Belle walked down the hallway with Mitch at her side. She was glad that the meeting was over. Her mind was a bit on information overload, and she would need some time to process everything. What her thoughts kept circling back around to was Tristan’s amazing design and Mitch’s assurance that he and his team could carry it out.
As she and Mitch reached the front of the office, they were greeted by what looked like a play date. In addition to Maya and the receptionist who’d been there when Belle had arrived earlier, there were three more women. Two were dark-haired and looked to be related, while the third woman was blonde. They each had a child in their arms. The oldest of the children—a little girl, judging by her blonde pigtails—squealed and reached out her hands to Mitch.
“Well, if it isn’t my little sweetheart,” Mitch exclaimed and headed right over to claim her. He lifted her up above his head then lowered her against his chest as she giggled. She smacked her hands on his cheeks as she continued to babble.
The woman whose arms he’d taken the little girl from looked at them with affection. So maybe it really was a wife, not a fiancée or a girlfriend, that Mitch had—lack of ring notwithstanding.
“Give me my daughter, Mitch.”
Belle turned to see a tall, dark-haired man heading toward them, another dark-haired man right behind him. The first man took the little girl who was now squealing with even more delight at the arrival of her father.
When Mitch turned to the other women, the first one said, “Nope. I just got Stephanie to sleep. You’re not allowed to wake her up.” She glanced up as the second man came to her side and slipped an arm around her waist. “And neither are you.”
He pressed a kiss to her temple. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”
“You can have Ella,” the third woman said as she gently bounced back and forth. “She’s been nothing but fussy today.”
“And there’s no Levi around to snatch her from me,” Mitch said as he crossed to take the baby into his arms. Cradling her in the crook of his arm, he lifted her up enough to kiss her forehead. “What’s making you fussy for your momma today, Ella Irene?” Mitch turned back around. “Oh, forgive my rudeness. This is Belle Jacobs. She’s currently Maya and Gabe’s wedding planner, but she’s also a potential customer for C&M. Belle, this is my family. Well, a chunk of it anyway.”
Belle listened as Mitch introduced each person, trying her best to commit names, faces, and details to memory.
Bennett. Oldest brother. CEO. Grace. His wife. Olivia. Toddler.
Makayla. Oldest sister. Office Manager—on maternity leave. Ethan. Her husband. Stephanie. Baby.
Sammi. Younger sister. Doesn’t work for the company. Levi. Her husband. Landscaper. Ella Irene. Baby.
She didn’t think she’d remember all the names, but hopefully, if she met them again, something would bring their names to mind. Her gaze went back to Mitch—who apparently didn’t belong to any of the women present, although the woman behind the receptionist desk had an expression that seemed to say that she would like to claim him.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” This came from Sammi who was regarding Belle with a friendly smile.
The others expressed similar sentiments, and Belle echoed them back even though she was mainly just feeling overwhelmed. She was sure they were all lovely people—if Gabe, Mitch, Tristan, and Maya were any indication—but there was already a lot on her mind.
“Don’t worry,” Maya said as she slipped her arm through Belle’s. “I couldn’t remember them all the first time I met them either. And I was working for them.” She smiled. “You’ll probably meet them all again, plus the rest of the family, if you decide to go forward with the renovations. They have a habit of absorbing people into their world.”
Belle wasn’t sure if the idea of that scared her or intrigued her. She wasn’t a stranger to a large family, having four siblings herself, but this family went beyond that.
“Why are you all here?” Mitch asked as he continued to sway from one foot to the other. The baby was tucked close, and he used his other hand to rub the little girl’s back.
Belle hadn’t known many men who would be so at ease holding a baby who wasn’t their own. Mitch didn’t appear to just tolerate holding the one in his arms, he seemed to really enjoy it. The baby’s mom went to his side and slipped her arm around his waist. She rested her head against his shoulder.
“We’re picking Maya up for a late lunch,” Sammi said. “Or an early dinner. Depending on how you look at it.”
“A really early dinner,” Mitch remarked.
“Yeah,” Makayla said. “But we’ve found it’s best to avoid the busyness of the dinner hour when we take the babies with us.”
“You need your husbands to watch the kids, so you can go out without them,” Tristan said as he held out his hand to the toddler in her father’s arms. She smiled at him and grabbed his finger, but Belle noticed that she didn’t react with the same enthusiasm as she had with Mitch.
“Well, we do that too,” Grace said. “But today we just felt like getting out, so it was a bit of short notice for the guys to be able to help us out.”
Belle took in the interactions, rehearsing the names in her head as each person spoke. Maybe she’d remember them the next time they met after all.
