Ida Jane pursed her lips and nodded.“Good, good.So I won’t keep you long.”
“Why did you call?”Millie asked.
“Because Maxim and I are having a shindig at Cormac and Keelie’s in a couple of weeks.I need you to be there, Mil-bil.Bad.”Ida Jane’s eyes widened, and her expression turned pleading.“It’srealimportant to me.”
Millie leaned forward, and I watched her as she assessed Ida Jane.“What aren’t you saying?”
Ida Jane’s smile turned sly, and her gaze flicked around the room.“Maxim’s settin’ up a marriage celebration party for us next month,” she said.She rattled off the date—right in the middle of summer.“But the CATS, Mama, Daddy, and I are plannin’ something evenmorespecial.”She winked.“Something I think he’s gonna like a tad bit better than a party.”
I fought the urge to rub my hands together with glee.Oh, this was working out better than I’d hoped.I wouldn’t have to talk Millie into flying back with me—Ida Jane would do it for me.I owed her for this—big time.
Millie laughed.“A surprise wedding, huh?That’s too cute!”
“Come.”Ida Jane looked around, then lowered her voice.“You have to be my maid of honor.I want to do it right this time.”
“I…” Tension built in Millie’s shoulders.“I don’t know…”
“You can fly in and stay with Stolly.Your dad won’t know you’re here.It’s one weekend, and it means the world to me.”
Her father?That’s why she’d moved so far away?What did a dad have to do to make his child take such drastic measures?
Millie remained stiff, but she sighed.“You’ll send me the details?When you need me and everything?”
“Of course,” Ida Jane said.“As long as you have a clean bill of health to fly…”
Millie perked up under my hands, and I knew she wanted to use her pregnancy as I reason to stay in Colombo.“I’ll ask the doctor at my checkup tomorrow.”
And I’d double-check with the doctor at the checkup.No way I was going to let Millie endanger herself or our daughter, but I wasn’t letting her weasel out of this chance to get back to Houston—or for me to learn more about her past.
“And it won’t be a problem with work?”Ida Jane asked.“I know it’s kind of short notice…”
Millie hesitated again, but then she shook her head.“I have a generous vacation package, and I’ve been working a lot of weekends to speed up our process.My boss won’t have a problem with me taking some time off.”
She can’t lie to Ida Jane.Interesting…
Ida Jane nodded.“That’s great news!Oooh, I’m so excited you’ll be here this go-round.”Her voice was soft.“We had to get married so quickly before because of Maxim’s visa issue—”
“And your stalker,” Millie said.
Ida Jane made a face.“And that, but let’s focus on me helping out Maxim, ’kay?You know having Daddy walk me down the aisle and you standing there with me were so hard to give up.”
Mille’s pulse pounded in her neck but she smiled into the camera.“Well, now you don’t have to.I wouldn’t miss your special day.I can’t wait to see you.”She clicked off and shut the laptop.Taking a deep breath, Millie turned toward where I was hovering.“I have to go to work,” she said.
“All right.”Disappointment niggled, because she’d just mentioned she could take time off.I wanted to ask her about her reactions to the mere idea of going back to her hometown, and I was dying to know more about her father.Ineededto know about her father.
“Dinner?”I asked again.My gaze slithered down her maxi dress and the smart hip-length cardigan she’d paired with it.While Millie preferred pants, she’d told me, Bree didn’t.So, Millie had taken to long dresses that flowed more easily around her expanding belly.
“Yes, I’ll go to dinner with you,” she said, tucking her hair back and staring down at the floor.
“Yes!”I fist-pumped, trying to break the tension that had crept back between us.“Hey, maybe I could I go with you?See your office?”
She nibbled on her lip.“How about you stay here, nap and shower?Unless you have a hotel—”
“I’d planned to ask you where I should stay,” I said, a bit sheepish.I hadn’t gotten to the rest of the details of this visit, like a hotel.
Millie pursed her lips.“Um, yeah, that’ll be hard right now.There are a couple of big conventions…”
“I can sleep on your couch.No problem.”
