WindSwept Narrows: #2 Cassidy, Abby & Mia

by Diroll-Nichols, Karen

  “How do you know this?” Kate asked instantly.

  “Because I asked…and listened….she makes Scarlet sit in a dark room,” Mia saw the instant anger on Lucas’ face. “Because she is not always good. I do not know why she is doing this to you, but she is not after Scarlet alone.”

  “She blames me for Jessica’s death,” Lucas admitted quietly. “Claims that she only turned to drugs because I refused to marry her.”

  “We know that to be a lie, since Jessica had a history of using drugs since she was twelve years old,” Kate rubbed her neck. “I’m going back to my office,” her palm came out toward Mia. “Kate Fletcher.”

  “Mia Santori…I am sorry for the misunderstanding,” Mia said genuinely. “You would think that such an archaic charge would be impossible in this day.”

  “For what it’s worth, I agree with Mia…Miranda Felstone is after something other than Scarlet, but she’s not above using Scarlet to get what she wants,” Kate shook her head. Pieces of a puzzle. “I’ll be in touch, Lucas.”

  “Thanks, Kate.”

  Mia met the blue eyes that stared at her. His palm was up and rubbing over his neck.

  “I don’t know whether you just complicated my life more or not,” he said when they were alone. “But thank you for looking after Scarlet. Where was she?”

  “In the garden,” Mia gestured to the door. “She said you made it.”

  “You put in the request,” he answered with a shrug. “That’s what I do.”

  “Thank you. It is perfect. The lemon cypress is one of my favorites,” she told him, her voice dropping slightly. “She told me you said the garden was for thinking.”

  “I’d give most anything to have that woman just disappear from our lives,” Lucas said quietly, leaning against the counter and staring into the large office. “Scarlet was supposed to stay with my assistant. I had to go off and deal with a problem on the other side of the property. When I got back, she was missing and…my assistant frantic. She phoned the police. She swore she kept Scarlet in her sight at all times at the park. Next thing I know, Miranda and the social worker show up. How the hell they knew…”

  “I dislike puzzles where some pieces are invisible,” Mia said as if talking to herself. “Logic says someone close to you and Scarlet is not entirely loyal.”

  “Yeah…I got that far already…she’s only three…”

  “Almost four,” Mia said in all seriousness, only the twinkle in her eyes showing her humor. He relaxed enough to chuckle. “Why is she at the work site with you, Lucas?”

  “The sitter…” he shook his head. “I lost another one this morning. Just called in and…quit…what the hell else am I supposed to do…usually I’m not all over the site as much…”

  “Something tells me you enjoy being all over the site,” Mia moved into her office and gestured to a chair. “Please…can I get you something to drink?”

  “No, I’m…”

  “Daddy!” Scarlet was up, shoving the quilt aside and small feet hitting the floor only a bare instance before she launched herself into his open arms. Small hands immediately on his face. “We made cookies!” She informed him in a low, hushed voice. “Putmedown! I’ll get you one!”

  “Scarlet, no…” But Lucas caught the dark eyes watching him, the faint shake of her head and then a gentle nod. “Alright…”

  “It is alright…” Mia promised. “She knows what she is doing. She is smart and learns very quickly.”

  He watched the tiny ponytail bouncing as the little girl ran to one of the lower counter shelves. She stood for a long minute trying to decide and carefully picked up a very large cookie. Cradling it in the palms of her hands, she walked back very cautiously, holding her prize up with a beaming smile.

  “Thank you,” he took the cookie, noticing the palm print in the center. “Hmm...that hand looks familiar…”

  “It’s mine! And they’re very good,” she assured him, walking with a slight swagger into the office and climbing onto a chair. “We got the recipe from this book. We have lots of recipes.”

  “Well, I think we need to get going.”

  “Scarlet, why did you leave the park?” Mia asked abruptly.

  Pale lashes blinked at Mia, as if the answer was obvious.

  “I didn’t. I waited but she didn’t come back. But daddy showed me the path to the garden so I went there,” Scarlet seemed to consider this, her tiny lips pulled into a frown. “It was hot in the park and the garden is shady.”

