Page 76 of Bad Habit
“Pru was relentless!” I throw my hands up in defense with a lack of better reasoning. “She kept trying to set me up with her granddaughter. You were texting me and flirting and it just came out.” I take a step forward and lower my voice, “Why didn’t you tell any of us?” I don’t have to clarify what I’m talking about. Her eyes shift and her shoulders slump. I try to not feel so hurt that she has hid such a big part of who she is from all of us, but I hear it come out in my voice anyway.
“None of you asked.” She clips.
“Your grandmother owns half the historic district. You’re basically southern royalty. Why are you working multiple jobs like you don’t havemoney?” I accuse and question her at the same time. I’m not mad, but I don’t understand why she didn’t tell any of us. It’s not like we would have cared. Did she think we would expect more from her? Did she not trust us? Trust me? I trusted her with the most precious thing to me in my life, my mother’s home.
She didn’t even trust me with this. I’ve walked around for months thinking that I know this girl better than anyone and that I was following the perfect plan to make her realize that we can be more. But she clearly doesn’t need anything. Anything that I could give her, she probably has had ten of growing up. The feeling of not measuring up to what we are surrounded with floods me, but I know, deep down in my bone marrow, that’s not why she hid it.
Mia is the most brilliant person I know. Everything she does is with purpose. She’s intentional. And AJ trusts her with her life. And that’s all any of us ever needed to welcome her into our lives. Because AJ doesn’t trust anyone. But she loves Mia.
I can see it in her eyes, the bubbling of emotion welling there. The entire room turns hazy and it’s just me and her. The girl that has inserted herself into every aspect of my life. The girl that has fought so hard for kids she has never met. The girl that ruins my chances of even noticing another girl in any room on a daily basis. The girl that I genuinely just love sitting in the quiet with.
“I steward a large percentage of the historic district.” Cheryl clears her throat, interrupting my downward spiral of thoughts. She steps forward and places her hand on my forearm. “Most of my money is in art galleries. And I run many charities. Something that my dear girl wanted to run off and do herself. And from what I saw, she did a phenomenal job of it within your gym.” I feel my cheeks get a little warm with the soft correction from her. She’s right. Mia has done a phenomenal job.
It all makes so much more sense how she was so innately good at making it all happen. She never faltered when setting it up and following through. “She might not have told you where she came from, but I get the feeling that you don’t care or you would have asked. You see who she is. And we’re both better people because of it.” Cheryl squeezes my arm and steps to the side again. Leaving me standing in front ofher granddaughter with sad eyes, but an independence to stand in her decision.
I lean forward and kiss Mia’s cheek. “I’m sorry. I reacted badly. Can we talk about it later?” I search her eyes, silently begging her not to pull away from me. This is the first real glimpse I’m getting of the world that created her and I need to know more. I always want to know more about her.
“Talk about what later?” A voice that I’ve known my whole life comes from behind me.
“Edward, my dear!” Cheryl beams over my shoulder and gracefully moves forward to wrap her arms around my dad.
I turn to face him and stand next to Mia. She whispers up at me, “Please don’t be mad at me.” It’s the first hint of fear I hear in her voice. And it betrays her steel image she is letting everyone see currently. Mia feels everything bigger than anyone I’ve ever seen. And I know that fielding that immense type of emotion must be hard.
I look down at her and there is an ache that pings in my chest at the worry in her eyes. “Hey,” I breathe, lifting her chin up. “I’m not mad at all. Promise.” I kiss her nose and let out a heavy breath. “I’m just really confused.” I’m actually more than confused, but I remind myself that she hasn’t given me a reason to not trust her. I intertwine our hands and turn to face my dad who is kissing Cheryl’s cheek.
“What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be with AJ.” I scratch at the skin under my jaw as I take in my dad’s knowing smile. He doesn’t seem surprised at all that Mia is here with Cheryl. Which feels odd.
“She is doing perfectly fine. I flew back in the minute Cheryl asked me to be here tonight.” He tilts his head to where Mia’s grandmother is standing. She looks amused by all the unraveling chaos in front of her.
“You knew.” I accuse out loud the thoughts that are running through my head. “You knew she was Cheryl’s granddaughter.” Dad’s gaze doesn’t leave Cheryl’s. And she lifts one shoulder.
“Is it so wrong for me to want someone looking out for my girl while she is in a new town trying to prove a point?” Cheryl waves between Dad and Mia.
“We have to run background checks for anyone who works at the gym. Cheryl was her only reference.” Dad looks at Mia kindly. “I called her and she just asked that I look after you. Let you do your thing, but if you started to look too overwhelmed to just let her know. That’s all.” Dad explains before Mia has a chance to even ask. We all just stand there as Mia processes that my dad has known exactly who she is the entire time and hasn’t treated her any differently.
“So you hired me because my grandmother told you to?” The defeat in Mia’s voice is almost too much for me to swallow.
“I didn’t hire you at all. I vetted you.” Dad gives her the most reassuring and fatherly look I know him to have. “Avery hired you. On the spot from what she told me. She said that your heart felt right and that’s all she needed to know.” Mia’s chest is turning a little splotchy with all the worked up feelings coursing through her and I wish I could make it better. But I know her brain, and she just needs to let it run the course. It takes her all of two minutes of us all just standing around for her to process it, accept it, and move on in true Mia fashion.
“I’m totally telling AJ you used my grandmother to try and beat her.” Mia smiles at my dad trying to let the anxiety lessen from her system. Then her smile gets even bigger when Melinda walks up holding one of those cherry lemon squares in her hand. Mia hugs her so tightly that she nearly drops the napkin and dessert but Dad manages to grab it before it falls.
“Hi, my sweet girl!” Melinda runs her hand down the back of Mia’s hair and pulls her in tighter. When she pulls away, I see Melinda choke back a tear at the sight of Mia wearing the necklace she got her. “You look beautiful, as always.” She takes a steadying breath and then introduces herself to Cheryl.
“Oh I need no introduction. Mia has raved about you since the day she met you. We both really appreciate the work you do in your community and for the kids that people tend to forget need love.” Cheryl shakes her hand and then folds her other hand on top of where their hands are clasped. “The world needs more people like you.” It is easy to see that Melinda is also confused but she recovers quickly.
Cheryl appraises both Dad and Melinda and nods her approval. “Thanks for bringing her tonight, Edward.” She smiles again at Melinda and says, “It really is wonderful to meet you.” I feel Mia lean a little closer into me. And even though I’m hurt that she just let me walk into this unknowingly, I don’t like how rigid her body feels right now.
She spins quickly and pretends to fix my bowtie, “remember you promised to not punch anyone.” She says quietly.
I recall the conversation we had when I told her that I would come with her tonight. “I actually said I wouldn’t punch anyone unless you give me permission.” I grin down at her but her worried expression doesn’t break.
“Hey there, Princess.” And just like that, all the color I love so much in her eyes goes dull. I look over her shoulder to see some asshole walking towards us.
MIA
Ishuffle backwards so my body is lined up with Oliver’s. I only put myself between them because I know Oliver’s blood is probably boiling right now. And his emotions are already so high because he feels like I personally hid this from him when we’ve had so many intimate conversations while working on his mom’s house. I’ve had every opportunity to just tell him who my parents are and how they have taken over the real estate business that my grandma built from the ground up.
Gigi only kept the pieces of the business she felt the most passionate about. There’s a lot of money in owning property and moving it around. You can build an empire with it. And that’s exactly what my family has. I’m set to inherit it all as the only child and the only grandchild, but I could care less about buying up property and building money making monstrosities. That’s all for my parents. I want to make a difference. I need to make a difference.
