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Chapter Eight
Saturday flew by with back-to-back estate showings for a big-money CEO who was planning to move from New York to Seattle. It wasn’t until Mia boarded the plane to head to Napa Valley late that afternoon that she finally had a chance to take a full breath.
She’d always had plenty of energy—her poor mother had had to chase Mia all over Seattle when she was a little girl just to try to wear her out by bedtime—but today she’d had to work twice as hard to keep a smile on her face. Because despite the girls totally coming to her aid the night before at the wine bar, Mia still hadn’t been able to get Ford all the way out of her head as she’d tossed and turned for most of the night. Even worse, one of the properties she’d taken the CEO to was the tower house that Ford had liked so much. When the CEO said that he thought the tower was a “terrible addition” to the otherwise “decent” house, Mia had been dismayed by the relief that flooded through her, almost as if Ford should be the only person to have the house. Where, she’d wondered again and again since the previous morning, was her legendary self-control?
Usually, she was more than happy to accept a glass of champagne from the First Class flight attendant and strike up a chat with whatever sexy, single businessman was sitting beside her on the plane. Today, however, she not only turned down the bubbly, but also paid more attention to the spreadsheet she was going over on her computer than the hot guy who’d slid into the seat next to her. The problem was that if she let herself relax for even a second with a glass of wine, she was afraid memories of the super-hot, toe-melting kiss Ford had given her would rise up...and leave her aching for him at thirty thousand feet.
Unfortunately, just the thought of trying not to think about Ford’s kiss was enough to distract her from her computer screen. When the guy sitting next to her thought she was trying to make eye contact with him, he immediately asked, “So, is your trip to Napa for business or pleasure?”
She couldn’t even muster up so much as a flirty smile as she simply said, “My cousin is getting married,” then pointedly shifted her attention back to her computer.
What the hell was happening to her? First, she’d booted James out of the wine bar last night, and now she seemed to have lost not only the ability to flirt, but the will to do it as well. Ford had already stolen her heart all those years ago. She wasn’t going to give up the joy of flirting and her enjoyment in meeting new people, too.
Mia slammed her laptop closed and shifted so far in her seat that she was practically sitting on the guy’s lap. “What I meant to say is that I’m Mia and this is a pleasure trip.” She waved over the flight attendant for one of those glasses of champagne. “What about you? Business...” She purposely lowered her voice before saying, “Or pleasure?”
Instantly forgiven for the way she’d blown him off a minute ago, she learned his name was Scott, that he was a thirty-four-year-old sales rep for an Italian shoe company, and that he’d noticed her in the airport’s waiting area before the flight and couldn’t believe his luck at being seated beside her. The conversation was engaging, everything he said to her was flattering, and any way she looked at it, he was pretty much the perfect guy.
But as they got off the plane and she walked toward the limo waiting for her outside the small Napa Valley airport, she couldn’t bring herself to care one single bit about whether she ever saw Scott again.
* * *
The limo took Mia straight to her cousin’s house in Napa. Marcus Sullivan owned Sullivan Winery, a very successful vineyard and wine business in the heart of the wine country. He and Nicola lived there together when his bride-to-be wasn’t on the road touring the world in support of her music career. Mia was amazed by the way Marcus had shifted his life around in such a huge way so that he could be with Nicola as much as possible. He ran a huge, very lucrative business, and she knew he could easily have stayed in Napa three hundred and sixty-five days a year to focus on his winery instead of the woman he loved.
What, Mia wondered, had made Marcus decide to do that? Had Nicola given him an ultimatum like Ford had given her, demanding that he choose her over everything else in his life or else she’d leave him, love be damned?
No, Mia thought with a shake of her head as she headed up the crushed-gravel walkway to Marcus’s front door, I can’t imagine Nicola ever doing something like that. Because when you were really in love the way Marcus and Nicola were, you just didn’t hurt the person you loved like that. Instead, what Mia had always thought from watching her own parents’ marriage, was that real love meant you tried to support your partner in any way that you could, while they also did everything they could to support you right back.
