“Who is Steven?”
“Oh, I didn’t tell you?” Donna’s nervous laugh sounded tinny over the phone. “Corey was starting to be neglectful—I think I told you about that—and I met Steven at a benefit dinner—dance and he said I was the most stunning woman in the room. Two weeks later, he asked me to come to Costa Rica with him. Oh, Paige honey, I think he’s the one.”
Of course he was. The one after the guy before him and the one before the guy who’d come after him. “That’s wonderful. I hope he is.”
There was a long pause and she wondered if her mother had set the phone down and then forgotten she was talking to her daughter. Sadly, it wouldn’t be the first time. “You sound a little funny, sweetheart. Is everything okay?”
The rare moment of awareness was almost Paige’s undoing. For a moment she imagined having a mother like everybody else seemed to—one who put her daughter’s feelings above everything else and would do anything to soothe away her hurts. “It turned out my guy wasn’t the one.”
“Oh, good lord, I didn’t even know you had a guy! Well, it’s his loss, honey. You need to put on some makeup and a nice dress and go find yourself another one, and the sooner the better.”
There was the Donna she knew and loved. “Yeah, I’ll keep an eye out for one.”
The subject turned back to Steven, the accountant, and his gorgeous house in Costa Rica and Paige said a quick, silent prayer her mother’s newest relationship wouldn’t end with a subpoena. Donna sure knew how to pick them.
A few minutes later she was able to end the call with a relieved sigh, and she picked up her tote and walked the rest of the way back to her trailer. Hailey was picking her up in an hour and they were going to drive down to the city and see a movie. As long as they could find something that didn’t end with a mushy, smooching couple living happily ever after, Paige didn’t care what they saw. She just needed the distraction.
When Hailey finally showed up, she tilted her head and frowned at Paige. “It looks like you brushed your hair, but a little mascara and lip gloss wouldn’t hurt.”
“I’ve already gotten the ‘Look pretty and everything will be okay’ advice today.”
“Donna call?”
Paige rolled her eyes. “She’s in a Costa Rica with a new guy. He’s the one.”
“Yeah, for now. You ready?”
“Let’s go.”
Hailey waited until she was held hostage in the car, buzzing down the main road, before asking the big question Paige had known was coming but dreaded hearing. “Have you talked to Mitch?”
“No, and I’m not going to.” That was the deal and Hailey knew it as well as she did. “What’s playing at the theater? I’m in the mood for an action movie. Or horror.”
“No horror. The last time you dragged me to a horror movie, I woke up crying for my mommy in the middle of the night. Thank god I live alone.”
Paige laughed, letting Hailey lighten her mood. She and Mitch had both laid it out there in the beginning. He wouldn’t call or text, and she wouldn’t mope. And she didn’t need to put on lipstick and a dancing dress and rush out to find another man. She didn’t need another man in her life.
And there was no other man she wanted.
*
“You’ve done one hell of a job, Scott.” Mitch tapped the pile of papers he’d gone through to neaten the edges, then tucked them in the folder. “I appreciate you taking up the slack while I was in Maine.”
“It’s what you pay me for.” Scott Burns sat back in the armchair and picked up the tumbler of scotch sitting on the end table next to him. “And to be honest, it was nice to have the challenge. We all got to step it up a notch for a while.”
Mitch picked up his own scotch, then leaned back against the sofa and put his feet on the coffee table. The gesture reminded him of the night he’d sat on Paige’s couch and touched the bathroom wall with his toes, and he downed the drink in one gulp. His suite was midlevel and nothing too fancy, but it probably still had more square footage than that trailer.
He forced his focus back onto Scott. “Is that your way of telling me you guys don’t need me around anymore?”
“It’s my way of saying…maybe you can take the time to resolve whatever it is you left unresolved back at home.”
Mitch thought he’d done a good job of hiding the fact he’d returned from Whitford a changed man, but maybe not. Still, he could hedge a little. “My brother wants to sell the lodge.”
“Really? How do you feel about that?”
“I’m not sure yet. I can’t imagine it not being our home but, on the flip side, I sure as hell don’t want to run the place.”
“Ah. Youngest kid got stuck holding the bag?”
“Yup.”
Scott swirled the scotch in the bottom of the glass and then looked Mitch in the eye. “And the woman?”
“What woman?”