Page 34 of Semi Sweet (Working For Love #1)

“H ave you always had this?” I asked as he pulled away from the Rocky Mountain Press. The vehicle had nice leather seats and lots of electronic bells and whistles like a sunroof and fancy display screen in the dashboard.

I raised an eyebrow at him. “Russian-born. Japanese parents. Swedish car. My theory that you aren’t a real person still stands.” I shook my head when I realized I was getting sidetracked and a bunch of things didn’t add up. “How are you here? Don’t you have to work tomorrow?”

“I might have lied a bit,” he admitted. “Told them my grandparents surprised my parents and I had to leave early to pick them up at the airport. I pulled some strings and asked a couple of my veteran employees to stand in, but I’m able to stay with you in Aspen until Sunday.”

I hadn’t considered what would happen once we got there. Honestly, I wasn’t sure how serious he’d been when he brought it up this morning. Here I’d been telling myself I didn’t want to rely on him, but now I had no choice but to do just that. I felt my confidence wavering.

“Might have to borrow that car of yours,” I said. “I’m going to work with the editor of Rocky Mountain’s satellite office on Monday.”

“Good thing it’s an automatic.”

Sean drove out of the city. The GPS said it was three and a half hours to Aspen. He told me his parents knew we were on our way and his mother was buzzing when she heard he had someone coming with him. I found myself feeling nervous at the admission.

“Who does she think she’s meeting?” I asked. When he wouldn’t look at me and his face turned red, I pressed. “Sean….”

“She may or may not know how I feel about you,” he mumbled. “I had to explain it wasn’t that kind of trip. This is an emergency, you know?”

While that eased my anxiety, another worry quickly amped me up again. “You’re going to leave me with them, aren’t you?”

“Olivia, I know it’s not an ideal situation, but it’s better than risking running into Evan again, don’t you think?” Sean answered.

I hated to admit it, but he was right. “It is. So what kind of mom is she? Should I be afraid?”

Sean made a face. “You have nothing to worry about. She’ll probably be more cold to me because I haven’t scooped you up yet.”

Now it was my turn to blush. “I hope you told her it’s not quite that simple.”

“She knows the history, but that still won’t stop her from being disappointed.”

For a while, we listened to the radio, talking about nothing in particular as we approached the mountains that were always in the background of things.

Something came to mind as we got closer and I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t thought of it before.

I’d been too busy solving the cupcake mystery or dealing with Evan to notice.

“So, um...can I ask why you are still single?”

“We’ve been over this, I like–”

“No,” I interrupted. “You are way too kind and interesting to not be married with at least one kid. Why?”

Sean heaved a sigh. He pulled off the highway and into a rest stop.

I looked at the GPS and noticed we were already about halfway to Aspen.

The sun was starting to go down. We got out to stretch our legs and let Bear do his business.

We hit the bathroom ourselves before grabbing a few snacks to hold us over, because Sean assured me his mother would have a spread of food when we got to their house.

The whole while, I found myself getting irritated that he had ignored my question.

I was practically stewing as I tore into a bag of sour gummy worms as we returned to the freeway.

“Did you know that I was almost engaged once?” Sean finally broke the silence.

I nearly passed out from shock. I’d waited for his response and that was not what I’d been expecting. Previous relationship, sure, but almost married? That was a hard no.

“That’s a piece of information that probably should have come up in conversation!” I flung a worm at his head.

“Hey!” he exclaimed. “It’s a rental!”

“I’m hurt, Sean,” I said, only half joking. I guessed I was too preoccupied with all my own personal drama to have asked. Maybe that made me selfish. “Well, who was she?”

“Her name was Katie,” he said, then shook his head. “She’s not dead. Her name is Katie.”

“How did you meet her?”

“We’d been acquaintances since grade school. We didn’t start dating until our senior year. We ended up going to the same local college. I did my gen ed courses in Aspen before I went to New York for culinary school.”

I was slightly envious. I would have loved to have been on the same playing field as my significant other. Instead, I was always inferior, poorer, dumber, and more childish.

“What was she like?”

“Spontaneous and reckless. At the time it was fun, but I guess it should have been a red flag,” Sean answered.

“What do you mean?”

“Katie was never able to sit still for long. She’d wake you up in the middle of the night and want to go running.

She was skiing black diamond trails way before she was ready.

She’d take up dangerous hobbies on a whim, and when we were twenty she decided she was going to be a free runner.

She did it for two months before she was on to rock climbing.

After that, she wanted to play hockey.” He paused as he searched for the best words. “Super interesting. Super exhausting.”

“Well, Mizuno, I guess you are a bit more human than I gave you credit for,” I commented as I pictured someone more interesting than him. “What happened?”

“Oh, she cheated on me. Like the minute I got to New York,” he replied. “And continued to for the two years I was there.”

“Are you serious?”

He nodded and I could tell by the way he clenched his jaw that it still bothered him after all these years. “I had no idea. I was perfectly happy. Thus the almost being engaged thing.”

“I’m so sorry, Sean.”

“Oh, wait,” he snapped. “I’m not done. I got the ring, got ready to have this magical evening, and she dropped the bomb in front of my apartment. She’d been seeing a guy from our community college. I don’t think she would have even told me, but she had no choice.”

I had a feeling I knew where he was going with this, but I desperately hoped otherwise. “She realized her mistakes and was running off to a convent to atone for her sins?”

Sean laughed bitterly. “Is it bad I wish that was the case?” He shook his head. “Nope. Pregnant. One hundred percent the other guy’s. I went to Russia to meet my birth family during the time of conception.”

