Mitch battled anger for the rest of the afternoon. That and a desire to track down Andre Moreau to show him exactly how he shouldn’t treat a woman. Looking at Belle now, Mitch had a hard time imagining her being manipulated in that way.
After hearing about the kind of relationship she had come out of with Andre, Mitch realized that she would likely be skittish when it came to getting involved with any other man. Even knowing that and what it would probably mean for him, he found that he admired her all the more considering what she’d gone through. It took strength to escape a relationship of that sort. To find the will to resist the manipulations of a man bent on controlling her.
“How’s it going, Mark?” Mitch asked as he spotted the man in a section of the building they’d been working on earlier.
It looked like they’d made a lot of progress. Men walked past him, pushing small wheeled bins that contained the debris they had already pulled from the walls. It was good to see progress being made. Taking this on along with all their other scheduled projects had been a risk. He’d had to push for it with Bennett and Ethan, promising that he could do it without compromising the other C&M projects.
Mitch had been tempted to put their best workers on the bridal boutique project, but he knew that he couldn’t do that. Instead, he’d spread their best guys among the various job sites, and then he’d hired on people who had previously worked seasonally for C&M to bulk up their workforce.
For the demo, they were able to use some of the lesser skilled workers, and he was pleased to see they were working smoothly and quickly. The goal was to finish the project in twelve weeks, and Mitch was confident that they could achieve that.
“We should be done most of this area by finishing time this afternoon,” Mark said as he came to stand beside Mitch. “The little lady did quite a number on that wall. Made good work of getting it demolished.”
“Yeah, she did.” Mitch thought maybe she’d had a few things to work through in her mind and that hitting the wall had helped. Although, without a doubt, she was going to feel the full effects of her physical labor later. He wondered if she’d be back again at some point. It would have to be in the next few days though as the demo wasn’t supposed to last past the end of the week. Maybe he’d text her later to let her know.
At the end of the week, Mitch walked around the building with Tristan. The last of the demolition was done, and they were ready to move on to the second stage. The space looked huge with most the walls torn down. There were still a few load bearing ones in place, but otherwise, there was nothing but wide-open space.
They had one last thing to demolish, but they couldn’t do it until the windows arrived. A large part of the wall facing the river was going to come down, and in its place were going to be floor to ceiling windows, which would flood the bridal shop with light. Mitch hadn’t been sure about that part of Tristan’s plan, but now that the space was cleared out, he was having an easier time envisioning it all. That was usually how it was for him, in regards to Tristan’s designs for a place that needed a lot of demolition prior to renovations.
As he and Tristan stood on the second floor, looking down over what would be the foyer/reception area, Mitch’s phone rang. He pulled it out and looked at the display, pleased to see Belle’s number flash on the screen. They hadn’t spoken since the day when they’d had lunch and had run into Andre.
After he’d had time to think about it, Mitch had realized that he’d had a glimpse into a part of Belle’s life that she likely wouldn’t have voluntarily shared with him. At least not at this point in their acquaintance. He had wondered if she’d felt awkward about it all once she’d left, though he hoped she hadn’t.
She had no reason to feel that way. From the look of Andre Moreau, he had at least a decade on her, and he was the one who had taken advantage of a young woman. That was on him.
“Hello, Belle,” Mitch said as he tapped his Bluetooth earpiece. “How’s it going?”
“Busy. It’s the weekend, so you know the drill.”
“Do you ever have a weekend without a wedding during the summer?”
“Occasionally. Some aren’t too bad as the clients just want us to help them keep things on track for the wedding. It’s the ones where we’re in charge of everything, from the client’s first appointment, that can be daunting. This weekend I only have one wedding that I need to be present at, so it’s a bit of an easier weekend. Sort of.”
“Sort of?”
“That’s why I was calling.” Belle hesitated before continuing. “My mom and her husband arrived in town this afternoon, and Mom was wondering if it was possible to come tour the building. Also, she wanted to know if you’d be willing to have dinner with us on Sunday evening.”
“Sure thing. Why don’t you all come here Sunday afternoon, and I can give them a tour—such as it is.” Mitch turned in a circle. “You can stand in one place and see pretty much everything right now.”
“It’s probably better that she sees it that way than how it was at the beginning of the week,” Belle said with a laugh. “And will you be able to have dinner afterward?”
“I can if it’s an early one. I have to be at church at seven in the evening, so I’d need to leave by six-thirty.”
“I’m sure we could do five,” Belle said. “They’re flying out early Monday morning, so Mama will probably be fine with having an early dinner.”
“Sounds good. How about I meet you here at four?”
“Sure. We’ll be there.” Belle paused once again. “My mom can be… Well, she’ll likely ask a lot of questions, and I can’t guarantee that none of them will be personal.”
