Mia is a massage therapist, and Damien is a physical therapist. Damien brings in a client for a massage, and Mia catches his eye. Despite Mia tuning him down repeatedly, Damien is determined to convince her to go on a date with him.
Mia has tried...
I knew I was getting to her. I have no idea where we stand though. All I know is that I love her and I refuse to give up.
It was 10:00am on Wednesday, and I was on my way to work. One good thing about my job, is that I only go in when I have patients scheduled. I still had an hour, so I decided to stop at Starbucks as I passed by.
It was a beautiful morning, and cool, but not cold. I was wearing black jeans and a gray zip up sweatshirt.
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I always love the smell of coffee shops. I always joke that if I wasn't a physical therapist, I would be a barista.
I walked inside, and I was swarmed with memories of Mia. I took a deep breath and pulled my phone out of my pocket to mess around on it while I was in line.
A familiar voice caught my attention from down the line. I leaned back slightly, and saw Lynn as she hung up her phone, and put it in her purse. She was next in line, so I moved around people and stepped in behind her as she ordered her tea.
"A large black coffee too, please." I added sticking my card out to pay for both of us.
She smiled at me, and I gave them our names for our cups.
"What are you doing out at 10? Playing hooky from work?" She said with that raised Mom brow.
I laughed. "No, nothing bad. I have an hour before I need to be there." I said.
"Wanna sit and drink that with an old lady?" She asked, motioning to my cup.
"I don't see any old ladies around here, but I would love to sit with you." I said.
"Outside? By the river?"
"Yeah, that's perfect." I said.
I opened the door for her as we walked outside. We found a more secluded bench and sat down as we watched the ducks ride the current. We were quiet for a minute before I spoke.
"Are you just out running Gigi errands?" I asked.
"No. I'm on my way to Mia's house to help with the final preparations for the wedding on Saturday." She said.
I looked at her confused, "What do you mean you're on your way to her house?"
She looked at her tea for a minute and picked at the sleeve just like Mia does, "I have an apartment further in town now." She said quietly.
I clenched my jaw as I took a very deep breath. "I'm guessing that wasn't your decision."
She shook her head, "No, but they wanted to have just them in the house, so I understood." She said, shrugging.
"By 'they' you mean 'he'." I said.
She didn't respond.
"How are you, Damien?" She asked looking at me.
"I'm ok." I said as I took a sip of my coffee.
"Don't lie to me." She said in a gentle tone.
I swallowed, "I'm a mess. But by now I can fake a smile better than just about anyone."
"I feel the same way." She said. "I always liked you. You were so good to both of my girls."
I smiled as I thought about them, "That's because I love them both. More than I could ever say."
"Yeah, I know you do. It was always so obvious when you were with her, and it still is now. Just like it's obvious to me that she is still in love with you, and not Liam." She said.
"Mom's really do know everything, don't they?" I asked with a chuckle.
"Mmhmm. Just like I know she didn't go to work yesterday."
I smiled, "Yeah."
"I'm guessing you know where she was?" She asked.
"She came to Sandstone. She stayed in her car and just watched me with patients for several hours. She didn't think I knew she was there. But I had a Lyft driver take her coffee and a few things."
We were quiet again for a moment.
"You know, Liam really isn't a bad guy. I really do think he cares for her. They just don't work well. They are each good people on their own, but they don't work together." she said.
"I don't understand why she is with him." I said shaking my head.
"It's for Izzy. As a mother, you will do crazy things to make sure your children are getting what they need. It may not make sense to you, or me, or Amy, but to her, it does. At least it did when you weren't here." She said.
"You think she's questioning it?" I asked with a little hope.
"Definitely." She said nodding. "She knows you are the better option over all. But she is struggling. There is the issue of what happened between you two, and the fact that she has promised to marry Liam." She said.
"I don't know what else to do." I said shrugging.
"Me either, honey. I'm supposed to walk her down the aisle in three days. How am I supposed to do that? How do I give her away to the wrong man?" She said getting choked up.
"If she goes through with this, Lynn, you won't be the only one giving her away." I said quietly.
"I know, honey."
We sat quietly again as we felt the light breeze.
"I have to get going." she said as she stood up, and turned to me.
I stood up and hugged her. Neither of us let go for a while.
"It was really good to see you. Thank you for my tea." She said through a broken voice.
"It was good to see you too, Mama G." I said kissing her cheek.
I walked her to her car, and opened her door for her. As she slid in, she put a folded piece of card stock in my hand. I watched as she drove away, then I climbed into my truck. I opened the piece of paper to see their wedding invitation. The address and time were circled in sharpie. At the bottom was Lynn's handwriting.
It's never too late for her to change her mind.
Mia's POV
Mom and Amy were on their way over. We were finalizing everything these next couple days.
I have apparently lost some weight, so Mom is going to take my dress in a little so it fits better. I heard keys in the front door.
"Gigi!" I heard Izzy say as she took off running to the door.
I walked to the foyer and watched as Mom smothered Izzy in kisses.
"I want kisses!" I heard Amy say as she walked in too, and kissed Izzy all over the other cheek.
Mom closed the front door, and walked into the kitchen while Amy carried Izzy upside down. Mom set her purse and coffee cup down on the counter. She gave me a small smile that I returned. That was until I saw 'Mama G' written on the side of her cup. Everything around me faded away as I just stared at it. I heard one of them saying my name and trying to get my attention, but I just couldn't look away.
"Mia, honey." Mom said as she turned my chin, forcing me to look at her. "I just ran into him, and he bought my tea." she said, shrugging.
I nodded, but still felt dizzy as I gripped the counter next to me.
