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Mac + Mia = Per sempre e sempre. Forever and Always.
I see a whole slew of emotions cross Mia’s face. The one that gets to me the most is the pain.
“Do you ever come out here anymore?” she asks me quietly.
“Once a week for the past ten years,” I tell her, speaking the truth.
Her eyes jump to me in surprise at my confession. “Really? Why?”
I scoot over to her and lay my hand over hers that are still on the tree. “Because I never stopped thinking about you. You may not have wanted the forever anymore, but I did. You never stopped being my forever, Pix, even when you hated me. Even when I thought I never had a chance with you again.”
I see her eyes water over and she looks down, saying, “Sorry.”
I lift her face back to mine. “Why are you sorry? You have nothing to apologize for.”
“I’m sorry that I never let you talk and tell me what happened. You went through that by yourself when I should have been there. I should have given you the chance.”
I grab the sides of her face and rub her cheeks with my thumbs. “Oh, Mia, I don’t blame you for that. You were hurt. I knew that. Yes, I wish you had let me explain, but I understand why you didn’t.”
“I wish I had as well. We lost so much time.”
We’re both still on our knees, and I scoot over to her and pull her into my arms. She wraps her arms around me tightly. I rest my head on top of hers. We did lose time, but not anymore. No way am I letting Mia get away from me now.
I kiss the top of her head before pulling away. “Let’s eat.”
She wipes a tear from her cheek and sits back on her legs. “Okay.”
We both get comfortable and start eating our food in silence, just watching the wind rustle the flowers. We’ve always been able to come out here and just sit. The peace and tranquility are enough, no words necessary.
Mia breaks the silence when she asks, “I haven’t gotten the opportunity to ask. How do you like being sheriff?”
“Hmm… depends on the day. Some days, I love it. Other days, when I have to get up at two in the morning to get a cat out of tree, not so much. All in all, I wouldn’t change anything though. As you know, Jaded Hollow isn’t very big and not much happens here, but I like knowing that people come to me to keep them safe.”
“I know you’ve always wanted to become sheriff. I’m glad your dream came true for you.”
Mia puts down the container holding the fruit and leans back against the tree. I slide over until I’m next to her. I lie back, resting on my elbow. I reach up and play with the frayed edges of her jean shorts. Mia reaches over with her bare feet and touches the bag still sitting on the blanket.
“What’s that?”
I reach over and grab the bag. “I got you this a few years ago when I went to South Carolina.” I pull out the jar and hand it to her. She takes it from my hand and sucks in a sharp breath.
“Oh, my God, Mac.”
She holds the jar filled with sand and shells up to her face. She squeals with delight, and I can’t help but laugh at her excitement. A few years ago, I went to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, for a vacation. I knew Mia had never been to the beach before. It was one of her dreams to see the ocean and gather seashells. I thought of her the whole time I was there.
Mia opens the jar and pulls out one of the shells sitting on top of the sand.
“That’s a sand dollar. I bleached it for you. You can paint designs on it,” I tell her.
Her eyes light up at the thought of putting her own design on it. She reaches in and pulls out another shell.
“And that’s a clam shell.”
She puts down the shell and reaches in past the few other shells inside until she gets to the sand. She grabs a small handful, pulls it out, and puts it on the blanket. The way she’s entranced with the stuff reminds me of a kid. It’s amazing to watch the fascination on her face.
“It’s so soft,” she says in awe.
She replaces the lid and carefully sets the jar beside her on the blanket. She turns and launches herself onto my lap, causing me to lie back. I laugh as she places kisses all over my face.
