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He shook his head. “I get the impression they break even on that. The Beaumonts grow coffee.”
“You know them?”
“My family does business with them. We handle their import/export needs.”
“Is that your business? Import/export?”
“It was initially. We’ve diversified since my father started Salvatores. Ihandle the international side of our business.”
“Europe? Asia?”
“Mostly Europe and Latin America.”
“Ella Beaumont mentioned they would be responsible for two Cinderella Ball love matches. Did your brother or sister find their spouse at one?”
“No sisters. Only brothers. And yes, my brother Matteo met his wife Hanna here a few years ago.”
“So, you’d be their second match. Assuming,” she hastened to add, “you actually marry tonight.”
“A big assumption.”
Brand found a small alcove tucked into a shadowed corner of the garden, complete with a small table and chairs. Once they were seated, he took a swallow of his whiskey and studied the woman across fromhim.
“Tell me about yourself,” he prompted. Okay, maybe it was an order.
Mia quirked her mouth into a smile, confirming Brand’s suspicions. It had definitely come across as an order, though she proceeded to humor him. “You already know my name is Mia Starr. I’m twenty-six, most recently an admin, and now a free agent. I’ve no formal training, but I’ve had my foot in many doors. Ihave been in the US full time for five years, but I’m originally from Italy, in case you were wondering about my accent.”
“Interesting. So what brings you to the Cinderella Ball?”
“It was the request of a dear, departed friend.”
He noted the way in which she referenced the friend and compassion filled him. “I’m sorry. That must have been a tremendous loss to you if you are willing to honor his or her wishes like this?”
“Her.” Mia lifted her shoulder in a slight shrug. “To be honest, Iwas not with her in those final moments, but honoring her last wish is important to me. Idon’t think I could sleep at night if I ignored what she wanted of me.”
“Sorry is an inadequate word, but it’s the only one I have.” He frowned, the expression coming all too easily. “You said the Cinderella Ball was her dying request. That’s rather unusual.”
She set her glass on the table and leaned back in her chair, crossing her legs lightly at the ankles. Though she appeared relaxed, he sensed an underlying tension. Because of her friend’s death, or perhaps the dying wish? Or maybe both. “My friend is …wasan unusual person,” Mia said quietly. “She asked me to take some risks, and I’ve decided to honor that wish.”
He didn’t like the sound of that. “Are you normally a risk taker?”
“The exact opposite.” She sounded almost apologetic. “I think my friend lived boldly, and I’m just … me. Ilike to live quietly, out of the spotlight.”
“I can work with that.” He allowed his voice to harden ever so slightly. “What I can’t work with is drama.”
She held up her hands. They were lovely hands, strong and long fingered. Soft, yet capable. “I have no use for drama in my life. It’s unnecessarily painful.” She tilted her head to one side, and the glow from the lights strung along the pathway cast indigo blue highlights in her black hair, giving her an ethereal appearance. “What do you need in a wife, Brand?”
“I have to be honest with you,” he informed her abruptly.
“I’d appreciate that.”
“I don’t need a wife. Ineed a mother for Toni. Ineed someone who will devote herself to loving and caring for my little girl with no expectations from me.”
He expected some sort of exclamation of outrage or even disbelieving laughter. Instead, he received pure, golden silence. She studied him closely, her hazel gaze piercing his soul. Brand felt her teasing apart the layers of emotion that followed him like a rolling fog most days. Pain, regret, guilt swirled within that fog, but especially despair. After an endless moment, she took a deep breath and blew itout.
“Tell me about your daughter,” she suggested. “Why are you so intent on providing her with a mother? Many children grow up with the absence of a parent and turn out to be wonderful, functional adults.”
As badly as he wanted to agree with her, it could potentially put his father in a bad light, something he refused to do. Instead, he took a different tack. “Toni was badly injured when a drunk driver hit her and her mother. They were in a crosswalk when he plowed through the intersection. Toni survived. Carina didn’t, mainly because she pushed Toni out of the way. Or mostly out of the way.” It had taken a lot of practice over the past year to achieve utter dispassion when making those brief, bald statements. He’d even managed to make the lack of emotion sound real, when it was anything but. “Recently my daughter has become more and more withdrawn and created a fantasy world where her mother is alive.”
