CHAPTER NINE
Mia wondered if she’d imagined the sound of someone ringing her doorbell. No. There it was again, as loud and insistent as the first time she heard it.
She wiped her brush and glanced at the time. She couldn’t believe it was nearly four-thirty. For the last five hours she’d been bent over her canvas, painting more layers of color across the eastern Montana prairie.
With each stroke of her brush, Sitting Bull’s world came into sharper focus, the battle he was about to be part of, more real.
The bell rang again. Most people gave up after the second ring, but not this person. For some reason, they weren’t prepared to accept that she either wasn’t home or didn’t want visitors.
Reluctantly, she made her way downstairs. Claire had suggested leaving a sign on the door when she was painting or disconnecting the doorbell. Mia couldn’t bring herself to do either and now she was paying the price.
She frowned at the person standing on her porch. “Annabelle? What are you doing here?”
“I have something to ask you. I tried calling, but you haven’t been answering your phone.”
Mia didn’t want to tell her it was because it was too much of a distraction. “Come inside. It’s too cold to stand on my doorstep. Does your dad know you’re here?”
Annabelle shook her head. “He’s at work. Mrs. Dodds drove me to your house. She didn’t want me to interrupt what you’re doing, but I’ve got something important to ask you.”
Mia peered through the glass panel in her front door. A dark green truck was parked in her driveway. “Would Mrs. Dodds like to come inside? She might get cold, too.”
“I won’t be long. I promised I wouldn’t take more than five minutes. Dad doesn’t like me going anywhere after school unless he knows where I am.”
“Why didn’t you ask him if you could visit me?”
“I wasn’t planning on seeing you. But I need to know what you think of my idea.”
Mia walked through to her living room and sat down. “Tell me what’s on your mind.”
Annabelle perched on the edge of the sofa. “There’s a mother and daughter day at school next Friday. I was wondering if you’d like to come with me?” She gnawed on her bottom lip. “I know you’re not my real mom, but I don’t have anyone else I can ask.”
Everything within Mia stilled. She remembered the last time she’d gone to school with her mom for a mother and daughter day. She hadn’t realized until her parents were gone how much she’d taken times like that for granted.
Stan was worried that Annabelle would become too attached to her. Going to school for the mother and daughter day would be far worse than dating him. “What are you doing at your mother and daughter day?”
Annabelle’s thin shoulders rose beneath her purple sweater. “I’m not completely sure, but my teacher said we would be doing craft activities and playing some fun games.”
“It sounds like a great day, but I’m not sure I can come. I have a lot of painting to do.”
Annabelle’s bottom lip trembled. “It isn’t really for the whole day. It starts at nine o’clock and finishes after lunch. You could do some painting in the morning and some more in the afternoon.”
Mia stared into Annabelle’s pleading eyes.
“Please. All of my friends are bringing their moms. If you don’t come with me, dad might.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“Dad is a man. He doesn’t like frilly stuff or talking about makeup and television shows. He likes spending time with Mr. Sullivan and running.”
“He likes spending time with you, too.”
A soft blush filled Annabelle’s cheeks. “I know, but this is different. If you want to leave early, you wouldn’t have to stay for lunch.”
Mia stopped herself from giving Annabelle a hug. She needed to speak to Stan, find out what he thought of his daughter’s idea. “I’ll have a think about it and call you tomorrow after school.”
Annabelle’s smile was so bright that Mia was worried she’d taken her answer for a yes. “I’m not promising that I’ll be able to go with you.”
“I know. But I’m going to cross all my fingers and toes and hope you’ll be there.” Annabelle looked through the window. “I need to go. Thank you for listening to me.”
“You’re welcome.” Mia pulled on her jacket and followed her visitor outside.
“Remember to call me tomorrow.” Annabelle gave her a quick hug before rushing down the driveway.
Mia waved to Mrs. Dodds and tried to ignore the dread creeping along her spine. It wouldn’t be easy telling Annabelle that she couldn’t go with her. But after she’d spoken to Stan, she didn’t think she’d have a choice.
***
Stan picked up his cell phone and read the caller ID. “Mia? What’s wrong?”
“I’m sorry I’ve called so late, but I didn’t want Annabelle to know that I’d contacted you.”
“You’re safe. She went to bed an hour ago. Is this about her visit this afternoon?”
