Neighbors with Benefits (Anderson Brothers, #2)(62)

“Yes.”

“But it’s different for him?”

“Yes. No. I don’t know.”

She leaned close. “Open this, Mia.” She pointed at Mia’s painting in front of her. “Set it free.”

Mia stared at her face a long time, letting her words sink in. Set it free. Yes.

There was a commotion outside the door and then Bernice gave a shrill squeal and clapped her hands.

Oh, good heavens.

Toenails clicked on the highly polished vinyl floor, and Clancy trotted into the room wearing the yellow and green sweater Gladys had knitted.

“Will you look at that,” Betty said. “What a cutie.”

“There’s something in its mouth,” Bernice said.

Clancy stopped right in front of her and sat. Gingerly, she removed the object from his mouth. It was a rolled up piece of paper. She stretched it open, but it was wound tightly and sprung shut, launching to the floor before she got a good look at it.

“What does it say?” Betty and Bernice said in unison.

Blanche snapped it up. “Lemme see.” She placed it on the table and unrolled it. “The course of true love never did run smooth.”

Leaning over to get a better look, Bernice’s brow furrowed. “What an odd thing for a dog to have as a chew toy.”

Mia covered her mouth and closed her eyes. Michael. At that point, she was terribly glad her heart was caged, because otherwise it would have beat right out of her chest.

Bernice grabbed her walker and shuffled to the window. “Oh, my word. There’s a horse drawn carriage out front.” All the other women moved to the window and made various noises of surprise as Mia’s heart continued its attempted escape from the confines of its cage.

Michael.

“I’m sorry, sir, you can’t just walk in—”

“Yes he can!” Blanche shouted to the nurse.

And then he was there. Just inside the doorway, more handsome than she’d remembered, breathing heavily with windblown hair, bright blue eyes, adorable dimples, wearing Gladys’s sweater, which was even uglier on than it was off.

Gladys gave a loud whoop and clapped.

“I…” he began and stopped, appearing lost. He took several steps toward her, grimacing like he was in pain. He closed his eyes as if composing himself.

Needle-like prickles of panic trickled down her spine. She worried he was hurt or something. “Michael?”

He opened his eyes and stared at her. “Give me a moment. I’m a little overcome. I hadn’t really planned what I was going to say specifically, only generally, and then I saw you and…”

The weight of the moment bore down on her all at once. Michael Anderson was out of control and unscripted—raw, unmasked, and completely vulnerable. And he was amazing. And despite his discomfort, she smiled, and then laughed.

“Well, I see I’m off to a great start,” he said.

“Oh, you are, honey,” Betty said.

“Go right ahead. We’re listening,” Blanche added.

His smile appeared and the dimples followed, his eyes never leaving her face. “Okay. Let’s try this again. This time without being thunderstruck by how beautiful you are and how even though I’ve envisioned your face every moment of every day, I still wasn’t prepared for the reality of you.”

“It’s the spot of black paint on her nose that does it,” Betty said.

Mia wiped her apron across her nose and Betty gave her a thumbs-up, indicating she’d gotten it.

“I asked you a question and you answered with a resounding no. It was the wrong question and you answered it correctly.”

“You’re not making any sense, young man,” Blanche observed.

“Shhhhhh,” the others said.

His hand rose to his chest. “I’m changed. You changed me.”

Mia was certain her own features matched the awed, open-mouthed expressions of the B’s.

“You’ve made me better. I want you to know that,” he continued.

When she glanced around the room, it seemed that half of the residents and staff were crowded right inside the door of the rec room, but he didn’t seem to notice at all as he spoke, wearing that preposterous sweater and an expression so sincere it made her dizzy.

“I could make a multitude of excuses or throw out a lot of blame for what happened, and so could you. In your heart, you know what really happened and so do I.”

“What happened?” Bernice asked

“Shhhhhh!”

“Do you know what else I know, Mia?”

Unable to speak, she could only shake her head as he took her hands in his. The contact was exactly what she needed. His touch grounded her and gave her focus. As she reveled in the comfort of his warm hands enveloping hers, she realized he was trembling.

“I know that I love you. That my life is so much better with you in it. That I can’t imagine it without you.”

A collective “awww” traveled through the room. Mia took a deep breath and shifted her weight foot to foot, reticent to look away for fear this whole amazing moment would be a figment of her imagination, and that when it ended, she’d still be sitting at the table, caught up in her painting.

“Nothing. Not money nor power nor work comes close to you. I’d give it all up to have you.” He grinned. “Though, I’d rather it not come to that.”