Mia Found (Starting Fires Book 3) (32 page)

My feet faltered when I realized I’d never even told Paul he was working with me. Each time I’d had Paul on the phone, Fontenot was the furthest thing from my mind. But as I thought about my reaction to Liza, I knew Paul would have a similar one.

What was wrong with me?

With a sigh, I walked in the door and spotted Fontenot behind the counter cleaning glasses and prepping. I didn’t even look at him, but I heard voices from the stage area and recognized one as Tanya’s.

“
What kind of bands have you worked with before?” she asked.

“
Oh loads,” the girl said. “My brother plays bass for Flaming Monkey. And my boyfriend is the lead singer for Yellow Stick. I go to all his shows and meet tons of other bands. All the time.” She giggled and my stomach dropped.

Quietly, I approached the bar and beckoned Fontenot over.

“
How long has she been in there with her?”

“
Not long,” he said. “But she ain’t the only one coming in here. Last week she met with someone else. Better step it up, sweet thing.”

Well, I
also
had a brother in a band. Technically Lucas
used to be
in a band. They hadn’t played together in over a year, but still had a pretty big following. Once I was in the office, I sent him a text.
Interested in playing at the bar I work at? Maybe you, Charles, Ian, and Wally could have like a comeback show or something.

When he didn’t respond, I sent another.
It would really help me out.

No response.

PLEASE!

As I was going through my booking schedule, a whole hour later, he finally sent,
Hell. No.

I called him.

“
Come on. I need this job. My boss would eat that up!”

He blew out an amused breath. “No way. Wally has his own shit going. Charles is busy and Ian…Ian’s like full on married. He’s not interested.”

“
Well, that’s just great. I’m gonna lose this job. She’s already interviewing other people!”

“
Huh. I thought you’d be going to Florida by now, anyway”

“
And what exactly would I
do
in Florida? Mooch off my boyfriend? Sit at home all day while he goes to work?”

“
Geez, Mia. It’s not as bad as you make it sound. He just wants to help out. You could find a job. I mean, last dad said, Uncle Mike lived out there. Maybe he could help you find something.”

This was the first I’d heard of that. My Uncle Mike wasn’t on speaking terms with my father. He’d moved away years ago, only coming back once every five or so years. I’d always liked my uncle. He was different. An odd ball. He wore khaki shorts and shin socks with sandals. His beard was long and he always wore sunglasses, even if he was inside. I had a sneaking suspicion that he indulged in recreational drugs and it never sat right with my father. But I’d found him interesting and charming.

“
Wh–what does Uncle Mike do? What kind of job could he get me?”

“
Don’t have a clue. But he’s pretty involved in the community. I bet he’s heard something.”

“
Huh.”

“
Yeah, huh. Give him a call and leave me alone.”

With that he hung up.

Jerk.

Well, give me his number then,
I texted.

A few minutes later, my phone dinged with the number.

It was a whole week later before I found the nerve to call him. Would he even remember me? Last he’d seen me I was still in high school, and I didn’t think we’d even spoken to each other.

He didn’t answer and I left him an awkward voicemail. “Uncle Mike! Hey! This is Mia! Your niece Mia! I was…um…I was wondering if maybe…maybe you could get me…well, it’s sort of a long story. Maybe you should just call me. It’s about a job. I need a job. In Florida. Panama City if you could manage. But…call me. We can talk about it. I, uh, hope you’re doing good out there. Miss you!”

It was a hope.

Tanya was short staffed that night, and I helped her out by serving drinks. Instead of a band, I’d booked a young guy who played by himself. He was impressive. Despite it only being him, you’d never know. He used an instrument that allowed him to record sounds and add them to his strumming, making it sound like a full band was playing alongside him.

Even Tanya was impressed. It was a full house and I rushed back and forth to the bar, hardly able to fully appreciate him. While I was waiting on Fontenot to make my drinks, Kiki, another waitress, came up beside me.

“
Hey, there’s a table by the stage requesting you.”

“
Me?” I asked. I hardly ever waitressed. How could someone request me? “Who? Why do they want me?”

“
Don’t know. He said he knew you.”

Kiki was one of those rare beauties. She had fiery red hair and big eyes that looked more mysterious than you’d think possible. Her curves were envied by all who saw her and no matter what she wore, she looked sexy and sensual. Why would they pick me over her?

Maybe it’s Paul!
I thought and raced over. Pushing through the crowd, I fell on the table with a big smile, but saw only Hank.

“
Oh,” I said.

“
Oh,” he smiled. “Disappointed?”

“
No,” I said, trying to recover. I hadn’t seen him since he’d play during our opening night. “It’s good to see you again.”

“
You never called.”

“
Sorry. We have a few openings next month. Are you still interested?”

“
Absolutely.”

“
When I have a better idea, I’ll send you the dates. So. What can I get you to drink?”

