The Courage To Love (Love On The North Shore) (3 page)

“Not even a muffin? I baked the banana nut this morning.”

The muffins had been silently tormenting her since she walked in. “Just one. They do smell great.” She took a warm muffin and added it to her plate.

“I don’t know if Sean mentioned it to you, but, if you’re interested, I can prepare a picnic or bag lunch for you any day during your stay. Usually only the couples are interested in the picnic meals, but I’ll prepare them for anyone.”

The mention of Sean brought back his anguished face when she had come upon him the day before. Had he answered the message he received?

“I usually take care of checking in guests, so he sometimes forgets to tell them.”

“Great, thanks. I don’t think I’ll need anything today.” She cut her muffin in half as she spoke. “Is it supposed to be a nice day? I thought I might check out the block party on the town common tonight. I saw them setting up when I drove by yesterday.”

“It’s supposed to be nice all week. If you do go tonight, get there early. It’s the first party of the season and Ray’s nephew’s band is scheduled for tonight. They always draw a large crowd.”

Mia knew she hadn’t imagined the change in Maureen’s voice when she mentioned Ray. If this was the same Ray she played bridge with, perhaps he was more than just a card partner.

Storing away Maureen’s advice, she started on her breakfast. She planned to drive out to Woodlawn and visit her grandparents today. They still lived in the same house they had lived in for the last fifty years. She hadn’t seen them since Christmas when they’d spent the holiday with her in California. In fact they always came to her, or at least it seemed that way. She couldn’t recall the last time she had visited them.

Once finished with breakfast, she grabbed her bag off the floor and headed outside. When she arrived yesterday there’d been only one other car in the parking lot. Now four vehicles from as far away as Nevada crowded into the space. Farther down, away from the guests’ cars, a black pickup piled high with boxes sat in front of the two-car garage next to a motorcycle. Mia stood by her car and waited. The pickup must belong to Sean. His mother mentioned he was an early riser, yet she hadn’t seen him inside.

She didn’t have to wait long before he appeared from around the corner of the house. Without stopping to consider her actions, she left her bag on the hood of her car and headed toward his truck.

“Good morning,” she called out as she waved at him.

Sean pulled out a box and rested the corner of it on the truck bed before giving her a little nod. “Morning. Can I help you with something?”

“Nope. Just wanted to say hello.” She smiled and waited for him to return the gesture. Instead, his brows dipped and his eyes flickered across her face.

Yesterday she thought his eyes were a light green, but today they appeared almost emerald, perhaps because of the forest green T-shirt he wore.

“Are you heading out already?”

“My grandparents live in Woodlawn. I’m heading out there to visit them. What about you? Any big plans for today?”

Sean ran a hand through his short hair. “Install a new sink in Ma’s bathroom.” He patted the box he’d started to pull out of the truck.

She waited for him to continue the conversation, but he remained silent. He must have more planned than that. It couldn’t take all day to install a sink.

“That’s it?” She should let him get back to work and head out herself but, although she had no idea why,  she was curious about his day.

“I need to do a supply run, too.”

Once again he kept his answers short, but his eyes remained locked on her face. Not once had she noticed him give her the once-over she usually got from the opposite sex. Maybe that was why he intrigued her and had managed to invade her dreams last night. He didn’t act like most men she dealt with. He didn’t go out of his way to impress her, but at the same time he remained polite and professional. When was the last time she’d talked with a man she just met and had not felt like a piece of meat dangling from stick?

“What about tonight? Do you have any plans?” Mia asked before she thought twice. When she’d walked outside a date hadn’t been on her mind. Now that she’d asked though, she hoped he didn’t have anything already planned for the night.

Sean’s eyebrows dipped farther and his forehead creased. “Nothing right now.”

She allowed her smile to grow a little wider. “I thought I’d go to the common for tonight’s block party. I’d love some company. What do you say?”

Sean blinked and, judging by his expression, he was wondering if he’d heard her right. “Okay,” he said with a hint of uncertainty.

“Your mother said we should get there early. I’ll make sure I’m ready by five o’clock.”

He gave her a curt nod. “Sounds good. I’ll be here.”

“Have a great day. See you tonight.” With another wave, she walked back to her rental car, a new spark of excitement putting a bounce in her step.

Sean remained frozen in place as he watched the tiny convertible pull out of the parking lot. What had just happened? Had Mia just asked him out on a date? He didn’t date often. Between his responsibilities around here, his part-time work with the town, and his coursework, there never remained much free time. When he did take a woman out, he always did the asking. Never in his life had a woman approached him and asked him. Yet Mia Troy, an A-list celebrity, had just done that, and he’d agreed. Talk about a disaster waiting to happen. He knew how to handle the women he asked out. Some he’d known all his life, in fact. People in North Salem had a tendency to never leave. A woman like Mia Troy, well, she was in a league all her own. The woman had been acting since she was a kid, owned houses all over the world, and dated guys with private jets. Other than not wanting to be alone tonight, he couldn’t think of a good reason for her invitation. After all, other than him and his mother she didn’t know anyone else in town. Yeah, that had to be it. She didn’t want to be alone and he was the  damn lucky SOB in town that she knew. He sure as hell wasn’t going to complain about that.

Dismissing Mia from his thoughts, he picked up the box containing the basin for his mother’s new pedestal sink and headed toward the loft above the garage. The sink was the last thing the bathroom needed before he could call the remodeling project complete. It’d taken him over two weeks, and he’d be glad to have it finished. Then he could start on the bathroom in the attic.

***

“I saw you talking to Mia this morning.” Maureen took a seat across from Sean at the kitchen table. He’d carried in the supplies he picked up at the wholesaler and stopped in for a quick lunch before starting the next project.

