Chapter 7

Friends! Why had Heather ever agreed to Mick’s proposal to be friends? They weren’t lovers, and they were more than boss and employee, but they sure as hell weren’t just friends!

But it was her stupid promise to be friends, which had her tooling down Route 15 with Mick on this lovely spring Saturday, to help him shop for a car, so he could turn in the rental they were currently driving.

She pointed ahead. “There’s the dealership Jeff recommended. The one where he bought his truck.”

When they parked and stepped out of the rental car, a salesman who was helping a young family called out to them. “Someone will be with you folks shortly.”

Mick raised his hand in acknowledgment. “Thanks, we’ll just look around while we wait.”

Heather put her hands on her hips and looked around. “What were you thinking of getting?”

Mick stared at a vehicle like it was the Lombardy trophy. “An SUV or a sedan would be sensible.”

Heather grinned when she saw the car his gaze was riveted on, and teased him. “Yeah, but they wouldn’t be nearly as sweet a ride as that convertible.”

His answering grin was rueful. “Definitely not sensible, but, oh man it’s a nice ride!” He whistled between his teeth.

“It’s a beauty.”

“Yeah, but if I was driving it, everyone would think I was having a midlife crisis. She’s a young man’s car.”

“She?”

“Cars are always ‘she.’ ”

Heather laughed. “I’ll have to take your word for it. What I can tell you, is no one will think you’re having a midlife crisis if you were driving her. Your only crisis might be caused by your view being blocked by the panties getting thrown at you from women in passing cars.”

“Why, Miss Braden, are you trying to tell me you think I’d look hot driving this car?”

“Smoking hot,” Heather replied honestly, without thinking, and could’ve bit her tongue off as the words left her mouth.

“You folks see something you like?”

Mick’s intense stare incinerated Heather, as he answered the salesman without looking away from her face. “I sure do. But for now, I’d settle for taking this convertible out for a test drive.”

****

Within a couple of hours, the deal on the sports car had been made, the rental car had been returned, and they thundered down Main Street on the way back to the Nosh Pit. The convertible top was down, and Heather looked like she could care less her hair was whipping around in the wind. She tilted her head back to let the sun wash over her face, and hung her hand out of the window, as if it were surfing on a wave of air.

He grinned at her as he parked in front of her place and cut off the engine.

She smiled back. “I can’t believe you wouldn’t let me drive Lola.”

“Lola?”

She nodded. “I decided it’s her name. Lola was a showgirl in that old song, and this vehicle is flashy enough to headline a show in Las Vegas. But you’re distracting me from my original point. Let me drive Lola, please!”

He turned to her, and his heart pounded like a boy’s about to ask a girl to his first school dance. “If you agree to do me a favor, I’ll let you drive Lola next weekend.”

Her eyes narrowed with suspicion. “Favor? What kind of favor?”

He cleared his throat. “You know one of the reasons I wanted to come back East was because my baby sister is getting married.”

“And how does this completely unrelated piece of information lead to me driving Lola?”

“My sister’s wedding is next weekend.”

“That’s nice, but I’m still not seeing the connection.”

For a smart woman, she was being kind of dense; he shifted on his seat. “I was wondering if you’d do me a favor, as a friend,and come with me to West Virginia for the wedding. We’d leave Friday and come back on Sunday, so you wouldn’t have to miss any work or school.” He smiled at her and added as an enticement, “I’d let you drive Lola part of the way.”

She shook her head once, and he noticed what a snarled mess her hair was; why it was such a turn-on, he didn’t know, maybe because it put a man in mind of how she’d look rolling out of his bed the morning after a night of good loving.

“I don’t know, Mick, a family wedding seems way more date-like than friend-like.”

“But it wouldn’t be a date. It will be the first time I’ve seen them since I’ve been back. Hell, Dad and Danny don’t even know I’ve moved, as far as I know, and I could use the support of a friend, and you’re the only one who I can ask.”

“Now that’s mighty flattering.” She scowled.

He held up his hands. “That’s not what I meant! There are other women I could get as a date.”

“That is absolutely not any better. I know you and your dad aren’t close, but didn’t he ever teach you when you’re in a hole, you stop digging? Why don’t you bring Gloria Peterson?”

He thought of snooty Gloria in his parents’ humble ranch in coal-mining country, and couldn’t hold back the start of a smile.

Bad idea, based on Heather’s narrowed eyes and frown.

“If the thought of it makes you so happy, why don’t you take Glo and leave me out of it?”

“I was just smiling at the idea of Gloria in West Virginia. I can’t imagine she even knows mining exists, let alone a family who makes their living working in one. Look I don’t want to go with anyone else. You’re the only woman who knows about my effed up family dynamic, so I just meant you know what you’d be walking into, and I’d like to have you at my back. There’s no one else I want with me.”