He smiled. “Lager. If you have one.”

For the rest of the night, Hank shamelessly flirted with me. Mostly it was harmless, but I didn’t want him to get the wrong impression. While I filled his third round, Fontenot approached me.

“
Be careful there, Little Mia. I see the way he’s looking at you and he’s not interested in dinner and a movie.”

I rolled my eyes. “And what
is
he interested in, oh wise Fontenot.”

He smiled and for the first time in ages, it didn’t seem sleazy. It reminded me of the old Fontenot, the one I’d fallen for. If I thought about it, I hadn’t seen him doing any of his usual tricks. There weren’t random woman hanging all over him. There weren’t any loud scenes with scorned lovers. He was professional.

“
Something’s different about you,” I said. “What happened?”

His eyes barely twitched. “Nothing,” he said. “Still the same piece of shit I’ve always been.”

I regarded him. No. Something
was
different.

Fontenot huffed. “Whatever. Just letting you know that ole boy’s itching to fuck you ten ways to Sunday. Take it or leave it.”

I pulled a face. All right. Maybe he hadn’t changed. “Thanks for the eloquent advice.”

“
That’s me. Elovent as shit.”

“
El-o-quent.”

“
That’s what I said.”

I chuckled. “Right.”

At his table, Hank took my drink with a sloppy grin. Knowing that there was at least
some
truth to Fontenot’s words, I quickly left. It was already after midnight and the crowd had died down. I found Tanya sitting in a corner, her mascara smeared, and her wine glass sloshing.

“
I’m gonna head out,” I said. “If that’s all right. Looks like Kiki and June can handle it.”

She waved a hand at me. “Go. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

In my car, I checked my phone. One text from Paul.
Goodnight, Pretty. Talk to you tomorrow.

One voicemail. The missed call was from a number I didn’t recognize. While I sat in the parking lot, I listened to it.

“
Mia! It’s so good to hear from you! Sure, Uncle Mike can find you something. I’m in Laguna now, but I can put some feelers out. What kind of work are you interested in? Call me tomorrow and let me know.”

My palms sweated with excited energy. I did a search on my phone, finding that Laguna was only 30 minutes away from Paul.

It was fate! Thank God for Lucas and thank God for Uncle Mike. If this worked out, I could be with Paul in less than a month!

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

IT TOOK HIM TWO weeks, but Uncle Mike had a plan. After I told him about my degree, I could feel his positive energy. With excitement, he informed that he was on the board of an art museum. It wasn’t in Panama City or Laguna, but a neighboring town called Seacrest. And it was beautiful, a stunning beach town straight out of a daydream. To make it even better, I’d be under an hour away from Paul.

I squealed.

“
Wait, wait, wait,” Uncle Mike said. “Don’t get too excited. I’ll have to talk to some people and put feelers out, but I’m sure we could find something that would suit you. I’ll be in touch.”

A few days later he called again. “All right. I found
something
.”

“
What something?”

“
It’s an internship, and well, it doesn’t pay shit. Excuse me, crap. However…if it worked out, you could potentially replace the current director.”

I couldn’t breathe, afraid that anything I said would ruin this fantasy. It couldn’t be real. He
couldn’t
be serious.

“
He’s retiring soon, but he is valued. His
opinion
is valued. No one wants to hire a replacement he doesn’t approve of. As far as I know, they haven’t made it open to the public because they aren’t interested in bringing anyone on until next year.”

“
When next year?” It was already the end of October. If “next year” meant July…that didn’t help much now.

“
Gregory is heading it up. He mentioned interviewing next month. So maybe January or February.”

“
All right. I’m interested. Definitely interested. I don’t even care what it pays.”

He chuckled. “Let me call him back. I’ll try to get you in.”

“
Oh, thank you!”

“
Don’t do that yet. Maxwell has to like you. Gregory has to like you. And the whole board has to agree. So hope, but not too much. A lot of people will be part of this decision.”

I tried to do as he said, but couldn’t. For days, I was jumble of excited energy. Paul sensed it, but I kept my news a secret. There was no point in getting both our hopes up if it didn’t work out.

“
You seem happy,” he said.

“
Well…I guess I am.”

He laughed. “Good. At least one of us is. They’re sending me somewhere new next week.”

“
Oh, yeah? Where are you off to this time?”

“
New Mexico. I’ll be there for two whole weeks.”

“
Oh, wow.”

“
Yeah. This company is going through an investigation. It’s
my
job to determine whether or not it would be beneficial for us to take them on.”

“
Would it be? I mean, they’re under investigation.”

“
That’s why they’re paying us a fortune. The owners don’t want the company to fall due to faulty employees. I think they’re looking for someone to blame.”

I chuckled. “And it’s your job to find out who that is?”

“
Something like that.” Paul was smiling. I could hear it in his voice. I wanted so badly to see it for myself.