Page 2 of A Home for Harmony (Blossoms #16)

SERIOUS STUBBORNNESS

S ix Weeks Later

Micah Barnes shoved his travel mug under the one-cup coffee maker and hit the button, then grabbed his small lunch cooler off the counter and opened the fridge to figure out what to pack for the day.

Long gone were the days he picked up food on the road. He was in the office pushing more paperwork since being promoted to captain six months ago.

He’d wanted to get closer to home anyway, and it benefited him as a two for one in his eyes.

He tossed in a container of leftover goulash he’d made last night, some protein bars, and an apple. A nice mature boring lunch.

Just like all the guys under him busted his ass about.

That or the fact he rarely laughed, let alone smiled.

Who the hell cared? He was at work and not there to make friends but to catch criminals.

His gun in the holster on his shoulder, he grabbed his jacket, put it on, then threw his phone in the pocket of his pants. Snatching up his filled lunch bag, he picked up his travel mug and put the top on.

Good, his routine was so boring even to him.

But he was out the door happy to have his fifteen-minute drive to work over the hour before.

When he saw a car pulled over on the side of the road, he went behind it to see what was going on.

The roads were slick from an early morning snow shower that was half melted, half frozen.

As he approached the window, he caught sight of a young woman inside, shaking her head with a tight, polite smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. He could see the nerves written all over her face.

Smart since he was a stranger.

Though he was in uniform, his jacket covered most of it, and she wouldn't have known. He pulled out his badge and held it up. Her eyes fluttered shut for a moment as she took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled and opened her door. With the car off, rolling down the window hadn’t been an option.

She didn’t open the door wide though, as if she could slam it fast if she wanted.

“Hi,” she said. Her voice was light, her facial expression not so much. “The tow truck is on the way. My car just died.”

“Did they say how long they’d be?” he asked.

She shook her head. Her eyes were glossy, her knee was shaking. “No. I’m trying to call, but I think they are a little busy right now.”

All he saw looking at her light brown hair in a messy ponytail and the bulky sweatshirt she wore was his daughter, Scarlet, who would have left the house not prepared to be stuck on the side of the road in the winter.

“I can wait with you if you want,” he said. “In my car where the heat works.” She seemed to hesitate as if she didn’t trust him. He didn’t have a problem with that. “If you want, look me up online. You’ll find me with the Connecticut State Police. Captain Micah Barnes.”

She was white knuckle gripping her phone. When she lifted it from her lap and the screen came on, he saw that the number pad was up and she had 9-1 punched in already.

Jesus, now he felt like shit.

She typed his name in while he took a step back to not crowd her. He was looking over her shoulder and saw his name and picture pop up, then her shoulders visibly relax, the door open more.

“Thank you for that,” she said. “It’s drilled into women’s heads to be cautious. But everyone thinks I’m helpless and maybe this made me nervous.”

He nodded his head. “Why don’t you come sit in my car with me with the heat on,” he said. “There is no reason to freeze here. Or can I bring you somewhere? Is there someone else you can call?”

“My sister isn’t answering my text,” she said. “I know she’s in an early meeting this morning and she isn’t one to stop and check her phone.”

“Not even if the phone is going off a lot?” he asked.

The young woman stood up and grabbed a big floral purse from the passenger side, flung it over her shoulder and followed him to his SUV.

Micah noticed the black leggings under her oversized sweatshirt and the tan slipper shoes—exactly like the ones he’d shelled out nearly two hundred bucks for as Scarlet’s Christmas gift.

She’d better love them when she opened the box in a few weeks.

The hoops he’d jumped through to track them down were borderline insane.

“I work from home,” she said. “She wouldn’t think it was that important.”

They got to his SUV and he started it again, then cranked up the heat. She had to be freezing.

It was on the tip of his tongue to start with a lecture on winter preparation when leaving the house, but he decided he’d be wasting his breath.

This woman was old enough to make her own decisions in life. At least she was cautious enough around him so far, so she couldn’t be that naive.

“Can I get your name?” he asked. “Or would you prefer I don’t know?”

She laughed softly, practically melting into the heated seat as warm air poured from the vents.

“Harmony James,” she said, putting her hand out.

“I’m super sorry about being rude back there.

That isn’t like me. I should have never left the house this early, but I ran out of creamer for my coffee and it was going to be a long day. An even longer one now.”

“It happens,” he said. “Can I ask what went wrong with your car?”

If she said she ran out of gas he was going to have a hard time not rolling his eyes and giving that lecture he’d just told himself he wouldn’t do.

“I don’t know,” she said. “The car is only two years old, but suddenly the dashboard just lit up and the car slowed down and it shut off. It was hard to turn the steering wheel to get it to the side and it rolled there and stopped. I didn’t even have to hit the brakes.

Which scared me because I don’t think they were working. ”

“Sounds like it’s an electrical issue,” he said.

She shrugged. “Probably,” she said. “I don’t want to leave it there because I can’t even lock the doors.”

“Guess it’s a good thing you weren’t locked in it instead of it not locking.”