Mitch chuckled. “No worries. I’ve got a mom like that too.”
Well, for a period of time she hadn’t been like that, but she was getting better once again. It was a relief to see her returning to her former self, at least mentally. Physically, she was still not where she’d once been, but the family had been told she might not ever completely regain everything she had lost when she had the aneurysm. He knew his mom struggled with that thought at times, but they were all just so happy that she was still with them that accepting any physical impediments was a small price to pay.
“Consider yourself warned,” Belle said. “I’ve had others say they had moms like I did, only to tell me afterward that mine took the cake.”
“I will keep that in mind,” Mitch assured her, suddenly more than a little eager to meet the woman Belle called mom.
“Perfect. See you Sunday,” Belle said before adding on a goodbye.
“Got a date?” Tristan asked after Mitch hung up.
“Not really.” He shared his plans for Sunday with Belle and her family.
“Oh. So it’s a meet-the-parents sort of thing.”
Mitch laughed. “Ha. Not quite. Maybe you should come with us.”
Tristan held his hands up. “Nope. You’re definitely a better people person than I am. It’s better that you meet them.”
“But what if they have questions about the design? You’d be much better to answer those.”
“I can meet you here for the tour, but after that, I’m gone,” Tristan said. “They can ask all their questions while they look around.”
Mitch grinned. “You always were a good one for compromises.”
“I had to learn early, didn’t I?” Tristan punched his arm. “How else would I have survived around the seven of you. At least I could hold my own when the other two came along. I’d learned by then.”
“Ready to get out of here?” Mitch asked. “I’ll treat you to supper.”
Rubbing his flat stomach, Tristan said, “Sounds good to me.”
“So tell me again how you decided to use this company for the purchase and renovation of the building, beauty,” her mom said as they pulled away from the hotel where they were staying.
Since the drive from the hotel to the building site was fairly short, Belle decided to give the abbreviated version. “His parents are good friends with the Zavardis. His dad, Steve Callaghan, is the one who started the company.”
“And you trust him? His company? Have you seen any of their work?”
“Yes. Their site had pictures of work they’d done, and I visited a couple of those businesses. The clients were very happy with the work of C&M, and the results looked beautiful.”
“I hope they’re as good as you say they are. We’re paying them a lot of money.”
Belle sighed as she gripped the steering wheel. “You trust the Zevardis, don’t you? Do you think they’d be friends with someone who ripped people off?”
“No. Of course not.”
“They’re fine, love.” Patrick O’Neill’s voice with its soft Irish lilt was calming as he spoke to his wife. “I did some checking of my own with Max and called a few o’ the businesses they’d done work for. All said they’d done a right fine job. They met deadlines and came in on budget.”
“Okay. That makes me feel better.”
Belle fought the urge to roll her eyes. She’d said basically the same thing to her mom, but it wasn’t until her husband said it that she accepted it. Though her mother would deny it up, down and all around, in truth, Belle was convinced that she was sexist. Which was weird, because, in her own way, her mom was a strong woman and had encouraged them to be strong as well. It was just her outdated thinking that bothered Belle. That she thought she needed a man to complete her life, and that men knew better about buying buildings and renovations—among other things.
And she viewed her daughters in the same way, frequently asking if they had found a man yet. So far, they were all profound disappointments in that department. None of them had found their Prince Charming, and none of them had any plans to fall into a deep sleep that required a true love’s kiss to wake them.
“Well, it’s not quite the neighborhood we’ve been in,” her mom said as Belle parked in front of the building. “We’re losing a lot of visibility.”
“True.” Belle put the car in park and turned off the engine. “But we’re gearing up for a bigger marketing campaign that will include a billboard or two. One for sure on Portage Avenue for visibility. I’ll give you more details as we get closer to the time of moving. That’s when we’re going to launch the billboard.”
She shoved her door open and got out, waiting as Patrick opened the door for her mom and then joined her in front of the building. “Signs are going up at the store this week informing customers of the relocation, and we’re updating the website and sending out flyers with any purchases made.”
“Sounds like you’ve got it all sorted,” Patrick said with a smile.
Belle had had her doubts when her mom had first started talking about the rich Irish businessman she’d met at a wedding. At first, Belle had just dismissed the news, but it soon became apparent after they met the man, that he was as smitten with their mom as she was with him. It hadn’t taken long for the two to marry—in a surprisingly small and simple ceremony—and then Belle found herself in charge of a business that she had never planned to take on.
As they approached the front door, it swung toward them, and Mitch stepped out into the bright sunshine, a broad smile on his face.
“Nice to see you again, Belle,” he said with a nod of his head.
