Summer Lovin'

Summer Lovin' -- Part 8

Chapter 8

How had two weeks gone by so fast?

Luke stared at the suds dripping off his car, and then at the neighbors' house, where Mia was packing. He wished she would come outside, even for a little while, so they could talk.

It felt like she was avoiding him, but he couldn't figure out why. She had definitely enjoyed their two weeks together. He was sure of that. They'd laughed and played and had mind-blowing sex day and night, and he'd never in his life felt so happy to be with someone every minute of the day.

Today, though, she'd seemed so cool, announcing she was going to stay next door tonight, so Hellboy could get used to his own place again. Luke had done his best to change her mind, but she'd gently resisted his kisses, peeling his arms from around her waist. He couldn't even tempt her with dinner, where he'd hoped to—

Luke picked up the hose and blasted the fender with water.

He'd gotten what he wanted—a two-week fling—only to discover he wanted more. More time, to spend with Mia. But with her leaving tomorrow, and his excessive work schedule, more time was next to impossible. She'd sneaked into his heart, making him realize he'd spent too many extra hours at work because there wasn't a good reason to come home earlier. Now he'd found a good reason, but she had dashed right out of his life.

What had ever made him think a fling was a good idea?

A succession of sharp barks broke into his thoughts. He turned to see Hellboy with his paws on the fence, his backside wagging ferociously, as usual.

"Hey, buddy. You're awful feisty today."

Luke strolled over to the fence and leaned down, picking up the puppy. Hellboy started licking Luke's face to show his gratitude at being rescued. Or to demonstrate how much he missed Luke.

Somehow the little mutt had wormed his way into Luke's heart, just like Mia had.

"You know you're not the kind of dog I would have picked," he said, tucking the animal securely under his arm.

Hellboy yapped, his tongue lolling to the side, that crazy-ass grin on his face.

Luke sighed. At least when the two weeks was over, Hellboy would still be around.

It was better than nothing. But boy, did he want more than that. A whole helluva lot more.

                                                              *****

Mia picked up another pair of pants and folded them before stuffing them in her suitcase.

How had two weeks gone by so fast?

She had spent nearly every moment at Luke's house, starting with breakfast, and cooking lessons, and swimming in the lake, and laughing constantly. She'd never had so much fun in her life. And then there was each day ending with a scrumptious dinner, making love, and then falling asleep with Luke's arms holding her close.

But now it was done.

She sniffed, determined to keep the tears at bay. That's why she was here, packing her clothes instead of having another leisurely afternoon with Luke. She needed some practice dealing with the ache lodged near her heart. She didn't want to get all teary-eyed around Luke, and it was too hard to pretend to be happy and carefree.

So she'd told him she needed to spend her last night at Sondra's house, rather than his, using Hellboy as her excuse.

He'd tried to convince her they should celebrate their last night together, with him cooking, but she'd declined. She knew their fling was over, but she just couldn't bring herself to feel festive about it.

She sighed so hard it was a wonder she didn't blow the suitcase off the bed. She heard Hellboy barking outside, but a quick glance out the window showed he was just playing near the fence, not scaring off big bad intruders. Or tormenting another of her shoes.

She managed a smile as she turned back to packing. Surprisingly, she was even sad at the thought of not seeing Hellboy every day. How had that happened? Maybe she was a long-term kind of gal after all.

If only she had discovered that before jumping into the first fling of her life.

Mia wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. She didn't regret any of it. In fact, she was proud of herself for taking the risk, just like when she'd left her job and the safe boring life it represented. The two weeks with Luke had been worth it. It just made her wish for more.

An insistent buzzing distracted her, confusing her momentarily. Her cell phone. She threw clothes off the bed until she found it, but it had stopped ringing by the time she answered it.

Her phone buzzed again. She glanced down and saw a text. From her brother Charlie. She grinned when she read, "Call me ASAP. Please."

She speed-dialed him, knowing he needed something he couldn't find in the office, and in a way it made her feel good. It was a reminder of the familiar, while everything she'd experienced the past couple weeks, as well as her future, was almost foreign in comparison.

"Hey, Charlie, what's up?"

"Thanks for calling back. I was wondering, could you tell me—"

"What did you lose this time?" She laughed at how predictable her brother was. He was great at running the family business, but paperwork was not his strong suit.

"What? Oh, no, this doesn't have to do with work."

"Really? Oh. When I saw the ASAP, I just assumed—"

He paused. "Don't tell me you were thinking of coming back."

"Well, no. Maybe. Maybe I should."

"No, you shouldn't." His tone was emphatic, surprising Mia to her core.

"What? I seem to remember you nearly fainting from shock when I said I was leaving."

"Because I never thought you'd get the nerve to do it!" He chuckled. "We were this close to staging an intervention."

Mia plopped down on the edge of the bed and started laughing. Here she'd been worried about leaving her brothers in the lurch, feeling slightly selfish for wanting a different life, and all this time they had been trying to throw her out of the nest.

"Okay, so what did you need?"

"I need some advice. There's this new girl I've been seeing. I really like her a lot, and well, I need some help figuring out what I should do next."

After Charlie detailed what he wanted to do for his upcoming date, Mia said, "Well, you know my philosophy—"

"You won't know if you don't give it a try," he finished, and they both burst into laughter.

"What about you?" he asked. "Have you decided what you're going to do?"

That was the big question. Mia had a ton of potential answers, from what she should do, to what she wanted to do. She had changed so much in two short weeks. She knew she couldn't return to her old life, and she didn't want to anymore.

She wasn't exactly sure what her future life looked like either. She just knew there were lots of adventures involved, and she couldn't wait to get them started. She grinned, her heart beating with excitement.

"I'm going to—" Mia paused, trying to figure out where the pounding noise was coming from. "Charlie, can I call you back in a little bit? Somebody's at the front door."