Catch of a Lifetime: A Cricket Creek Novel (34 page)

Madison shrugged. “It was the best we could do on short notice.” She leaned in and gave Jessica a hug, but then whispered in her ear. “And I hear that I’m going to have that brother or sister that I’ve always wanted.”

“Who told you?”

“It finally hit me in a lightbulb moment, but I badgered Aunt Myra into confirming my suspicions.”

“So how do you feel about it?”

“I’m absolutely thrilled. I couldn’t be happier,” Madison announced. “Although I must add that it’s taken Santa a long time to deliver. I asked just about every year to bring me a baby brother or sister.”

Jessica shook her head. “You did?”

“Yeah. Guess I was always on the naughty list.”

“No doubt!” Jessica laughed, and then linked her arm through Madison’s and stepped back to look at Ty. “While
my life hasn’t always gone exactly as I would have planned, every bump in the road has led me to right here and now. But one thing I know for sure.” She paused to hug her daughter closer and smile up at Ty. “I wouldn’t change a thing.”

“O
h no, not now!” Mia scowled at the red check-engine light and gripped the steering wheel tighter. “Come on. I filled you with premium gas, you old clunker. What more do you want from me?” she grumbled, but when the light flickered and then went out, she managed a slight smile. “That’s more like it.” She patted the battered dashboard, making the miniature hula dancer swing her ample hips. “Okay, I take the ‘old clunker’ part back,” Mia added in a soothing tone, and then settled back against the seat.

Having been an only child raised by a long string of uninterested au pairs, Mia Monroe was no stranger to talking to herself or to inanimate objects. Since she had often been left alone to entertain herself, Mia’s possessions became treasured friends and admittedly were probably one of the reasons that as an adult she had become a shopaholic. “Dad just doesn’t understand.” She sighed and glanced over at her shiny black Prada purse that appeared ridiculously out of place perched on the worn cloth seat, which must have been red at one time but had faded to a dusty rose. The lack of credit cards inside her matching wallet made her shiver even though the battered Camry’s air conditioner had failed
her two states ago. Soon she might actually break a sweat. “Shopping is my therapy,” she explained with a defensive pout, but the words sounded a bit hollow and she frowned. “Nothing wrong with that, right?” she added without as much conviction.

Mia flipped her long platinum blond hair over her shoulder, only to have the warm wind from the open window blow it right back across her face, momentarily blocking her view of the road. She swerved into the right lane, drawing the deep, angry honk of a massive truck.

“Sorry!” Mia winced as she jerked the car back into her own lane. The hula dancer’s hips wiggled like crazy and Mia giggled in spite of her dire circumstances. She decided that when she purchased a new car, the happy hula chickie was coming with her. Oh and she would purchase a brand-new car with her very own hard-earned money. “And I’ll pull up that circular drive and park it right at my father’s front door!” she announced to the hula dancer, who bobbed her head as if in disagreement. “Oh, don’t go shaking that head of yours. I will do it if it’s the last thing I ever do!” Of course Mia didn’t have anything ironed out—like where she would live or a really super job or anything of that nature. Minor details, she thought with a small shrug, but then frowned when she recalled her last conversation with her dad. “ ‘You’ll be back by the end of the summer,’ ” Mia mocked in her father’s deep tone of voice. “Labor Day,” he had added. “Something you’ve never had to do.”

“Ha!” Mia said and smacked the steering wheel hard enough to make her hand smart. “I have… skills! And just who does he think is going to plan his lavish parties at the house? Huh? Entertain his clients?” She flipped one hand in the air and swerved again. “And just who will find impossible-to-get Cubs and Bulls tickets to seal the deal?” She tossed her hair again, only to have it fly back across her face once more. She gave it an impatient swipe, but several strands
clung to her lip gloss. “I was his personal assistant and did it for free!” she grumbled. “He’ll never be able to replace me. I have connections all over Chicago.” She glanced at the hula dancer. “So what if I ran up a few credit cards? Bought a few things here and there and well… everywhere? I’m helping the economy, right? It’s my civic duty or whatever that’s called.” She waved her French-tipped fingers back and forth and the sunshine glinted off her diamond tennis bracelet.

When the hula dancer stared back at her with accusing brown eyes, Mia sighed. “O-kaaaay, so I abused the credit cards a tiny bit. Traveled a little too much in the company jet.” She lifted one slim shoulder. “But that jab about
me never having had a real job was uncalled for. And my fine arts degree is not worthless! I worked hard for my father. He just didn’t appreciate my efforts.” She pressed her lips together in an effort not to cry. “I should have been on the official payroll!” she sputtered, but it wasn’t the tired old argument about her working that had driven Mia away from her home and out into the cold, cruel world without credit cards or her baby blue Mercedes coupe. It was overhearing her father negotiating a ruthless business deal that had turned her blood cold. When Mia called him out on the hostile takeover of Hanover Candy, a family-owned Chicago-based company, she had been furious. She had grown up and gone to school with Hailey Hanover and couldn’t imagine that her father would take advantage of tough times for the locally owned company, which made various flavors of hard-candy sticks that Mia often got to sample before the general public. She had suggested and was responsible for tasty flavors like cotton candy and cherry cheesecake. How could he go after her friends?