That was the kind of man Mia was waiting for. One who put her first at the same time that she put him first, too. A true partnership, rather than a quick flash of heat that was doused at the first drop of rain.
Speaking of great men, when she looked up and saw her brother Ian standing in front of her, she dropped her dress bag onto the gravel and ran into his arms.
“You made it!”
Her oldest brother was living in London running his investment business, and since his past few trips home had been canceled at the last minute, she’d begun to miss him terribly. Of course she loved her other brothers Adam, Rafe, and Dylan, but she’d always had a special relationship with Ian.
His arms were strong and steady around her as his hug lifted her off the ground. “I’ve missed you, little girl.”
He was the only one who could get away with calling her that. Well, there was the way her father called her Pumpkin. But that was it for nicknames that she would tolerate, and only because her father and brother were two of her all-time favorite people on the planet.
“I’ve missed you, too,” she said. “So much. Please tell me you’re going to move back to Seattle soon.”
Normally when she said that, he would shake his head as though there was no chance of his coming back to America. But this time he simply smiled and said, “I’ve got a few things to wrap up in London first.”
Joy shot through her as she immediately forgot her grumpy mood. But as she gave a happy shout while hugging him tight, absolutely thrilled at the thought of having her big brother nearby again, he said, “Don’t say anything to Mom and Dad about it yet. I’d hate for them to be disappointed if my plans change.”
She pulled back to poke him in the chest. “Well, you’d better not disappoint me, either.”
He kissed her on the forehead, then frowned as he finally got a look at the dark smudges beneath her eyes. “I hate not being close enough to watch over you. You’re tired. What’s going on?”
As close as she and Ian were, she couldn’t possibly tell him about Ford. Not if she wanted to keep her big brother out of jail, because he’d surely do terrible things to the rock star if he found out Ford had hurt her in any way.
Fortunately, right then a toddler shot out of the front door, with her mother laughing as she chased her. Mia bent down and scooped up Emma. “Hey cutie, where are you headed in such a hurry?”
Emma giggled at suddenly being weightless, then put her hands on either side of Mia’s cheeks and gave her a wet smooch. Oh, Mia thought as she snuggled the pretty little girl close, it’s going to be so wonderful to spend the weekend with my family. Especially when she’d arrived so off-kilter and now already felt a thousand times better.
Chloe’s face lit up when she saw Mia. “You’re here!” When they hugged, Chloe’s new baby bump pressed between them. “We were waiting to start the party until you arrived.”
Chloe had married Mia’s cousin Chase a couple of years ago, after the two of them had met at this very winery when Chloe had been on the run from her dangerous ex-husband. Chase had been there every step of the way to love her exactly the way she needed to be loved, and Chloe had fallen just as hard for him. Chase was a famous photographer, Chloe was a world-class quilter, and on top of that they were fantastic parents.
“Doesn’t look like Miss Emma was waiting,” Mia teased as she wound one of Emma’s curls around her little finger.
Ian also couldn’t resist stroking her soft hair. For as stern and intimidating as her nearly-a-billionaire brother could seem to strangers, Mia knew what a softie he was for little kids. Given that he’d been such a huge and influential part of his four younger siblings’ lives, she didn’t think it should be such a surprise to people. Being rich and powerful didn’t mean you had to be a total jerk.
Well, except in Ford’s case, where that was exactly what it meant.
When the toddler began to wriggle in Mia’s arms to get back down on the ground and resume her mad dash, Chloe quickly suggested, “Emma, do you want to be the one to officially bring Miss Mia inside so that we can start our girls’ party for Aunt Nicola?”
The little girl’s big eyes lit up. Standing on her own two feet again, she reached up with her little hand to take Mia’s. “Inside.” Her grin showed off her four perfect teeth. “Party!”
And as Mia let little Emma pull her down the path and into the front door with determined steps of her adorably chubby toddler’s legs, she knew everything was going to be okay after all.
Because with her family all around her, how could anything possibly go wrong this weekend?
