Chapter Fourteen

Mia closed her eyes and willed her brain to stop the erotic video looping in her head. It will happen when it happens. Tanner feels the need to make amends for his past. I get that, I do…

But maybe he can atone a little faster so we can get to the good stuff? her psyche chimed in all on its own, making her smirk even as her thoughts caused a flare-up of white-hot need.

"Think about something else, anything else," she muttered under her breath, and grabbed a large wooden spoon to stir the pot of merrily boiling potato pieces.

"What's that, dear?" her mom asked, and Mia startled at first.

"Nothing, sorry. Just thinking about school stuff," Mia attempted, and Gladys chuckled and shook her head.

"Would you like to try that again?"

"Never could get anything past you," Mia sighed, and Gladys chuckled again.

"Nope. Now, spill it."

A stymied Mia blushed furiously once more.

"Ah. It's about Tanner, right?" her mom leaned in and whispered.

"Um. Yes."

"Well then. Say no more, dear, I get it."

"You do?"

"I do," Gladys confirmed. "I don't know if I ever told you, but I had a crush on your dad long before he noticed me, too."

Mia's jaw dropped as her mom winked and smiled.

"But once he did notice, let me tell you.... man, oh man," Gladys said, giggling and fanning herself and causing her daughter to squeak out a mortified "Mom!"

"What? I'm just as human as the next gal," she quipped.

"My point is - sometimes it takes a bit to see what's right in front of you. I've known Tanner since he and Blake started fifth grade together. And there used to be such a sparkle in his eyes. The last time I saw Tanner was a couple of years ago, and it broke my heart to see that sparkle was gone. And now? You've brought that sparkle back, Mia. But you also need to give him some time to finish working past whatever caused him to lose it to begin with. You'll be glad you waited it out, trust me."

And with that, her mom gave Mia a one-armed hug, then moved to the oven to check the turkey, nodding in satisfaction as she watched the meat thermometer's gauge climb.

"Almost done," Gladys announced. "Another half-hour or so, and it can come out, and the pies can go in. We'll be eating at noon, just like I planned."

"Great! Anything else you need me to do?" Mia asked.

"Nope, everything else is either finished, or needs to wait a bit so it doesn't get cold," Gladys replied. "We'll put your dad and brother to work carving turkey and mashing potatoes in about an hour."

"Please include me, too, I'm happy to help," Tanner said as he strode into the room and toward the coffeepot. "Gladys, it smells amazing in here."

"Why thank you! I'll take you up on that. Will you slice up the ham, please?"

"Yes, ma'am, happy to, just let me know when you need me to get started," he replied, throwing a heated look and then a wink in Mia's direction when Gladys turned her attention back to the pecan and cherry pies waiting their turn for the oven.

Mia blushed and smiled and stirred the boiling potatoes again.

***

Promptly at noon, as Gladys had planned all along, the five of them sat down at the table together for Christmas dinner. And while Tanner had always felt welcome in the Jones household, something felt different this time. Clearer. Stronger. The atmosphere in the room as they all said grace, then began to pass bowls of food around the table, enveloped him like a warm, soft blanket.

It shocked the hell out of him to realize that he was what had changed. Gladys and Phil’s approach to interacting with their son's best friend had been constant from day one. What had shifted was the self-perception he'd had every other time he’d been seated at their table.

Before, he’d opted to politely keep them at arm’s length, always feeling that while welcomed, he was still merely a guest, an outsider. And in years past, particularly during the stretch of time in his younger years when his own parents’ marriage wasn’t quite the loving picture of blissful stability, he felt it keenly.

But now? Opening his heart to the possibility of building something lasting with Mia had changed everything. For the first time, Tanner felt like he truly belonged at that table - and in that home. He felt.... settled. And he liked it.

He liked it a lot.

***

Blake, Tanner, and Mia insisted on clearing the table and handling the dishes after dinner, much to Gladys' delight, and she cheerfully walked arm in arm with Phil into the living room to relax with a cup of coffee.

The trio formed an assembly line - Mia at one sink, armed with soapy water and a scrub brush, Tanner beside her to do the rinsing, and Blake at the end, dishtowel in hand and ready to go.

"So when do you have to go back?" Tanner asked Blake as he passed him another plate to dry and put away.

"My flight leaves early Wednesday morning," Blake replied. 

Mia's face scrunched at that announcement.

"Man. It sucks that you can't extend it out, to make up for the days we missed," she pouted. "But I know you don't have a choice."

"I know, Mama Mia. Me too. And none of us could stop that weather coming through. To be honest, I'm just happy I got to come home at all this year."

"Hell, I'm just happy that storm didn't last any longer," Tanner quipped. "That was one for the record books, for sure. Did I tell you that even the County vehicles were grounded from operations that second day?"

Blake whistled. "Has that ever happened before?"

"Not for decades."

"Speaking of county," Mia chimed in, "I plan to apply to the Prism County Sheriff's training academy and to the Highway Patrol once I graduate."

Both men turned to look at her, and she stared defiantly back in return.

"What?" she challenged, one soap-covered hand fisted on her hip.

"Nothing," they said in unison, and Mia nodded.

"That's what I thought."