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Still, though it was nonsensical, at the same time she missed Hawk terribly.
He appeared to be giving her a wide berth—it was the only way to explain why she hadn’t heard from him. He could have tracked her down. He knew where she lived.
She was almost annoyed with him for not tracking her down. If he cared, wouldn’t he beat a path to her door to mount a defense, however feeble?
Pia sighed. She ought to have hardened her heart against Hawk since their last confrontation. Instead, she was a mass of incredibly conflicted feelings.
Perhaps she was a pushover and always would be. She’d learned nothing, clearly, about eradicating her trusting nature and protecting her too-easily-bruised feelings.
Arriving at the Drury Theater, she went in the front entrance and was directed to Lucy’s dressing room.
When she knocked on Lucy’s partially-open dressing room door and then entered, Hawk’s sister swiveled in her chair to face her.
“Pia!” Lucy rose and came over to give her a quick squeeze. “You’re right on time.”
She might have had a falling-out with Hawk, but Pia continued to like Lucy. The other woman’s enthusiasm was almost contagious. And though this wasn’t usually the case with her clients, she believed that she and Lucy had become friends of sorts over the past few months.
“Hardly anyone is here, since it’s hours until curtain time,” Lucy said as she stepped back. “Can I offer you something to drink? Tea—” Lucy’s eyes sparkled with humor “—or maybe coffee or hot chocolate?”
“No, please,” she declined. “I’m fine at the moment.”
She removed her hat and coat, and Lucy took them and her purse from her to place on a nearby coatrack.
As they both sat down in vacant chairs, Pia looked around the smallish room. It boasted a mirrored dressing table lit by naked bulbs and strewn with an array of makeup and hair preparation items. There was also the coatrack, a few chairs and plenty of discarded wardrobe items.
Pia let her gaze come back to Lucy, and she smiled encouragingly. “You are one of the calmest brides whom I have ever worked with.”
Lucy laughed. “I suppose I’d be more nervous if work wasn’t keeping me so busy. But then I’m used to performing in front of people, and isn’t a wedding a type of performance?”
“I suppose that explains it.”
Lucy looked at her thoughtfully. “I want to thank you for attending the engagement party at Silderly Park. You left so soon, I didn’t have time to say anything.”
“Yes, well…” Pia found it hard to hold Lucy’s gaze. “It was my pleasure.”
Lucy tilted her head. “I don’t suppose your abrupt departure had anything to do with Hawk and Michelene?”
Pia was startled by the direct question, and for a moment, she wasn’t sure she’d heard correctly.
“Wh-what makes you ask that?” she said, eyes wide.
She flushed to think about how many of the other guests at the engagement party had surmised what happened.
Lucy smiled understandingly. “When it’s your brother, and you’re on the verge of getting married yourself, you notice things.”
“You needn’t worry,” she tried gamely. “I’m well-prepared to deal with Michelene and H-Hawk’s w-wedding plans.”
/> “Pia…”
She fought to hold on to her composure. How humiliating would it be to break down in front of Hawk’s sister, and to have Lucy tell Hawk about it?
Lucy’s smile flickered, comprehension in her eyes. “If it helps, I’m convinced Hawk cares about you. Very much.”
If he cared, Pia thought, he would have told her about Michelene instead of having her discover the other woman’s position in his life in such a public way. If he cared, he would have called or contacted her.
If he cared, he wouldn’t be so charming and easy to fall in love with.
Good grief, she thought, was there no end to Hawk’s ability to toy with her life?
