Page 20 of Raised On It (Between the Pines #1)

Mason

D ear Journal,

Miles had warned me last night that today would be especially busy and that the only break in his schedule was his standing third Friday of the month haircut at Mel’s Barber Shop.

But more importantly he said after seeing me every day this week, there was no way he could go an entire day without doing so.

He swung by to pick me up, and he took me with him to get his haircut. Yes, you read that right. He wanted to see me so badly he picked me up just to go get his haircut with him.

According to Miles, no tour of Eastlyn was complete without a trip to Mel’s anyway.

I kind of wish I had never gone to Mel’s.

Because then I wouldn’t have been sure this was more than lust and that I was actually falling in love with my tour guide.

Not only him, but the whole damn town.

Journal, I know it makes no sense that a trip to the barbershop would be the catalyst for such a declaration, but it’s true.

I’ll never forget the scent of spicy cologne, the low buzz of the clippers, and the dust particles floating through the beam of sunlight piercing through the shop for as long as I live.

The mutual respect and friendship Mel and the other retired old-timers at the shop had for one another was incredibly endearing. Not to mention the hysterical stories. Stories that may have only been half true but who cares when they’re about Miles in his youth.

There is no doubt Miles, Montgomery Farms, and his entire family are a big piece of the heart and soul of this community.

There are pictures of Miles and the farm on the wall as well as the team photo from the years when his high school baseball team won the state title.

And of course, an EBC sign in the middle of it all.

This tiny barbershop sitting smack dab in the middle of Main Street is a living museum of all of the things that make Eastlyn well, Eastlyn.

Nobody talked about the pictures on the wall or bragged on Miles.

The men in the shop just went about their day and continued arguing over who the Trail Blazers should have drafted a couple of months ago.

While I was spinning in the empty chair next to Miles, giggling at the entertainment Mel and the other Eastlyners were providing, the bell above the door rang and in walked Miles twenty-five years from now.

Mitch Montgomery may have a couple of inches and a few pounds on his son, but they are a matching set otherwise.

Mitch’s presence filled the small shop instantly.

Once he joined the conversation, my pulse began to pound in my ears the moment it hit me.

I was falling for a man I could never be with.

Forget the fact I had vowed to never fall for a man like him again because this is the least of my worries.

The real problem is that as great as he may be, I am still a city mouse who is only here for a short time, and it’s clear that nothing and no one could ever take Miles Montgomery away from here. And frankly, who would want to?

Journal, I am tumbling ass over teakettle downhill at top speed for this man. I know it’s gonna hurt, and I know he’s the kind of man who will ruin me for all men to come after him, but I feel helpless to fight the pull of him.

Instead of fighting it, I’m going to soak up these hot summer days as long as he keeps asking me to.

Whether it be thirty minutes in a barbershop or watching the sunrise over his farm.

Whatever little bit he can give me, I will greedily take because Miles Montgomery is everything, and you don’t walk away from everything.

At least not until you walk down the jetway to the plane that will take you away from him. And that’s still nine weeks away.

I’ll worry about those tears once the plane doors close behind me.