“Knowing about your family situation is precisely why I’m not sure this is a good idea. I mean, how long has it been since you’ve seen them?”

“My mom, Susan, Billy, and Dave have come out to Portland at least once a year.”

She raised her eyebrows and prompted, “But…”

“But I haven’t seen my dad or Danny in years.” He hung his head at the admission.

“And now you’re suggesting going to a major family function after all this time…with me. Your family will definitely not think we’re just friends.”

Then they can join the club, because I’m not altogether convinced of it either. “Who cares? Let them think what they want. I told you already. I could really use your support—the support of a friend—this weekend, and no one else knows anything about my family.”

“No one? Not even Jeff or Cisco?” Her eyes were wide.

“No, you’re the only one, Heather..”

She faced forward and flopped back against the leather seat. “Wow. I always thought you meant I was the only woman you talked about them with, not the only person. I’d always assumed the guys knew too. Why me?”

He also turned to face forward. “I trusted you, and I still do.”

She snorted, and he was surprised by her derision.

“You certainly didn’t trust me enough to discuss why you were dumping me back in Portland.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. I trusted you. I didn’t trust myself. If I spent time with you, even to explain, I knew I would just forget my reasons and get right back together with you. Hell, I was even ready to brave telling your brother! Now that’s got to mean something.”

She bobbed her head. “He would have seriously kicked your ass.”

“He would’ve tried.”

They sat in silence for a few moments. It looked peaceful, but Mick’s mind was whirring. He didn’t want to admit it, not to himself and most certainly not to Heather, but he was nervous about going home for Susan’s wedding. He didn’t want the weekend to be about his homecoming. Susie deserved the focus to be entirely on her for her big day, but he knew his father and Danny would kick up a fuss about him being there. He’d given it a lot of thought this week, and if he brought a date, they would have to dial their antagonism down a notch, and Susan could have her dream wedding without their drama. He never once considered taking another woman, not even Gloria, whom he’d been casually dating. It had to mean something to Heather, but the woman was not going to make it easy for him. For Susie’s sake, he had to give it one more shot, and this time he would speak from his heart.

“Please, Heather, please come with me to my sister’s wedding. I don’t want to face it alone, and I swear you’re the only woman I want by my side.”

Her face brightened and she squinted in the sun that bathed her features in light and made the highlights in her brown hair glisten like gold floss. “I love it when you let your accent slip. It used to make me feel like I was back home when we lived in Portland.”

Sure, she loved his accent, but if he ever let it slip in front of anyone else, they’d assume he was one step away from donning overalls with no shirt, and playing an empty moonshine jug as a musical instrument.

She searched his eyes, and took a deep breath before saying, “Okay. I’ll go with you.”

The woman never ceased to surprise him. “What? You will? What changed your mind?”

“Your accent just now—it reminded me of the boy I fell in l—” She stopped short with a snap of her jaw, then took a breath and continued. “The boy I loved to spend time with, back in the day.”

Interesting. He’d fallen for her hard back then, but he thought he was just a fun diversion for a homesick Heather. He was so serious, and she was so fun loving. He’d never dreamed she returned his feelings.

She grinned and waggled her eyebrows. “Plus, I’ll get to take Lola out on the highway to see what she can do. I couldn’t resist.”

****

“Yum. This is delicious. What do you call it again?” Magda smacked her lips after taking another sip of the frozen concoction in her cocktail glass.

Heather sat in the other tiny, folding chair on the small deck/fire escape off the back of her apartment over the Nosh Pit. The alley between the red brick buildings might not be the most scenic view in town, but she treasured her little bit of outdoor space.

“It’s a frozen mint julep; I’m trying to perfect the recipe for my mom’s Derby party. Y’all are my guinea pigs—glad you like it!”

The fire escape rattled as someone climbed up the metal steps. Her sister Deidre’s voice preceded her. “If I had a liquor license at the Nosh Pit, I would hire Heather as my master mixologist.” She stepped onto the deck. “Can I have one of those?”

“Hi, Dee, sure.” Heather stood and opened the screen door in need of a new spring. The door slammed shut behind her as she entered her tiny kitchen and poured another drink from the blender, before returning to hand it to her older sister, who leaned her backside against the metal railing.

Deidre shut her eyes as she took her first sip. “Manna from heaven after the day I’ve had. The Nosh Pit was a zoo today.”

Magda nodded. “The library was crazy busy too.”

Deidre opened her eyes wide and blinked at Heather with feigned innocence. “I don’t know about the library, Maggie, but there was only one topic of conversation at the Pit today—our girl Heather stealing Mick Evans away from Gloria Peterson, and going home with him to West Virginia this weekend to meet his family.”

