The question grabbed Belle’s attention from her dinner, and she fought the urge to groan. It appeared her mother had finished part one of the inquisition and had moved on to part two. Business first. Personal second. Oh, joy…
She glanced over in time to see Mitch smile at her mom. Jasmine gave her ankle a kick and nodded at Rory, who was obviously trying to keep from laughing. Belle had no clue why her sister was grinning like a lunatic. If their mom was determined to set Mitch up with one of her daughters, she would likely work from the oldest down which meant Rory would be up first.
Except…the idea of Mitch and Rory together…
It bothered her.
Why, she had no idea. But it did. She should actually be happy for her sister. Rory deserved a nice guy, and it appeared that Mitch certainly was a nice guy. So why did the thought of them together make her feel sick to her stomach? It wasn’t like she was going to have anything to do with him on a personal level.
“No. I’m not married, and I don’t have a girlfriend at the moment.”
Her mom gave a shake of her head. “What is it with all you young people these days? Waiting until you’re middle-aged before you get married and have children.”
“You were middle-aged when you got married, Mama,” Rory pointed out.
“It was not for lack of trying, Aurora. Not that I’m recommending you girls follow my example, but I did birth all five of you well before I was middle-aged.” Her mom turned and looked at Patrick with a loving smile. “As it turned out, my Prince Charming needed me to wait.”
“That, I did, love.” He pressed a kiss to her temple and returned her look.
Her gaze swung back to Mitch. “Well, if you’re available, I happen to have a few daughters that could use a boyfriend.”
“Mother…” Rory said as she rolled her eyes. “Your few daughters are fully capable of finding their own boyfriends. Thank you very much.”
“I have to wonder about that, darling. After all, when was the last time you were out on a date?”
“Not as long ago as you might think. There’s no way I would tell you if I was going on a date for the first time. You’d be phoning up all your contacts to arrange for save the date cards and invitations. You’d be reserving banquet halls and arranging for dress fittings. All before the second date.” Rory gave a rueful smile. “So I think you can understand why we don’t let you know about anything less than an engagement.”
Their mother’s spine went ramrod straight. “While you might be right that I’d go a little overboard, I’d at least wait until the fifth date.”
Jasmine snickered at that, and soon they were all laughing, even their mother and Patrick.
“Be careful what you wish for,” Mitch said. “My mom was bemoaning the fact that none of us kids were getting married and boom! My siblings have been dropping like flies. There are eight of us of marriageable age, and five are now either married or well on their way to marrying. Romance will happen when it happens. That’s what us single ones tell her, as we point out how well marriage has worked out for the others.”
“You seem like a nice young man. And your brother as well. Your mother must be proud.”
“I hope that she is. We try to respect the way we were raised.”
“To be good and honorable men?” her mom asked.
“I’d like to think so,” Mitch said, his expression sobering. “It’s important to me to treat a woman the way my dad has always treated my mom. Well, she’s my step-mom, but she’s always been like a mother to me.”
“That’s nice that you’ve not only had a good example but that you’ve chosen to follow it. I can’t say that’s how all young men are these days. Even with great role models in their parents, many think they know better and ignore what they’ve been shown.”
“Yes, my dad did set a great example as a husband, and also as a man of faith. He encouraged us all to model ourselves after the example given to us of Christ in the Bible.”
Her mom gave him a searching look. “Are you sure you don’t need help finding a girlfriend? You seem just about perfect.”
At that, Mitch laughed. “I’m sure any of my siblings would be happy to inform you just how unperfect I am, but I try to be the best man that I can be.”
“You know, you should be aiming for groom instead of best man.” Her mom said it with a serious look on her face that rapidly disappeared as what she’d said sank in with the others around the table.
Once again, they were laughing, and Belle found herself relaxing for the first time since picking up her mom and Patrick from the hotel. It appeared that Mitch could well and truly hold his own with Annalisse O’Neill. That impressed Belle, even though it was entirely possible that most guys could do the same. She just hadn’t brought many guys around her mother—she’d learned her lesson early on—and she didn’t think her sisters had brought many around either. Maybe it was a coincidence that the two guys she’d introduced to her mom had called things off soon afterward.
That had been back when Belle had thought she still wanted a relationship despite what had happened with Andre. She supposed that she had her mother and those guys to thank for helping her come to the realization quite quickly that she didn’t, in fact, want to get into a relationship again.
Maybe the reason that Mitch was so able to handle her mom’s questions was because he really had no interest in any of the women around the table. That would make more sense.
