Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
T hat elusive thing called “calmness” had finally arrived.
Which was good, because Mia could use some peace in her life right about now. She’d finally gotten the kids to settle down for a quiet time, careful not to call it a nap, or Finn would have protested. She counted on at least an hour with both kids in bed. Maggie still slept for a longer nap sometimes, but Finn was long past that phase. When Constance had dropped him off that morning though, she’d mentioned that he hadn’t slept well the night before; he’d been too worried about Maggie. Hopefully, now that he saw his sister was fine, he’d be able to settle down for some rest.
Sitting on the couch, cocooned in an afghan her grandma had knitted her, she gazed at the devotional in her hands. Had she comprehended a single word? Nope.
Yesterday’s boating adventure, out on Lake Huron, Cody at the wheel, had been fun. Until it wasn’t. Mia wrapped the blanket tighter around herself. She closed her eyes tight against the memory of Maggie’s face covered in blood. Nope. More vivid that way. She pushed the thought aside, opting instead to remember the tender moments afterward with the kids and Cody.
In fact, she should probably take some of her own words to heart. Are you saying to get over myself? Cody’s words drifted through her mind. Huh. Maybe she needed to cut herself some slack too. We all make mistakes. She certainly didn’t have the time or energy to dwell on the past right now. Because by the end of the week, the storm would hit.
Tomorrow would be the day the town council made their final decisions about the last of the businesses moving to Jonathon Island. After the meet and greet, they’d extended several contracts, but still had spots to fill. She’d set up interviews for a few more people, working with Dani every step of the way. She had no doubt they would all be approved, and her quota would be fully met, but after tomorrow, her life would be busy with getting the final preparations finished for the new people, then helping everyone move in and settle down.
Not to mention receiving her paid-in-full notice from the bank. The minute she had that paperwork in hand she planned to have a bonfire and burn that mortgage statement.
Her heart lifted at the thought.
Not having a mortgage would mean that she wasn’t dependent on someone else for her children’s home. It would make all the difference in their lives, and hers. She could even start thinking about the future. She still needed to make money somehow. Real estate? The last few weeks had been so intense she hadn’t been able to spend a whole lot of time thinking about how exactly she would provide for her kids.
Speaking of children, she really should get moving on something for supper. She needed to check Maggie’s stitches too.
While unwrapping herself from her blanket, she noticed a missed call notification light up her phone. Weird. The phone lay next to her the whole time she fought to concentrate on her daily devotional. Why hadn’t the phone made a noise? Probably time to add buying a new one to her list. She might be able to afford one after her mortgage was paid off. She swiped open the voicemail.
“Hey, Mia,” Matt said, voice tinny on the recording. “Listen, I have some bad news for you. Good news for me though…I’ve received an offer to share a studio space in Boston. The other artist works with sculpture, so her style and mine complement each other well without being direct competition.”
Mia’s fingers and toes grew numb while her head heated as Matt’s words began to sink in. He described how sorry he was and ended with “I wish things had worked out there on Jonathon Island, but in the end, I have to do what is best for my career, and Boston is it.”
The voicemail ended, and Mia stood in her living room and stared at the silent phone.
Matt was backing out. That meant that even if everyone was approved tomorrow, she was still short of her quota.
Fumbling, she dialed his number.
“Matt, please don’t do this.”
“Hello to you too, Mia.” She could hear water and an engine on Matt’s end of the line.
“Tell me you’re joking about leaving Jonathon Island.” Okay, so she was a little desperate, but come on, it was her kids’ home and future on the line. An image of the apartments she could afford flashed into her mind. Not good.
Matt sighed. “Look, Mia, the truth is, I saw your video and remembered the good times we had in college. I did a little digging and saw that your husband wasn’t in the picture anymore. I was checking out some new spots to relocate to and thought, two birds with one stone, you know?” He paused and the silence grew long and taut. “When it was obvious you weren’t into me—sorry, I know that sounds like I’m full of myself, but it’s the truth—I decided it would be better to move on.”
“You won’t move here because I won’t date you?” Mia pulled the phone from her ear and looked at it. She put the phone back to her ear. “That doesn’t make any sense. Are you serious right now? We can still work together in a platonic relationship.”
Matt was silent for a long moment. He cleared his throat. “You maybe can, but I can’t. You were the only reason I would have chosen Jonathon Island. I took my shot and lost.” She pictured him on the other end of the line, running a frustrated hand through his hair. “Now I need to move on. Look me up sometime in Boston. I wish you well, Mia. I truly do.”
He hung up and Mia stared at the phone again. Great. Just great.
Her legs gave way, and she dropped into the chair behind her. A spring gave out with a twang. The sharp end poked through the fabric and scratched the back of her leg. The pain was minimal, but tears sprang into her eyes.
From their bedroom, Maggie began crying.
“Mom!” Finn’s voice quavered. “Maggie still has an owie.”
Mia ran a hand over her wet eyes. She straightened her shoulders and heaved herself out of the chair. No time to check if her scratch was bleeding as Maggie’s cries became more insistent. “I’m coming, guys.”
In the bedroom, she was greeted with the pungent odor of ammonia. She looked at Finn. He sat on his bed, eyes on his lap. Oh, buddy. Finn hadn’t wet the bed in two years. These past few days must have overwhelmed him.
Maggie stood on her bed, her wailing getting louder and louder. Mia picked her up and spoke to Finn. “It’s no big deal, honey. Let’s get you cleaned up and your bedding changed.” She shushed Maggie, brushing her hair back from her hot, red face. “Okay, Mags. You’re okay. We’ll get you a new Band-Aid when we get Finn’s bed taken care of.” She set her daughter down, but Maggie cried louder.
