A collective sigh went around the group.
“That’s it then,” Ethan said. “You leave us no choice.”
Mia pushed a book onto the shelf before looking at him with a raised eyebrow.
“No choice for what?”
He clapped his hands once before rubbing them together. “It’s time to meddle.”
Mia shook her head, but the three men had already turned and were walking toward the front door. She chased after them, leaving Allison watching the spectacle in sheer delight.
“What are you going to do?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Noah said.
“Excuse me. I will worry about it. It’s my life you’re meddling with.”
“You’ll thank us later.”
Mia’s wide eyes found Miles as he looked back. He was the sensible one in the group. She gave him a pleading look. She couldn’t lose Jackson if their meddling sent things up in flames. Her life couldn’t survive him not being there.
“Don’t worry. It’ll be fine,” he said.
She watched as they all got into a car and drove away. Part of her was tempted to close the library and chase after them, but she couldn’t neglect her job like that. Books were too important to deny access to for something like this. She went back inside and picked up her cell phone, tempted to call Jackson, but something stopped her.
Mia looked up to where Allison was watching her.
“Don’t tell him,” she said.
Mia sighed and set her phone back down. “What do you think they’re going to do?”
She laughed. “Who knows? Those Blakes march to the beat of their own drum. But if there’s one thing I know, it’s that those boys care about you and won’t do anything to cause harm.”
Mia knew Allison was right. They would never meddle if it would cause anyone any problems. She tapped her fingers on the counter and rolled her lips. She wasn’t sure what she would do the rest of the day until she could find a Blake and question them.
“What should I do now?” She said it more to herself, but Allison responded.
“Just sit back and enjoy the show. Perhaps all your dreams will come true.”
A textfrom Jackson came through a few hours later asking if she wanted to go to trivia at the hotel bar that night. She agreed and left the library after a long day of wondering what the Blake men were up to. When she pulled up to her house, Jackson was waiting outside, leaning against his car.
“Hey,” he said. “How was work?”
She paused for a moment, trying to read his face. Did the guys say something to him? She wasn’t sure, but since he didn’t ask her about it, she assumed not.
“It was slow. How was yours?”
He shrugged. “Good. I was able to get a bunch of flowers planted. The guys helped me rip out most of the bushes yesterday, so that went well.”
She stared at him a moment longer and then turned toward her house. “Let me just drop my stuff inside and I’ll be right back out.”
He pushed off the car and followed her. “You okay?”
“Yes, why do you ask?”
“Weird pauses before speaking. It’s not like you.”
She unlocked her front door and pushed it open. “It was just a strange day. And very slow, so I was ready to leave.”