Her jaw dropped, her light blue eyes went wide. “Oh my God. I didn’t think of that. That is one positive on the day. Two that you came when you did so I didn’t freeze my butt off. I’m such an idiot to run out like I had.”

He closed one eye at her. “You said it.”

“And you’re trying really hard not to light into me on what an idiot I am leaving the house in poor weather conditions dressed the way I am,” she said.

“If my sister did come and get me, she would start in right away on both things. She’s the responsible one of us.

Her and my brother who is a surgeon. I’m the one everyone worries about, though I say they don’t need to. Today I proved that wrong, huh?”

Which went to show that she didn’t want anyone to know what happened so she’d sooner sit there freezing her ass off, scared out of her mind than risk getting a lecture.

That was some serious stubbornness there.

“Things like this happen all the time,” he said.

“Bet you’re prepared for everything,” she said, smirking at him.

He snorted and she laughed.

She had no makeup on, but her skin was flawless. Her eyes were like a bright blue sky he could stare into for hours.

She had soft cheekbones, straight white teeth and perfectly kissable lips that he shouldn’t be noticing.

There didn’t seem to be one blemish on her features and it all looked natural on top of it.

It was no wonder her family worried about her. If she were his daughter, she’d be locked away for years.

“I wouldn’t say everything,” he said. “Good thing I don’t have any meetings this morning, but I should let them know I’ll be late.”

He pulled his phone out and sent a group text to a few people and told them to call if they needed anything.

“I’m sorry about that,” she said. “Once I know the tow truck is on the way, I can return to my car.”

“It’s not a big deal,” he said. “I’ll stay until they are here. How are you getting home?”

“I figured I’d go to the garage with my car. By then, Erica, my sister, should have reached out. I hope. I can’t call my brother since today is a surgery day. I could try my sister-in-law if I have to.”

“But then she’ll tell your brother who I’m guessing is protective of you?”

She smiled. “Yep, but I’m not crazy enough to sit around waiting either.”

“You don’t have any other friends you could call?” he asked.

Someone like her had to have a whole slew of people flocking around.

She shrugged. “Not really. I don’t get out much and my sister and I moved here together about a year ago.”

A year was plenty of time to make some friends, but again, not his problem or worth his time to lecture.

“I can bring you home if you want,” he found himself saying.

“I couldn’t ask you to do that,” she said. “You’re already going to be late as it is.”

“I’m normally early,” he said. “Bad habit.” He looked at the clock on the dash. “I still have fifteen minutes before I have to be there.”

She laughed. “And that is why you’re the boss.”

“I still have people I report to,” he said, frowning.

“We all do,” she said. “Sort of. I enjoy being my own boss. I didn’t think I would, but that means it all falls on me too.”

He wasn’t usually one for small talk, but here he was, sitting beside her, doing his best not to breathe in too deeply and get caught in the soft floral scent that clung to her.

What the hell was wrong with him?!

“What do you do?”

“A mixture of things,” she said. “I’ve got a degree in marketing. I help businesses set up and navigate social media to benefit them. Could be webpage design, lessons on video editing to post, things like that. I’ve got a large following and get paid sponsorship fees too.”

She spoke the last part more quietly, as if she didn’t want it known or might be embarrassed over it.

Micah hoped to hell she wasn’t one of those OnlyFans girls.

“Do I want to know what your sponsors are?” he asked.

Her smile filled the interior. “You should see your face,” she said.

“Nothing scandalous. I’d never do that .

I sort of fell into things from my last job at Media Creator.

I was a content creator and would be crazy not to ride it and bank the money, but it’s not like I think it’s going to last. A lot of my sponsors are clothing brands.

” She pulled at her leggings. “These for one. I love yoga and talk about it, so it made sense. Skincare products. Jewelry. Things like that. I’m very choosey what I accept.

I have to believe in the product and what the company stands for. ”

He’d give her credit for that.

He noticed she had a daisy flower ring on her middle finger and rose earrings in her ears. His daughter had those same earrings.

“That’s good,” he said.

“You’re not impressed,” she said. “And I don’t expect you to be. I get looked down on for my career choices. I’ve got a legitimate business and clients all over the world. I’m not riding the influencer rage and thinking it’s going to last me a lifetime.”

“It’s not for me to be impressed, like, or dislike what you do,” he said.

“I know,” she said, smiling. “I’m just saying that everyone has to do what makes them happy in life. If they don’t like it, they need to take steps to get there. That’s what I’m doing. I do what makes me happy and post that also. Just like what happened to me this morning will not be posted.”

“Because you don’t want followers to know that everything isn’t always perfect?”

She laughed. “They know it’s not because I say things like that.

But this is private. I’m very careful about what I put out there.

This doesn’t mean I don’t share things that happen, but joking about going outside in bad weather, my car dying, my improper attire, and now sitting in a police car would be very irresponsible. ”

“You’ve got a point,” he said. “But that doesn’t stop many people from still posting.”

“It’s not me unless I turn it into a lesson for others,” she said. Her phone went off. “Oh, they will be here in five minutes to get my car.”

He told himself he should feel relieved—but the truth was, he didn’t. Not even close.