A buzz in her pocket grabbed her attention. Belle pulled her phone out to check the message, not surprised to find it was from her older sister, Aurora. Or Rory, as they called her.
Rory: Do you have time for dinner? Ariel showed up out of the blue. Thought we’d get together before she flies out again tomorrow.
Belle thought through the rest of her day before replying. Yep. Let me know the time and place. Just finishing up a meeting.
Rory: Super. See you soon. XO
She slipped her phone back into her pocket and looked up to find Mitch watching her, the baby now back in her mother’s arms. “I’m going to have to head off.”
Mitch gave a nod. “Let me walk you to your car.”
The day was sunny but chilly as they stepped out of the building and crossed the parking lot to her car.
“Thank you again for setting up the meeting,” Belle said as she pressed the button on her fob to unlock her car. “I’ll let you know what my mom says.”
“Do you feel a bit more at ease now?” Mitch asked with more concern in his eyes than a simple meeting over questions warranted.
“Yes, I do. The Waterfront property has the most promise yet, so I’m hoping that my mom will see that as well. I’d like to get past this decision stage so that we can get going on the renovations.” Belle frowned. “Time is ticking by. I’m dreading the idea of having to deal with all this in the middle of our busiest season. Sometimes I wonder if our competitors paid our landlord to kick us out right now.”
When they came to a stop beside her car, Mitch crossed his arms. “Is there really a chance of that? Is the bridal industry so cut-throat?”
Belle sighed. “No. Well, yes, it can be competitive, but it’s not that bad. I’m just a little frustrated that we couldn’t have had this happen during the off-season. Yeah, the snow would have made it more of a physical challenge, but it wouldn’t have been such a mental stress.”
Mitch reached out and touched her shoulder briefly. “You carry a lot of stress, don’t you?”
Belle gave a short laugh. “Don’t we all?”
“I suppose,” Mitch agreed. “To some degree.”
“I just happen to be in a fairly high-stress career. Thankfully, it’s not that way all the time.”
“You must be good at your job,” Mitch said.
“I try. I have a reputation to uphold. My mom built this business from the ground up. She was superb at what she did and tried to pass her passion for the wedding business on to us girls.”
“Tried?”
“Only two of us ended up in the business. Rory is a lawyer, and Ariel is a model. It’s just Jasmine and me who work at the bridal boutique.”
“Your mother must be proud of you for continuing on.”
“Maybe. She set the bar high for us.” Belle flashed Mitch a smile, feeling the need to end the conversation and the uncharacteristic spilling of her guts. There was something about the man that encouraged her to talk far more than she usually did to someone outside her family. “Anyway, I’d better go. I’ll give you a call once I’ve talked with my mom.”
“Of course. Have a good evening,” Mitch said as he reached to open her car door. “Take care of yourself.”
“Thank you. You too.” Belle slid behind the wheel and started the car as Mitch closed her door. With a final wave, she pulled out of the parking lot.
Once free of Mitch’s intense gaze, Belle let out a long breath. What was it about the man that drew her interest so fiercely? When she’d first left Andre, she’d tried to date again, but she’d quickly realized that it wasn’t for her. So for the past four years, she’d avoided that sort of interaction with a man, and she needed to keep it that way. Especially since the last time she’d been that interested in a man, it had ended badly. She needed to make sure that didn’t happen again.
Plus, she just didn’t have the time. There was no time in her day—or her life—for a man.
Mitch moved through the rooms of the finished house, his gaze taking in each detail. This was the final walk-through before he declared the project completed. The ups and downs of any given job were eclipsed by the joy of viewing the finished product. Of knowing that they had used the best products and done their best work for the customer. C&M Builders had a reputation of not cutting corners with materials or labor.
He knew that his dad and brothers depended on him to provide the quality product that C&M Builders were known for. This newest build was no exception. He was always glad when a project came together and was completed, but this time around, it held more significance.
With the possibility of Belle’s large renovation still up in the air, Mitch was pressing to get as many of the current projects completed as possible. He knew that if the boutique relocation was given the green light, they’d need to work hard to bring it in on budget and on time. The more projects that were completed now, the more workers they’d have available to work on the bridal shop project.
Now, if only Belle would contact them to let him know one way or the other if the project was going to go ahead. As if on command, his phone rang, and when he pulled it out of his pocket, he saw Belle’s number on the screen.
“Mitch Callaghan,” he said as he headed for the front door. He nodded at his foreman as he passed him on the porch, covering the phone with his hand. “It’s good to go.”
