by Reina Torres
Velia pushed at the arms on her chair, standing up slowly. The brothers stood at the same time, their eyes on the Santini matriarch. “I need to get up for a bit and stretch my legs.” Lorenzo was closer and offered her his arm, but she waved him off. “You boys stay here and chat. Mira, would you be a dear?”
Mira was up beside her in a heartbeat, gently taking Velia's elbow. “I’d be happy to go with you.”
No one said anything as the two women moved out of the room together.
Halfway through the main room of the restaurant, Velia ran into a tableful of old friends. One of the men offered her his chair to sit and visit with them for a few minutes, and Mira excused herself to visit the ladies room. It was easy enough to find, just off of the entryway and blissfully silent.
Once inside, she stopped short. It looked like the room had been yanked straight out of some kind of interior design magazine. So pristine and perfect that she felt even sillier for standing there, shaking like a leaf. She moved toward the sinks and for the life of her, couldn't find the towels.
"Miss?"
She could see the woman standing behind her from her vantage point in the mirror. She sucked in a breath and managed to eke out a word. "Yes?"
"May I help you?"
Oh, the sheer number of things she needed help with would stagger the other woman, but she wasn't going to wave her private shame in front of someone else. "I'm fine," the words burst from her lips like a sputter, "really, I am."
The painful dagger of her emotions had begun to twist in her gut, making a mockery of her words. It was just her cursed luck that she couldn't even be alone with her thoughts in the bathroom.
Giving up the pretense of pretending that she was fine, Mira gave the attendant a hesitant smile. "I don't see any towels."
"Oh, here," the attendant handed her a finely woven towel, "use this."
If it hadn't been for the prickling heat on her skin, or the cold chill of anguish making her nauseous, Mira would have walked out the door. Instead, she took the small towel and held it under the running faucet. Once it was wrung out and pressed against her skin, she let out a soft weary sigh.
The attendant quietly cleared her throat. “There’s a bench if you’d like to sit down for a bit.”
Mira's grateful smile earned one from the attendant as well. She found the bench tucked into the corner and sat down, leaning her head against the wall. She took in one breath after another, slowly struggling to calm herself.
Tonight was supposed to be a new start. She'd planned to tell Teodoro about her past in her own way and time, but like so many other things, that had been taken away from her as well. It was all starting to slip away.
The Santini brothers used the time to finalize some details with Caroline, somewhat ignoring Harris. He remained at the table, picking at the last few bites of his dessert, nursing his drink, and his growing temper.
When Caroline headed off to the private bar in the corner for another drink, Harris slouched back in his seat and stared at the hallway with an expectant smirk. “Looks like the other ladies went for a walk in the wilderness. I hope they took a roll to leave themselves a trail of breadcrumbs.”
Teo leaned forward, avoiding Lorenzo’s restraining hand. “Just what do you think you’re doing?”
Harris pointed at his nearly empty glass. "I’m having a drink,” he replied. “In fact, I’m planning on a few more."
"I think maybe you’ve had a few too many." The comment came from Lorenzo, who sat back in his chair and crossed one leg over the other. His relaxed posture didn’t detract from the hard look in his eyes.
"I didn't realize we were counting." Harris' tone wasn’t as light as his words. “I thought this was a party.”
"When you treat another guest badly, it becomes a problem." Teodoro felt his chest tighten, the muscles constricting as he struggled to keep his composure.
“Badly? Ella knows I'm just joking.” He shook his head and took a sip of his drink. "She used to look at me the way she looks at you." He finished his little dig with a soft chuckle that shook his shoulders.
Lorenzo had his hand on his brother's shoulder before Teo could do anything. A quick word in his ear reminded him where they were.
Teo's lips pressed into a thin line. He wanted to shoot something back at Harris. He wanted to wipe that smarmy grin off of his face. But he wasn’t going to give the ass any satisfaction, so he remained silent.
"I'm guessing," Harris downed the rest of his drink and set it on the table. Folding his arms over his chest, he stared down the younger Santini brother, "she never said anything about me."
