Chapter 15 Mia
MIA
Mia woke the next morning to find that Evan was already gone. His side of the bed had been partially made, and his computer was gone, too. Yawning, she stretched and sat up.
Today would be another day of family fun. Apparently, they’d have a painting lesson in the morning, followed by an olive oil tasting in the afternoon. Neither of those sounded exactly fun to Mia, but she’d do her best to enjoy both.
Especially if Evan was going to be there.
Despite her best intentions of keeping her distance from him, Mia was finding it harder and harder to stay away.
Her annoyance and hurt at his month of silence had dissipated, leaving a flutter in her heart when she saw him.
Last night, on the balcony, she’d even thought they were close to a kiss.
She’d have pulled away — wouldn’t she have?
— but Evan had gotten there first. And she’d had trouble sleeping that night, imagining what might have happened if one of them had leaned forward…
Sighing, Mia swung her legs out of bed and padded into the bathroom for a shower.
After dressing and doing her hair, she headed downstairs for breakfast. Sarah and Luka waved her over to sit with them, but she still scanned the rest of the room in hopes of finding Evan somewhere.
He was nowhere to be seen, so she went to sit with them.
“Good morning.” Smiling, Mia took a free chair next to Sarah. If she felt a whoosh of disappointment that Evan wasn’t there, she did her best to hide it.
“Good morning.” Sarah smiled back.
“I’m glad you’re here,” Luka continued. “Because we’ve been wanting to talk to you without Evan around.”
“Hey, leave me out of this.” Sarah put her hands up. “This is all you.”
Mia’s stomach gave an uncomfortable swoop. That didn’t seem like a good sign. She calmly sipped her tea before answering, “Oh? Why is that?”
“Well, your relationship with Evan doesn’t seem to make sense,” Luka said, and Mia’s stomach dropped again. “You’re so different. So, we were wondering—”
“You were wondering,” Sarah put in.
“I was wondering… did you…” They exchanged a glance, and Mia’s stomach flipped again.
They must have figured out the ruse. They knew that Mia and Evan weren’t really dating.
Evan would be upset, and they would both look bad.
This can’t be happening. She’d been so careful, and she’d even started to have real feelings. How had they seen through them?
“Did you really meet in the grocery store?” Luka finally blurted. “Because I’ve never seen Evan shop for anything in his life.”
Mia was so relieved that she began to giggle. She bent over the table, trying to compose herself as Sarah and Luka looked at her in confusion. Taking a deep breath, she managed to straighten and control her laughter, though she still felt warm with relief.
“Okay, okay. The truth is that we met online, but we were a little embarrassed to tell people.”
“That’s nothing to be embarrassed about,” Sarah said. “My best friend met her husband online, too.”
“We were curious, is all,” Luka put in.
“Well, now you know.” Mia raised her mug to them in a toast as she made a mental note to tell Evan about the change to their story.
“I also wanted to say,” Luka added, “that Evan seems really different around you. In a great way. It’s been a while since he really participated in family activities or even took a day off work. You’re a good influence on him.”
“It’s mutual,” Mia said, her heart warming at the compliment. Even though they weren’t really dating, she had worked hard to draw Evan out of his work cocoon and get him to participate. She was pleased that his family had noticed.
“Oh look, there he is now,” Sarah said, pointing across the room.
Mia turned, excitement surging in her chest, and, sure enough, Evan was walking toward them across the room.
He had a mug of coffee in one hand and a plate of bread, cheese, and cold cuts in the other.
He smiled at them, looking relaxed and happy.
“Are you joining us for breakfast?” Luka asked.
“If there’s room.”
“Of course. Come on.” Mia scooted over and patted the bench beside her. “I thought you were working this morning.”
Evan sat, putting his food on the table in front of him. “I did a little work, but I didn’t want to miss out on any family fun.” He winked and nudged Mia with his elbow. Her heart fluttered.
“You know,” Luka said, leaning his elbows on the table and lowering his voice. “We got Mia to admit your little secret.”
“What secret?” Evan glanced at Mia, his eyes wide, and she shook her head almost imperceptibly.
“You know.” Luka rolled his hand in a “come on” gesture. “About your little lie…”
“I admitted that we actually met online,” Mia said quickly, before Evan could assume the worst and give everything away. “They figured out that the mango story was a fake.”
