The man’s eyebrows rose at her pronouncement, and Maya glanced at him before looking back at Belle. “Oh. Sorry. Did I not introduce him? Gabe couldn’t make it today, so his brother—twin brother, obviously—agreed to come with me. This is Mitch.” She tilted her head to the side, a curious look on her face. “How did you know? You’ve only met them each once.”
Belle smiled her first totally genuine smile since stepping through the door. “My older sisters, Aurora and Ariel, are identical twins. They may look alike, but their personalities…well, you know, they are the same and yet…different. I got that same sense here as I was trying to figure out why he was so different from the last time we met.”
The man—Mitch—smiled at her, his expression warm and friendly. “Gabe is the more outgoing of the two of us. He’s like the technicolor version of me.”
“Hey,” Maya said, laying a hand on Mitch’s arm. “You’re technicolor in your own way. For some people, Gabe is too much to take. You’re just right for them.”
Belle found herself agreeing with that. While it appeared that Maya and Gabe were well suited, being around someone like Gabe for too long would drive her nuts in no time flat. Belle didn’t think that Gabe was superficial in his zest for life, but she’d had the misfortune of knowing someone who had been. It had been easy to get drawn in, only to realize too late that his engaging personality hid something not quite so sparkling.
“My sisters are very close, but they don’t share a lot of friends. They’ve each had people who were drawn to them more because of their differences than their similarities.”
“Wait,” Maya said, a big smile spreading across her face. “You and your sisters are princesses.”
“Princesses?” Mitch asked, looking back and forth between her and Belle.
“Yeah. Disney princesses.” Maya paused, obviously waiting for Mitch to figure it out, but when he didn’t, she just shook her head and said, “Aurora was Sleeping Beauty. Ariel was from The Little Mermaid, and Belle was from Beauty and the Beast.”
“And Jasmine,” Belle added. “She’s our youngest sister.”
“From Aladdin,” Maya said, her smile not having dimmed at all. “That’s so great.”
“Well, not really. What grown woman names all four of her daughters after cartoon characters, even if they are princesses?”
“One that believes in fairy tales?” Maya asked.
Belle gave a rueful shake of her head. “Yes, that’s definitely our mom.”
“So, Belles & Beaus? This place is named after you?” Mitch asked.
It was a question she got a lot for obvious reasons, but coming from him, she didn’t find it as annoying as at other times. “No. Just a happy coincidence. My mom liked the play on words.”
“I find myself agreeing with her,” Mitch said with a smile. It wasn’t the big beaming grin she remembered from his brother, but it appeared to be genuine.
“I will confess to having contemplated changing my name a time or two over the years since I took over the business, but my sisters voted and decided it would be too difficult to remember a new name. Lazy girls.”
Maya laughed. “Now I’m jealous of you too.”
“What do you mean?” Belle asked, wondering what there was about her life that the daughter of one of the richest men in the world could possibly be jealous of.
“Having siblings. I envy Gabe that as well. He’s one of ten…and now you’re one of four.”
“Five, actually. We’ve have a brother as well.”
“Huh. Who did your mom name him after? Presumably not a princess?” Maya said.
Thinking of her body-building brute of a brother, Belle laughed. “Yeah, he’s definitely not named after a princess. He was given a relatively normal name. Jon.”
“Jon? That is pretty normal. So your mom didn’t feel the need to name him after someone?”
“Oh, she did. Just not a fairy tale character. He’s Jon as in Jon Bon Jovi.” Belle grinned. “But honestly, us four girls will often call him Charming. As in Prince Charming. Or Beast, if we’re ticked off at him. Drives him crazy.”
“Charming? Like the guy on that TV show? Once Upon a Time? That’s great.” Maya seemed to really find delight in the little bits of information Belle was revealing about her family.
Though her sisters and brother drove her nuts at times, and occasionally she’d wished she was an only child, thinking about how that might actually be as she listened to Maya, made Belle glad that she had siblings.
“Anyway,” Maya said. “I know you’re probably busy, and I didn’t mean to get us off track.”
“It’s no problem,” Belle assured her, but she did have to keep things moving, so she welcomed the opportunity to focus attention back on the wedding.
“One more thing,” Belle said as their meeting was drawing to a close a short time later. “I know your mom mentioned Paris for your wedding dress, but you said you’d rather look locally.”