Teo couldn't argue with the man. He wanted to tell him just what he could do to himself, but there were other people in the room.
Caroline came back and set her clutch down on the table. "Well, this is turning out to be quite the evening."
Harris gave her a head-to-toe look and nodded in appreciation. "All I know is that I'm with the best looking woman in the room."
Something shifted in Caroline's expression. The aloof confidence that she'd had moments before dimmed a little. "That's it, isn't it?"
Harris heard the sharp edge of her tone, but he didn’t give up his smile. "Caro. Honey, I-"
"The best looking woman in the room." She set her glass down as well. "I bet if Mira were to walk back in here you wouldn't be able to say that with a straight face."
Harris looked at the Santini Brothers, and cracks in his own self assured veneer opened up under their careful scrutiny. "I'm here with you, Caro."
"But you came with me to St. Helena, because you knew that she was here, didn't you?" She used every inch of her height to stare him down. "I thought you were here for me."
He reached out and laid his hand on her arm. "I am here for you, Caro. This is our first weekend away."
Her smiled brightened and Harris' shoulders relaxed the tiniest bit. "You're right, Harris. This was our first, and it’s our last." Caroline stepped. "We're done."
It took a moment for Harris to recover from the shock. He latched onto Caroline's arm and tried to ease her into the chair beside him. "You're not serious about this, are you?" He scoffed at the idea. "You meet one of my ex-girlfriends, and you're ready to throw us away?"
"I get the feeling that you're not quite over your ex, Harris. If you were, would you have come all the way here to get in her face? Did you actually think she'd take one look at you and decide that she wanted to get sucked back into your life?" His jaw tightened up under her keen observation. "And 'suck' is the operative word, Harris."
Yanking her arm away from him, she picked up her clutch, giving the room a smile. "I want to apologize to everyone. I came here to figure out if this was going to be the right move, and now I know it is." She turned and saw Velia’s empty chair at the table. "Please offer my apologies to your grandmother and Mira because I didn't have an opportunity to say goodbye."
The brothers, already on their feet, took turns shaking her hand and pressing a kiss to her cheek. “I'm sure they'll understand.”
"Lorenzo," Caroline lifted her chin to meet his eyes, "I still want the brewery. I'm going to make a huge success in my own right, and honor the amazing label you created. So, if your family is still in agreement with the sale, send me the papers and I'll sign." The corners of her mouth relaxed and she pushed back her shoulders as she smiled.
"We'll send you the papers, Caroline." Lorenzo lifted his glass to her. "It's good doing business with you."
She gestured to Teo and he crossed the room with her, leaning in to hear what she had to say. "I'm guessing you didn't know that Mira and Harris used to be together."
Teo didn't respond, giving her his full attention.
"I don't know anything beyond what's online on those gossip websites, not that I'll admit to reading them." She sighed, some of her strong facade melting just a bit. "But before you let it come between the two of you, I think you should know that Harris," she barely cast a look at the man stand
ing behind her, "loves to tell a good story, but I’m guessing it isn't always the truth."
Walking to the door, Caroline made one final turn to skewer Harris with a cold glare. "I'll have the hotel pack your bags. You can pick them up at the desk."
He moved to follow her but she held up her hand to stop him short in his tracks.
"I'm taking my car in the morning. You can fly. You can drive. Hell, you can crawl for all I care. You're just not leaving this town with me, Harris."
The soft sound of footsteps, and the pull of metal against metal made little impression on Mira as she sat on the restroom bench with her eyes closed.
"Are you okay?"
Mira lowered the cloth and looked up into the mirror in time to see Caroline finish touching up her lipstick. "I'm fine."
She twisted her lipstick into the base and covered it with its metal cap before she met Mira's eyes in the mirror. "You're either in denial or just trying to hold it together, and I don't see you as a denial kind of girl, so-"
"I probably shouldn't talk about..." Mira stammered, "I mean, I don't think you would really want to talk about-"
"Don't let the whole TV personality fool you. I'm not as big of a hard ass as I am on screen. Most of that is a character, larger than life and mostly bluster." She slipped her lipstick back into her clutch. "Having faked enough smiles and interested faces in my time, I'm guessing all of that out there... was just that."
