Worth the Wait (McKinney_Walker #1)(78)
The garage door was down. The lights were out. He climbed the three porch steps and rang the bell. She was probably asleep, but that was too damn bad. They weren’t going another night without talking. He rang again then knocked. She has to be here. Then he got a really bad feeling. If she wasn’t here, where was she? Who was she with? He banged on the door with a closed fist. “Mia!” She was in there. He was almost sure.
“Mia,” he said again, then again, softer in case she was standing right on the other side of the door. “Please let me in. Mia?” Nothing.
He considered breaking in but decided against it. He’d come back tomorrow and the next day. Every day until she listened to him.
He went home and fell into bed exhausted, mentally and physically. His baby sister was in good hands. If he didn’t believe that, he never would have let her go. Little Hannah. Married. It would take some getting used to.
The timing was ironic and somewhat full circle. Hannah off on her own, his duty done in a way. At the same time, he was determined to start a life of his own.
Time only moved in one direction. That was life. Hannah moving on was certainly part of it, but Mia coming back into his life… that was the kicker. He could see this time line in his mind starting at nineteen and moving continuously to the right. All along the track were bright sections with Mia and dark sections without her.
He didn’t want any more sections without. No matter what it took, he would merge their lines again. He would do and be whatever it took to make her trust in those lines and in him. With his mind on a future with Mia, he drifted into sleep.
He woke early, going straight for caffeine. Minutes later, he was staring into his mug of black coffee. It was exactly like staring into Mia’s eyes. There hadn’t been one cup of coffee in ten years that he hadn’t thought that. Just another way she’d remained with him. And as always, he wanted to fall in just one more time and stay there, knowing that if he got another chance, he would take hold and never let go.
After a run and a shower, he checked messages and emails, killing as much time as he could, before he picked up his keys and walked out the door. As he drove to Mia’s, he got the promised text from his sister, telling him they were in Atlanta, flying out for Costa Rica in the morning.
It was nearly nine, and Mia’s house looked exactly as it had last night. The garage door was still down; the shades were closed. The only thing different was the local newspaper lying in the driveway. The newspaper she hadn’t gotten. Could be she wasn’t up yet.
Nick rang the doorbell and waited. No answer. So either she hadn’t come home, or she was still in there, ignoring him. Now he was desperate. “Mia!” he yelled. “Open the damn door.”
“Is there a problem?”
Nick looked over his shoulder at a man standing on the sidewalk. “No. No problem.”
“You sure? Because it sounds like there’s a problem.”
Nick turned slowly, right on the edge, but the man held his ground on the sidewalk.
“Mia’s my neighbor.” He pointed across the street and down a few houses. “I’ve never seen you here before.”
Nick felt his jaw tighten and took a slow, deep breath. “I appreciate the concern,” he said carefully, “but there’s no need. Okay? I’m an old friend.” And why the fuck was he explaining himself to this guy? He looked back to the door, willing it to open. Nothing. And he was making a scene.
Without a glance at the guy on the sidewalk, who was still staring at him, Nick got in his car and left.
He had every intention of returning later, but he got called in with a break on a new case. By Monday morning, he’d been on the job over twenty-four hours with only time for a quick shower and change of clothes. But he hadn’t forgotten his real mission. This time, he bypassed her home and went straight to her office. No way Mia was missing work.
“She is not in,” Mia’s receptionist told him.
Nick checked his watch. It was almost one thirty. “Fine. I’ll wait.” He turned to find a seat.
“I mean she’s not in today.”
He pivoted slowly to face her.
“She took a leave of absence.”
“What? For how long?”
“She didn’t say, but I couldn’t tell you that anyway. If you want to leave your name, I can give her a message if she checks in.”
“No thanks,” he said over his shoulder, already halfway to the door. He was going back to the house and wasn’t stopping until he was inside.
Nick pulled up in the driveway. The SUV jerked when he slammed it into park before he’d fully stopped. He rang the doorbell once. He wasn’t waiting any more. His body tensed to kick in the door, and he barely caught himself. But if he was going to knock down the door, better not draw a gathering of the nosy neighbors.