Mitch wanted to march over to where Ryan sat by Belle and move him away from her, especially after he saw Ryan touch her hand. What was he trying to do? They didn’t put the moves on girls the others were interested in. That was the bro code. And as brothers, they’d all agreed to it.
He didn’t think Ryan would abandon the deal they’d made, but still, it bothered Mitch to see him sitting there with Belle.
A hand landed on his shoulder as Gabe said, “Settle down, bro.”
Mitch glanced over at him with a glare. “What do you mean?”
“For once, everything you’re feeling is on display.” Gabe dropped down on the chair beside him. “And for no good reason. You know as well as I do that Ryan would never, ever make a move on a girl you’ve got feelings for.”
“I know. It would make things so much easier if she would just give me a sign that she thought of me as something more than the man working on her building.” Mitch sighed as he flopped back in his chair. “She keeps her emotions on lockdown. I can’t tell a thing.”
“That alone should tell you something,” Gabe said.
“Like what?”
“If she weren’t so concerned with you seeing something below the surface, she probably wouldn’t work so hard to keep her emotions on lockdown, as you put it.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that. I really don’t want to be reading things into a situation that might not be there.” Mitch paused. “That way lies heartache. I’m better off waiting for a woman who is happy to embrace how she feels about me.”
“And what does your heart say about that?” Gabe glanced up as Maya brought him a soda, smiling as she bent down to kiss him. “Thanks, babe.”
She gave Mitch a smile then left them to their conversation.
“My heart will get on board eventually. It has before.”
“But has your heart felt like this before? Truly?”
Mitch didn’t bother to respond. He and Gabe both knew the answer. They’d talked at length about the women he had dated over the years. Gabe would have known there was something different when Mitch had talked with him about Belle over the past few months.
Maybe he should have kept his mouth shut.
By the time ten-thirty rolled around, Mitch was ready to call it a day, even though they still had the fireworks to do. Not that they were setting off the fireworks themselves. Their dad had an agreement with the people on the other side of the lake whereby he contributed to a community display. Their nephew worked for a fireworks company, so he was experienced enough to put together quite a show. It was the highlight of the Canada Day weekend for those celebrating at the lake.
Mitch wanted to sit with Belle while they watched the fireworks, but somehow, he got out to the deck too late, and she’d already found a seat between her sisters once again. So instead, he settled for one of the chairs behind the girls, next to Ryan and Denise.
Jasmine spotted him and turned around with a smile. “This is awesome. The last time I tried to watch some Canada Day fireworks, I had to battle crazy crowds to get home afterward. This…well, I get to just walk upstairs when it’s done. It’s perfect.”
“Yeah. It’s the best way to watch fireworks,” Mitch agreed. “We’ve been doing this for the past several years. Each year the display seems to get better and better.”
“Is it just for Canada Day?” Jasmine asked.
“Yeah. Although I think they have, at times, set off fireworks for their own personal family events.” Mitch leaned forward to point at a section of lights in the distance. “The family across the lake are the ones who arrange it.”
Belle turned toward him, but just then, the lights behind them disappeared as his dad shut them off. Total darkness was the best way to view the fireworks, and it wasn’t long after the lights had gone off before the first of the fireworks lit up the night sky.
There were plenty of oohs and ahhhhs as one after another, crackers exploded above them in a kaleidoscope of color. Though Mitch viewed the display each year, he never ceased to enjoy it, and each year it seemed to get better. The only thing that would have made this year better would have been if he could have shared the experience more closely with Belle.
He had held out hope that during the weekend he’d be able to spend some time with her—quality time—but as usual, that wasn’t to be. The next day, they would be heading back into the city. He’d felt that being together in the same place that weekend would be his opportunity to see, once and for all, if there might be something between the two of them.
However, the fact that she seemed determined not to be alone with him was discouraging. Well, they’d had time together on the jet ski, but that hadn’t been very conducive to a good conversation. He’d thought he’d accepted it, but he’d had one last hope that maybe this would be his chance. That she’d see him there amongst his family and friends and realize he was trustworthy and wouldn’t hurt her.
Once the last of the fireworks had faded away after an explosive finish, his dad turned the lights on, and people began to get up and move back into the house. The ones staying elsewhere headed off while the rest began to head upstairs to the bedrooms.
When Mitch saw Belle go up with Jasmine, he decided to call it a night for himself as well. He made sure that his parents didn’t need any more help before he headed upstairs. Once there, he went straight to the guys’ room, walking in in time to hear Gabe and Ryan arguing over some sports game result. Normally, Mitch would join in, but this time, he just went and grabbed his toiletry bag.
It didn’t take him long to get ready for bed, and even though the others in the room didn’t show signs of sleeping any time soon, Mitch crawled onto the lower bunk of one of the beds and stretched out. He, Ryan, Kenton, and Gabe all had lower bunks while the teen boys and Benjie, Avery’s son, had the upper ones.
Thankfully, the bunkbeds weren’t like ordinary beds that could be bought in a furniture store. With an eye to his sons growing into teenagers and then men, their dad had ordered the bunkbeds custom built. They were long enough to accommodate heights of up to six foot two inches and were wide enough to be comfortable for even grown men. They were also sturdy enough that the movements of either person wouldn’t wake the other.
Mitch was glad when Kenton called it a night for them all and turned off the lights. The glow of cell phone screens punctuated the darkness, but there was no further conversation. Mitch looked through his email and social media accounts before setting his phone down on the bed beside his pillow.
He spent some time in prayer, asking God for patience and wisdom in his dealings with Belle. More than anything, he didn’t want to push for something that wasn’t God’s will, but it was hard to accept that. In getting to know Belle, Mitch had found himself drawn to her more than any other woman he’d been interested in before. She made him want to be an even better man. A man who could help her shoulder the stresses of her life.