“Hold Mama,” she sobbed.
Mia scooped her back into her arms and looked to Finn. “Can you get yourself some clean clothes? I’ll strip your bed, then we can all go into the bathroom.”
Arms full of a sweaty, still-crying Maggie and a load of damp sheets and blankets, Mia stepped into the hallway and collided with something. Cody stood there, a sheepish look on his face.
“Sorry. I did knock, but it sounded like you had your hands full in here, so I let myself in. How can I help?”
Mia’s eyes pricked again. That silly scratch must be bothering her more than she thought. “Can you help Finn get some clean clothes?”
Working together, they cleaned up the mess, changed Maggie’s bandage, and got both kids settled down in front of PB&Js for some supper.
“Thank you,” Mia said. She moved to the sink and began washing the dishes.
Cody picked up a towel and dried the cup she set into the sink. “No problem.”
“Why are you even here?” She glanced over at the kids. They were dancing their sandwiches across the plate before taking a bite. “Sorry, that came out wrong.”
“I wanted to tell you that you were right. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about what you said last night. I’m going to talk to my dad soon. I’ll ask him straight up what he thinks of me.” Cody flashed her a smile as he reached for the next cup. “I feel better even having made that decision. You’re always right.”
Ha. That was a laugh. “Not always. Turns out you were right about Matt. He called and told me he was pulling out of the agreement.”
“What? When?”
“Right before both kids had a meltdown. I was getting ready to call you when…” She waved her hand in the direction of the kids’ bedroom as if that explained everything.
“I’m sorry, Mia. I know how much having Matt here meant to you.”
“It wasn’t Matt, or at least it wasn’t only him. It was the idea that someone would be in that art space. It would feel like maybe everything from my past was redeemed.” Like she had a piece of her old self left. “And now I don’t have that. And I won’t meet my quota.” Her heartbeat ramped up.
Cody opened his mouth then shut it again. Then he took a deep breath and said, “How about we get on the phone right now with Mrs. Harper? She was the last name on the short list, right? We could see if she’s still interested.”
“No. It’s too late. We don’t have enough time to get her on board.”
“Mia, this is worth a try.”
His soft pleading went straight to her heart. “Fine. Let’s call her.” Frankly, at this point she’d even beg.
After checking on Maggie and Finn, who had moved on to eating mandarin orange slices, Mia dialed Jocelyn Harper. She put the phone on speaker and held it between them.
“Hello, Mrs. Harper? This is Mia Franklin. I’m wondering if you are still interested in the offer to relocate to Jonathon Island?”
“Oh!” There was a rustle on the other end of the phone, then they heard Mrs. Harper say quietly, “It’s the JI council. They want to know if we’re still interested.” A rumble came over the phone as someone answered her. Another rustle and then her voice came clearly again. “I’m definitely interested. But my husband needs to talk over some things with someone before we sign anything.”
She widened her eyes at Cody. “I’d be happy to answer any questions he has. Feel free to put him on the phone.”
“Oh, no. He wants to meet in person. He says he has to look someone in the eye to see if they are a good person to do business with. He has a sixth sense about these things.”
“The town council meets tomorrow, Mrs. Harper. They can arrange a video call for you. In fact, they will probably insist on it.” She glanced at the kids. Still eating peacefully. Thank God for minor miracles. “I don’t think anyone can meet you in person before that. We have the forms all set up online for you to sign.”
“My husband doesn’t trust online forms. Isn’t there any way we can do this in person?”
“You could come on the ferry in the morning?” Mia’s shoulders tensed.
Another rumble, then, “I’m sorry, we can’t come tomorrow. Can someone come here tonight?”
Maybe? Mia glanced at the clock. Her heart fell to the pit of her stomach. The last ferry had already left for the day. “I’m sorry. That’s just not possible.” She put a hand to her forehead. “The soonest anyone can meet with you is the day after tomorrow.” It might not save her house, but she’d committed to doing a good job for Dani. And that meant filling all of the businesses even after they’d foreclosed on her house. Mia made arrangements with the Harpers to meet them at their home and then hung up.
Fatigue rumbled through her body. All of her muscles gave way, and she slumped into a chair. “I guess that’s that.”
“Mia.” Cody sat next to her and took her hand. “I’m sure the council will give you an extension. Especially if they know the Harpers are still interested.”
“I guess they might, but I doubt it. And what then? I’m just fooling myself to think I can make a go of it on island. I need to get practical and move somewhere I can have a real, paying job. Something that keeps the roof over my kids’ heads.” It was time to face facts. She would need to say goodbye to her little house on Lilac Lane.
“What if I go over to the Harpers tonight?”
A roll of thunder cascaded over the house.
Mia raised an eyebrow at Cody. “You are not going out in the rain.”
He raised one back at her, and her heart did a flip. “I’m a fisherman. I’m used to getting a little wet.”
She went gooey that he would even offer. Not too long ago he wouldn’t have gone out on the water at all. “No. Absolutely not. It’s not worth the risk.”
“You are worth it?—”
“Mama!” Maggie’s shriek cut off whatever Cody had been about to say and brought Mia back to the present. “I done.”
Later, after helping get the kids cleaned up, she walked Cody to the door. “Stay dry out there.”
He leaned in and kissed her cheek. “See you later, Mia.” Another roll of thunder chased him down the walk.
Mia shut the door and then leaned her forehead against the wood. She might not have her house for much longer, but she had Cody, and she had her kids. That would have to be enough.
* * *