Page 22 of Finding You

Right. Like she hadn’t figured that out already.

The man was too good to be true–kind, friendly, hard-working and, of course, sexy as hell. It was getting harder and harder to ignore that last part. Especially since they were together all day and then went home together every night. Although, if she were being honest, the man worked like a beast and by the time they arrived back at his house, they were both exhausted and Devin tended to head to bed not long after dinner. Maybe it was her, but MacKenzie had to wonder if that was his normal routine or if he just wanted time away from her.

If that was the case, it really bothered her. The last thing she wanted was to be a bother to him - or anyone - but there was no way to know for certain and she had a feeling if she asked, Devin would be his usual, nice self and say whatever it took not to make her feel bad.

And how crazy wasthatthat it annoyed her?

So now she sat curled up in bed and wondered–wondered what Devin was really thinking about her being here and wondered how much longer he was going to be stuck with her. According to the Sweetbriar Ridge grapevine, Devin was single - which MacKenzie figured out pretty quickly on her own - and in need of a good woman. Then they’d all grin at her, waggle their eyebrows and wink. Right. As if she was capable of being a good woman to a man who was a pillar of the community. Even though she hadn’t known him for that long, MacKenzie could already tell that Devin deserved a woman who had her shit together - and that clearly wasn’t her.

This move across the country was supposed to help her do that, but she wasn’t off to a very good start. Moving wasn’t anything new - she and her dad had done a lot of that when she was growing up - but this was the first time it was a major, cross-country event. MacKenzie had been proud of herself for being willing to take it on all by herself, but now she was questioning just how smart it was. The car issues, her lack of any real planning, and not knowing where exactly she was going to end up were all starting to wear on her.

Besides all the unknowns, there was something about this town that gave her all the feels. It wasn’t like any place else she’d ever lived. The quaintness of it, the friendly people, the beautiful mountain scenery…it was all just so damn charming and MacKenzie felt like it was already starting to suck her in.

And the festival!

Good grief, it was all everyone talked about - well, after trying to get the down-low on her and Devin. But the more she heard about the festival, the more she wanted to stay for it.

Not that she was willing to admit that out loud just yet. But…maybe if Devin got done with her car before the start of the festival, he wouldn’t mind having her around for a little longer so she can stay and check out all the festivities.

“With all the yammering everyone’s been doing, it’s no wonder I’m curious,” she murmured into the darkness.

Throwing her head back, she sighed. How smart was it of her to waste time hanging around for a glorified carnival when she was supposed to be moving on to start her new life? Then she stopped that train of thought - technically staying in Sweetbriar Ridge and working for Devin would help go a long way toward paying for the car repairs so…there. That justified her need to stay the extra week. She would just have to find a way to keep out of Devin’s way a bit more so he wouldn’t feel like she was intruding on his personal time and space quite so much.

And really, she was starting to get a little curious about the town.

Every day on their way to and from work, Devin would point out different businesses and shops and restaurants and tell her some fun fact about them. What she really wanted was to go over to Books and Beans–the coffee shop with the bookstore in it–because it had been a long time since she actually held a book in her hands. Normally she read on her tablet, but it had crapped out a few weeks ago and she hadn’t had the time to buy a new one. But the thought of browsing through some bookshelves and curling up with a book was way too tempting.

Tomorrow, she told herself. Tomorrow she’d actually take a lunch break and walk the few blocks over and get herself a new book and a muffin. Or a brownie. Or some of that pound cake because that was delicious too.

For the last three days, Will had gone out and picked up lunch for everyone at the garage and while it was incredibly sweet of him to do it–with Devin footing the bill–MacKenzie felt like maybe it would be a good thing to get out and do something on her own for an hour.

As much as she liked Will, Joe, and Eric, she had a feeling they wouldn’t mind a little less of her too. And Devin? Well…he was stuck with her no matter what, so she was fairly certain he’d be okay if she found a little independence and went out without him. Either way, she was going to find out tomorrow.

A quick glance at the clock showed it was getting late–almost eleven. They tended to be at the garage by seven, so they were up early. It was pretty similar to the hours she kept back in Syracuse, except her day started at eight. But falling asleep had never been easy. Most nights she would read or fall asleep with the TV on, but Devin’s guest room didn’t have a TV and she didn’t have her tablet, so…

Grabbing her phone with a huff, she was prepared to find something to read on there just to help her doze, but the battery life was low and it needed to go on the charger. Muttering a curse, she rolled out of bed and plugged it in and opted to grab her laptop out of one of her bags. It was old and slow, and probably would have her staying up later than she should because she’d end up googling things she shouldn’t.

Like looking up her mother.

Yeah, that was something she’d been thinking about more and more, but hadn’t been brave enough to put any real effort into. After all, what if she found her and she wasn’t interested in seeing her?

“What kind of mother abandons her daughter?”

And sure enough, once she was back in the bed, the first thing she did was search her mother’s name.

Laura Holland.

Multiple results showed up, but after looking at them, MacKenzie realized none of them was the right one.

“Duh…she’s not Laura Holland anymore. She’s probably back to her maiden name.” So this time she typed in Laura Whitley. Again, multiple results showed up, but none of them seemed to fit either.

That’s when she took to Facebook and typed in Laura Whitley and found what she was looking for.

Only…Laura Whitley was now Laura Whitley-Madison.

Her heart hit hard in her chest as she hit the “about” option and read: Married to Robert Madison and living in Portland, Oregon. Next, she looked at photos–since the account wasn’t set to private and saw pictures of the woman who had left her behind.

And who now had a new family.

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