Page 36 of The Almost Bride

“I never thought I’d see the day when you were the spontaneous one,”

Evelyn teased, sharp eyes twinkling in amusement.

Mia looked at the scattering of brochures on the kitchen table and pulled a face. “Is it too much?”

“What do you think?”

Evelyn asked.

“I think…”

Mia took a breath. “I think that Luna’s been working hard and deserves a break.”

She took another breath. “I mean, she’s forgotten our anniversary, so she’s obviously busy.”

Evelyn reached across the table and patted her hand. “The day’s not over yet,”

she said. “Besides, you know Luna. As much as I love her, being on time and following a calendar aren’t exactly top of her skill-set.”

Mia, who was trying desperately hard not to be hurt by Luna's forgetting, smiled. “I know. I really do. And, to be honest, I’d far rather that she treats me well every day rather than just on one special day a year.”

“Which she does?”

enquired Evelyn.

“She very definitely does,”

said Mia. Because Luna did. She was always first up, bringing her coffee in bed, or taking out the rubbish, or any one of a hundred other little things that made their lives run smoothly. “Do you think she’s going to like it?”

Evelyn looked at her thoughtfully over her cup of tea. “I think that Luna will love whatever you give her. It could be a day trip to the zoo and she’d love it, simply because you’re the one who chose it.”

“I just want it to be perfect,”

Mia said, exhaling slowly. “She’s always the one making big gestures. I want to show her that I can do that, too.”

“Tosh,”

Evelyn said. “You show her you love her a thousand times over. Luna might be the one that makes the big gestures, but you make everything feel like home. You’re good for her, and, I hope, she’s good for you too.”

“She is,”

admitted Mia. She couldn’t remember a time when she’d ever been so happy. Excepting the slight hiccup of Luna forgetting their anniversary, of course. “And you’re going to make me cry before I go and see her, and I can’t turn up with panda eyes.”

Evelyn chuckled. “You look just fine. And if it’s any consolation, you’re my favorite granddaughter-in-law already.”

“I’m your only granddaughter-in-law,”

Mia said, laughing. “And I need to put all this stuff away, run and double-check that everything’s fine at the hotel, and then, finally, meet Mia for lunch. So you’ll have to excuse me.”

“You’re excused,”

Evelyn said with a wave of her hand.

Mia picked up her laptop and the brochures before jogging to the stairs. She pulled her key out of her pocket before she reached the top, then unlocked the new door. Evelyn had done them proud, insisting that making over the second floor of the house for them was the least she could do. It was a larger place than they otherwise could have afforded, with beautiful views over town, and complete privacy, which Evelyn had insisted on.

It hadn’t been Mia’s first choice at the beginning. But she knew that Luna wanted to stay close to her grandmother now. And things had worked out so much better than she could have hoped for. It was, in the end, a perfect solution.

She dropped her laptop on the desk and checked the time again. She was running late if she wanted to drop this surprise on Luna at lunchtime.

***

Luna scratched her head as she looked at the plans. “Will it work?”

she asked doubtfully.

“It will if we shave an inch off that door,”

said Jan. “And we don’t have much choice. The Ellingtons are insisting that they have a fish tank in the living room.”

“Fine, fine,”

said Luna. She groaned. “What on earth possessed us to take on three projects simultaneously?”

“It’s not like we had much choice,”

said Jan. “And if there’d been no delays getting the Jones house inspected, we would only have had two projects.”

Luna sighed. “I know.”

She rubbed at her eyes. “It’s a lot, though.”

“Which is a good indicator that we need to circle back to that discussion about hiring more staff,” Jan said.

With another sigh, Luna nodded. “You’re right, I know you’re right. I think we should hire an intern or two for a start and then see where we are.”

“Added to the to-do list,”

Jan said. “Which is growing by the second. Speaking of, I’m on my way to the Jones house now. Which is just as well, since you’ve got a visitor.”

She nodded to the figure walking past the shop window and Luna felt her heart skip a beat.

It still did that. Two years and her heart still felt funny every time she saw Mia. Jan pushed out of the door, holding it open so that Mia could enter.

“Hey, babe,”

Luna said, grinning up at her. “What are you doing here?”

Mia lifted an eyebrow. “Um, we had lunch plans?”

“Did we?”

Luna said, perhaps a touch too casually. But she needed to keep the fa?ade up.

“We did.”

Mia perched on the edge of her desk. “But we can change them. I know that you’re busy. Too busy. I can wait until later to see you.”

Luna’s heart beat funny again because this was Mia, not making trouble, smoothing the waters, doing anything she could to make Luna’s life better. And Luna adored her for it. Luna also had a couple of errands that had to be done in the next hour or so and really couldn’t take time out for lunch. Not if she wanted everything to go well tonight.

Mia cleared her throat. Luna looked down to see that she was holding out an envelope.

