Mia set her beer on the table and hopped up from the sofa. “I’ll get it. Justine was coming over this evening. Mama probably sent her down here.”
“Tell her to come on in,” Stevie said.
Mia raced across the floor and threw open the door. “Come on in,” she said and then, “Beau?”
Stevie eased up out of the chair and tiptoed to her bedroom. She closed the door behind her. Mia needed privacy to sort things out with Beau. But when it was over, she would be there to help Mia explain to her folks how, even though he was perfect, Beau just wasn’t for her.
She stretched out on the bed and stared at the ceiling. After a while, things were really quiet out in the main part of the bunkhouse, and the breakup, if it could be called that, was most likely over. She dressed in her pink sweats—a color that her mother said redheads should never wear—and put on a pair of fuzzy socks.
“Stevie, are you awake?” Mia’s whisper came through the door.
“I’m on my way out if Beau is gone,” Stevie answered.
“Yes, he is,” Mia answered.
Stevie couldn’t tell from the sound of her voice if she was relieved or sad about the decision she had made, but either way, she would probably want to talk about it. Stevie slung open the door and found Mia slouched on the sofa just like before.
“Did he take the news badly?” Stevie asked.
“Nope.” Mia’s blue eyes had gone from the worried look they had half an hour before to downright dreamy.
“You didn’t tell him, did you?” Stevie asked. “Mia, you can’t lead him on…”
“I’m not.” Mia’s face lit up in a smile. “I had left my gloves in his truck when we came home from church, and he brought them back to me. I invited him in and was honest with him, and he said he understood. I walked him to the door and tripped over Tex when he came running inside, and…”
“And what?” Stevie asked.
“He reached out and kept me from falling, then cupped my face in his hands, and…” Mia frowned just slightly. “Ricky was the same height as me, so he never had to raise my face for a kiss, but anyway, Beau kissed me, and there wasn’t a sizzle. It went beyond that to pure heat. We wound up making out for a long time, and my knees went weak, and my heart was thumping.”
“Did Ricky ever do that for you?” Stevie asked.
“Not like Beau did.” Mia picked up her beer and downed the rest of it. “With Ricky it was kind of like I was flirting with something dangerous—something that Mama wouldn’t approve of. With Beau, it was a totally different feeling, but from all the stuff I’ve read about relationships, I shouldn’t be comparing one with the other.”
“That’s right, but when you’ve only had someone like Ricky in your life, that makes it kind of tough, doesn’t it?” Stevie asked.
“Yes. I need chocolate.” Mia got up and headed for the kitchen.
“There’s chocolate cookies in the jar, and a package of miniature candy bars on the counter. I hope they are still good. I got them from the pantry in my flooded house. I’m glad the adjustor has come and gone so I can go in and save what I can, and then make a decision about how to redo the house,” Stevie said.
Mia returned with the whole package of candy and a bowlful of cookies. “I’m going to have some milk. Want a glass?”
“Yes, please,” Stevie said. “So, you think that you might go on a second date with Beau, then?”
“Oh, yeah! And maybe a third and fourth and twenty-fifth.” Mia poured two glasses of milk and brought them to the living area. “But with this much passion, what happens when we have an argument?”
“Then you have amazing makeup sex like your mama told you about.” Stevie took a glass from her, picked up a cookie, and dipped it in the milk.
Mia followed her example and dipped her cookie. “Did you and Uncle Cody have makeup sex in the barn? He said you were cranky, and y’all argued a lot.”
“Nope,” Stevie answered. “We’re older and a lot more cautious than you two kids are.”
“I’m nineteen and Beau is twenty-one,” Mia argued. “We’re not really kids.”
“No, I guess you aren’t,” Stevie said.
“How do you know if a guy is the one?” Mia asked.
“You’ll have to ask someone more experienced than I am,” Stevie answered.
“I guess we can find out together,” Mia said with a grin.
“Maybe so,” Stevie said.
Mia finished off a handful of chocolate, half a dozen cookies, and her milk, and then said, “I should be going. I know Mama and Nana are going to want to ask me all kinds of questions about Beau. I’m not going to tell them I had doubts there at first.”
“Then I won’t say a word about that either,” Stevie said. “I’m just glad you got it all figured out and didn’t lose an opportunity to get to know him even better.”
“Me too,” Mia said as she slipped her arms into her coat and shoved her stocking hat down over her dark hair. “Like I told Mama, I’m not in a hurry, but it will be nice to have a boyfriend—a real one who treats me and the family right. See you later.”
Oh, to be young, Stevie thought, but before she could argue with herself over the cons of being nineteen again, Cody arrived bearing a brown paper bag that he set on the table. “Addy sent leftovers for supper.”
Stevie got up and unloaded the bag. “There’s enough food in here for two or three days.”
“We would have loved to have that when we were stranded in the barn, wouldn’t we?” Cody asked. “Hey, I hear that Mia spent a couple of hours with you this afternoon. Did she talk about Beau? The whole family thinks he’s a good guy, and we’re wondering if maybe the fact that we like him will…”
“No worries. She likes him a lot, and she even asked me how to tell if a guy was the one.” She air-quoted the last two words.
“After only one day?” Both of Cody’s eyebrows shot up. “That would almost be like love at first sight, which is downright crazy even for kids their age.”
“I guess he kisses real good, and you don’t need to knock that love-at-first-sight business.” She put the container of ham in the refrigerator. “Didn’t you ever wonder on a first date if the woman you were with could possibly be the one you would spend your life with?”
“No, did you?” Cody asked.
“I’ve never been on a date with a woman,” Stevie answered.
“You know what I mean,” Cody scolded. “Have you ever been on a first date and thought the guy you were out with was the one?”
Stevie hip-bumped him out of the way so she could put the pecan pie away. “Of course I have. It’s normal, and after the second or third, I knew he wasn’t the one and I cut him loose and stopped wasting my time.”
“How do you know for sure if a guy is the one?” Cody asked.
“How do you men tell if a woman is?” she fired back at him.
“I have no idea. I never got that far into a relationship. Six months in one spot was usually the limit with the doctor program I was working with. That’s not long enough to think about a permanent relationship.” Cody helped put the containers of food away in the refrigerator. “Now you?”