Page 27 of King
Chapter 15
Mia
Mia knew she’d messed up when King didn’t contact her after she’d blown up on him on Monday.She was ashamed of herself for confronting him at his job site in front of his men.Not her proudest moment.It was so unlike her to let her emotions get the best of her like that.But she’d been hurt and angry, and the fact that he hadn’t reached out to her hurt even worse.
Cody’s suggestion that she and King both needed time came back to her as she relived the scene over and over again.She couldn’t help it.She dissected every word she’d spewed at him, and while she’d been so sure at the time that she had grounds for her outburst, she hadn’t been fair to King.She hadn’t given him a chance to talk until she’d pushed him into anger, into saying something hurtful.
It had been torture sitting out on the porch every day, listening to the sound of chainsaws in the distance, and knowing that King was out there, just a short walk down the road.But Mia knew she wouldn’t go to him.She was too afraid of his rejection.
The door opened and Sammy stepped out onto the porch with two tall glasses of iced tea.“This is my favorite time of the day.”She handed Mia a glass.“Downtime after a day at work.”She plopped down into the chair next to Mia with a sigh.“I’m so glad it’s over.”
It was Saturday.“You only worked half a day,” Mia chortled.
“The overtime is nice.”
Mia guessed that now that Sammy and Ben were together, her cousin didn’t mind having to go in to work as much, not when she had a chance to see Ben at lunchtime.
“Thanks.”Mia took a sip of tea.“For a northern girl, you make a great glass of sweet, iced tea.”
They both laughed, and then Sammy quipped, “I had a good teacher.I got hooked on it when I went to Texas to visit my cousin one summer.”
“That was a good summer.”Mia smiled over at Sammy.
“One of the best.”Sammy held her glass out as if getting ready to make a toast.Mia acknowledged the gesture by lifting her glass, and they carefully clinked their glasses together.She took a sip of her drink, giving Mia a look.“You’re not still beating yourself up over what happened on Monday, are you?”
Mia released a loud sigh.“I can’t help it, Cuz.I feel so bad about attacking King like that, and in front of his men.Even if what Sheila said is true, he deserved a chance to defend himself.”
“You were hurt.We’ve all said and done things in the heat of the moment that we wish we could undo.”
Mia gave her a sad smile.Sammy was right.
“Hey, listen—” Sammy’s tone picked up as she changed the subject.“Birdie just called.”Birdie was Sammy’s friend from work.“We got an invite to a cookout at her place on the lake.She and Bruce throw great parties, and you’ll know a lot of the people there.It will give you a chance to reconnect.What do you say?”
After stewing all week with her thoughts, a distraction was just what Mia needed.A laugh that sounded more like a snort escaped her.“Today?”
Sammy nodded.“Later this afternoon.”
“Shouldn’t we bring something?”
“Got it covered.We haven’t touched the cake I made yesterday, so we’ll bring that.And we can stop at the store on the way and grab a couple cases of beer.”
“I’ll pay for the beer.”It was then that Mia remembered that Sammy had had plans for this weekend.“What happened to you and Ben going away for the weekend?”She frowned.“Don’t tell me there’s already trouble in paradise,” she said with worry.She liked Ben, and she thought he was good for Sammy.
Sammy quickly shook her head.“No, we’re good.”She glanced away as if she didn’t want to disclose anything else, but as the silence between them grew she finally admitted, rather reluctantly, “It’s just that...things were moving too fast.”Her eyes returned to Mia.“And going away together for a weekend...”She hesitated.“I guess I wasn’t as ready as I thought I was.”