  “It’s a very lovely garden and you may share it with me anytime you want,” Mia promised with a smile. “Perhaps they should put shade in the park.”

  “That would be fun. Can I visit Mia again, daddy? I was good,” she added hurriedly.

  “You may visit with me anytime you like,” Mia answered instantly. “We have a lot of cooking to do,” she said with a wink at the little girl.

  “Are you gonna eat your cookie?” Scarlet asked, little legs swinging as she perched on the edge of the chair.

  “Perhaps he would like to save it for after dinner,” Mia suggested. “Then he could share it with you. Do you want to put some in a box and take them with you?” She laughed when there was instantly a nod and feet hitting the hardwood flooring. Mia rose from behind her desk, her hand out. “Then let’s find where my staff has stored the boxes.”

  Lucas Tanner watched the two wander to a large door. Mia pulled it wide and stood in the opening, assessing the contents. He also saw how Scarlet hesitated to follow behind Mia when she went into the storage cupboard. Scarlet hurriedly went to the counter with Mia, climbing on a railed step stool and standing side by side as they carefully moved cookies from a stainless tray to the insides of the ten inch square box.

  Mia looked up to see him staring at them and felt heat strike her cheeks. She held the box out without closing it.

  “You can put your cookie inside, daddy. We put paper in to keep them fresh,” she informed him with a nod.

  “Good idea,” Lucas put the cookie in his palm into the box, closing the top with Windswept Narrows blazed in a gold sweep across the top. “Now…we have to get home.”

  “Wait,” Scarlet told him, turning to Mia and pulling on her palm.

  Dark eyes told him she didn’t know but she leaned down and listened. Slowly Mia stood up, her tongue out and moistening her lips in thought. She took Scarlet’s hand and led her into the office, her other hand up and crooking a finger at Lucas.

  “I am to show you how to brush hair without hurting,” Mia saw the flush that struck his cheeks. “It is difficult to know just how to do it right when you are a boy,” she continued, trying to lessen the embarrassment in his face. “Hmm...let me check my purse…I cut my hair only a few months ago, so it is most likely,” she stared into her purse, fingers rummaging and mumbled French leaving her lips.

  “You have an Italian name…” Lucas mentioned casually.

  “I am a mongrel,” Mia told him with a broad grin, her palm up with several multi colored elastic cloth bands in her fingers. “My father is from Tuscany. My mother is French. I was born in New York while they were on vacation. But I grew up in the south of France with my grandmother. So…first we must have the right kind of brush,” she held up the wide toothed wire brush.

  “I have the wrong kind,” Lucas said immediately, the morning struggles with getting Scarlet’s hair into some sort of order always leaving him frustrated and her crying.

  “These and this are both sold in your drug stores. The cloth bands keep from pulling out the hair and hurting. It is most difficult to know these things if you are a boy,” Mia told him easily. “You may have this one. I have extras because I am always losing them.”

  “That’s very kind of you but we can pick up some on the way home,” Lucas reached for Scarlet’s hand. “Again, thank you for your help today.”

  “I meant what I said,” Mia set the brush and bands on her purse, confused that her gesture was refused. “She is welcome here anytime. Goo
d bye, Scarlet. Remember what I told you…” Mia hugged the little girl, fingers up and waving as she was led from the building.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Lucas drained the glass of juice. The glass came down on the counter with a little more force than necessary. Scarlet looked over at him from the cereal she was quietly eating. She hadn’t let him remove the ponytail the night before. It was still mostly in place, a little skewed to the side with rampant strands curling around her toddler face. He took the new brush and tried to work things back to the neat bundle but something just wasn’t working.

  “Am I going to work with you?”

  “No…” he knew he couldn’t trust someone on his staff and until he was certain who it was, he was keeping Scarlet away from them. He packed up his laptop and the folders he’d been working on the night before, hoping to hear from the agency.

  “Why can’t I go be with Mia? She said it was okay,” Scarlet lifted the bowl and drank the milk, a kid moustache the left over evidence. She carried her bowl to the sink and tip toed to put it into the stainless center.