“You too,” Belle said, trying to keep her tone distant, so her mom didn’t get any ideas. “This is my mom, Annalisse O’Neill, and her husband, Patrick. Mom, this is Mitch Callaghan. He’ll be the one overseeing the renovations.”
Mitch shook hands with her mom and Patrick, then motioned for them to go into the building as he held the door. Inside, Belle immediately spotted Tristan and greeted him with a smile and carried out the introductions once again. After that, Mitch explained that because there was no work currently going on and no scaffolding in the area they’d be touring around, they could forgo the hard hats.
“So this is it, eh?” her mom said as she looked around.
She didn’t sound overly impressed with it, but then it really wasn’t an impressive space just yet. An expansive space. An expensive space. Yes. But not an impressive one. Belle knew that was going to change. She just hoped that her mom would be impressed by the tour and speaking with Mitch and Tristan.
“You’ve seen the designs already, right, Mrs. O’Neill?” Mitch asked.
“Yes. Yes, I have, but it’s hard to picture them when the space looks like this.” Her mom waved her hand around at the empty space.
“Yes, that’s very true.” Mitch laid a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Why don’t you explain the layout, Tristan?”
Before he could start, Belle heard the door to the building open. She turned to see Jasmine and Rory walk in. Though she’d extended the invitation, Belle hadn’t been sure that either would make it.
“My darlings,” her mother said as she moved to hug each of them. “I’m so glad you could make it.”
Belle again made the introductions, not missing the look of interest on Mitch and Tristan’s faces as they took in Rory in all her statuesque beauty. The only thing that made men stare more when meeting Rory was if Ariel was there too. The two of them were definitely attention grabbing when they were in public together.
Where Belle was blonde, and Jasmine had light brown hair, the twins had dark chocolate brown hair with striking light gray eyes. That, added to their height and figures, made them striking in appearance. Their dad had been Armenian—or at least that’s what their mother had said he was. She’d called him a gypsy at other times. All Belle knew was that he wasn’t around by the time the twins were born and hadn’t been seen since.
“Nice to meet you,” Mitch said as he shook hands with Rory, then turned to Jasmine. “And nice to see you again, Jasmine.”
Once the introductions were made, her mom asked Tristan to explain the plans he’d designed.
“The best part of the plan, the one thing that will make the building a showplace, is the floor to ceiling windows we plan to put in on the wall facing the river.” Tristan led her mother over to the small windows that were still in place. “They will let in a ton of natural light down here and also in the conference room on the second floor. Belle will even have some nice sunlight in her office.”
Belle fell behind the group as they made their way around the main floor, then toured the basement and the upper floor. She was happy to see that her mom seemed to be warming up to the design. Tristan patiently answered all her questions. More patiently than Belle would have. She was glad that Mitch had brought him along.
“So will you join us for dinner, Tristan?” her mom asked when they all stood at the front door after the tour.
“Thank you for the invitation, but I’m sorry I can’t accept,” Tristan said, his tone polite even as he refused.
Her mom nodded then turned to Mitch. “How about you?”
“Sure. I’ll be happy to join you for a bit.”
“Great. We’ll meet you there,” her mom said.
After Belle gave Mitch the address of the steakhouse they’d chosen, she left with her mom, Patrick and her sisters while Mitch and Tristan locked up. Rory and Jasmine went in Rory’s car to the restaurant that wasn’t too far from downtown.
Given how well the time at the building had gone, Belle hoped that interactions would continue to be congenial over dinner. It would be Mitch’s turn in the hot-seat with a ton of questions asked about his workers, the budget, the materials he’d be using and anything else her mom could think of with regards to the renovation side of things.
Once they’d all arrived at the restaurant and been shown to a table, Belle found herself seated between Mitch and Jasmine while Rory, her mom, and Patrick sat across from them. For the first little while, their conversation circled around the menu and what looked good. After their orders were taken, the conversation once again turned to the building, and as Belle had suspected, her mother still had a hundred and one questions.
When the food came, it only briefly interrupted the conversation as Patrick said grace for the meal. Belle was grateful that when her mom had finally found her “Prince Charming,” he’d also been a man of strong faith. She’d been certain that when push came to shove, her mother would abandon her faith if the man hadn’t believed the same way she did about God. In the end, it hadn’t been an issue, for which Belle was thankful.
As soon as Patrick had finished saying grace, her mom started in on Mitch again. Belle admired how he took all the questions in stride, answering them in ways they could all understand even though none of them were in the construction business. Patrick had a few questions along the way as well, but mostly, the man just ate his meal and let his wife do the talking. It appeared he’d learned well in the four years they’d been together.
“So do you have a girlfriend or lovely wife, Mitch?”