Heather choked on the sip she’d been taking while her sister spoke. She felt her face heat up as she coughed and sputtered, “That’s crazy talk! Mick and I are friends.”

“So, you’re not going away with him? Because I heard the same thing at the library,” Magda asked. “If it’s not true, I’ll be happy to set people straight about it.”

Heather felt her cheeks heat up and cursed her fair complexion, with its tendency to blush. “Well…yes…I am going with him to his sister’s wedding this weekend, but just as friends. It’s not a date.”

“You’re right. I wouldn’t call a weekend away to attend a family wedding a date. It’s more like a sign of serious commitment,” her sister observed.

Magda nodded and swallowed her drink. “Mrs. Warren agrees. She wanted to know if I was going to be one of your bridesmaids, and asked if Mick and you were going to beat me to the altar since Jeff is dragging his heels about ‘making an honest woman’ out of me. Mrs. W.’s words, not mine.”

Heather scowled. “Sometimes living in a small town is too much! Everyone is always in your business.”

Magda shrugged. “It’s because they care. Trust me, I’ve lived in a big city, and it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. I like the way everyone looks out for everyone else here in Rivers Bend.”

“You two really aren’t an item?” Deidre made a moue of disappointment. “That’s too bad. I like Mick, and he deserves better than Gloria. I’ve seen them in the Pit a couple of times for lunch; he doesn’t look very interested in her, but you can tell she’s ready to book the church and hire the caterer for their wedding. Still, if he needs a date, why isn’t he taking her?”

“Mick has a”—Heather paused to search for the right word, one that wouldn’t betray Mick’s confidences—“complicated relationship with his family. I know a little bit about it, so he thought I’d be a good support system for him.”

“He’s right.” Deidre beamed at her. “There’s no one you can count on more than my baby sister.”

Magda still looked skeptical. “I know Heather is a rock, but it still seems like a pretty relationshippy thing to do to me. Are you sure there’s nothing romantic going on between you two?”

Heather held up her right hand, as if she were swearing an oath in court. “I swear to you, we are not involved romantically. There are some feelings between us, but we’ve decided to be friends, just friends. And this trip is just as friends, there is no hanky-panky happening. Mick told me he’s getting two motel rooms for us.”

****

Mick held his breath as he hit the last digit on his cell phone and waited for the ring. He’d carefully timed his call so his father and Danny would still be at work in the mine. He wanted to face them in person first, not over the phone.

“Hello?”

His mother’s voice came through the phone. He loved his gentle mom, and hated the way her spirit was squashed over the years by his father’s cold, domineering ways.

“Hi, Mom, it’s me.”

“Mickey! Oh my stars! It’s wonderful to hear your voice! How are you? Have you moved yet? Where are you? Did you know Susan’s wedding is this weekend? Are you going to be there?”

He laughed at her stream of questions and answered them in order, “I’m fine. I have moved, and I’m settling in here in Rivers Bend. Yes, I know about the wedding; it’s why I’m calling.”

His mom giggled. “Oh, you! My, it’s good to hear your laugh. I’m so happy to have you in Virginia. It’s not as good as home, but it’s so much closer than Oregon. Do you like it there?”

“I like it very much. Rivers Bend is a nice little town, and everyone’s been real welcoming. So, about Susie’s wedding…”

“Don’t worry; I’ll break it to her gentle.”

He frowned at the resigned disappointment in his mother’s voice. “Break what to her? I’m just calling to see if it’s all right if I bring someone with me to the wedding?”

“Oh thank heavens! I thought you were calling to say you couldn’t make it. Of course you can bring someone.”

“Thanks, Ma, I appreciate it; I know it’s short notice.”

“Who are you bringing?”

His mother’s hopeful tone made him think maybe Heather was right about his family drawing the wrong conclusion about their status. He better set his mom straight right now. “I’m bringing a friend—Heather Braden.”

“A girlfriend? This cannot get any better!”

“Not a girlfriend, Ma, just a friend. I wanted to check with you to see if the Dew Drop Inn was still open. I need to book us a couple of rooms for the weekend.”

“At the Dew Drop? It’s still open, but don’t you even think about staying there! You and your girl will stay here at the house. We’ve got plenty of room; I won’t hear of you staying at a motel. Folks would talk.”

They had plenty of room? His family lived in a tiny house—his parents, three brothers, and his sister, who’d be getting ready for her wedding. They most certainly did not have room for Heather and him, but he recognized that tone in his mother’s voice and knew she wouldn’t be budged.

And, hoo boy, would his father would be several steps below thrilled about Mick staying there.

But he swallowed hard and lied like a rug, “Sounds good, Ma. We’ll be there Friday in plenty of time for the rehearsal dinner.”