A Million Dreams (Wish 3)

26 - Edward and Ted

The morning of the ball Mia had a knock at her back door. She expected it to be Ted although she hadn't seen him since he had asked her to dance. To her surprise, it was her brother.

"Aidan!"

"Hey.  I thought maybe we could have lunch and then I'd take you to get ready with Sage."

"What's the occasion?" She loved her brother, but they weren't in the habit of going to lunch together without Sage.

"Can't I miss my sister?"

She sighed. Convinced he was up to something, she'd put demands on him. "I'll go to lunch with you, but I want some information first."

"It's only lunch."

"I want to know if Sage is pregnant."

His eyes avoided her. "Why would you think that?"

"I knew it!"

"Knew what?"

"You can't fool me. Spill! Aidan Reilly!"

"No one is supposed to know."

"Does Bea know?" He looked down. "Does Brenna know?" Again he looked down. "Do Mom and Dad know?" This time he shook his head. "You had better tell them or they'll be hurt."

"All right point taken." Apparently since she ambushed him, he decided to do the same for her. "So I heard you saw Derek. What did he want?"

Only one other person knew about Derek's visit. "Why was Edward Calhoun talking to you about me?"

"He was concerned. He didn't think you invited him over and..."

"He was worried about me. The man should worry about his own personal life not mine."

"Mia, he's my friend and you're my sister. Plus, you two are friends."

"Who said that?"

Aidan looked confused. "He did. Aren't you friends?"

"With that man, I have no idea. A faucet goes from cold to hot to cold again less often than Ted."

"He wears a mask, but the real Ted is a great guy."

Mia found it hard not to smirk at the comment about him wearing a mask. Unfortunately Aidan misread her smirk. "You like him!"

She tried to deflect. "What about lunch?"

"Pack up what you need to get ready and Bea said you can stay the night or if you prefer to come home, I'll put you in an Uber."

She left him waiting when she walked upstairs. Should she confide in her brother? He married into Ted's world, but then she realized how crazy she sounded. She loved Ted, and he might even like her, but he would only break her heart. She needed to stop loving him. She loved her apartment, but was contemplating moving.

She hoped he'd forget he promised her a dance, because she still remembered every detail of their first dance so a second may take a lifetime to forget.

Mia saw Ted looking at her with a half smile as she descended the stairs. The man was always thinking about something else. Could his business keep him that preoccupied?

By the time she reached the bottom of the stairs, he had disappeared into the crowd. Celia met her and bombarded her with demands including thanking some key donors, including Walter Leonard and Edward Calhoun. She refrained from telling her she had already thanked Mr. Calhoun.

She bit the bullet and approached Mr. Leonard with the beautiful Elaine Calhoun on his arm. She smiled. "Mr. Leonard on behalf of Celia and the foundation, I wanted to thank you for coming tonight and for your generosity."