  Lucas took out his phone and stared at the small business card he’d lifted from her desk the day before. He tapped in her number and closed his eyes. A very sleepy voice answered the phone, the French inflection heavy.

  “ ‘ello?” Mia lay sprawled across the large bed, feet hanging over one edge and arms stretched out over the other, her phone in one hand resting against her ear. It had been a warm night, the patio left open and the soft breeze pleasant.

  “Mia? It’s Lucas…I’m sorry if I woke you,” Lucas groaned at the sound of his words.

  “What time it is?” Fuzzy eyes tried to focus on the clock. Her groan soft as her face fell back to the bed. “What is wrong?”

  “I know I don’t have any right asking this, but I need a favor.”

  “Is Scarlet okay?”

  “Yes…yes…fine…but I don’t have a sitter. The agency doesn’t have anyone available and I have seventeen hundred things that…”

  “Bring her to my room, Lucas, it is alright,” Mia rolled to her back, but that was as far as her body wanted to go at the moment. She had run for an hour last night, and it felt good at the time. Now, not so much. “I am in one oh eight, first floor behind the kitchen. It is alright…I will take care of her for you.”

  Lucas stared at the dead line. “Let’s go, Scarlet, I’m running late.” He grabbed up her backpack and keys, checking quickly for his wallet and dropping his phone into his pocket.

  “Where we going?”

  “I’m going to work,” he told her, quickly buckling her into the car seat. “You’re going to see Mia.”

  “Really?”

  “Really.”

  “Cool.”

  He peered into the mirror, trying to figure out who she listened to sometimes with some of the things she came up with. He drove quickly, glad he didn’t live far from the resort, wondering in which part of his life plan there had been the line about being a single dad. He knew he was lucky that Scarlet was a morning child, very little grief from her unless she wasn’t feeling good. Another part of him worried Miranda Felstone was right and he knew nothing about raising a little girl.

  Lucas was staring. He knew he was staring.

  Scarlet raised a little palm and waved at Mia. Her almost black hair was tousled and her eyes softly puffy from sleep.

  “Hi, Mia,” wandering between the adults and into the large hotel room.

  “Morning, Scarlet,” Mia answered with a palm covering her yawn. “Sorry…I am not used to this time of the morning.”

  Lucas let his eyes take in the bare feet, toes a startling pink. A pair of slinky harem pants tied loosely on her hips; a bare midriff and a skimpy tank of the same fabric. No bra and an obvious chill in the room.

  “I…uh…really appreciate this, Mia,” Lucas forced his gaze to the three year old bouncing on the edge of the bed. “Hey, munchkin…I gotta go…” He dropped to his heels, accepting the child against him with a long hug. “Be good.”

  “I am sure she is always good,” Mia assured him, stifling another yawn.

  His phone sounded and he pulled it out. “Damn it…”

  “Twenty-five cents!” Scarlet yelled out gleefully, her little palm up expectantly.

  “I don’t…” he dug in his pockets. “Hell, I…”

  “Twenty-five cents!” She yelled again.

  Mia watched the exchange, her palm on her lips. She pulled the lower lip between her teeth, dark eyes trying to hide the laughter when he glared at her. She saw him pull out a dollar and slap it into Scarlet’s palm.

  “Here…for next time. Later, ladies…thanks, Mia,” he turned and took off at a run down the corridor with his phone to his ear.

  “Well…” Mia crawled back onto the bed, one eye closed as she looked at the crooked ponytail on the back of Scarlet’s head. “What happened here?”

  “Daddy,” she answered with a shrug. “I think his fingers are too big.”

  Mia sat up and reached for the nightstand and her brush. “Slide back, Scarlet…let me fix this then I will get ready for the day.”

  At ten, Mia had the large quilt spread on the ground. Scarlet lay on her stomach, coloring and playing with things that had been pre-packed in her backpack. Mia was using the bench as a desk, sitting cross legged, munching on cut up fruit and listening to music from the laptop. Both were barefoot with freshly painted pink toe nails.