“She seems so down to earth,” Maureen said as she stirred sugar into her tea, feigning indifference, but seeming really curious. “Nothing like that Rosa Steinbeck who stayed here in March.”

From the little interaction he had with Mia so far, he had to agree. Rosa Steinbeck, another A-list movie star, had stayed with them for three days back in March. From the moment the annoying woman entered The Victorian Rose, she’d been difficult. She made unreasonable demands at all times of the day and had been just plain old rude. They’d both breathed a sigh of relief when she left.

“Let’s hope she stays that way.” More than once he had almost lost his patience with Rosa. The only thing that kept him from telling her off was the knowledge of how terrible that would be for business. But sometimes … well, sometime it might be worth it to kick out a guest.

“I finished your bathroom this morning,” Sean said, dismissing thoughts of Rosa as he reached for the second half of his turkey sandwich.

“Oh great. No more using your bathroom.”

She said it innocently enough, but a minor pang of guilt still struck him. When he’d started the project he had anticipated a quick job. Instead it turned into something much longer, forcing his mother to use his shower in the attic in the morning and lugging her things over from the loft and up two flights of stairs. He’d offered to let her use his room so she didn’t have to carry things back and forth, but she’d refused, insisting that she didn’t mind.

Sean polished off his sandwich and started on a piece of blueberry pie. “When I’m done here I’m going to Quinn’s for floor tiles. Anything you need while I’m out?”

Maureen shook her head. “Not that I can think of. If Jessie is in there, say hello to her for me.” Turning her attention to her own lunch, Maureen remained silent for a few minutes, but then she looked up at him again, a twinkle in her eye. “I saw her a few weeks ago when I got my hair done. Have you seen her recently? She cut off about eight inches of her hair and got rid of her glasses. And I don’t know how much weight she’s lost, but she looks great. I almost didn’t recognize her.”

He’d noticed something different about her when he’d seen her last but hadn’t known exactly what it was. “I saw her on Monday when I stopped in the store.” It was hard not to see her regularly. She’d become a permanent fixture in her grandfather’s hardware store since taking over as manager.

“She’s such a nice girl,” Maureen said tentatively. “If she’s there, why don’t you ask her to the block party tonight or maybe to a movie this weekend? You two would make a cute couple.”

From time to time his mom tried to play matchmaker. She seemed to have an endless supply of friends who had single daughters, and Jessica Quinn was her favorite. He should’ve known another attempt was on its way. It had been over two months since her last attempt at finding him a girlfriend. “We’ve been through this. Jessie’s a friend, Ma.” Regardless of any hairstyle changes, he’d always see Jessica as a friend. He’d known her forever. She’d been close friends with his sister all through school. “Besides, I have plans for tonight.”

Maureen sighed and her shoulders sagged. “Joining Tony Bates and his brothers for the baseball game?”

“Heading to the block party.”

Maureen perked up in her chair. “Really? You don’t do that often.”

“Mia asked me, and I figured she might need someone around to keep the town jerks away. You know how some of them get when anyone of consequence visits—especially if alcohol is around.” He fabricated the answer as he went along. In truth when Mia invited him, thoughts of how other people might react to her hadn’t entered his mind. Instead he’d assumed she merely didn’t want to be alone. But now that he thought about it, his excuse held merit.

“Really?” His mother’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “Well, that’s great.”

He knew that look on his mom’s face and needed to squash any grand ideas, here and now. “Don’t, Ma. She just didn’t want to show up alone and, other than you, I’m the only person in town she’s met.” Sean pushed back his chair and stood. He towered over his mother anyway, but with her seated it was even more evident. “I mean it, Ma. Don’t try to make any more out of it.”

***

She’d spent the first ten years of her life in Woodlawn, Massachusetts. Located about half an hour from Boxborough, the town itself covered a lot of square miles with very few people. In fact, people often joked that Woodlawn had more cows than people. Even so, her grandparents had never felt any need to leave. While she’d never admit it to anyone, she sometimes missed the town and wondered how her life might have been different if her parents hadn’t allowed her to follow her dream. Would she and her sisters still be living here? Maybe she’d be married with a few children running around.

Before taking the turn onto her grandparents’ street, Mia pulled up in front of her old elementary school. From the outside it appeared unchanged. Did any of her old teachers still work there? Some must have retired by now. They’d seemed ancient when she had them, but that might have been because she’d been so young at the time. Maybe one weekday before filming started she take a drive back and visit during school hours.

After her parents relocated the family to California, she’d never stepped foot in the school again. In fact she had never attended a regular school after that— until college. Instead she had private tutors, and because of that she missed out on so much. There had been no school football games on weekends or proms like her cousins attended. She hadn’t been able to play sports or work on a high school yearbook. Part of her resented all that. Growing up was about more than learning material out of a textbook. It was also about friends and experiences. Another part of her, however, recognized how fortunate she’d been. Her career had been launched at the age of ten and was still going strong. So many young people moved to California with the dream to make it big, but for most it never happened. Instead they ended up waiting tables between auditions, barely making enough to live on.

The two-story brick home appeared just as she remembered it. Even the wooden swing still hung on the front porch. So many times as a little girl she sat on that swing while her grandmother read her a story. In the beginning, her grandmother had done all the reading. As she got older and learned to read, they took turns reading the books from her grandmother’s bookshelves. On that very swing they’d read all the books in the Anne of Green Gables series as well as Little Women and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Mia ran a hand across the swing as she passed by it and smiled. She had become an avid reader because of that swing. Now her grandmother probably sat here and read with one of her many great-grandchildren.