Mia Found (Starting Fires Book 3) (16 page)

It was gone.

I scanned the other drawers.

Nothing.

It wasn’t there.

As I knew it wouldn’t be.

“
Here’s your proof. Stop being so stupid,” I whispered to myself.

As I waited for him to finish, I turned on the television in his room and snuggled into bed. When he came to me, he eyes were red from exhaustion and I could see the lethargy in his limbs. He crawled into bed and closed his eyes.

“
Paul,” I said, rubbing my fingers through his slightly damp hair.

“
Hmm?” His eyes didn’t open.

“
Who were you talking to outside? You sounded upset.”

His eyes slowly opened, looking over at me. “No one important, Pretty. Just stuff I need to take care of at the Florida office.”

My fingers kept moving through his hair. Did I believe him? His deep, green eyes looked into mine and their honesty was tangible.

“
You work too hard,” I said, kissing him on the forehead.

“
I know.” His hand rubbed up and down my back, pulling me into his side. “It’ll get better in a few weeks. The merger will be done and hopefully all this with the sister office will calm down, too.”

I nestled into him and blindly aimed the remote at the television, turning it off.

With him lying next to me, his fingers softly playing with my hair, I felt my body relax. “You have a big day tomorrow,” he said. “Are you nervous?”

“
Are you?” I chuckled. He was meeting my entire family.

“
A little,” he confessed.

“
They’ll love you.”

We were silent, our breathing evening out when he asked, “Do you forgive me?”

“
For what?”

“
For tonight? I shouldn’t have kept you waiting so long.”

“
Well that depends,” I said. “Are you sorry?”

“
Yes. I won’t let it happen again.”

“
Then I forgive you.”

He kissed the top of my head and we drifted off to sleep.

The next morning was a whirlwind. We overslept and rushed to get dressed. Luckily, his bathroom mirror was large enough for both of us, and I raced through my routine. Already, my phone was buzzing with calls from my mother. I was supposed to be at the school ten minutes ago.

“
Are you almost ready?” I asked when my makeup was through.

“
How do I look?” he asked, holding his hands out.

He was wearing grey slacks, perfectly pressed and fitted on him. His white shirt was rolled up at the sleeves and a navy tie hung on his neck. He looked delicious.

My hands went to his shoulders and I smiled up at him. “You look perfect.”

“
So do you.” My dress was black with turquoise lace fringing the top and bottom.

“
Uh-huh,” I said. “Doesn’t count. I said it first.”

“
Well this time it wasn’t fair. I
asked
you how I looked.”

My hand wrapped around his tie and pulled him in for a kiss. It was just getting good, his hands gripping my behind and leading me to the bathroom counter when my phone buzzed again.

“
To be continued,” I said.

Paul sped towards the school and dropped me off at the back entrance. I texted my mother where to meet him and felt bad that he’d have to make the introductions alone.

The staff was annoyed with me, pushing me along the corridor to my place in line, but it didn’t matter to me. After today, I’d have nothing to do with them anymore. What I was going to do, where I was going, all of that was yet to be determined, but anything was possible.

From my seat, I had a clear view of my family. Luckily, Marlowe and Lucas knew Paul. It had to make his situation less awkward.

As far as graduations went, it was just as boring as the rest of them. I waited. And waited. And waited some more. My name was called. A picture was taken. I waited again, and then we were done. My heart pounded, giddy to see Paul and my family. Outside, I raced to our meeting point and not caring what my family thought, jumped into Paul’s arms. He laughed and kissed me on the cheek.

“
Did you meet everybody?” I asked.

“
More or less.”

Just in case formal introductions were never made, I brought him to my parents. “Momma, Daddy,” I said. “This is Paul.”

“
So nice to finally meet you,” my mother said, giving his hand a shake. “You can call me Helen and this is Bill.” My father eyed him warily, still not sure if he was suited for his baby girl. “He’s all bark and no bite, I assure you,” my mother said.

Instead of welcoming Paul, my dad smiled and pulled me in for a hug. “I’m proud of you sweetie,” he said.

“
Me too,” Lucas said, patting me too hard on the back.

“
Ouch,” I whispered.

My grandparents were also there. My aunts. My uncles. My cousins. Paul was getting lost in the shuffle, but I tried to keep him close beside me as we made our way through.

My celebration was at my parent’s house, a twenty minute drive away. When I told my father that I was riding with Paul, I saw the perturbed glimmer in his eyes.

“
Dad cut it out,” I whispered to him. “I like him. A lot.”

“
Don’t mean I have to.”

He had such a double standard. When Lucas met Marlowe he deemed her one of the family almost immediately. Paul, on the other hand, was going to have to “prove” himself.

“
Well get used to him. I plan on keeping him.”

He didn’t seem happy about that either, but I ignored him and searched for Paul. I found him talking to Marlowe and smiled when we made eye contact.

“
You look beautiful,” he said when I took his hand. “So beautiful.”

Marlowe gave me an ecstatic thumbs up as we walked away. “You ready?” I asked.

