not so much.”
She darted a look at him, pleased that he seemed to understand. “Exactly.”
His brow creased as if he was thinking hard. “Math never made all that much sense to me, but I can see how it would be appealing if you had a gift for it. Like that knot you’re working on. Being able to take something complex like that and break it down to its component parts until you’ve untangled it. Imposing order on chaos.” He winced apologetically. “That probably sounds dumb.”
“No, not at all.” She smiled at him. “That’s exactly what it’s like.”
“How’s that going? Have you cracked it yet?”
Her smile faded and she looked down at her lap again. “Not yet. It’s probably time to give up and move on to something else. My ambitions may have been too lofty for my abilities.”
“I don’t believe that. Some things just take time. Maybe you’re putting too much pressure on yourself.”
“Maybe.” She rubbed at a tiny snag in the borrowed sweatpants she was wearing. “The problem is I don’t have infinite time. I need to publish something soon. If it’s not going to be this, it’ll have to be something else.”
“I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”
She looked up. His eyes were so clear and bright, his expression so absolutely certain, she could almost believe he was right.
The coffee maker beeped in the kitchen, and he pushed himself to his feet. “Stay put,” he said when she tried to follow. “How do you take your coffee?”
She requested cream and he went into the kitchen. While he was gone, her gaze wandered to the window. Rain spattered against the glass, turning the world outside to a smeary gray haze. It didn’t look likely to let up anytime soon.
This was the first rain they’d had since Mia had moved here over a month ago. Before today, she’d heard several people remark on the drought conditions that had necessitated a burn ban in the county. It was one of the few things that had felt familiar to her after moving from Los Angeles.
“It’s a real gully washer.” Josh held a steaming hot mug in front of her.
She thanked him for the coffee. “Does it rain like this a lot?”
He settled onto the couch again with his own mug. “I wouldn’t say a lot. We don’t get a ton of rain in general. But when it does finally rain, it can sometimes feel like it’s trying to make up for lost time.”
They both fell silent as they sipped their coffee and listened to the rain beating against the house. Mia slid a sideways look at Josh, admiring his strong profile and the way his dark hair had curled slightly as it dried. He raised his mug to his lips, and she was reminded of the way those lips had felt on hers. The way his large hands had cradled her face.
He glanced over and caught her staring at him. “Coffee okay?”
“It’s great, thanks.” She felt her cheeks redden and looked away.
The couch shuddered as he shifted position, turning to face her more. “What do you think of Crowder now that you’ve been here a while?”
She lifted her coffee to her lips as she tried to decide how honest she should be. “It’s not what I expected.”
“How so?” He lounged back against the cushions with his mug resting on his knee.
She considered her words carefully. “I’d always heard that people were friendly in Texas, but I guess I hadn’t really understood what that meant.”
“Not everyone’s friendly all the time.” His tone held a note of warning—and more than a little bitterness.
“No, but the people who are—like Birdie and Andie…” She met his gaze pointedly. “…and you—have gone out of your way to make me feel welcome here. It’s made the transition easier.”
“But still not easy.” He was too perceptive. He’d called it the first time he’d ever laid eyes on her. She’d been lost then, and she was still lost now, despite her attempts to pretend otherwise.
All the friendliness in the world couldn’t change the fact that she didn’t fit in here and didn’t particularly want to. This wasn’t where she wanted to be—geographically or professionally. Since she’d arrived, she’d felt like she was spinning her wheels. Moving backward instead of forward. With each passing day, her goals felt a little farther out of reach.
She inclined her head. “I’d be lying if I said this job was my first choice.”
“I guessed as much. Not many people are dying to move to Crowder.”
“You moved