“Yes.” Maya nodded. “I don’t see the need to spend a huge amount of money on a dress I’m only going to be wearing for a few hours. Plus, I’d prefer that the money I spend on a wedding dress go to a business like yours.”
“If you do want to get a dress from us, I need to let you know that at some point in the next few months, we’ll be changing locations, so the bridal shop side might be shut down for a bit. How long that will be will depend on how quickly we’re able to find a new location since our lease is up here.”
“You have to move?” Maya asked, her brow furrowed.
“Yes. We’ve known about it for a couple of months, but we haven’t had much luck finding a new location. Possible relocation sites so far have either been in bad neighborhoods, too pricey or they need too much work.”
“You mean renovations?”
Belle nodded, feeling weary at the very idea. “We figured we’d need some renovations, but all the places that are good locations and in our price range need quite a bit of work to bring them up to the standard we want.”
Even the idea of working with a new real estate agent didn’t help. It wasn’t like they would suddenly have access to a huge number of new places for them to consider. Winnipeg was only so big and only had so many commercial properties that would work for them.
“You know, Mitch could help you out with that,” Maya said, glancing again at the man beside her. “He’s in construction, and he managed lots of commercial renovations.”
Belle looked at Mitch in time to see a frown briefly appear on his face. Perhaps the man wasn’t as eager for more business as Maya seemed to think he was. “Oh, uh. That’s okay. We need to find a place first, then get some plans drawn up before we’re actually at the renovation stage.”
Maya and Mitch shared another look then Mitch shrugged. After giving him a smile, Maya turned back to Belle. “We can help with that too. Gabe and Mitch’s family owns a building company. In addition to renovations and new builds, they do designs as well. Their brother, Tristan, is the one who designs plans for the buildings they work on. I know they’d be happy to help you out, if they can.”
Mitch sat forward in his chair, finally engaging in a way that was similar to his twin’s. “She’s right. We’d be happy to work with you if you don’t already have someone. You can look up our company if you’d like. C&M Builders. It’s family owned and operated. We’re not the biggest in the city, but we stand behind our work.”
The idea of working with someone with whom she already had a personal connection was more appealing than Belle would have thought it might be. Running the business took up enough of her time, so if she could have people she trusted to help her with the renovation side of a new location, that would be terrific.
Mitch leaned to the side and pulled his wallet from his back pocket. After opening it, he pulled out a card. He took the pen Maya had been using and scribbled something on the card then held it out to Belle.
“Give me a call if you want to talk about this further,” Mitch said then gave her a quick smile. “No pressure though. If you have someone else to work with, no worries, but if you have any questions or need another opinion, feel free to give me a call.”
Belle took the card, smoothing her thumb across the embossed letters on the front of it. She wasn’t sure she would be calling him, but she appreciated the option.
As she walked down the stairs with them, Belle found that the stress she’d been feeling going into the meeting had eased a bit. Not that she had been stressed about the meeting itself but rather about her day in general. Maya’s true personality had shone through, and Belle found that she’d really enjoyed getting to know her. She just hoped that when Maya came back with her mom that she wouldn’t be overshadowed again. It was so much easier to help a bride with their wedding plans when Belle had a true sense of who they were and what they wanted.
“Thanks for taking the time to meet with me again,” Maya said as they stood at the front doors.
“You’re more than welcome,” Belle said. “I’ll get in contact with you once we’ve got the availability dates for the venues you’re interested in.”
Mitch waited close to the door and pushed it open after they’d said goodbye. He held it for Maya then glanced back over his shoulder at Belle, their gazes meeting for a moment, before he followed his brother’s fiancée out into the dreary day.
“Did it go okay?”
Belle spun around to see Jasmine standing behind her. “Huh?”
“The meeting. Did it go okay?”
“Oh. Yep. It went really well.” Belle shifted her tablet and notepad to her other arm. “Maya just wanted to talk to me without her mom around.”
Jasmine snickered as they walked back to the desk. “I can only imagine what it would be like to plan a wedding with our mom present.”
Sharing a look, they burst out laughing. They both hoped that one—or both—of the twins took the plunge first. Or in Belle’s case, she hoped that her mom would be happy with three of her four daughters getting married. The situation that they all knew would be the most challenging was when their brother found a woman to marry. How their mom was going to take a back seat to the bride and her mother was something they all anticipated and dreaded. And they knew that Jon did too.