Mira lowered the cloth into her lap. "I guess you can say that I was caught off guard."
Caroline turned toward her, leaning her hip against the counter. "You had no idea that he was going to be here, did you?"
Compared to such a tall and elegant woman, Mira felt completely bland and boring. "I had no idea that Harris was coming to St. Helena. I haven't spoken to him since before I moved here."
Nodding, Caroline looked down at the black granite and considered her words. "I thought," she closed her lips, nearly smudging the lipstick she'd just reapplied so carefully, "when he said he wanted to come with me, I thought I knew why." She blew out a breath and gave Mira a half smile. "At least now I can say I know the truth."
Mira realized she was squeezing the life out of the towel in her hand and relaxed her fingers as the knot in her stomach tightened. "I'm sorry."
Caroline's smile brightened. "It would be so much easier if you had been a bitch." She sighed. "Or at least you could have had a wart on your nose."
They shared a little smile.
"And it would be easier if I didn't take one look at Harris and want to rip him to shreds. But now..."
"Now?" Caroline relaxed a little. "Now that you've seen him again?"
Mira stood and dropped the towel into the basket on the counter. "Now that I've seen him, I finally realize that I'm much better without him," she winced a little. "Sorry, I wasn't saying-"
Caroline shrugged. "No worries. I’m in complete agreement."
Crossing over to the attendant, Mira gave her a tip and a grateful smile, thanking her for the help. She was nearly to the door when Caroline called after her.
"Mira?"
"Yes?" She wasn't sure what Caroline would say, but if the wicked grin was any indication, it was bound to be interesting.
"If you want, we can see if he’s still in the dining room. I'll hold him down and let you kick him."
Mira shook her head and let out a little laugh. "Tempting, but oh so many witnesses." She sobered a little, her smile dimming as she looked up at Caroline. "Thanks for understanding."
"My pleasure!” Caroline Franzen, chef extraordinaire, gave her a wave as she left the room.
Mira headed for the front of the restaurant, barely managing to fish out her phone as her hands shook. Thankful for speed dial, she waited for the call to pick up. She knew she shouldn't leave, but she needed to think before she tried to explain things to Teo and his family. “Shay? Yeah, I was wondering if you could pick me up?”
Chapter Sixteen
Mira knew it had been folly to check her Facebook feed the next morning. Hoping that the embarrassing scene at the restaurant wouldn't generate any notice had only been wishful thinking. Nora Kincaid, Neighborhood Watch legend and more recently a de facto member of the St. Helena branch of the McCarthy Committee, had apparently been in the mood for French food. It was just Mira's luck that the woman was better at digging up dirt than truffle hunting pigs.
There, at the top of her newsfeed, was Nora's status update decorated with a not-so-flattering picture from a gossip rag.
My elegant and sumptuous meal was interrupted by some kind of a row in the private dining area of La Maison d'Ambre. How interesting to discover that one of our local residents is some kind of infamous Internet sensation. I just hope that we've seen the last of this kind of notoriety in town.
"Well, it might help to tone down the bad press if you didn't post a link to an old article from the Daily Dish. Thanks a bunch, Mrs. Kincaid."
Mira clicked on the icon at the upper right hand of the story and chose to 'HIDE' the post from her wall.
"Too bad I can't hide it from everyone else in town." She turned off her phone and set it down on the counter, replacing it with a cup of cider to take her mind off of things.
The Heritage Garden was closed on Sundays so she could take the cup, curl up on the chaise, and hide from the general public and hope the world would just forget she existed.
And then the front door bell rang.
And rang again.
And just when she hoped they would give up and go away. It happened again.
"Coming!" Mira set the cup down on one of her crocheted coasters and headed for the door.
