“Has anybody beaten my score yet?” he asked casually.
The weird feeling between us eventually dissipated as his family broke out the card games. Apparently, the Taylor family were big card sharks. My family had played more board games than cards, but I picked up the games quickly. They were the kind of players who teased and joked with others but never got angry when things didn’t go their way. It made settling in with this family easy and enjoyable, and I even found myself teasing Jack about not giving up the card he wanted. I didn’t tease much with Miles, however. Every time he shot a look or a teasing smile my way, I felt my face go hot. It was as if the conversation earlier had broken me. I had shown too much.
There was a natural rhythm between the four of us that made my heart ache. How many nights, growing up, had my family sat around our own table, playing Monopoly, or Risk, or my personal favorite, Scattergories? The joking back and forth, the camaraderie, the fake-outs…it made me miss my dad so much it hurt. But more than missing him, it made me miss us. The four of us together. Our family unit.
The hour grew later, and Sandy, ever the hostess, brought out a cheese-and-cracker platter and put on soft Christmas music as she ushered us into the living room. I had missed seeing the tree when we first arrived but now beheld it in its full glory, decorated in reds and golds with twinkling white lights and situated proudly in front of the window.
She and Jack sat on the sofa, leaving only the loveseat for me and Miles. He led me to sit down and sat next to me, leaving no separation between us. Miles Taylor was pressed up against the side of my body, his arm around my shoulders again like it was the most natural thing in the world. It should have felt natural at this point with how much we’d been touching, but it still sent a shock straight to my nerves. I tried to slink further into my seat, playing at a more casual pose without actually touching Miles, but couldn’t find the right fit. Sandy was watching me with a questioning smile on her face, so in the name of fake dating, I placed a tentative hand on Miles’s thigh. His lower thigh. It was mostly his knee. He flexed his leg under my hand.
“I don’t want to call you a chicken, but I will.” His whispered breath puffed into my ear. “You’re stiff as a board.”
I gave him a sardonic smile before snuggling more deeply into his side. His finger curled against my shoulder, and we sat that way while I listened to Miles and his dad talk about his plans for his latest book.
“I’m close to being able to start drafting with all my ideas so far, but I’ll get started writing after Christmas. I wanted to give myself a breather for the holidays,” Miles said.
“Have you read his books?” Sandy asked me, eyes shining.
I stiffened, but before I could cobble together an answer, Miles squeezed me closer to him. “If I can get her nose out of the classics, mine will be the next on her list.”
I relaxed into his grip and leaned forward to pick up a picture album from the coffee table in front of me.
“Ohhh, you’ll love that one. I just pulled it out the other day. Miles as a little boy was about the cutest thing you’ll ever see.” Sandy beamed.
And he was. Literally the cutest kid I had ever seen. It wasn’t fair, actually. He had been as skinny as a beanpole. His teeth as an adolescent youth had been janky and crazy, but I loved how he smiled wide and proud in his pictures. His eyes were bright and held the same twinkle they did now. The impish smile and messy brown hair did something to my maternal instincts. I forced myself to not linger there. For his part, he took me seeing his formative years all in stride, laughing good-naturedly about his braces and the headgear, all the while holding me close with one arm and laughing late into the night with his parents.
And when it was all said and done, Miles walked me back to my cabin.
“So, your mom kissed me on the cheek.”
He laughed. “You gotta watch her. She’ll drop one on you before you even know it’s coming. Did you have fun?”
I smiled. “They’re really nice. They seemed pretty happy we were there.”
“They’re just excited I brought a girl home.”
That phrase felt so out of place with what I had always imagined about Miles. While he didn’t seem like a Casanova, per se, he was…to nearly quote Pride and Prejudice…one of the most handsome men of my acquaintance. And that wasn’t me having any sort of crush on him. That was me stating pure, platonic fact. He had perfect hair that repeatedly fell into his eyes. The man could wear a five o’clock shadow like a cowboy could wear a tight pair of jeans. And his jeans…well…I won’t go into the way they fit him like a glove. Thank goodness I was so completely disinterested or else I could have been in trouble. Plenty of women in my position would probably fall for a man just like him.
“Huh. That surprises me, actually.”
“Why?” The look he gave me seemed genuinely curious. And now I wondered if I should have kept my mouth shut.
“I just always imagined you bringing home beautiful blonde women who probably eat kale regularly and hike Mount Everest on the weekends.”
His face fell into a wide smile. “I don’t think that’s how Mount Everest works.”
I shrugged, pulling my hand out from my pocket to scratch my cheek.
“So, you’ve been imagining me with other women, huh?” he said. I could feel him smiling, though I kept my eyes averted.
“No.”
“You said it.”
“Why would your parents be surprised that you brought somebody home?”
He gave me a crooked grin. “Until now, I hadn’t found a woman I wanted to bring home.”
I glared at him, hoping my flushed cheeks could be blamed on the wind. “Miles.”
He shrugged. “I haven’t dated much lately.”
The cold breeze picked up, ruffling my hair. “Why?”
There was a long moment before he responded. And it was then that I realized he seemed to know a lot more about me than I did him.
“I was dating a girl a few years back, but…” He trailed off for a bit, the hitch in his voice causing me to look over at him. “It’s just taken me a while to get back on that horse, I guess.” He gave me a boyish grin, trying to play down the emotions he had obviously felt at the start of the sentence, but he didn’t fool me. Before I could ask further, he changed the subject. He settled back into his teasing self, dropping me off at my cabin and making me laugh even as I closed the door in his face.
SEVENTEEN
“Dear old world,’’ she murmured, “You are very lovely, and I am glad to be alive in you.”
L.M. Montgomery - Anne of Green Gables
We had crossed plenty of small items off our list yesterday. Miles had a few errands and chores to do for his dad this morning. Suddenly missing Chloe and the girls, I surprised them at their cabin that morning for breakfast. The lodge had complimentary muffins, juice, and fruit every morning, but Chloe had brought her own food for the cabin that she knew her girls would eat. With her morning sickness, she rarely made it out of the cabin before 10 or 11.
The girls were very excited to see me, and I spent the first ten minutes playing with them on the floor, which evolved to me letting them paint my nails a fashionable rainbow of orange, yellow, and brown.