“I just need all my girls to realize that there is more to life than a career. Than working long hours. Than devoting all their energy to something that won’t keep them warm at night. Won’t give them children.”
“My work might not keep me warm at night, but I do go to sleep knowing that I’ve helped families,” Rory said, her tone mild, but Belle could hear the defensiveness in her voice. “That I’ve worked with parents to do what’s best for their children.”
“What do you do, Aurora?” Mitch asked.
“Please, call me Rory. I work as a mediation lawyer with families going through separation and divorce.”
“Really? We have a family friend who do something similar. He and his partner work with divorcing parents, to help them reach an amicable arrangement that is the least damaging for their children.”
“Interesting. Would your friend happen to be James Dawson?” Rory asked.
Mitch straightened and smiled. “Yes. Do you know him?”
“I do. In fact, I’ve worked with him several times.”
“Well, it’s a small world. He’s a great guy.”
Belle listened as they talked, absorbing bits and pieces of their conversation and wondering, not for the first time, how her exotic sisters had ended up in such opposite careers. Rory with her career as a lawyer while Ariel was off walking runways in places like New York and Paris, while also posing for glamor magazines.
And then there was her and Jasmine…selling bridal dresses and planning weddings. Sure, the television shows on TLC had made the dress selling side of things seem glamorous, but the reality was, it was just hard work. Trying to satisfy demanding brides and their equally—if not more so—demanding mothers, was no picnic. And there was a certain stress that came with trying to help a bride find that perfect dress.
There was also the considerable stress attached to carrying out a bride’s plans for her wedding since no one wanted to be responsible for messing up someone’s big day by dropping the ball. She didn’t necessarily want a glamorous career, but a slightly less stressful one might be nice for a change. But the bridal business was all she knew. It had been all she’d done since she’d been old enough to work as a teen.
A touch on her arm drew her attention back to the conversation, and she looked over at Jasmine, lifting a brow as she did. Jasmine tilted her head in their mom’s direction.
Belle turned to face her. “Sorry, Mama. What did you say?”
“I asked how you planned to handle the move to the new building.”
“Oh. Uh…” Belle pulled her thoughts back to the business side of things. It didn’t take her long to lay out the plan she and Jasmine had come up with to get the business moved with the least amount of disruption.
“You sound very organized as usual,” her mom said.
Belle searched for approval in her mom’s voice, but if it was there, she couldn’t hear it. Or maybe she just didn’t know what it sounded like. Not that her mother didn’t voice it, but maybe Belle was deaf to it.
“I have to be. It’s like juggling. Drop one ball, and they all come crashing down and start to bounce around uncontrollably. There’s no chance of catching them, let alone getting them all back up in the air again.” Jasmine started to giggle beside her. Frowning, Belle turned to stare at her. “What?”
“Sorry,” Jasmine said before giggling again. “I just had a mental image of you scrambling around in those skirts and high heels you wear, trying to grab at a bunch of bouncing balls.”
And there was yet another round of laughter at the table. Belle couldn’t remember the last time they’d laughed so much. She was pretty sure that if Jasmine and Rory hadn’t shown up, the meal would have been more serious and less comfortable.
“About the only one who’d look funnier than you chasing after bouncing balls would be Ariel,” Rory said. “The two of you are the ones who feel it’s necessary to keep every hair in place. Your perfectionism takes the cake.”
“Well, except for her apartment,” Jasmine pointed out, laughing as Belle elbowed her.
“True.” Rory agreed. “Same as with Ariel.”
“Belle came to help us with some of the demolition,” Mitch said. “She didn’t seem overly worried about her hair then.”
“Seriously?” Jasmine gave her a wide grin. “Was that where you were on Monday?”
Belle nodded but didn’t expand on the details. All she could think about was what had followed the time she’d spent tearing down that wall. Heat crept into her cheeks at the memory of what Mitch had witnessed. The unexpected confrontation with Andre was something she could have happily lived her whole life without sharing with another person. Especially a virtual stranger.
“Pictures or it didn’t happen,” Rory said as she leaned back in her chair, arms crossed over her chest. Though her pose might seem antagonistic, Belle knew her sister well enough to see the twinkle in her eye.
“Well, then I guess we’ll go with it didn’t happen,” Belle told her. “Because I sure wasn’t taking any selfies.”
“Oh, but I managed to snap a picture or two.”
Belle jerked around to face Mitch. “What?”
Mitch gave a sheepish shrug. “I guess I thought you might like to have proof that you’d given us a hand. I was going to show you but then…forgot.”
