Chapter Two

Gabe

Snow falls heavily outside and piles up on the walkways. I call out for my brother Nick to do a clean up again when he’s back from plowing down on Main Street. While the rest of my brothers work exclusively for the farm, Nick picks up odd jobs for local businesses. Most of it is plowing, but during the summer months, he does a lot of handyman work. Small roof repairs, leaky faucets, things like that.

“Ten-four, brother,” he groans into the walkie, and static resumes as the door to my office creaks open.

Mira stands behind it. She’s wearing a long, cranberry red jacket and a white knit hat with a poof on top. Her dark hair falls over her shoulders and, as usual, despite the season, she smells like a field of lavender.

“How were the roads coming in?”

“Terrible! It was straight whiteout in some spots. I think there’s a big storm coming. Did you hear anything on the radio?”

“Nothing. I hate these ghost blizzards. They come out of nowhere. I think I’m going to put out a group text and let everyone know to stay in today.”

Her brows narrow. “Okay… I guess I can go home then?”

“No, you’re already here. It would be dangerous for you to leave again. Sit down,” I nod toward the armchair in front of my desk, “and relax for a minute.”

I’m not sure if she knows I can see her eyes roll, but I can. “Are you worried that the eclipse won’t be visible? I mean, we usually get a white Christmas, which means cloud cover. The party won’t be much good if no one can see the show.”

I drag in a deep breath and type out a message to the staff as I talk. “Yeah, that’s crossed my mind, but the sky will still go black and it’s Christmas Eve, so we’ll have plenty of festivities to keep everyone busy.”

“What kind of festivities? You know, I plan parties right, like… it’s what I’m going to school for.”

“They have a school for party planning?”

There’s the eye roll thing again. “No, but they have a school for business and I’m doing that, with a minor in marketing. The party planning comes naturally. The business part doesn’t so much.”

“Well, you should’ve said something sooner. Jovie is helping out with planning a little, but she got distracted with the wedding, so she’s behind. You should take over. We could use someone who’s dedicated to this project.”

Mira lifts her chin and tilts her head to the side. “Oh really? You’d want me to do the whole thing?”

“Yeah, I mean, if you think you can handle it. Jovie mentioned having someone from Mullet’s bar down to play music, and maybe we’d get the catering from a local barbeque place, but I don’t think anything was officially booked. I’ll check with Kade to make sure.”

“Wow!” Her eyes light with specs of green and yellow. “Yeah, I’d love to do it. I expected this meeting to be about the wreaths I made yesterday.”

“No. The wreaths are great. And, the meeting isn’t about the party, it’s about the tree barn. I’m going to be in there today rearranging some things to make room for all the extra trees Charlie cut down and I need some help.”

She narrows her brows and stares at me. I try to keep my cool, but my heart is already racing at the thought of spending the day alone with her. For the first time in a long while, we can have a real, face-to-face conversation.

“I thought my sole job was going to be the eclipse party?”

“It is… after today . I need your help, since you’re the only one here. Besides, I’m moving the trees to make space for the party. We can run over your ideas and get a general plan in place.”

For a second, I wonder if she’ll up and quit. Mira is beautiful, smart, and talented, but she’s temperamental, to say the least. If the girl doesn’t like something, she’s over it in two point three seconds.

“Do you really think it’s a good idea for us to be working together in the barn?”

“It’s a job. We’re working. That’s what people do at work.”

“You’re oversimplifying it.”

“How so?” I know she’s talking about the night at the bar we spent together, and I know she doesn’t want to be alone because we got dangerously close to crossing a line that night. Add the facts that I’m her brother’s best friend and her boss, it complicates everything, but I’m ignoring all that.

“You’re kidding. Stop… okay? I have a boyfriend and we’re happy. So… whatever you’re trying to do here probably violates some kind of human resource law. You might want to look into that, boss. ”

My heart tightens. “You have a boyfriend, huh?”

She nods and pulls her mittens back into place. “Yup. He’s pretty great, too.”

“Where’d you meet?”

“Stop.” Her eyes roll. “I just got a lecture from Emma this morning. I don’t need another one from you.”

“No, I wasn’t going to lecture you. I was curious. I’m not against online dating. Who is the guy?”

She rolls her eyes toward me. “None of your business.”

“It’s kind of my business, though. Chevy asked me to keep an eye on you.”

“And your idea of keeping an eye on me is nearly kissing me?” Her red lips pout when she talks, and though I know she’s putting on a grumpy face, that moment we shared at the bar was real.

