Helping her as best he could, they got the dress off, but she almost choked him when she grabbed his tie and pulled it as hard as she could. He had no idea what she thought it was, but she wouldn’t let go. Loosening it, he took it off. Then he got to gaze at her glorious breasts that hadn’t been in a bra this entire time. While he was appreciating them, she had removed her panties. Rafferty smiled as he pulled the covers over her body.
Yup, she was still a brunette under all that hair dye.
Once again, he got out some aspirin and a glass of water, and put them on the night stand. He knew she was still holding his tie, so he left it. He could pick it up another time, when she wasn’t holding on to it with everything she had.
Picking up her dress, he found a hanger in her closet and hung it up—no need for it to be wrinkled. He wanted to see her in it again. She looked amazing, and now he knew she didn’t wear a bra with it.
Closing the door behind him, he wasn’t as happy as he usually was when he left her drunk in bed. Today, he wanted her sober and in bed. Today, he had crashed the wedding in hopes of getting Mia to dance with him at the reception. He was happy he got his dance, but he wanted her sober.
He was tired of her being drunk every time he got close to her. Though she was a fun drunk, she was also fun sober.
CHAPTER12
Fall
After handinga meat loaf special to her mom and a ham dinner to her aunt Dolly, Mia sat down next to her mom, Dotty. These two came in a few times a week and were always fun. They got along so well for women in their sixties, but they had lived such parallel lives that it was no surprise. Both had married in their early twenties and stayed in the same town they had been raised in. Both had a bucket of kids, six for her mom and four for her aunt, and at almost the same time. Though Dolly’s were all older then Dotty’s, Mia and her cousin Julia were the same age. Mia was the first born, and Julia the baby of her family.
But for as long as Mia could remember, the families were in each other’s pockets. From holidays to birthday parties to school functions, the Lawson and Nordskov families were there. Though the two sisters were originally Haans girls, nobody thought of them as that anymore. But nobody could miss that they were sisters.
“How is Mia?” Aunt Dolly asked like every week.
“Mia’s good,” Mia answered, like every week.
“How is the waitress shortage?” her mom asked.
“I’ve got it covered now. I hired two more and have one more I might hire if one doesn’t work out.” She was always having trouble getting and keeping waitresses—nobody wanted to be a waitress these days.
“That’s good,” Dotty said.
This was actually the same conversation the sisters always had with her, but she enjoyed them getting along. It was hard on everyone when they started to fight, as all sisters do. Mia was an expert on sisters—she had five little ones.
In her pocket, her phone made a noise, signaling she had a text. Excusing herself, she pulled it out as she walked back to the kitchen area. It was from Ruth at the rental office, formerly the insurance office across the street.
SOS. Ruth
Sliding it into her pocket, she turned to the other two waitresses working today and told them to take over. Of course, it was only her mom and aunt in the restaurant. Hurrying over to them, she told them she had to run over and see Ruth. They didn’t ask any questions, they never did.
Tossing her order pad at Kelly behind the counter, she hurried across the street. So far, it wasn’t too cold for a mid-October day. Sure, it was chilly, but not cold enough for a full-blown jacket. You just needed a sweatshirt or sweater to ward off this cold. She didn’t skip the jacket because she was still wearing the pink one since she hadn’t found anything to her liking when spring brought winter clothes sales.
Pushing her way into the rental office, she found herself missing the insurance office it used to be. With Anderson in the back office, and Ruth right her at the window. Ruth ready for conversation at a moment’s notice. Now she was busy in the back office, writing most of the time since the rental office was basically only open if you had an appointment.
Today Ruth was in the back office when she came in, looking the same as she always had. Well, happier now than she used to be, now she had Anderson and the ability to do what she loved all day long: write books.
“You wanted to see me?” Mia said from the doorway. This was the first SOS she had ever received, so she didn’t know if it was good or bad.
“Could you close the door, Mia?” Ruth stated calmly.
Mia closed the door and walked over to the chair Ruth had on the other side of her desk. Then, as usual, she looked at all the black blinking boxes that lined the shelves behind her friend. What any of them did was beyond Mia, but Ruth knew what they all did. All those black boxes kept Ruth’s computers running and connected to the world. Anderson teased her about her network sometimes when Mia was around, but she knew he was impressed that she was an expert. Enough so that she maintained his internet connection at his insurance office as well.
“What’s the emergency?” Mia asked.
“First, I want to know if you can get a few days off?” Ruth asked cryptically.
“What days?” Mia leaned on the desk with her elbows and rested her chin on her hands, looking closely at her nervous friend.
“The rest of the day today, tomorrow, and maybe the next one,” Ruth stated.
“So, today and Friday. I get the weekend off this week. I think I can swing it.” Smiling, she rescheduled in her head. She knew two of her waitresses would fill in for her, no questions asked.