“What’s that?”

Luna asked in surprise.

“Open it,” Mia said.

Luna set her pencil down and took the envelope, opening it and scanning through the details before looking up in surprise. “You’re taking me on a trip?”

Mia nodded eagerly. “For our anniversary. A whole week. Just the two of us.”

Luna could feel her expression faltering. “That’s… that’s amazing Mia, really it is. It’s incredible.”

“But…?”

asked Mia, face falling.

Luna sighed. “Mi-mi, I… I can’t just pick up and leave right now. Jan and I are swamped. We have deadlines, and the expansion—”

“Right, of course,”

Mia said, standing up and forcing a smile. “I’ll cancel it, don’t worry.”

Luna reached out for her, but Mia was already turning away. “Mia, wait—”

“It’s fine,”

she said, though her voice was too clipped to be convincing.

She practically ran out of the door, leaving Luna with her head in her hands. She’d had to tell the truth, but she could see that she’d reacted wrongly, that she could have been more diplomatic. Her phone buzzed, and she looked down to see that it was Rachel.

Crap. She had to go. She just hoped that tonight would make up for all of this, that Mia would forgive her and they could come to some compromise.

***

The smell of old books filled the air as Mia wandered into Sam’s bookshop. Sam looked up from behind the counter, adjusting his glasses.

“You look like someone just spoiled the ending of whatever it is that you’re reading,”

he observed.

Mia sighed, plopping onto an armchair. “I tried to be spontaneous for once. But Luna… I’m not sure she even cared.”

“What happened?”

asked Sam, in concern. Mia told him, and he shook his head. “You know, two years ago, I’d never have believed that Luna would end up being the responsible one.”

Mia chuckled despite herself. “Yeah. Well, now she’s all work and no play and I’m the one trying to do something big.”

“She’s not the only one,”

Sam pointed out. “You must have been working all hours as well, what with all the renovations up at the hotel.”

“I am,”

Mia admitted. She rubbed her face with her hands. “I think that’s part of the problem. We’ve both been working so hard that we haven’t seen much of each other. We haven’t had a lot of time to talk about things. I thought this trip would give us an opportunity to re-connect.”

“Do you need to re-connect?”

Sam asked.

“I…”

Mia shook her head. “I don’t know. I mean, she doesn’t want to go on this trip. She’s forgotten our anniversary completely…”

“Did she say she didn’t want to go on the trip? Or did she say she couldn’t go on the trip right now?”

asked Sam.

Mia groaned. “I know, I know. She meant right now. I should have known better. I knew how busy she was. It’s obviously a bad time to take a trip.”

“Sounds like she’s so busy planning for your future that she’s forgetting to enjoy the present a little bit,”

said Sam. “There’s a middle ground in there somewhere.”

She gave another groan. “God, you’re right. I know you’re right. I feel like a bit of an idiot now.”

“Don’t,”

said Sam. “We all make mistakes. You had good intentions. You just need to talk things out, that’s all. As for forgetting your anniversary, you know Luna. She’s never been one to be beholden to a calendar.”

“You’re right, you’re right,”

Mia said, standing up. “And you’re an angel for listening to me complain.”

“Any time,”

Sam said. “And remember, balance in all things.”

“Balance,”

Mia agreed.

He had a point. Relationships weren’t about grand gestures and big surprises, two years with Luna had shown her that. Relationships were about communication and balance, both of which she’d forgotten in the excitement of planning her surprise.

***

Luna looked around the room. It was getting close to dark now, but she was pretty sure they were all ready.

“The lights are fixed,”

Rachel called out.

“Brilliant,”

said Luna as they flickered on.

Tiny points of light shone in the beautifully decorated hotel dining room. Flowers graced every table, the band was already tuning up. Luna sighed a breath of relief. Thankfully, it was Mia’s day off, but she couldn’t have done this without the help of pretty much everyone that they knew.

Rachel came over and put an arm around her shoulders. “You think she’ll like it?”

Luna asked anxiously.

“I think she’ll love it,”

Rachel said. She rubbed Luna’s arm. “Are you alright?”

Luna nodded, then shook her head. “Feel a bit sick, actually.”

Rachel laughed. “That’ll be the nerves. You don’t have anything to be nervous about, my love. It’s all going to be fine.”

“You thought we were a terrible match,”

Luna reminded her.

“I’ve been known to be wrong before,”

said Rachel. “Not often, but it happens. And I know better now. The two of you are bigger and better together, that’s the truth of it all. Now you’d better get your text sent, there are guests in reception already.”

Luna pulled out her phone. “Alright, here goes nothing.”

“Here goes everything,”

Rachel corrected.

***

Still concerned about Luna’s text message, Mia stepped into the hotel dining room and a shower of confetti rained over her head.

