, "I better go. It was nice to meet you, Brock."

I had to take a second before I responded, because I liked the sound of my name coming past her lips a little too much. When I believed I had myself under control, I replied, "Likewise, Mia. Welcome to the neighborhood."

How it was possible for her face to light up more than it already had, I didn't know. But there was no question she'd had a positive reaction to what I'd just said. While she was likely just happy about living in a neighborhood with friendly people, I could admit I wished it was her hearing the way I said her name that put that look on her face.

"It hasn't even been a full day, and I love it here already," she declared.

The woman made it impossible not to feel happy. Was she always this sweet and bubbly?

A small laugh escaped before I could stop it. "That's good news. Here's hoping it only gets better from this point forward."

A look of appreciation washed over her expression. And a moment later, she said, "Have a lovely evening, Brock."

How could I not after having these few minutes with her? "You, too, Mia."

After sending one last gorgeous grin my way, Mia turned and walked back home. I watched her as she went, keeping my eyes on her until she made it safely to her front door. We lived in a safe neighborhood, where everyone tended to look out for one another, so I didn't have any real concerns about her safety, but I had to use that as my excuse as to why I couldn't tear my gaze away from her.

Otherwise, I'd have to admit to myself that I was convinced I'd just met the woman of my dreams.