When her father had calmly explained that deals like these had paid for Mia’s lavish lifestyle, she hotly declared
that she no longer wanted his money and would fend for herself from this day forward!

There was only one problem. She didn’t exactly have a plan in place when she stuffed her Louis Vuitton suitcase full of random clothes and stormed out of her father’s estate. “Oh well, this will be an adventure!” she declared with much more moxie than she was actually feeling. She was suddenly a little light-headed. “Low blood sugar,” she mumbled, refusing to believe it was nerves. She decided to find a nice restaurant to eat a little lunch, perhaps a Cobb salad or, then again, a panini would do nicely.

“Okay,” Mia said firmly, but then sighed. So here she was in… Where was she again? Oh yeah, in Kentucky driving down the interstate in an old Toyota Camry that she had bought off of Manny Perez, their gardener. When Mia had offered to purchase Manny’s car, he had rattled off something in Spanish about gas and oil while shaking his head and making hand gestures, little of which Mia had understood. But Mia’s polite insistence and a cool thousand bucks had sealed the deal. One of the many things she had learned from her father was that money talks, and when all else fails, use leverage. So she had flashed cash and a pretty-please smile at Manny and he had handed over the battered vehicle without further protest.

When Mia’s stomach grumbled she looked at the passing signs for something to capture the interest of her taste buds. She wasn’t very familiar with fast food but Cracker Barrel sounded interesting. Mia had seen plenty of signs for the rustic restaurants along her aimless journey and there was the added enticement of shopping right there in the establishment. “Someone sure was thinking!” she said and was about to pull off at the next exit when she noticed a billboard advertising the Cricket Creek Cougars baseball stadium located five miles down the road.

“Hmmm… Why does that sound familiar?” Mia tapped
her cheek, then suddenly remembered that her father had attended opening day last summer. She also thought he might have some other business connection in Cricket Creek, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. She didn’t always pay close attention when her father rambled on about his business dealings, but she knew that he had also traveled to Cricket Creek quite a few times over the past few months. She did recall that he had mentioned that the head chef from Chicago Blue Bistro had moved there to run a restaurant and that the food was excellent.

“Aha!” Mia smiled when she spotted a billboard for Wine and Diner. “I do believe that was the very cute and clever name.” She nodded slowly and then mustered up another smile. “Well, Wine and Diner, here I come!” When her stomach rumbled in anticipation she pressed on the gas pedal, but her smile faded when the car gave a funny little lurch and the check-engine light flickered and then came back on. “Oh no, you don’t!” she pleaded, but this time the red light stubbornly remained lit. Luckily the Cricket Creek exit was only a mile down the road.

Mia eased her chunky sandal from the gas pedal and gingerly steered off the exit. She spotted the sign pointing to several restaurants and turned left toward town. “How quaint!” she said as the Camry chugged down Main Street. Colorful mid-May flowers spilled over the tops of large terracotta planters lining the sidewalk. An old-fashioned bakery named Grammars caught her eye, along with several antiques shops. When she spotted a vintage-clothing store with a sale rack out front, her shopping addiction kicked into high gear, but she lifted her chin in steely determination and kept on driving.

When Mia stopped for a red light, she watched people meander down the sidewalk and wander in and out of the shops. The town had a warm, welcoming feel to it and the chatter of shoppers sounded cheerful. Mia was used to the hustle and
bustle of Chicago, and while she loved the energy of a big city, this slower pace had an instant calming effect on her frazzled nerves. After she inhaled deeply, the sweet scent of spring filled her head, making her sigh with pleasure.

Laughter brought Mia’s attention to her open window and she smiled softly when she spotted children playing in the city park. Young mothers watched over the frolic and fun, bringing a pang of sadness to Mia’s chest. When her father’s first business had failed, Mia’s mother left Mitch Monroe for a man with more wealth. Heartbroken, he had sued for full custody of Mia and had won, but his obsession with financial success kept him from spending much time with his two-year-old daughter—and thus began Mia’s long string of au pairs. Just when she would become emotionally bonded to her caregiver, they would move on, leaving Mia feeling sad and making it much safer to find happiness in material things rather than people.

As an adult and no stranger to therapy, Mia realized that her father’s intense drive to succeed was a direct result of his wife’s desertion. But that didn’t change the fact that Mia had been a lonely little girl longing for her father’s attention and her mother’s acceptance.

Oh, Mia had visited her mother but had always felt like an outsider in her mother’s new life. Over the years her visits had become few and far between and sadly she believed that her mother had been mostly relieved.

A honking horn startled Mia out of her musing. “Oh, just hush!” she grumbled as she eased the car forward, but her mood lightened when she spotted Wine and Diner on the corner. The brick building with the cute red awning looked inviting, but it was the aroma of grilled food wafting through her open window that had her hurrying to locate a spot in the parking lot. “Well!” Mia had to circle twice before sliding into a vacant space, indicating that Wine and Diner was a popular place to eat. “Finally!”

After she turned the key, the engine coughed and sput
tered as if in distress or, perhaps, relief. “Oh, please start when I get finished eating,” Mia pleaded and gave the dash a quick pat. The door opened with a tired-sounding squeak and she gently closed it before hurrying toward the entrance of the restaurant.