“You know?”
“Mrs. Dodds told me that she drove Annabelle to your house, but not what you talked about.” He didn’t know why his daughter was being so secretive, but he was hoping Mia would tell him.
“Annabelle asked if I’d go with her to the mother and daughter day at her school.”
He leaned back in his chair. “Why would she do that? I’d already offered to take her.”
“It wouldn’t be the same,” Mia said softly. “She wants a female adult to go with her.”
“I suggested Mrs. Dodds, but she didn’t want to take her.”
“I don’t know why she asked me, but she did.”
“What did you tell her?”
“That I’d call her tomorrow afternoon and let her know if I can come. I know you don’t want Annabelle getting close to me, so if you don’t want me to go, I’ll understand.”
Stan rubbed his forehead. “Our not-really-dating experiment is getting complicated.”
“It doesn’t need to be. I could make sure Annabelle knows that I’m going as her friend, not yours.”
A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
“It’s supposed to let Annabelle know that I’m there for her.”
“What about your paintings?”
“All three paintings should be finished by next Friday.” Mia hesitated before continuing. “I thought about why Annabelle asked me to go with her. I don’t think it has anything to do with you and me. I’ve known Annabelle for more than six months. She feels comfortable around me, that’s all.”
“It’s more than that. She really likes you.”
“She likes a lot of people. I’m happy to go with her, but if you’re not happy about it, I won’t.”
Stan didn’t know what to say. He’d told Annabelle to think about what she’d like to do. She had and now he had a decision to make.
He wanted Annabelle to be happy. A mother and daughter day was bad enough without your mom. If Mia didn’t go with her, she would be devastated. “I’m happy for you to go with her. But if you play table tennis, watch out for Sophie De Ruiter’s mom. She can serve faster than anyone I’ve met.”
“I’ll remember. Thanks, Stan. I’ll call Annabelle after school tomorrow.”
He fiddled with the pen on his desk. He wanted to keep Mia talking. Even when they didn’t have much to say to each other, he enjoyed hearing about what she was doing. “Is everything else okay?”
“I think so. Gina and I went through the last of my tasks for the gala. I’ve booked a moving company to deliver the props to the Baxter Hotel five days before the event. Holly and Hannah have painted a castle onto the background panels. Annie has confirmed our menu and Gina has confirmed everything else. All we need to do is sell the tickets. How about you?”
“Everything is going to plan. The next series of articles will be hitting the Chronicle’s pages this week. We’re getting a good response from our Facebook ads and Ryan Evans has offered to sing for half an hour.”
He heard Mia gasp. “Oh, my goodness. How did you manage that?”
“He’s spending Christmas at Emerald Lake and wanted to support the neonatal unit.”
“People will be waiting outside your office to buy tickets.”
“I hope so.” Stan tried to think of something else to say, but his mind had gone blank.
“I’d better leave you to the rest of your evening. Annabelle will be happy when I tell her I can come to her mother and daughter day.”
“Did you tell her that you won’t be doing the art workshops?”
“No, not yet. I’ll tell her tomorrow. If the university cancels the program, she could come to the next workshops that Claire and Hannah are running. She would enjoy them just as much as the school ones.”
“I’ll remember that.”
“I’d better go. Goodnight.”
Stan closed his eyes. If he weren’t such an idiot, Mia would be at his house, drinking coffee, and talking to him like a normal person. They might even have had their first, it’s-not-really-a-date night.
Instead of asking her if she was doing anything tomorrow, he fell into old habits. “Goodnight. Don’t paint for too long.”
“I’ll try not to. Bye.”
After she ended the call, he stared at the phone. He’d told her he didn’t want Annabelle’s heart to be broken, but it hadn’t been the whole truth. He was just as worried about his own heart, only he knew it was too late. He already missed Mia and it would only get worse.
***
The following week, Mia sat beside Annabelle in the school gymnasium. Earlier in the morning, the principal had welcomed all the moms and honorary moms to the school and outlined what they would be doing this morning. So far, they had decorated cupcakes, made photo frames out of recycled materials, and played a game of basketball.
“Do you think mother and daughter days are a good idea?” Annabelle kept her gaze on the teams playing basketball.