She looked up in surprise as laughter and cheers filled the room, seeing the shining faces of everyone she knew. Miguel and Jason were there, Sam was on stage with his band, Rachel, Helen and Jan, even her parents were waving and grinning at her.

“Thought I’d forgotten, huh?”

Luna said, sidling up to her.

Mia blinked, stunned. “You planned all this? You’re impossible.”

“And you love me,”

said Luna, stepping in to kiss her cheek. “I might not be good with dates, but I could never forget this one. Not when it was the day my life changed forever. Not when I get to wake up and see your face every morning.”

“And here was I thinking that you were too busy to care,”

Mia murmured.

“Never,”

Luna said vehemently. “And while we’re on the subject of busy…”

She was interrupted by the arrival of more guests. She pulled a face. “Let me go and play hostess. I’ll be back in a second.”

Mia watched her go, felt her heart beating in her chest, remembered just how lucky she was to have someone as amazingly unpredictable and beautiful as Luna in her life.

“Mia?”

She turned and saw Mikey, all dressed up in a linen suit and looking every bit as successful as she’d always known he would be. “Mikey! I haven’t seen you for months, where have you been?”

“Um, in New York, actually. It was a business thing, I was supposed to go for a couple of weeks, and things got stretched out, and, well, I just got back.”

He scratched his nose and cleared his throat. “And, um, there’s someone I’d like you to meet.”

He stepped aside to allow a tall, thin woman to step forward. For a moment, Mia felt a pang of jealousy. Then the woman smiled and held out a hand. “I’m Julia,”

she said in an American accent. “I’ve inherited Mikey from you.”

Mia laughed and shook her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she said.

They chatted for a few minutes until Julia went to find drinks.

“You don’t mind me bringing her?”

Mikey asked.

Mia shook her head. “Not in the slightest. She’s really nice. I really like her.”

She looked up at Mikey’s familiar face. “So, we’re both over it, huh?”

“Are you kidding?”

Mikey said. “Could you imagine us being married? It would have been a disaster.”

“No,”

said Mia. “It would have been… perfect. But slightly boring probably. And there’d always be something between us. It’s better this way.”

“It is,”

he said, bending in to hug her close. “A little bit of me will always love you.”

“I think that’s normal,”

she said, pulling away. “Now, you’d better go and rescue Julia, I think Rachel is about to bend her ear about investing in hotels.”

Mikey scooted off and Mia had about a half second to get her breath before her parents swooped in. Her father started talking about hotel management, and her mother started on about Luna’s beautiful flowers, a drink appeared in her hand, and before she knew it, the party was in full swing.

“Finally,”

Luna said, about an hour later, grabbing Mia’s hand and pulling her onto the dancefloor. “You do know that this party was supposed to be about us, right?”

Mia laughed. “Then you shouldn’t have invited every single other person on earth.”

“I had to,”

said Luna. “I had to have them see just how much I love you.”

“You don’t need to prove that to them,”

said Mia. “Or to me. I know.”

“Do you?”

asked Luna, looking straight at her. “Because you are, quite literally, the reason I get up every morning. You’re the only thing I think about when my mind drifts. You’re a piece of me, and I never, ever want to lose you.”

Mia looked at her earnest brown eyes and smiled. “Luna, you never have to worry about losing me. Not ever. My days of running away are firmly over.”

She felt rather than heard Luna take a shaky breath.

“So, about that trip,”

Luna said.

“No, it’s fine, I mean it,”

said Mia. “We’ll re-arrange it for another time when—”

“Do you think it would make a good honeymoon?”

Luna interrupted.

Mia stopped in the middle of the dancefloor. “What?”

Luna took another deep, shaky breath, then gave her a wobbly smile. “Actually, there’s one little spontaneous sort of thing that I need to do.”

She dropped to one knee in the middle of the floor, and the crowd parted around them, everyone standing back to watch.

Mia felt her heart beating through her chest.

“Mia,”

Luna said, voice steadier now despite the emotion in her eyes. “I never want to travel alone again. I never want to run away again. In fact, I never want to be without you. Without us.”

She reached into the pocket of her jacket and brought out a small velvet box. “Will you marry me?”

Mia’s eyes filled with tears and she was so choked with emotion that she couldn’t speak. All she could do was nod as Luna stood up and slid the ring onto her finger, as the crowd laughed and cheered, as the music began to play again.

“You’re not going to run away this time, are you?”

Luna whispered, pulling her close.

Mia smiled and reached up to cup Luna’s face. “Now, where on earth would I run to?”

And she pulled Luna into a deep, long kiss that seemed to last longer than either of them could hold their breath, longer than the evening even, longer than Mia could imagine. Until Luna pulled away, laughing and panting, and Mia could see the joy in her eyes. The joy that she’d see every day from now on. And it was all she could do not to explode with happiness.

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