Growing up with Makayla, Mitch had seen firsthand how someone could struggle with worry or anxiety. Makayla had resisted change, and when it was forced on her, she often had a difficult time adjusting. Which, in all honesty, made it challenging for all those around her. Some of the family had gotten frustrated with Makayla, calling her a drama queen or diva. As a teen, however, Mitch saw that it wasn’t something she could easily control.
He was noticing some similar behaviors and actions from Belle. That didn’t scare him. In fact, it drew him to her even more. He didn’t know if she’d always been that way, or if her reactions were a result of her relationship with Andre. It didn’t really matter, though, because he just wanted to be in her life, and to have her want to be in his.
Over the past couple of weeks, he’d gone back and forth about whether he wanted to make himself vulnerable to her. To take the chance of bearing his heart to her. Given how she was now, it seemed that it wasn’t a risk that would pay off the way he wanted. And yet…he just hadn’t been able to convince himself to keep his distance from her.
Mitch fell asleep, thoughts of Belle still lingering in his subconscious mind.
He came awake sometime later and shifted to grab his phone. The glowing numbers told him that it was just past one in the morning. He’d been asleep less than two hours. Dragging a hand over his face, Mitch put his phone back down and turned over, hoping that he’d be able to get back to sleep easily.
But after shifting positions several times and finding sleep elusive, Mitch sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. Moving quietly, he got to his feet and headed out of the room, taking the advice he’d given Belle earlier about going downstairs if she couldn’t sleep.
The cabin was quiet as he moved down the staircase to the kitchen. He grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge then wandered over to the seats near the large windows that looked out over the water. Though it was appealing to go outside to look at the stars in the inky black sky, Mitch had no interest in becoming a midnight snack for mosquitoes. Instead, he settled back in one of the armchairs, his feet propped up on an ottoman.
He’d been downstairs for about ten minutes when he heard movement from the second floor. Being as familiar with the cabin as he was, Mitch knew that the noises were coming from the girls’ room. Was Belle coming downstairs because she was unable to sleep? Or was it just someone going to the bathroom or coming downstairs to get a drink?
The sounds of the floor softly creaking continued as someone moved out of the room upstairs and down the hallway. Mitch turned his head toward the steps—which were illuminated by soft lights built into the wall—and watched as a familiar figure made their way down the stairs. His dad had left nightlights burning in strategic places throughout the cabin, including the kitchen and living room areas. He had wanted to make sure that even visitors to the cabin would feel comfortable moving around in the night if they wanted or needed to.
The fridge light came on briefly, silhouetting Belle’s figure. Mitch watched as she reached for a bottle of water, just as he had. He wasn’t sure if he needed to alert her to his presence if she planned to go back upstairs. However, when she turned toward where he sat, Mitch knew that he couldn’t hide.
He cleared his throat then said, “Guess I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t sleep.”
Belle came to a stop at his words, and Mitch held his breath as he waited to see what she’d do. If she’d come downstairs to be alone, then, most likely, she wouldn’t want to come sit near him. But Mitch hoped that she would be willing to share the quiet of the nighttime. He wouldn’t push for conversation if she didn’t want to talk.
After what felt like an eternity, Belle moved to sit in the armchair across from his. She propped her feet up on the ottoman as well and cracked the seal on the lid of the bottle of water before lifting it to take a sip.
Though he would have happily sat there staring at Belle, Mitch figured that would be ill-received, so he turned his gaze back to the window. As silence settled between them, Mitch continued to take drinks of water from the bottle he held.
“If you want something other than water to drink, let me know. I can make you coffee, tea, or hot chocolate.”
“Thanks, but I think water is best if I hope to sleep at all tonight,” Belle said, the water bottle crinkling as she rolled it between her hands. They were silent for a few more minutes before she asked, “What’s keeping you up tonight?”
“I did fall asleep but woke up a little while ago, and I couldn’t go back to sleep. I think it is partly due to me not being used to sharing a room with six other guys. None of them are bad snorers, but it’s just the noises, you know?” Mitch was happy to answer her question and figured it gave him the right to ask one of his own. “How about you?”
“Well, like you, I’m not used to sharing a room anymore. When we were younger, the four of us shared a room, but that hasn’t been the case for quite a few years now.” She paused. “Also, I’m not used to sleeping in the same room with people I don’t know very well.”
“I’m sorry if that has made this weekend uncomfortable for you,” Mitch said.
“It’s not your fault. Besides, I could have insisted on going to the hotel. And my sisters aren’t having the same problem, so this is clearly my issue.”
“Sometimes we forget that not everyone is so comfortable around strangers as most of us are,” Mitch said. “My sister, Makayla, is like you. She’s a bit different now, but a few years ago, she found things like change or being around people she didn’t know, to be very stressful.”
“Really?” Belle asked. “Was she always that way?”
“Yeah. Well, for as long as I’d known her. We met when she was seven or eight. She’d had some difficulties in her early years. Her dad was in the military, so they moved around a bit before he died. That was when they moved back to Canada. So I think those things might have contributed to her issues with change and not being comfortable with people she didn’t know well. Given that her biological siblings don’t react the same way, I guess there was a part of her that was like that all along.”
“She’s not like that now?”
“Oh, she’s still that way to a degree. I think she’d prefer to not have change forced on her, but she is getting better at accepting it. Of course, having met her husband as a result of a major change has helped her. Now she can’t claim that all change is bad.”
Belle didn’t ask any further questions as she continued to drink her water. Mitch figured their conversation was over, so he was surprised when she spoke again.
“I do like you, Mitch,” she said, her voice barely audible. “I hope you know that.”