Taking a sip of her second drink, she turned her head to study her mother. Wow, where was the normally reserved woman that she knew? Had they ever spent mother/daughter time at the pool together? Her father used the pool to swim laps, but she couldn’t remember her mother spending much time at it. Something was different. “So, um, Mom, this is . . .”

“Unexpected?”

Smiling in relief, Mia replied, “Yep, exactly. It’s nice, just not something we normally do.”

On a sigh, her mother said, “I know, darling. Believe it or not, I used to be fun when I was younger. Your father preferred me more . . . dignified . . . and eventually when you play the part long enough, it becomes who you are.”

Giving Mia what looked like a rather sad smile, she added, “I’m just trying to find the person that I used to be. Your father is away so much on business and it gets . . . lonely here sometimes.” She took Mia’s hand saying, “One of the things I regret the most is never having this type of relationship with you. I bowed to pressure and let the nanny handle most of your care even though I wanted to do it all for you. I’m so sorry I didn’t stand up for us.”

Mia looked on in horror as her mother burst into tears. She sat up in her chair saying, “Mom . . . please don’t. We can start from today. It’s not too late.”

Her mother jerked her head to look at her, hope beginning to burn through the tears that still rolled down her cheeks. Mia couldn’t remember ever seeing her cry before. Maybe she should harbor anger toward her, but having the chance for a real relationship with her mother for the first time ever was something too enticing to refuse. “Honey . . . do you mean it? I know I have a lot to make up for, but will you really give me a chance to get to know you and have a place in your life?”

Mia could feel tears gathering in her own eyes as she said, “I’d love that, Mom, I really would.” Maybe when one door closed, another did open. She was gaining a real mother even as her heart still mourned the loss of Seth.

“Margie! Where are last month’s budget figures?” Seth bellowed. Was everyone at the resort completely incompetent? Was expecting everyone to do their damn jobs too much to ask? Margie stalked into his office and slammed the door behind her. She picked up a folder from the corner of his desk and smacked it down in front of him.

“It’s on your desk where it’s been for days, master!”

“Margie, I’m not in any mood for any shit today,” he growled.

Putting her hands on her hips, she glared back at him. “I’m not in any mood for your shit, either, Seth. You have been nothing but an asshole to me and everyone within a ten-mile radius since you lost Mia. If you keep this up, everyone here is going to walk out. I have already had to talk three people out of quitting just today!”

“Don’t coddle the staff. If they can’t handle being called to task for not doing their jobs, then let them quit.”

He saw her face flush red before she threw her hands up in the air and sank down into a chair in front of his desk. He could feel the now-familiar irritation burning just beneath the surface as he waited for her to say whatever she needed to say and get the hell out of his office. He was surprised when she finally raised her head and gave him a look of genuine sadness. “What?” he asked, surprised.

“I love you, Seth, you’re like a son to me. In the years I’ve worked for you, I’ve seen you at your best and your worst. In all of that time though I’ve never known you to be the cruel bastard that you have turned into. You are being mean, insensitive, and overbearing. I know this all comes from Mia so tell me, what happened?” When he opened his mouth, she added, “And don’t say ‘nothing’; I know better.”

He stared at her, feeling his heart race in his chest as thoughts of that night crashed back in. He had worked nonstop since then to keep his mind off the look on Mia’s face as she walked away from him. He kept thinking things would get better, but it only got worse. Margie was right: He had turned into a monster, and he couldn’t seem to stop it. He looked at the woman who was more of a mother to him than his own and felt his anger start to fade away for the first time since Mia left. Running a hand through his hair, he admitted to Margie and to himself, “I fucked up royally and I don’t know if it can be fixed.”

“Oh, honey,” Margie said. “You know between you and me, we can fix anything. Just tell me what we’re dealing with and we’ll go from there.” Without further urging, he poured out the whole sordid mess and watched Margie flinch a few times before he was finished. She shook her head before dropping it onto the desk. He heard her blow out a breath before saying, “Shit, when you screw up, you don’t do it halfway. Geez, didn’t I warn you about Ashley? Where is she hiding out, by the way?”

Seth snorted. “Apparently, I even turned her off that night. She took off afterward and I haven’t heard from her since. I guess I’m too big of an ass for her.”

“Probably,” Margie agreed. “All right, let’s start at the beginning. Have you called Mia to apologize?”

When he shook his head no, he felt a paperclip bounce off his cheek. “Hey,” he protested, “I was in denial. People in denial don’t apologize.”

“Well, you’ve pulled your head out of your ass now, so that should be our first step. Give her a call and tell her you messed up. If she gives you long enough before slamming the phone down, try to explain.”

Seth gave her a disgusted look. “You’re really filling me with confidence here.”

With an exasperated snort, Margie said, “Honey, this would have been easier if you had just called her fat. I could have worked with that. You had a naked woman in your lap after you had strongly led Mia to believe you were waiting for her. You are going to have to do something that you aren’t used to doing: grovel.” Before he could answer, she added, “And I mean the lick-the-dirt kind. Now I’m going back to my desk and you are going to call her. Do you have her number?”

Rolling his eyes, he said, “Of course, I’m not completely incompetent.” He knew by the look on her face that she was dying to challenge that statement, but wisely, she continued on out the door. Before he could talk himself out of it, he pulled Mia’s cell number up in his contacts and clicked to connect the call. He was secretly relieved when it went straight to voicemail. He left her a message to call him and ended the call.

When Margie stuck her head in the door four hours later, he shook his head in disgust. After another five calls, Mia had neither answered nor called him back. He had already looked up the number for Danvers and was fixing to call there when Margie said, “She’s not at work, either. I . . . um . . . took the liberty of calling there and they said she’s on vacation this week. Her home number is unlisted and despite a considerable amount of charm on my part, they wouldn’t give me that number.”

Seth really wasn’t surprised that Margie had taken it upon herself to track Mia down. She never could resist a challenge and Mia was giving them both that. But, still, he was hanging onto the hope that she would return his call sometime before the day was over.

Mia had just finished emailing Hank and Nikki to let them know that her cell phone was dead and that she had left her charger at her condominium. They were really the only two people who would possibly try to reach her this week. She had planned to go home today, but with the surprising turn of events with her mother, she was curious enough to stay for a few more days. It wasn’t that their relationship had completely changed overnight, but they were trying. She had always thought she was just fine without the usual parental affection, but now that it was being offered, she found herself soaking it up, unable to get enough. Her mother was actually funny and just a tiny bit irreverent, which was completely shocking. She was still smiling when she rounded the corner to find her mother in a heated conversation on her phone. “Listen here, you had your chance, and you screwed up big time. You had better come up with something more impressive than a phone call if you want to fix this. I expected better from you. Don’t disappoint me again!” With those words, the phone call was ended without a goodbye.