My cell ringingstartled me out of a power nap.
“Hey, Murphy, I’ll be right down.” I placed Amoeba in Her Royal Highness’s bed, clicked off the fireplace, grabbed my fleece coat, and headed out for my girls’ day. I was surprised to find Murphy standing on the sidewalk instead of in a car with a driver.
“Morning, Mia,” she said with a hug. “I remembered you talked about wanting a real New York experience, so I thought we could do taxis this morning for our spa visit. Parker is going to send Hank to pick us up for lunch. So, go on. Flag down a taxi.”
Flagging down a taxi couldn’t be much different from doing it in Sydney. You just needed a good whistle. Of course, I knew it would be easy standing in front of a building like Parker’s.
The thought of spending hours upon hours in a spa, being wrapped like a mummy and food laid on my eyes, was not something I would’ve ever said I would do, but the promise of a massage right after kept me there. Soft jazz played through the speakers, and I could feel sleep sneaking in.
“Mia, tell me about this mail-order bride thing,” Murphy blurted into the tranquility of silence.
The question caught me off guard, so I took a moment to digest it. “What do you know about it so far?”
“I know Mom bought you for one of my brothers, which is crazy and amazing,” Murphy said.
As soon as I heard her say “bought me,” I was overwhelmed by embarrassment. I was speechless.
Maybe this hadn’t been such a great idea. Maybe I’m not ready for this.
“Mia?” Murphy said from behind the mask and cucumbers. “I’m not asking so you get weird about it. Mom told me about your family situation, and I think you’re amazing to do such a big life change. I’m in awe of you.”
“Thank you,” I said, letting go of the breath I’d been holding since she’d started talking.
“I would love to hear about your family and how you feel about marrying a stranger,” Murphy said. “Like will you stay married after the contract? Do you think you would allow yourself to fall in love?”
For a moment, I genuinely drew a blank. All the worries of money and heart surgery now solved, I had apparently blocked out any thoughts of falling in love.
“You’re being very quiet, so listen and trust me when I tell you that you have nothing to worry about with any of my brothers,” Murphy said. “Also, my mother can fix any situation and is usually spot-on.”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” I swallowed. “I just need to finally meet him, that’s all. Then everything can get to normal.”
“Honey, with all due respect…” Murphy chuckled. “There is and will never be anything normal about your life ahead of you.”
“You’re hilarious,” I said, laughing and cracking my facial mask.
“I’m interested in this,” Murphy said.
“Yes, I know…”
I was interrupted by the spa ladies returning to unmask us. We were ushered into a cozy waiting area before our massage. Murphy was enjoying one too many mimosas. I hoped our turn for a massage was sooner rather than later. Murphy pulled her bare feet up into her chair. The deep red of her perfectly pedicured toes shone brilliantly in the low light.
“Have you ever done anything like this before?” she asked.
“No, I’ve never done anything even close to this,” I said, sipping on an apple juice. “Are we really talking about this?”
I didn’t want to discuss it, because then I would have to think about my feelings, and I’d learned to hide those a long time ago. Into the silence of my thoughts, Murphy announced Parker and Trey were joining us for lunch. My heart rose up in my throat. Murphy perked up and turned to me expectantly.
I thought I was having a picnic with Parker.
“I changed lunch to two o’clock to give us time to get our hair and makeup done,” Murphy said. “You’re going to like Trey. He’s basically Parker but funny and easygoing.”
Our massage came at the perfect time. My mind raced like a mouse on a treadmill.
There are four sons. If it were Parker, Victoria would have said so by now, wouldn’t she? Parker has a girlfriend, so it can’t be him. That leaves Trey and the younger two. It has to be Trey. Did Murphy know something? Is this the day? Victoria did say she wanted me to get a makeover and be prepared. I’m not ready.
“Mia. Snap out of it, girl. They’re ready for us in makeup,” Murphy said, grabbing my hand and pulling me down the hallway.
When she let go, I reversed direction and headed back to the cozy little waiting area to retrieve my cell phone. If I was changing my hair, I had a picture of a style I saw on a girl the first day I was in town. I wanted to see what the hair stylist’s opinion was for me, and if it was a style I could do with my hair.