“Thanks again for coming with me,” Maya said as Mitch turned out of the parking lot.
“You’re welcome, though I’m still not sure it was entirely necessary for me to be there.” He glanced over at the woman he counted as a friend as well as a soon-to-be-sister. “One thing it did do was help me realize that a quality I definitely need to be looking for in the woman I hope to marry is a willingness to elope.”
Maya laughed at that. “You might find a woman willing to do that, but what about her mom?”
Thinking of Maya’s mother, Mitch gave a bit of a shudder. He liked the woman just fine, but the idea of having to deal with someone like that while planning a wedding was definitely off-putting. He wondered how many mother-daughter conflicts Belle had navigated over the years.
“Do you think you could help Belle?” Maya asked, pulling him from his thoughts about the other woman even while still focusing on her. “I didn’t mean to volunteer you for the work.”
Mitch chuckled. “Of course, you did. You see an opportunity to drum up some business, and you go for it. You have more of your father in you than you probably realize.”
That sent Maya into a fit of laughter. “Don’t let my mom hear you say that. She wants me to be more like her. It’s going to be bad enough that I’m downsizing her plans for my wedding, which is what my dad wanted in the first place.”
“Well, maybe if you threaten to elope, you’ll find that she’s more agreeable to a smaller wedding.”
Maya’s phone rang, and from the way she answered it, Mitch knew it was Gabe. He tuned out Maya’s side of their conversation, thinking again about Belle. She’d walked into the office with a professional air about her, some of which could be attributed to her attire of a straight black skirt that went just to the top of her knees and a light purple long-sleeved blouse. Her high-heels had added a few inches to her height, but as they’d walked to the door after the appointment, he’d noticed that she was still shorter than him by two or three inches.
There was no denying she was an attractive woman with her blonde hair and dark gray eyes. However, it was more than that that had captured his interest. He admired anyone with a professional approach to their job, but when the professional mask slipped slightly, and Belle had shared a bit more about herself and her family, he’d enjoyed that even more.
When he found himself wondering if she had a boyfriend, Mitch sighed. Being surrounded by so much love and seeing his siblings coupling up and having children had only increased the desire he’d had for most of his life to have a family of his own. In fact, five years ago, if they’d done a poll in the family about who they thought would get married first, Mitch was sure that most everyone would have said him. He would have said him. It was what he’d always wanted.
Ever since high school, he’d found himself falling in love easily. At first, he’d been convinced he was going to marry his high school sweetheart. When that relationship had faltered, and she’d moved on to another guy before their senior year, Mitch had been devastated. It had taken him until he’d turned nineteen before he’d even wanted to risk his heart again.
That time, he’d fallen hard and fast for a girl he’d met at church. Things had been going pretty good with them, but then she’d decided to head to Bible school in England. He’d been willing to do the long-distance thing, and so had she…at first. Unfortunately, she’d met some guy there and called it off through a Dear John email. That one had been hard to deal with since it left him feeling as if he hadn’t been worth staying true to even through the distance.
His next serious relationship had gone fine for about three months. That was when Gabe had come home from one of his long adventures, and the woman had decided she liked the livelier version of the two of them. To Gabe’s credit, he’d wanted nothing to do with the woman. And neither had Mitch when he realized that he would have been her consolation prize.
Every single serious relationship he’d had, had ended, and not by his choice. He’d tried his best, but it had never been enough.
It had been a year or so since his last relationship had fizzled out. He had just become tired of the roller coaster ride of emotions and had made a conscious decision to steer clear of any potential girlfriends. And that had included turning down any offers to set him up on dates when, in the past, he would have jumped at the chance to meet someone new. Just in case she was the one.
He wanted to find someone the way Makayla had found Ethan. Bennett had found Grace. Gabe had found Maya. And most recently, Kenton had found Avery. At this rate, his younger siblings, Danica and Dalton, would end up married before he even found someone who was willing to have a serious relationship with him.
After dropping Maya off at the office, Mitch headed to one of the worksites to start his day. He did his best to push aside his thoughts about Belle since he didn’t know for sure she was single. But even if she was, he didn’t know that he was ready for another shot at a relationship. Despite what his heart might try to tell him.
Mitch succeeded…sort of…in not thinking too much about Belle in the days that followed, but a week later, she once again came to the forefront of his thoughts when she phoned him.