“
Sure. I think the worst is over anyway.”

“
And what part was that?”

“
Meeting your dad. He, uh, doesn’t like me much.”

“
He’ll get over it,” I said. “I told him that I’m keeping you.”

“
You did?” He laughed, finding that amusing. “You’re cute, Mia. I wanna keep you, too.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

THE DRIVEWAY OF MY parent’s home was lined with cars. Over half were for me, but Fiona had garnered a big group herself. Lucas found me as soon as I stepped out of Paul’s car.

“
What’s Fontenot doing here?” he asked, grabbing my arm.

“
Let go,” I hissed, pushing him off. “He’s here with Fiona.”

“
Well, make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid.”

“
Oh yeah, because I’m just gonna follow him around everywhere.”

Paul walked over and eyed Lucas. I’d grown so accustomed to looking at his face, and was probably the only one who noticed the minuscule scowl he gave my brother.

“
He’ll be fine,” Paul said. “I’ll handle him if anything happens.”

Lucas jerked his head back, not expecting Paul to step up. “Fine,” he said. “He’s all yours.”

When he walked away, Paul brought a hand to my arm and gave it a rub. “Did he hurt you?”

“
No,” I huffed. “He’s just being a butthead.”

Paul helped me unzip my graduation gown and took my hand as we walked into my parent’s home. Inside, I was bombarded by family and friends, Paul stepping away to make room.

Every once in a while, I’d see him hovering in the background, giving my guest their space but letting me know he was there for me. Gentle smiles. Sly winks. Seeing him in my parent’s home felt right.
He
felt right, but more importantly I felt right with him in my life. It was like I could do anything or be anyone. Paul’s faith in me made me strong.

Fiona was enjoying herself, and hadn’t even noticed Nicole out on the lawn. Fontenot had. He hid it well, but I saw him walking to the window periodically, contemplating a way to talk to her without causing a scene.

While we cut our cake and took pictures, he saw his opportunity and slipped out the door. Fiona had completely commandeered my party, making it all about her. I kept waiting for her to thank my parents or me, but the words never came out of her mouth. The joint cake was “her cake.” The combined decorations were “her decorations.”

I took a breath and told myself to ride it out. This wasn’t who she was, but who’d she’d become. My Fiona was stuck back in time, still nervous and shy, unsure of her abilities. A few years ago, this Fiona took her place. I’d never see the girl I’d loved and needed again. Our time was coming to an end.

I was dutifully opening presents, reading every card and word of encouragement. My parents opted to give me a check instead of a present, as did most of my other guests. Only a few presents littered the table.

One was from Marlowe, a brand new set of brushes and paints. Another was from Nicole. Since she was outside, and I wanted to keep her there, I quietly opened it, and found coasters with crude words and pictures plastered on them. Chuckling, I discreetly put them back in the bag. She and Fontenot might just be meant for each other.

The last bag was unlabeled. Inside was a neatly wrapped picture frame. Once the tissue paper was discarded, I flipped the frame over and gasped.

It was a picture of one of my paintings. On a wall. In an art gallery.

Paul came to my side, placing a hand at my waist. “Catherine got it into her friend’s show,” he said. “She wanted to tell you, but I told her to keep it a surprise. It’s not a big showing, but hardly any local artists were picked.”

“
Paul,” I said, tears filling my eyes. I couldn’t think of anything else to say. This was amazing. The greatest gift anyone could give me. I put the picture down and didn’t care about anyone standing around me. I kissed him. Paul let me, but felt uncomfortable with my family’s eyes boring into us.

My father loudly cleared his throat, and I pulled away. “Thank you,” I whispered.

“
It was nothing,” he said with his lopsided grin. That smile nestled into my heart. So shy and vulnerable. It was
my
smile—the one he gave only to me.

“
It was
everything
,” I said. This time, he kissed me. Just a small peck on the tip of my nose, but he quickly pulled away, eying my father across the room.

“
What’s this?” Fiona said, picking up the picture.

“
Paul’s present to me. He got one of my paintings into a gallery.”

She frowned. “Which gallery?”

I didn’t even know and looked to Paul for clarification.

“
It’s at the Gordon Gallery. Over on Highland across from the wildlife museum.”

Her lips pulled to the side in an annoyed purse. “Mmph. Well, it’s okay, I guess.” She put the picture down and stepped away. Under her breath I heard the words, “At least I get into galleries on my own.”

Too distracted with my joyful bliss, I didn’t notice her walking towards the front door until it was too late.

“
Paul,” I frantically whispered. “Nicole’s out there.”

“
Okay?”

“
And Fiona’s going out there, too!”

“
I don’t understand.”

I huffed and went after her, forgetting I’d never even told Paul about Fontenot’s interest in Nicole.

Cautiously, I surveyed the lawn, looking for any signs of an altercation. But there wasn’t one. Fiona stood stoically on the edge of the porch, looking out into the driveway. Nicole was getting into her car, the door open and Fontenot resting against it. They were smiling at each other, their laughter echoing back to us.