“I love you, too.”
Chapter Twenty
Two weeks later
Mia taped the last of the moving boxes and wrote Dishes and Delicate across the top. She wiped her forehead, then arched her back. Packing up the contents of her house sure was hard work.
But it was worth every minute for where she was going. Home. To Peach Haven.
For the past two weeks, Margot had helped her pack. The twins had talked about everything and anything, and the work had gone by fast. In two weeks, Mia felt as though she’d gotten to know her sister for the first time.
Margot was in the midst of redecorating her apartment, and the changes were amazing. Where there was once cold beige leather, there was now plush red velvet and colorful throw pillows. There were fresh flowers, brightly colored rugs, and the watercolors that Margot had always loved. Her bedroom was now hot pink, and one extravagant boa was draped around her vanity. Margot had made new business cards for herself and was handing them out at every opportunity. So far, she’d gotten herself two clients.
And most importantly, she’d gotten herself back on track. She was on her way, and she was happy.
Mia smiled for her sister. They were both on their way. Mia had managed to score a job as a seventh and eighth grade English teacher at Peach Haven Middle School, and she’d given notice at Baywater. The principal had been sorry to hear that she was leaving, but under the circumstances, he understood at least one of the reasons for Mia’s wanting to move out of Baywater. The police had alerted him to Norman Newman’s arrest. There would be no more escaping for Norman, no more teaching. No more harassing of anyone.
Mew. Mew-mew. Mewwwww.
Mia spun around. The stray kitten she’d been feeding for the past two weeks had somehow sneaked into the house and was sitting on the kitchen table, lapping up the remains of the milk in Mia’s bowl of cold cereal. “Cutie, milk is bad for your tummy! Here,” she said, picking up the kitten in her hand and petting it. “Have some nice cool water. And how about I open you a can of tuna? Would you like that, Cutie?”
“Sounds like you’ve adopted yourself a pet.”
Mia turned around. Matthew Gray stood in the doorway, separated from her by the screen door.
“Cutie’s a good name for her.”
Mia could only stare at him.
“Can I come in?” he asked.
She nodded, cuddling the kitten against her chest for support.
“Why do I have the feeling that that’s not the wig,” Matthew said, looking at her hair. “It’s the real thing, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” she said.
“It looks great.” He reached over and touched the gently waving ends, then ran his hand down the length of her head. “Oh, Mia.”
She held his gaze, scared to death that he’d come to tell her he was thinking of her, that he missed her, but of course, he still couldn’t be with her. Couldn’t make a commitment.
She wasn’t ready to hear that. She knew it already, but she couldn’t hear it all over again.
“Margot came back,” she told him. “In the middle of the night. She’s okay now.”
He nodded. “Good.”
“She and Justin are together again,” she told him. “They’re taking it slow, but they’re both so in love with each other. The three of us went to dinner last weekend.”
And she’d never felt Matthew’s absence so acutely as she had that evening. Seated at a table for four, Mia had been so aware of the empty chair, the chair that her man should have been sitting in. Her Matthew.
“Mia—”
“Don’t, Matthew,” she said. “Please. I know already, okay?”
“You know that I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you? The rest of my life showing you how much?”
Her mouth dropped open, and she stared at him.
“If you and Cutie there will have me, that is.”
She couldn’t speak. She tried to utter words out of her open mouth, but nothing came out.
“Mia, will you marry me?”
“Oh, Matthew,” she breathed and ran to him. He enveloped her in a hug.
Mew. Mew-mew.
Matthew chuckled. “Better put Cutie down before we crush him with too much love.”
“There’s no such thing as too much love,” Mia replied. “Not from you.”
“Or from you.”
Matthew held her in his arms and gazed into her eyes. “I thought maybe after we got ourselves hitched, we could start on giving Robbie a cousin.”
Mia nodded, unable to speak. “I love you so much, Matthew.”
“I love you, too, Mia. I’m only sorry it took me so long to realize what an idiot I was being. My own worst enemy.”
She squeezed him tightly. “All that matters is that we’re going to be together.”
“Not here, apparently,” he said. “Moving somewhere I should know about?”
“Margot bought my parents’ house in Peach Haven for me,” she explained. “The town and house of my dreams. Do you think you could be happy there?”
“I think I’d be very happy there—I think we’re going to be very happy there for the next sixty or so years.”
Mia beamed. She was going home, and taking a new husband—her true love—with her.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
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Copyright © 2003 by Janelle Taylor
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