The serious frown on her face made Mia think carefully before answering. “It’s nice to celebrate being a family. Did you notice that some of the girls in your class brought friends with them, too?”
Annabelle nodded. “Cindy’s parents divorced last year. Her mom lives in Arizona, so she brought her dad’s girlfriend. Cora Lee’s mom disappeared and Tina’s had to work.”
Mia wasn’t going to ask where Cora Lee’s mom had gone. “How does it feel to know you’re not the only person who doesn’t have a mom living with them?”
“It feels okay.” Annabelle’s mouth dropped open when one of the moms crashed to the floor. “Ouch. That must have hurt.”
The mom stood and hobbled to a seat.
Mia leaned toward Annabelle. “Her ankle looks sore. Do you know if there’s a first aid kit in the gymnasium?”
Annabelle pointed to one of her teachers. “Mr. Pointon is holding it. He won’t take long to get there.”
Sure enough, within a few minutes, the mom’s ankle was strapped and she was sitting beside her daughter, watching the game from the sidelines.
“I think the name of the day should be changed,” Annabelle murmured.
“What would you call it?”
“Girl Power Day,” Annabelle said with a grin. “Then it wouldn’t matter who you brought, as long as they were female and you liked them.”
“You should suggest that to your principal.”
“That’s what dad said.”
Apart from this morning, Mia hadn’t seen or heard from Stan in four days. She missed him more than she thought she would. “Your dad is a clever man.”
“Are you going to date each other?”
Mia’s eyes widened. She hadn’t expected Annabelle to ask that question. “We’re working together. We’re friends.”
“But after that? Cindy said her dad is moving on with his life. He has a girlfriend,” Annabelle whispered. “Cindy doesn’t like her very much, but she wears awesome shoes.”
Mia scanned the gymnasium for someone wearing awesome shoes. The only ones that looked a little awesome belonged to the woman who had fallen over. The shoe she was wearing was covered in sparkles, with a row of LED lights in the heel.
“Is that her?” Mia asked.
“Yep. I don’t know her name. Cindy doesn’t talk about her very much.”
“Do you talk about your mom to any of your friends?”
Annabelle shook her head. “Not really. We talk about other things.”
Mia clapped as one of the moms scored a three-pointer. “What sort of things do you talk about?”
“Normal things like music and movies and stuff. What do you and dad talk about?”
“Mostly the gala.”
Annabelle looked disappointed. “Don’t you talk about other things, too?”
“Sometimes, but not often. I finished my paintings last night. I took some photos to show you.” Mia pulled out her cell phone. “I took some close-up pictures of Sitting Bull and his baby daughter.”
Annabelle flicked through the photos, zooming in on each image as if she were appraising each canvas.
“What do you think?”
“I love them. Have you shown your granddad?”
“He’s coming over for dinner tonight. I’ll show him then.”
“He’s going to love them, too. Does Mr. Costas have any other grandchildren?”
Mia shook her head. “Only me. My mom was an only child.”
“I don’t have a granddad, but I do have an uncle and auntie and heaps of cousins.”
“You’re very lucky.”
“That’s what dad says. We always go to Uncle Mark’s ranch for Thanksgiving. It’s close to a small town called Laurel. Auntie Eileen makes a roast turkey with cranberry sauce.”
“It sounds delicious.”
“It is. You should come with us. Mr. Costas could come, too. There’s always too much food and dad would enjoy the company.”
The basketball referee blew his whistle, ending the game. The teams on the court looked relieved it was over.
“We have to go back to class now,” Annabelle said. “There’s one final activity before lunch.”
“Does it involve running, jumping, or pole dancing?” Mia asked half-seriously.
“No, but you will have to smile. We’re taking photos to put in the frame we made.”
That sounded like a good activity to Mia. “She glanced at her watch. “We won’t have much time to take the photos. Your principal wants us in the cafeteria in forty minutes.”
“We can be quick.”
“Let’s go, then,” Mia said with a grin. She didn’t know what culinary delights were in store for them at lunch, but Annabelle had told her they were having a special menu.
As long as one of the options included mac and cheese, the mother and daughter day would be perfect.
***
Stan dropped his head into his hands. The day had started out okay, but by ten o’clock he wondered why he’d ever agreed to help plan the gala.
