*
Ross lodged thephoto onto the inside corner of the bulletin board which hung on the wall.
His grandfather had been right. Ross could do it. And it turned into something he enjoyed and was good at. The workshop had become his own solitude, a place of comfort, just as it had been for his grandfather.
Ross had been so focused on all the things he didn’t have, he didn’t realize what he actually did have. A grandfather whonevergave up on him. Who trusted him with the family legacy. Who saw and encouraged his talent. He also had Luna, a cousin who was like a sister, and who kept him connected to the world, pushing him out of the dark holes he sometimes found himself in.
And then there was Mia. A woman who was smart and warm and everything he wanted. Even during their last conversation, when he was succumbing to anger and dejection, instead of swiping back, she was still trying to lift him up. For all those times he thought connecting with her would be a mistake, in the end, it wasn’t. But even if it was, it was a mistake he’d be willing to make again and again.
Ross pulled out his phone. Her last text message was still there. “I know you don’t want me to apologize, but I am sorry. You are a Renaissance man. Any girl would be incredibly lucky to share a world with you. I wish it could have been me.” Mia always had a way with words.
While Victor knew of Mia from Ross’s tutoring sessions, he hadn’t known her. This was a shame. There was no doubt his grandfather would have really liked her. He would have liked her way with words, her way with people, her way with Ross.
Mia was still imprinted on his life. Her images hung on the walls in his store. Sales came in daily through the Etsy shop she set up. The flowers she put in the planters outside El Dorado Jewelry were still blooming. Her mark had been made and, despite everything, Ross didn’t want to lose this. As hard as things had been in his life, loving Mia had been as easy as breathing. His life was always so much better when she was in it.
When he thought about it, he had more than half the year with her. He had been blessed. Mia could have just worked at the coffee shop and spent her time counting the days until she left Placerville. Instead, she chose to spend most of her free time with him, giving him her affection and smiles and attention. She let him experience a world with butterflies. Ross would do anything for her, even if it took her away from him.
He stood and re-tied the straps of the leather apron, the same one his grandpa had given him when he was too ill to continue working. When he handed it to him, Victor had taken Ross’s hand once more, the grip not as tight this time. His dark eyes were unwavering as they pierced Ross’s soul.You’ll always be where you’re meant to be, and you’ll become the man I know you can be.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Mia’s eyes madecontact with the bright blue gaze of a ruggedly handsome man. He stood in front of Rio Grande Coffee & Tea Company in a red buttoned-down shirt which stretched across his muscled physique and long torso. Throw in a pair of cowboy boots, and he was a modern-day Marlboro man. His name was probably Jake or Cody or something ridiculous like Ransom. He flicked the ash from his cigarette with a nonchalant grace before returning his attention to the phone in his hand. She proceeded into the shop.
Mia was a formerly-down-on-her-luck, twenty-six-year-old single gal. At least, she was almost sure she wasformerly. She had at least picked a path and was on her way. It was time to update her bio. Mia Russo: up-and-coming, knew-what-she-wanted, grown-ass lady. Except if she was all of these things, wouldn’t she be happier, more confident? How come when she was down-on-her-luck, it didn’t necessarily feel that way?
She took a sip of what was becoming her favorite drink since arriving in Texas, an iced hibiscus tea, before returning to her study of the man outside the shop. On second thought, Marlboro and her were never going to work. He was too blond, too blue-eyed, too muscly. The man wastooeverything. Plus, he stared at his phone a lot, was a smoker, didn’t nuzzle into her neck in the morning—the point was, it wasn’t going to happen.
The revelation wasn’t very shocking. Come to think of it, she had a similar experience when it came to finding a new apartment. They were either too dark, too bland, too full of bad vibes. And none came with a three-legged, one-eyed dog, a refrigerator covered in old photos, or a good-looking guy who made her paella. None of the places embodied what she imagined a home to be. In the meantime, she and her suitcases remained hunkered inside the Airbnb studio she chose without much deliberation. It provided a safe bed and privacy. That was good enough for her.
Besides, it wasn’t a bad idea for her to spend as much time as possible inside the studio. Mia was convinced she was coming down with something. She walked around in a constant state of feverish exhaustion and nausea. It was a mystery virus that seemed to have migrated with her from Placerville.
This trip to the coffee shop was a quick stop while she waited on the three weeks’ worth of laundry to finish their cycle at the nearby laundromat. Three weeks was the same period she had been a resident of Texas. It was also how long it took her to do something other than apartment hunting and Netflix binge watching, which in itself was simply a distraction from crying.
“Is it okay if I share your table? The other ones are taken,” a man with a deep drawl said. She lifted her eyes to the sky blue ones of Marlboro.
“Sure.” Mia offered a smile, setting her phone aside.
“I don’t want to interrupt anything important. Business comes first.” He gave a lazy nod toward her phone, his eyes crinkling at the corners.
“Oh. No. I was just…texting with a friend. No business going on here.” Mia had downloaded an app to try her hand at learning Spanish again and was keeping in contact with Natalie as a way to practice what she learned. It never got very far before Natalie started teasing her or Mia got frustrated trying to express herself with a limited vocabulary. She was trying though and was determined to reclaim her Mexican heritage by learning the language.
“I’m Jake, by the way.”
Point one for Mia. She finally got something right. Sure, it was only his name, but these days she had to take points where she could.
“Mia.”
“I like your glasses. You look like the kind of girl who knows how to keep a guy on his toes. I like that.”
“Oh. Thank you.” An awkward pause drifted between them. Mia cleared her throat. “So, Jake, do you work here in the city?”
“I’m finishing up med school. In fact, I just got my residency.”
“Nice. Congratulations. That’s a big accomplishment.”
“Yeah, thanks. I’m still getting used to it. I guess this means I should finally kick the habit of smoking.” He shrugged. “No one wants a doctor who smokes. I was top of my class, but it’s a completely different ballgame when you’re actually living it inside a real hospital. I’ll probably stick with it for a few years. But I really want to get into regenerative medicine and study stem cell therapy. That’s the new area of sexy medicine. At least that’s what the money tells me.” He waggled his eyebrows.
God. Was this how Mia sounded when talking about her plans?