“Look, I get that the almost kiss scared you, but—”

“It wasn’t the almost kiss that scared me, Gabe. It was the,” she waves her hands in a circle, “everything.”

I step toward her, reaching out for her hand, though I know I probably shouldn’t. She glances down as I rest against her arm. Part of me wonders if she’ll flinch away, but I hold out for the off chance she lets me stay there. “What’s everything? ”

Our eyes meet, and though I know rationally that the world is moving around us, in this moment, it stops. Not in the cheesy way that things stop in the movies, but in the real-world way, where I can’t think of anything else but this woman standing in front of me. I haven’t been able to since the night at the bar. Those two hours cemented everything I was feeling. In that moment, I knew we were supposed to be together, which probably makes me sound like a damn fool, but it’s the truth. Time isn’t going to change that.

My breathing picks up, and a chill runs up my back as the computer comes to life with a familiar musical tone. It’s a video call from her brother, Chevy.

“See?” She grins and stares up at me. “Suppose if he’d just walked in on us. Can you imagine? He’s spent all this time at war protecting us, and we just… do whatever we want back here like a bunch of wild animals. It’s crazy. You know it and I know it. So… stop.” Her gaze is flat and wide, and though I want to prove her wrong, the calls from Chevy are few and far between, and I know I should answer.

Eyes on Mira, I tuck behind the desk and click to respond to the call. Chevy’s face pulls up right away. The man has always been a sharp-looking dude. I swear he’s the only mountain man I know that can pull off always looking dapper no matter what we’re doing. That said, he looks exhausted, like there are new lines on his face that weren’t there before.

“Hey, buddy. How goes it?”

“Fuck. You’re the only guy I can get ahold of. None of my sisters are answering.”

I glance toward Mira, wondering if she wants me mentioning she’s here with me, but she answers the question by sneaking into the frame.

“Hey, big brother. I’ve been talking to the boss man here. He’s trying to get me to move trees around in the barn while everyone else is on a snow day. Tell him he’s crazy.”

“You’re making her work on a snow day?” Chevy glares at me with jovial intent. “What the fuck, man?” We’ve been friends since grade school and though Chevy isn’t my biological brother, it feels like he should be. As kids, we shared holidays and birthdays, which means Mira and I did as well. Somewhere along the line, I fell in love with her, and I haven’t met anyone since who fits the way she does.

“I’ll reward her later.” I glance toward Mira with a sly grin, but she over corrects as though she’s hiding something.

“He’s not going to reward me.” Her arms cross and her tone is flustered. “It’s... he’s probably going to make me bake cookies, then call that the reward. Anyway, I’ve gotta get to work. I love you, big brother.”

Chevy narrows his brows and glares toward me as Mira falls out of frame and closes the door to my office rather loudly. “What’s up with her?”

I shrug. “Dating a new guy. She’s all up in her feels about it. Apparently, this one is perfect.” My stomach clenches as I talk to my friend.

“What do we know about him? Please tell me he isn’t some online guy again.”

I brush my hand down over my beard and pinch my lips together before nodding. “Yeah. Well, this one seems to make her happy, so… I guess we should be happy for her.”

“I guess, but I’m tired of seeing her hurt. These dudes are all the same. Married, hideous, jobless, basically just shit. They do whatever they can do to make themselves look good enough to snag a few minutes of attention from a woman. It’s a sick cycle and we need to snap her out of it.”

“This guy is different, I think.” I glance away. “At least that’s what she says, but who knows?” I draw in a deep breath and look back at my friend. The guy who’s put his life on the line every day to keep us safe. The guy who was awarded a Soldier’s Medal for saving a man’s life. “I should get moving. She’s going to have that barn torn apart before I get there. Everything okay with you?”

Chevy nods and pulls his hand down over his beard. “Yeah, I’m thinking it’s crazier back there with all the drama.”

“Might be. We love you, man. I’ll talk to you soon.”

We disconnect the line, and I stare at the empty screen where my buddy was just staring back.

I’ve never lied to him before. I told the truth when I popped his four-wheeler’s tire on his fourteenth birthday. I told him the truth when I saw his ex-girlfriend with another man. I told him the truth when I lost his prized fishing pole in the ice last year. But here and now, while he’s thousands of miles away, in another world, protecting us all, I lied to him… and I’m not sure if I’ll ever be able to make things right.