Gina had called in sick, so all phone calls had made their way straight to him. One of the secretarys in another team had agreed to help but, between showing her where everything was kept and answering her questions, it had been a busy day.
An urgent meeting with Mia was the last thing he needed.
Polly Andrews stuck her head around the edge of his door. “Mia Costas is here to see you, Mr. Lewis. Shall I send her through?”
He nodded. “Thanks. Would you be able to make coffee and find something for us to eat? I’ve got a feeling we won’t be stopping for lunch.”
Mia’s head appeared next. He felt as though he was watching a puppet show.
“You can’t miss lunch,” Mia said. “Your brain needs food to work properly.”
“You think I don’t know that?”
Mia wasn’t intimidated by his gruff voice. “Your blood sugar levels have already dropped. Come with me.”
Stan leaned forward, resting his elbows on his desk. “We have a meeting.”
“It doesn’t need to be here. Think of it as multitasking. We can eat and talk at the same time.”
He picked up his phone.
“Leave that here,” Mia said quickly. “The world won’t end if no one can talk to you for half an hour.”
Stan frowned at the bossy-boots standing in his doorway. “Since when did you turn into a dragon?”
“When you stopped looking after yourself.” She tapped the face of her watch. “Tick tock, time’s a-wastin’.”
He took three files off his desk and handed them to Polly. “Can you scan these and save them in my budget file? The originals need to go to finance.”
“Shall do, Mr. Lewis. Would you like me to tell your next appointment that you’re running a few minutes late?”
His gaze slid to Mia. “Make it half an hour late. Mia has a lot to tell me.”
“At least you didn’t say I talk a lot,” Mia grumbled. “From now on, you’d better be on your best behavior. Otherwise, I’m not paying for lunch.”
“You’re not paying, anyway.” He held her hand and pulled her toward the elevator. “My phone is ringing. If I don’t leave now, I’ll be tempted to answer it.”
“That’s what I like to hear,” Mia said with a grin. “A man who has his priorities in the right order.”
“Or is running away from his responsibilities. I’ve had a bad morning. Tell me some good news.”
“The sun is shining.”
“Is that the only good news you’ve got?”
Mia tapped her finger against her mouth. Just watching the way her lips tilted at the corners was enough to start Stan’s happy hormones. “You’re killing me, Mia. There must be something else that’s good in the world?”
“Granddad signed another artist for a Christmas event he’s organizing. Oh, and my paintings are leaving for San Francisco in about ten days.”
He stepped into the elevator and pushed the button for the second floor. “Congratulations. You can look forward to your exhibition now.”
Mia’s smile disappeared. “I need to talk to you about that.”
“Only good news before lunch.”
“I’m out of good news.”
“There must be something else? What are you painting at the moment?”
“A portrait of the Queen.”
Stan stared at her. “Are you joking?”
“Yes. My little white lie was worth it. Do you have a thing for the royal family?”
He held Mia’s arm as they walked toward one of the hospital’s cafeterias. “I don’t have a thing, but I do respect the monarchy. All that pomp and pageantry and history stirs something in me.”
“It’s your tummy,” Mia whispered. “It’s grumbling from hunger.”
Stan took one look around the busy cafeteria and knew it would be grumbling for a lot longer. “You can’t fool me, Mia Costas. Everything about you screams, ‘I’m a romantic’. You must have dreamed of being a princess when you were little?”
Mia tilted her nose in the air. “It was the dresses. I didn’t want to be a princess, but I did want to explore their wardrobes. Imagine a designer creating clothes just for you. Talk about good news. That would be the best.”
“Designer clothes make you happy?”
“Designer clothes fit for a princess make me happy. What makes you happy, Stan?”
“Food,” he growled as they stood behind fifteen other people. “Remind me to do an efficiency study. It shouldn’t take this long to buy lunch.”
“Would this be in my capacity as a co-gala-organizer or a general fixer-upper?”
“As long as the service improves, I don’t mind what you call yourself. We’re moving.”
“Yahoo,” Mia muttered. “On a brighter note, how is Annabelle?”
For the first time all morning, Stan smiled. “She’s finally stopped talking about the mother and daughter day. She had a great time, so thank you.”
Mia stepped forward in the line. “I enjoyed myself, too. It was quite an experience being surrounded by so many females.”
“That’s what Annabelle said. Did you know that she’s organized a petition to change the name of the day?”