I cursed. I wouldn’t wish a thing like that on anyone, but Sean had been so kind to me.

Now the somewhat hard exterior when I first met him made sense.

Well, almost. Despite what Katie had done to him, he had done everything with the cupcakes and told me he would care for me better than Evan could.

It surprised me. Most men would have been wary after an experience like that.

“That happened and we still kissed before I broke up with Evan?” I felt bad for questioning it.

Sean groaned. “I know, Olivia, I am a gigantic hypocrite. I’m no better than the other man.” He turned to face me, taking his eyes off the road for a minute. “I wasn’t a self-centered, emotionally abusive asshole,” he attempted to reason. “I don’t think so, at least.”

“I doubt that,” I assured, offering him the bag of gummy worms.

“No more heavy topics, please,” he pleaded. “We’re half an hour away from my parents’ place and my mom has this therapist's sixth sense when people have been upset about something.”

I thought that was probably a good idea. I tried to make the conversation lighter. “Is your old room still set up?”

“Hell, no.” His voice was serious, but I was happy to see there was a smirk on his face again.

***

We made it to the Mizuno residence shortly after nine o’clock.

I felt foolish for staring, but the home looked like something out of a trendy real estate magazine.

With a backdrop of the mountains behind it, the place was both rustic with a log cabin style facade and modern with large windows shining in the darkness.

I thought of where I’d grown up and Evan’s parents' home.

Both had been nice in their own way, but not like this.

“Why would you ever want to leave this town?” I asked as I got out of the car.

“If you think this is good, I’ll have to take you by my old place. I think the view is even better.”

I was surprised when he placed a cellophane-wrapped bottle of liquor in my hands. It was a Japanese brand of wine. “What’s this for?”

“My parents follow some Japanese customs. It will make a good impression, trust me.”

Sean had a Cash Value Market bakery box in his own hands as we began to walk towards the front door.

We made it a few steps before someone opened the door and a middle-aged man walked out into the night.

He had a kind face and his smile stretched from ear to ear as he took in his son approaching him.

“Sean-kun,” he said and crushed Sean with a hug despite having to reach up to throw his arm around his shoulder. “I hope the drive wasn’t too hard.”

“It was okay, Papa,” Sean replied.

My heart wanted to burst. Not only was the exchange endearing, it made me wish things with my own father were better.

“Are they here, Akira?” a voice called from within.

“Yes, love,” Sean’s father replied before his eyes fell on me. “Hello there.”

I bowed my head and hoped I wouldn’t offend him as I said, “Konbanwa, Mizuno-san.”

Mr. Mizuno looked thoroughly impressed before turning his sights back on Sean. “Did you coach her on the way here?”

“Nah, she’s kind of an otaku when it comes to Japanese stuff.”

I pretended to be offended. “I totally know what that means.” I handed Sean’s father the wine. “But he’s right.”

“Well, welcome,” he said brightly. “A friend of Sean’s is a friend of ours.”

He guided us into the house and I took in the stylish home as I removed my shoes. Sean was explaining that he’d brought an assortment of cupcakes from work and I wondered if there were any I hadn’t tried yet when a small woman appeared in the hallway.

“You must be Olivia!” she said warmly, sweeping in and guiding me towards the living room.

As she sat me down in front of plates of finger foods, she called out in Japanese and Mr. Mizuno replied before it sounded like the door opened again.

“I’m excited to finally meet you,” she said, turning her attention to me again.

I smiled at her. “Thank you for allowing me to stay in your home.”

I was debating telling Mrs. Mizuno what led me to this situation when Sean and his father came in with bags and a very happy Bear.

The dog wagged his tail with his whole body, like he recognized the place after being away for a long time.

His master also seemed visibly relaxed as he plopped himself on the floor in front of the coffee table and reached for the bottle of wine we’d brought as a housewarming gift.

His father sat on the couch opposite to me and his mother had returned from the kitchen with four glasses and placed them in front of Sean.

“So tell us everything,” Mr. Mizuno said. “Is the job better than your old one? Do you enjoy the city?”

I watched Sean pour three glasses of the wine as he said, “Do you want the parent answer or the therapist answer?”

As he passed a glass to his mother, she replied, “You know I’ll get both out of you one way or the other.”

He handed his father a glass and reached across the table to hand one to me. I watched as Mr. Mizuno took the bottle and filled one more glass. I got the feeling I was witnessing another custom taking place. Sean took the wine and seemed to collect his thoughts.

“The parent answer is I’ve got a great crew under me and the store is far busier than the one here in Aspen.”

“And the therapist answer?” Sean’s mother asked.

Sean’s eyes bounced to me, almost like he wasn’t sure if I would be surprised by what he had to say.

He exhaled. “It’s not my dream, so I’m never going to be one hundred percent satisfied.

Being hand-picked to work at the original Cash Value Market is an honor, but it’s not where I see myself ending up.

” Once more, he looked at me. “I’m not pleased with some of the choices management makes, either, but that can be a conversation for a different time. ”

There was silence afterward. I took the time to make myself a plate of food so I wouldn’t be interrupting the conversation when it picked back up.

It was finally Mr. Mizuno that spoke. “Do you want to tell him, or should I?”

“Tell me what?” Sean asked.

His mother finally sat down beside her husband. Her face seemed troubled, yet hopeful. “The place down on Main Street, the one you’ve been talking about for years. It’s back on the market.”

Sean’s body sagged with disappointment as he took in her words. It took me only a few seconds to realize that they must have been talking about the hunter green storefront with the large window that he taped to the wall in his bakery.

“No….”

She nodded. “Sean-kun, it’s the cheapest it’s ever been.”