“Mitch? It’s Belle.”
“Good afternoon, Belle. How are you doing?”
“It’s Monday, so it’s a bit of a quiet day for a change. A chance to catch my breath. How about you?”
“I’ve just given the final approval on a project, which is always satisfying. After all the hard work by my team, I’m glad to see a project come to an end.” He climbed into his truck and started it up. It didn’t take too long for the Bluetooth to kick in and soon Belle’s voice came through his truck’s speakers.
“I wanted to let you know that I’ve spoken with my mom.” She paused. “Well, we’ve actually had several conversations over the past week.”
“Does she need more information?” Mitch asked as he drove away from the property. He had two more sites to visit before he could head for home.
“No. I was able to talk her through it all, and we’re going to go ahead with it.”
“Really? That’s fantastic,” Mitch said, grinning as he drove.
“You have Patrick O’Neil to thank for that,” Belle said with a huff of laughter.
“Patrick O’Neil? The business tycoon?”
“Yep. The one and only. He’s my…step-dad.”
“Wow. I was unaware.”
“Yeah. He’s my mom’s Prince Charming. That’s how Maya ended up coming to the bridal shop. Her parents are friends with Patrick and my mom.”
“So why do we need to thank him?”
“He looked over everything I presented to my mom and was able to help her—and me, to be honest—see what a good design it really was. He was very impressed with Tristan’s work.”
“He’s not the first to feel that way.” Mitch felt a sense of pride on Tristan’s behalf.
“So what’s the next step?” Belle asked.
“That would be getting together with Cassidy and making an offer on the building. I’m assuming you have the authority to sign an offer on behalf of the business?”
“Yep. Though this is the first time I’ve used my authority for something so significant.”
“Well, I’m sure it will all go smoothly,” Mitch said, hoping to reassure her since it sounded like the prospect of initiating an offer was a bit intimidating for her. The vibes he got from her were conflicting and odd. On the one hand, she seemed extremely capable and professional when it came to her work at the bridal boutique, but on the other hand, she seemed easily overwhelmed and out of her depth when it came to other parts of the business.
“Do you wear glasses?” Belle asked.
“What?” Puzzled, Mitch glanced at his phone in its holder on his dash as if it would clarify her question.
“I’m just wondering if you wear glasses, and if so, are they rose colored?”
“Ah.” Mitch grinned. “You think I’m not being realistic?”
“Or maybe that you only ever see the bright side of everything. Does anything ever go wrong in your life?”
Mitch felt a sense of sadness to think that perhaps she’d had more go wrong than right in her life. “Oh, there has been plenty that hasn’t gone right in my life. Although maybe not to the extent others have struggled. However, I’ve just chosen to focus on the blessings in my life and to expect the best of a situation until it proves me otherwise. In your case, there really is no reason to expect things to not go smoothly.”
“I guess I tend to expect the worst and then I’m not surprised or disappointed when it happens. It’s just easier that way and creates less emotional upheaval for me.”
Mitch pulled his truck to a stop at the curb in front of the next work site. He put the vehicle in park and sat back but didn’t turn off the engine. “Is that how you approach the weddings you organize?”
“I consider it pre-trouble troubleshooting,” Belle said with a laugh.
“Must make things a little high stress.” Mitch understood about anticipating possible issues, he had to do that as well, but he also didn’t borrow trouble when there was no need for it. He trusted the people he worked with to do their jobs. And barring death, mistakes could be fixed.
“What’s life without a little stress?” This time Belle’s laugh seemed a little forced. “I mean you’ve got to deal with what comes your way without falling to pieces.” She paused then said, “So, I guess I need to move real estate stuff up to the top of my list.”
“If you’ve decided to move ahead, there’s no reason not to get going on it. However, there are plenty of reasons to not delay.”
Belle sighed. “Yep. More than I can count.”
“Just remember that you’re not alone in this process. Always ask questions if you have them, but you can trust us to do our jobs. We know that you still have lots of demands with your job, and we’ll try not to add to your workload.”
“Well, I guess I’d better phone Cassidy and get the ball rolling,” Belle said. “And here’s hoping it all goes as smoothly as you think it will.”
Mitch wanted to offer her guarantees that it would, but even though he might have a positive outlook on life, he also knew that this wasn’t something he could guarantee. “One step at a time. Just one step at a time.”
After the call ended, Mitch headed into the building hoping that if things did go off the rails at some point, that they’d be able to get it all back on track without causing Belle any significant stress. He had a feeling that there was no way to avoid causing her some stress, but hopefully, between them, it wouldn’t be overwhelming for her.