“She told me she wasn’t happy with the name, but I didn’t know about the petition.”
He handed Mia a tray. “Someone called Cindy is happy. Her dad is no longer dating his girlfriend. According to Annabelle, he’s finally come to his senses.”
“Cindy’s parents divorced last year. Her dad is coming out of his shell, so to speak.”
Stan kept his thoughts to himself. He hoped his ‘coming-out-of-his-shell’ party was more successful than Cindy’s dad’s.
“Ooh. Mac and cheese.” Mia sighed. “Now that’s a good news story.”
“Sometimes I wonder about your taste buds. I thought Nick would have hooked you on moussaka, stuffed vine leaves, and Greek salad.”
“He did. That’s why I like mac and cheese. It’s exotic.”
Stan shook his head in disbelief. “Like I said—I wonder about your taste buds.”
“Wonder no more,” Mia said as she ordered her lunch with a super thick vanilla milkshake. “I’m a bridge between two cultures.”
Stan stuck to a chicken salad sandwich and a jelly donut.
Mia rolled her eyes. “The good and the bad. Which one are you, Stan?”
Heat rolled up his neck. The gleam in Mia’s eyes was too X-rated for the hospital cafeteria. “One day you’ll find out and we’ll both be in trouble.”
Her saucy grin turned wicked. “Promises, promises.”
One of the staff handed Mia her lunch.
“Don’t pay for that,” he warned. “I’m buying lunch. It’s the least I can do.”
In the blink of an eye she lost her wickedness and was back to her normal self. “I’ll give in gracefully and say thank you, but you didn’t need to pay for lunch.”
“If it makes you feel better, you can buy lunch next time.”
“On our first it’s-not-really-a-date, date?”
“That’s the one.”
A woman behind Stan cleared her throat.
Mia smiled at the nurse and picked up her tray. “Where would you like to sit?”
He looked around the room, hunting for a booth that could be called romantic. The only seats that were anything other than hospital classic overlooked the gardens. And as luck would have it, they were taken.
With a disappointed sigh, he pointed to a booth on the far side of the room. “What about over there?”
“Looks good. I’ll save you a seat.”
And before he’d had time to order a double-strength cappuccino, Mia was gone.
***
Stan wove his way through the crowd in the cafeteria. Mia had been right. He was turning into a grump, but he was hoping the food he was carrying would change all of that.
“I thought you might have gotten lost,” Mia joked before looking at his face. “Sit. You need food.”
Stan didn’t need to be told twice. He dived straight into his jelly donut, savoring each grain of sugar. “I’ve died and gone to heaven.”
“Don’t let the hospital chaplain hear you say that. He’ll be out of business.”
“Not possible,” Stan murmured. He felt better already. “Jelly donuts can’t compete with what he does, but this one’s helping me.”
“You should have bought half a dozen. You’re going to need them.”
Stan stopped chewing. “You’re telling me this now? While I’m halfway through this delicious treat?”
“I’m preparing you for the worst.”
“Can’t you prepare me after I’ve finished eating?”
Mia ate a forkful of mac and cheese. “Deal.”
They ate the rest of their meal in silence. By the time Mia started drinking her milkshake, Stan’s brain had kicked into gear. “Okay. I’m ready for the worst you can throw at me.”
Mia’s eyebrows rose. “That didn’t take long.”
“I can multitask now that my brain is working.” To prove the point, he sipped his cappuccino.
“Impressive.”
“You’re stalling. What’s happened?”
“I can’t come to the gala.”
Stan frowned. “You mean the neonatal fundraising gala? The one that Deirdre started organizing more than six months ago?”
“Ssh. There’s no need to shout. I’ve spoken to Claire and Hannah. They’re going to help me stage the Baxter Hotel the week before the gala. They’ll also be there on the Friday night to help with any last-minute details.”
He ignored Mia’s logical reply. Logic had nothing to do with the disappointment and, if he were really honest, the panic, crashing through him. “What’s more important than the gala?”
“My exhibition.”
A heavy silence settled between them. When he’d asked her to help him, he knew the exhibition was her priority. But that didn’t lessen his disappointment or alter the fact that she wouldn’t be there.
He pushed his coffee away. “I thought you were traveling to San Francisco on the Saturday morning after the gala.”