  Mia glanced up absently when Simon Oliver came into the garden, dropping to his heels. “You ladies look comfy.”

  “Hello, Simon,” Mia stretched and winced as she straightened her back.

  “You said something about needing a fence?”

  “I want this area fenced…perhaps five foot high?” She glanced toward Scarlet. “With a gate. Something nice….not to look like a prison.”

  “To keep in or out?” He asked casually, glancing at Scarlet. He had his note pad out, jotting things for the work order.

  “In, for the most part. I think a nice safety gate. I will find some small things to put in this area for playing,” Mia commented when Simon nodded and told her he’d take care of it.

  Lucas came around the side of the kitchen, the loud girl voices bringing a smile to his face. There was a definite difference in the singing. He stood and watched for a few minutes, listening to the music playing from the computer. On the ground he could see Mia’s back. She sat cross legged with Scarlet in her lap. Mia and Scarlet rocked back and forth as they sang to the song about Puff, the Magic Dragon. He hadn’t heard that song in ages.

  He leaned against the wall, arms crossed as the music slowly changed. Scarlet was focused on the video playing on the next one, a song from the cartoon, Beauty and the Beast. Mia sang along with the music, the two of them falling backwards at the end of the song, giggles all around.

  Mia caught movement on the other side of the cypress, her eyes widening as it moved closer. She peered up as Lucas Tanner peered down, one brow arched and a smile on his lips.

  “Daddy!” Scarlet was up and around the roses, launching herself into his arms.

  “You girls look like you’re having a good time,” he commented easily, sinking to the bench and setting Scarlet on the ground. “Nice hair…” he tugged on one of the tiny braids, glancing at the bare toes with a nod. “Very pretty.”

  “We were singing and watching the computer.”

  “I thought you two ladies might like a little lunch? It’s noon and I’ve got a couple hours that actually look calm,” he said with a glance at the quiet woman.

  “I have to go to the bathroom,” Scarlet slipped her feet into the bright yellow clogs and took off at a run without looking back.

  “So…will you lunch with us?”

  “Let me find my shoes,” she said with a nod.

  Mia closed the lap top and climbed to her feet, gathering things and carrying them into her office, aware of him behind her.

  “I got a text from Kate thi
s morning,” Lucas said quietly. “I can’t believe…her idiot attorney is asking for proof we’re engaged.”

  “What?” Mia pulled her shoes on, leaning on the desk and looking for her purse and keys. “That’s insane. There is no…no proof of intent…”

  “Kate returned a fax to that effect. I don’t know what the hell they want from me,” he stopped when he heard the little voice ring out.

  “Twenty-five cents!”

  “Who’s idea was this, anyway?” He demanded, digging for a quarter when she came around the corner, wrestling with her shorts. He flipped the coin in the air, winking when she snatched it. He dropped to his heels, fixing her pants for her.

  “Yours.” She told him with a grin.

  “I am sure she’ll have a nice college fund by the time she is ten,” Mia commented with a chuckle.

  “You could play, too,” Scarlet said with a grin. “You don’t say words like Daddy does.”

  “Girls are just more clever,” Mia said with a wink.

  “Let’s go, ladies, while I still have some ego left,” Lucas held the door for them, taking Scarlet’s palm and swinging her easily into his arms, her giggles making him smile.

  “Where we goin’? Scarlet asked, perched comfortably in the crook of his arm.

  “Do you like fish?” He glanced at Mia, accepting her nod. “Fish bits and chips,” he said, pulling keys from his pocket with a chirp. He pulled the passenger door wide before moving to the other side, buckling Scarlet into her chair. “You been good today?”

  “I am good every day,” she spoke the words clearly and confidently, her nose tipped up.

  “Hmm…now that’s new,” Lucas raised an eyebrow and looked over at a suddenly distracted Mia, her hands working her seat belt before she sat examining her nails. “Assertiveness training?”

  “You can never begin too early,” Mia answered without remorse. “You are doing this because of what I said, aren’t you?”

  “The last thing I need right now is to be caught in a lie, Mia,” Lucas answered after a few quiet minutes. “I know you meant well…”