Belle, well aware of why he’d forgotten, held out her hand. He pulled his phone out, unlocked it and tapped and swiped on the screen a couple of times before handing it to her. She looked down at the screen, and sure enough, there was a picture of her holding a sledgehammer, that purple hard hat on her head.
“There you go,” Belle said as she handed the phone across to Rory. “It happened.”
Jasmine held out her hand, snapping her fingers, but Rory passed the phone to their mom first.
“It’s nice to see that you let your hair down every once in a while,” she said as she looked up and smiled. “You and Ariel. The two of you need to relax more often.”
“One would have thought that I’d have been the one who’d end up intense and a workaholic,” Rory said. “Instead it’s the model and the wedding planner. Must be the middle child thing.”
“Isn’t that a trait of an oldest child?” Mitch asked.
Rory shrugged. “You’d think, but instead, it’s Ariel and Belle who ended up that way.”
Belle thought about arguing that Rory’s assessment was off the mark, but the reality was, her sister was pretty much spot on. But as a sibling, she couldn’t just let her get away with that, so she looked at Rory and opened her mouth to reject her analysis. Rory just arched a brow as she shook her head.
“Yeah. Okay,” Belle said, letting her shoulders slump. “No arguing with the lawyer.”
“Where does your brother fall in the sibling order?” Mitch asked.
“He is actually the middle child. Dead center,” her mom said.
“So is he as intense as his sisters?”
The rest of them exchanged looks, then burst out laughing.
“I think it’s safe to say that Charming—or Beast, depending on the day—is the least intense of us all.” Rory grinned. “He is so laid back that he barely manages to keep himself employed.”
“That boy,” their mom said with a shake of her head. “Jon couldn’t be bothered to come for dinner because he would have had to wear something besides joggers and a T-shirt. If I hadn’t given birth to him myself, I would wonder if he had any of me in him.”
“I think I got all the work ethic you and Dad had to offer,” Belle said. “And apparently, I got Jon’s share too.”
She and Jon had the same dad, and by all accounts, they’d had the best one. Their dad had stuck around for a couple of years and had willingly taken on the role of father to the twins. And later, after their mom had moved on, he’d stayed in their lives and had also become a father to Jasmine when her dad hadn’t been up to the task.
Belle wondered why being a great father hadn’t been enough for their mother to stay with her dad. Why she hadn’t been able to see that having a man who loved her children—even the two who weren’t biologically his—and went out of his way to be there for them was as romantic as any bouquet of flowers or box of chocolates. Of course, her mom had gone on to find a man who seemed to meet her need for romance. Thankfully, her dad had also found a woman who truly appreciated him even if traditional romance wasn’t his strongest suit.
“Why didn’t he get a fairy tale name as well?” Mitch asked.
Belle was sure she’d explained that to him the day he and Maya had come for the meeting in the conference room. Maybe he just wanted to hear her mom confess to having a crush on Jon Bon Jovi.
“Ah, well…” Her mom glanced over at Patrick, her cheeks going slightly pink. “The names for the men in fairy tales aren’t quite as nice as the ones for women. Instead, I chose to name Jon after my favorite singer at the time. Bon Jovi.”
“Too bad he doesn’t have the talent of his namesake,” Jasmine said. “At least maybe then it would be a job he could commit to.”
As they finished up their meals, conversation wound its way briefly back to the building since Mitch had to leave.
“I hate to run, but I have church this evening,” Mitch said, his smile apologetic and yet engaging at the same time. “It was a pleasure to meet you all, and if you ever have any questions or concerns, feel free to give me a call.”
He pulled out his wallet and slid a card free. Leaning forward, he held it out to her mom. She took it, a smile on her face as she read the information on it.
“I’m glad you were able to meet with us, Mitch. Belle wasn’t sure you’d be able to, so I’m grateful you were able to make the time.” She looked up and smiled at him. “You and your brother have really helped put my mind at ease. And I think you’ve eased some of the burden Belle has been carrying as well. I’m sure you’ve figured out she works long hours and not having to worry about the renovations as much will be a blessing.”
Mitch looked up as the waitress returned with the bill, but as he went to take it, her mom snatched it first and handed it to Patrick. “Our treat.”
“Well, thank you,” Mitch said as he got to his feet. “I hope to see you again sometime.”
Patrick and her mom stood and shook Mitch’s hand as did Rory. After he’d left, the five of them sat in silence for a moment before Rory said, “That is a fine-looking man.”
“And he seems nice and gentlemanly as well. Can’t one of you girls try to gain his interest? It would be a shame to let him slip through our fingers.” Her mom looked around at the three of them. “My vote is for Belle.”