“Just one second, Belle,” Mitch said as he moved away from the noise in the house. He stepped out onto the porch, closing the door behind him. It was a nice late April day, but he was glad he still had his jacket on since the air held a bit of a chill. “Sorry. I’m on a site, and it’s rather noisy.”
“Would there be a better time to call?” she asked.
“No, it’s fine. I just needed to move outside.” Mitch shoved a hand into the pocket of his jeans and looked out over the yard that was littered with the materials they’d dragged out as they’d demo’d the house. The glitch on this particular job had come when the bin they’d ordered for the trash hadn’t been delivered on time. That meant they’d either have to wait to demo or go ahead and demo and just pile the trash in the yard until the bin arrived and then fill it up. Waiting for the bin hadn’t been an option. “What can I do for you?”
“I was just wondering if Maya was right, and if you really might be able to help me out with renovating a new place for our business.” Belle sighed. “To be honest, I’m getting a little frustrated and a bit worried we won’t be able to find something that will work for us. Getting an honest opinion on a location and what the cost might be to renovate it is challenging. The few companies I’ve spoken with seem to be more interested in telling me what they think I need rather than listening to what I already know we need.”
Mitch rubbed a hand across his forehead, listening as the words tumbled from Belle in a rush. He understood why she was frustrated. It was one of the reasons they were so fortunate to have Tristan as part of the company. He was great at listening to what their customers wanted, but he was also accepting of Mitch’s input when it came to what was actually possible with the design and the space they were working with.
“Do you have a specific space already in mind?” Mitch asked.
“Not that we’ve settled on. It’s a catch-22 for us. We need to know the space we’re working with in order to plan, but we need to know if our plans will work for a certain space. It’s driving me nuts. This is not what I signed up for.”
Hearing the frustration in Belle’s voice brought to life a strong desire within him to help her. To do what he could to soothe that frustration. To do for her what no one else had been able to so far. “Do you have time to come into the office to meet with a couple of people? One is my brother, Tristan, who does our design work, and the other is one of the real estate people we work with. Unless you already have an agent you’re committed to using.”
Belle sighed again. “No. They’ve had their chance.”
“So, can you come in some time? We’ll meet and see what we can do to get everyone on the same page.”
“I would really like that,” Belle said. “I have some time Thursday or Friday afternoon.”
“Like around two or three?”
“The earlier, the better.”
“Okay, let me check with Tristan and get back to you.” Mitch knew he didn’t necessarily need to be there, but he was going to be, regardless.
“Thank you so much,” Belle said.
After the call ended, Mitch immediately phoned Tristan, hoping his brother wasn’t too wrapped up in a project to answer. Thankfully, even though it rang five times, Tristan did pick up in the end.
“Hey, Tris. I need your help.” Mitch quickly explained Belle’s situation. “Do you have time on Thursday or Friday afternoon to meet with her?”
“Hmmm. Hang on a sec.” After a moment, he said, “I think Friday would work best.”
“Okay. I want one of the agents too. Which one do you think might be best for this situation?” Mitch knew the agents, but Tristan worked with them more closely, as they were in and out of the office more than Mitch was.
“Possibly Cassidy. I’ll see if she’s available that afternoon as well.”
“Thanks, Tris. Let me know as soon as possible. Belle’s busy, so the sooner we can let her know a time, the better.”
Mitch had wanted to call her back right away, so he tried to rein in his impatience as he turned and went back into the house. Right away, his lead on the site came up to give him the next glitch on the job, causing his impatience to turn to frustration.
When his phone rang twenty minutes later, his mood had deteriorated significantly. Without fail, it seemed that if one thing went wrong at the start of a job, several more would go wrong in quick succession. And that had certainly been the case that day.
“We’re good to go for Friday at two,” Tristan said when Mitch answered. “But you might want to cheer your tone up a bit before calling Belle.”
Mitch blew out a long breath. “Okay. Thanks for fitting this in.”
“No problem, bro. Talk later.”
He went to his truck this time, needing the quiet as much as a break from the mayhem in the house. After sitting for a minute to let his irritation fade—even if only temporarily—Mitch tapped on Belle’s number on the screen. He was disappointed when the call went to voicemail, but he went ahead and left a message giving the time of the meeting and the address of the office building.
Mitch knew he was in trouble when his first thought after leaving the message was how far away Friday was considering it was just Monday.