One more ring. "I said I'm-" She swung the door open and stared in abject shock at the four women crowded up on her front porch.
"Oh we heard you," answered Pricilla as she gave a little shrug, "but lately Lucinda's been developing something along the lines of OCD-"
"For heaven's sake, Pricilla. I just like even numbers!"
Chichi sighed and smiled. "And there you are."
"And," Velia gave Mira an encouraging smile, "we brought cake, so let us in."
Even while she stood in the doorway, the four ladies ignored the blockade and filed in like a barbershop quartet bearing gifts. "I'm really grateful that you ladies thought to stop in and see me but today really isn't a good-"
"Velia, you get the plates and forks," Chichi waved her hand at the kitchen, "Pricilla you get to serve the pieces since you cut it up." Chichi looked at Lucinda's uncomfortable grimace and just waved her on. Turning to Mira, she took the younger woman's arm and pulled her along. Leaning in, she stage-whispered a few words. "Lucinda was dragged along with the rest of us so we're not going to make her do anything but eat."
Lucinda paused in the doorway to the kitchen and gave Chichi a grumpy look. "I thought the poor girl should have some quiet time to lick her wounds," she gave Mira a half grimace, "not that you have anything to be ashamed of."
Her shoulders sagging, Mira walked into the kitchen with Chichi and slumped down in a chair. "So I guess you've all seen the article that Nora posted on Facebook."
Velia handed a plate to Pricilla and shrugged. "Oh, we saw that a long time ago."
"We read a number of the articles back then." With the practiced ease of a baker, Pricilla dished out a slice of cake and handed the plate to Chichi.
Taking the plate and a bunch of forks toward the kitchen table, Chichi let out a sigh. "What they call journalism these days is all kinds of yellow and barely worth the time it took to jot it all down."
The assembly line of cake continued on and Lucinda found her way into the refrigerator looking for a pitcher of iced tea as Mira absorbed it all, word by word. When it finally sank into her brain she stood and stared at the women that had collected in her kitchen.
"You knew?" Mira waited for an answer, looking at all of them in turn.
Velia spoke first. "About the silliness in Los Angeles?"
Mira nodd
ed at Velia. "Yes, but I wouldn't call it silly."
"We would," affirmed Chichi. She waggled her finger at Pricilla. "None of us ever did like that actress in any of her films."
"She was always so... cold in the eyes." Pricilla sipped her tea. "Never saw how anyone would trust a word out of her mouth."
"Like saying she's thirty two." Offered Velia, was not far behind. "She's forty if she's a day."
"Not that there's anything wrong with being either age," Pricilla again.
"Of course not," added Chichi, "the best ones age very well, like us. The trick is to own your shi-"
"Chichi!" Pricilla nearly choked on her iced tea as Velia pounded on her back.
Mira sank back into her chair. She wasn’t sure if she even wanted the answer, but they’d already brought her this far. “How did you find out?"
Chichi grinned and took a sip of her tea. "Nora Kincaid isn't the only one around here who knows how to do a Gooble search."
"Google, dear," Pricilla reminded her friend.
"Well, that too." The matriarch of the DeLuca family just shrugged and gave Mira a wink. "What we're trying to say is that you should just ignore Nora, most people do."
"That busybody,” Lucinda’s sharp tone was matched by the look in her eyes.
Velia's shock was a bit too practiced to be real as she turned on her friend who was chuckling a bit too loudly. "Hush, Pricilla."
"But... ouch!"
Someone had nudged Pricilla under the table. "I wish it was so simple."
"Simple is the key word for Nora." Chichi shook her head and gave Mira’s arm another comforting pat. "She'll find a new target and you'll be off the hook soon enough, but there's no need to curl up in here and waste away while you’re waiting."
Mira wanted to say that she wasn't about to give Nora the satisfaction. "Being a shut-in is an interesting prospect, I could play the crazy gothic lady in the attic."
The four women looked properly horrified and Mira rushed to ease their minds. "I'm just joking! I promise."
"That's a good girl," Pricilla nodded.