“Right.” Evan’s face relaxed. “It’s true. Sorry for lying, guys.”
“I was the one who figured it out,” Luka added.
“Even in this, you have to be competitive.” Evan chuckled as he assembled his breakfast sandwich. “Some things never change.”
“And some do. It’s nice to see Evan Hirst enjoying a family meal.” Luka leaned across the table to punch him on the arm.
“It’s nice to be here,” Evan said, and Mia got the feeling that he was being honest. He certainly did look happy.
Seeing the Hirsts bonding made Mia miss her own parents.
She saw them fairly regularly, but lately, her interactions with them had felt stilted.
She worried that she’d let them down with her choice in career and her lack of a spouse; she could see the disappointment in their eyes when she told them, yet again, that she wasn’t dating anyone.
Maybe, though, Mia was the one holding herself back from a closer relationship with her family.
Maybe if, like Evan, she let herself have fun with her family and overlook their occasional offhanded comments, things would be easier.
As they finished breakfast and headed outside for the painting class, Mia pulled out her phone and sent a picture from the bike ride the previous day to her parents. She added the caption, Having fun in Italy! Miss you both!
Even though it was nighttime in California, Mia got a reply a few minutes later. Her parents had been having more trouble sleeping as they got older, so she wasn’t entirely surprised that they were awake.
Looks amazing! Her mom wrote. Is that guy in the picture someone special?
Frowning, Mia tapped the picture to make it bigger and saw that Evan was standing close behind her in the photo.
While Mia was grinning at the camera, he was looking at her, and there was something behind his blue eyes.
Something warm. Something unreadable. Mia’s heart fluttered.
She’d seen him look at her like that on the balcony last night.
Even though she knew it didn’t mean anything, she couldn’t help feeling pleased.
Biting her lip, she typed out a quick reply.
No, just a friend. Sorry.
Why are you sorry? her mother replied.
I know you guys want me to date someone. I feel bad letting you down. Her heart clenched as she typed the words. There was a longer pause this time, and Evan came over.
“Look who’s distracted now,” he teased. Mia looked up from her phone. They were all outside on the lawn, and a dozen easels had been set up overlooking the sweeping countryside. Most people had already claimed one, and now Evan led her to two next to each other that were still free.
“Sorry.” Mia made a face. “I was texting my parents.”
“How are they?” Evan asked. Mia bit her lip.
“They’re fine. I miss them, actually. I wish that they could accept my job and the fact that I’m—” Mia cut herself off before she could say single. They were still in front of Evan’s family, and she couldn’t give their ruse away.
Evan reached out and squeezed her hand, sending tingly warmth racing up her arm. She looked up and met his eyes.
“They will,” he said. “I’m sure of it.”
“Thanks.” Mia’s voice lowered. Her hand was still in Evan’s, and he was looking down at her with the expression he’d had in the picture, as though she mattered to him. Her knees felt like jelly.
“Let’s get started, everyone!” The artist who was running the session stepped up in front of the group. He wore a white T-shirt, which seemed like an interesting choice for a painting class, and had brown hair and olive skin. “My name is Angelo Acosta, and I’ll be your instructor today.”
Mia and Evan stepped apart, and Mia tried to calm the racing of her heart. As Angelo explained how to move freely, drawing inspiration from the natural setting around them, she glanced at her phone. There was a message from her mother.
Honey, we just want you to know the same love that we do. We never meant to pressure you. We love you, always, no matter what.
Mia’s heart clenched again, this time with a mix of relief, joy, and sadness.
She held her phone to her chest as though she could press her mother’s words straight into her heart.
All this time, she’d felt like they were judging her for her choices, but maybe they weren’t. Or, at least, they didn’t want to be.
When she got back to California, Mia would go visit them and talk everything through, but for now, this was more than enough. She slipped her phone into her pocket and focused on Angelo’s words, hope dancing in her heart.
Within a few minutes, it was time to start painting.
Both Mia and Evan methodically began to dab paint onto the canvas.
Mia could tell right away that her painting wasn’t going to look all that much like the landscape, and she giggled when one of the hills she was trying to paint deformed until it looked more like green waves on a sea than hills. Evan glanced over and chuckled.
“That looks great.”
“I know, right? Cooking and painting, apparently, are two of my best skills.”
“Don’t forget wine tasting.” Evan winked.