“Even if she has to leave you sometimes behind?”
“She comes back. She always…” Ted slammed his hand on the table. “How could I do all that to her?”
“Were you jealous?”
“No.”
“Is it Murphy?”
“No, I knew about Murphy from the beginning. Angelo worries me.”
“Mia doesn’t like Angelo. He’s not your problem. Destiny is your problem. And if you hurt her again, it’s not Murphy you’re going to have to worry about, it’s me. I’ve been your friend forever, but I can’t let you act contrary to your programming.”
Ted looked sideways at his friend. “How did I ever end up with Mia?”
“You told me from the first time you met her that you were going to marry her. You told your mother that. Mia hadn’t even spent more than a few minutes with you, and you were walking her down the aisle. What happened to that Ted?”
“He became afraid. She doesn’t need me anymore. She can stand on her own two feet. She’s beautiful. How am I ever going to be able to hold on to that?”
“Dude, she’s here now, asking your permission, trying desperately to find her way back to you. And it’s not just for Brian, it’s for her. You have to rise to the occasion, not slink under a rock with dumpy, boring, Beth.”
“That’s not kind,” Ted said, defending Beth again.
Cid threw up his hands and walked out the door, slamming it behind him.
Ted’s phone vibrated, and he looked at the incoming multimedia text. There was Mia holding up two dresses. Which one is the frumpiest?
He chose one and sent his answer, set down his phone and cried.
“How long have you been shadowing me?” Cid asked Murphy as he sat down on the picnic table.
“Since the stroke-it-off.”
Cid couldn’t help it; he started laughing. “Stroganoff… Here I am trying to save my friend from making the biggest mistake of his life, and you’re cracking jokes.”
“Yup. Learned it from Mia.”
“She is pretty irreverent, isn’t she?”
“Yes, it keeps her alive. Cid, I’ve watched her get her feelings trampled, her heart broken and come up fighting. She doesn’t have to be with Ted. She wants to be. We have to fix this. Maybe I should visit Beth.”
“Oh no. Ted has to do it. He has to be the bad guy for once. He can’t be Beth’s friend. He knows that she is going to hate him, and he can’t stand people thinking ill of him.”
“He had no trouble hurting Mia.”
“Yes, that is strange, isn’t it? I don’t think it’s conscious.”
“If he leaves, are you going too?”
“No. I belong here. The moment I stepped foot on your land, I knew that I belonged here.”
“Ted’s your best friend.”
“You and Mia are tied for second, and my godson needs me.”
“You’re not romantically thinking of Mia?”
“Oh no, not at all. You can have her if Ted defects.”
Murphy was flabbergasted. He pushed his hat back on his head and couldn’t make any sense of it all. “I’m not allowed to be romantic with Mia. She doesn’t want that. She and I are soulmates. That’s enough for me.”
“Yet, we are all afraid that one day she is going to see you as the handsome brute you are and off herself just to be with you.”
“Have you been watching foreign films again?”
Cid looked at him. “Tell me, if Mia died and stuck around, the two of you couldn’t…”
“Doesn’t work that way. When you die, you leave the physical world behind you. She and I would be as we are now. So why kill her?”
“I’ve seen you look at her with longing. You have feelings…”
“Only because she awakened them. I wouldn’t be able to do the same for her because I’m already dead.”
“You could go off into the light together.”
“My place is the farm.”
“So, even if you were presented with the opportunity to spend an eternity with Mia, you would turn it down because of your farm?”
“Yes.”
“So you’re not a threat to Ted, are you?”
“No. It doesn’t hurt to keep him on his toes though,” Murphy said.
Chapter Thirteen
Alan picked Mia up at Ralph’s condo where Mia chose to have a nap, a shower, and then frantically work on her hair. She wore a rather sedate honey-colored, knee-length dress and nude pumps. Audrey quickly emptied her purse and loaned it to Mia, taking her stuff home in a Ziploc bag. Mia found enough cosmetics in Ralph’s bathroom to adorn her beach-tanned face.
“You look beautiful, Mia,” Alan said as he walked her to the elevator.
“You’re being kind. I’m adequate at best,” Mia commented.
“You have to learn to take compliments,” Alan scolded.
“Let’s say we have a difference of opinion.”
“Okay, I’ll let you off with that.”
“So, can you tell me, who is my mystery date?”
“No. I promised, and I take my promises seriously.”
They walked out of the elevator, through the lobby, and outside where a black sedan with driver waited for them.
Mia was relieved not to see Angelo’s driver at the wheel. She watched as the driver expertly maneuvered them through the evening traffic and safely brought them to an elegant restaurant that Mia had heard Ralph talk about before. The Everest was located on the 40th floor of the Chicago Stock Exchange.
“Our host chose this early hour so we would have the least distractions. He wants you to fully enjoy the seven course French meal.”
“I can handle the seven courses, but I may need to be prompted on the right fork to use,” Mia admitted.
“Just be yourself. You’re not being judged.”
“Monsieur Jefferies, Ms. Martin, follow me, s’il vous plaît.”
Mia followed the maître d’ to a table where an elegantly attired older gentleman rose.
Alan took Mia’s hand and placed it in the gentleman’s hand while he introduced them, “Mia, may I present Émile Neyer, your grandfather.”
Mia felt the warm hand of Émile through her glove. Émile gently removed her glove and held her hand a moment. Such love flowed from the man that Mia was overcome. Alan contributed a comforting hand to her back.
“I have felt