“That was the plan, but the gallery’s owner wants me there on Friday morning. He’s organized a media conference and a tour of the exhibition. I have to go, Stan.”
“I know you do.” He took a deep breath. “When are you leaving?”
“On the Thursday afternoon before the gala. But don’t worry. We still have lots of time to work through any last-minute issues. It’s just as well everything is on track.”
“Not everything,” Stan muttered. “I had a call from the Baxter Hotel this morning. They had a major water leak and can’t guarantee that the main ballroom will be ready for the gala.”
“But it’s five weeks away. How much work needs to be done?”
“They’re replumbing a seven-story building that’s nearly ninety years old.”
Mia’s shoulders slumped forward. “Oh.”
“Exactly. Now we have a night no one’s going to forget because we don’t have a venue.”
“We could call the other hotels and conference centers around Bozeman. There must be something available.”
Stan shook his head. “I called the events manager of every large venue in town. Even if we limited the tickets, it wouldn’t make any difference. Nothing is available until the middle of February.”
“What about holding the fundraiser in the new neonatal area?”
“It can’t happen. Our health and safety reps would have a fit.”
“There must be somewhere else.” Mia leaned forward. “What about a barn? It would have to be insulated, but it could work.”
“I’ve already called a few people and asked about the same thing. Any suggestions they had have already been booked. I didn’t realize there were so many weddings the week before Christmas.”
“That’s what you get when you’re surrounded by romantic couples.” Mia pulled out her notebook. “What we need is a plan.”
“What we need is a venue.”
With pursed lips, Mia found a pen and started writing.
“What are you doing?”
“Brainstorming. Would you like to join me?”
Stan wasn’t fooled by the sweetness in her voice. She definitely wasn’t the easy-going person she wanted everyone to believe. There was a ruthless, determined streak to her personality that drove her to accept nothing but the best. That streak intrigued Stan and left him wondering what else she was hiding.
While he’d been thinking about Mia, she’d filled half a page with big, scrawly, words.
“What have you come up with?” he asked.
She showed him the notebook. “The venue needs to be big, so I’ve listed every building that popped into my head. We can go through the list later and figure out if they have commercial kitchens and enough bathrooms and parking spaces.”
“The public library?”
“It’s a brainstorming list, Stan.” She turned the notebook around. “Give me some ideas and I’ll write them down. Don’t think about it, just blurt them out.”
He closed his eyes and ignored the noisy cafeteria. “Charlie’s Bar and Grill, Macs Brewery, The Pizza Place on Main Street, Museum of the Rockies, the cinema in Big Sky, and Montana State University.”
When he opened his eyes, Mia was still writing. “What do you think?”
She stopped writing and smiled. “I like the way your brain works.”
Stan grinned back. “I like the way your brain works, too. But our brains won’t find a venue on their own.”
“What do you want to do next?”
He turned Mia’s notebook around. “We go through the list and cross out the venues that won’t work. Then we go through the remaining buildings and do some old-fashioned legwork. We should be able to reduce the list even more by the end of the day.”
“I thought you had meetings all afternoon?”
“I do, but they’ll have to wait. I need to raise two million dollars by the end of December. I can’t do that without a venue for the gala.”
Mia picked up her cell phone. “I just need to send a text to granddad. I was supposed to meet him this afternoon.”
Stan finished his cappuccino as they went through the list. They crossed off some of the names straight away. Others needed a phone call to confirm whether they had space in their booking schedule. After fifteen minutes, Stan was surprised that they had four venues to visit.
“It worked.”
Mia sent him a smug smile. “Of course it worked. Sometimes all you need is a little faith.”
“And a good imagination.”
“That, too.” Mia finished her milkshake. “Let’s go back to your office. We need to work out who we’re seeing first.”
Stan gathered their cups and plates together. “Good idea. I’ll be back in a minute.”
He slid the dirty dishes onto a cart and headed toward the front counter. By the time he arrived back at their table, Mia was typing on her cell phone.
“Are you ready?”
She looked at him and smiled. “What have you bought?”
Stan held up the brown paper bag. “Reinforcements. If all else fails, we can bury our sorrows in six jelly donuts.”
Mia licked her lips and Stan’s heart flipped like an acrobat. It would be an interesting afternoon.