Hersch was working out in the hotel gym, thinking about how much he couldn’t wait to have his own place. He might not be as famous as Archer Davenport, but since he’d sung “Happy Birthday” to his mom from space, he’d become memorable, as Jay Malone had pointed out. Repeatedly.
He could tell by their furtive glances that people in the gym recognized him.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t the first time that morning. A glass wall separated the gym from a studio that had so far been empty, but today a yoga class was in there. One woman had noticed him and done a double take and then nudged her friend with her elbow, and the next thing he knew, an entire yoga class of women doing downward dog was checking him out while he pedaled up a mountain on the stationary bike. It was not the kind of attention he relished, especially not when he was dripping with sweat.
He was trying to ignore the stares when his phone rang. He’d kept his phone with him all day, hoping to hear from Mila, and had stopped himself several times from texting her to see if she had any news. Obviously, she would call him when she did. He had to relax.
But now his stomach jumped when he saw Mila’s name on his phone. He wiped sweat off his face and then answered.
Without even bothering with a hello, she said in an excited voice, “Great news! You got the house!”
He could barely get out the words. “That’s fantastic.”
“It sounds like you’re running.”
“Worse,” he panted. “I’m cycling up a mountain in Chamonix.”
She burst out laughing. “What?”
“Well, it’s a virtual background. I’m in the gym at my hotel, but at the moment Chamonix looks a lot better.”
She said, “Sooner than you can believe, you’re going to be cycling in your own home gym. As soon as the money clears, the house is yours. And the really good news is all the checks have already been done by the last buyers—the survey and all those more laborious tasks—so you can rest easy and be in that house in a matter of days.”
He loved how excited she was, and somehow that made him even more happy than he was already at such great news.
“I can’t thank you enough, Mila,” he said, meaning it so sincerely he wished he could say it a thousand times over.
He could almost feel her bright smile as she said, “You better put the champagne on ice.”
His workout was definitely over for the day, so he hauled himself off the bike and wiped it down, all the while talking to Mila. He said, “Champagne can wait. I promised my mom that calling her would be the first thing I’d do when I found out.”
“That’s nice,” she said, sounding very supportive. “That was the first thing I did when I bought my home. My mom was so proud of me, and I couldn’t wait to tell her.”
“I imagine your mom is proud of you for lots of reasons,” he said quietly.
There was a pause, and he could tell that Mila was touched. “I’m just really lucky to have such a great mom. She’s always there for me, especially when things are tough.”
Hersch felt his heart swell in recognition. “The same for me.” He was going to continue when Mila swiftly turned the conversation back to the house.
“I’ll send through a few emails as soon I get into the office.”
“You’re in the office on a Sunday?”
“Only for my most important clients,” Mila said.
Though he knew she was joking, Hersch couldn’t help hoping he was important to Mila Davenport. He ended the call with more words of thanks, and she told him it was her pleasure. And then he couldn’t get the idea of Mila and pleasure out of his mind… What would it feel like to be the one who could actually give Mila pleasure? It would be as good as seeing Earth from space for the first time. Mind-blowing, just mind-blowing.
As soon as he was back in his suite and showered, he called his mom.
With a sigh of contentment, she said, “That’s just wonderful, honey. You know, I’ve been a bit worried about you. I thought you’ve been kind of down lately, but now you seem different. Is it just the house?”
He knew she was fishing for more details about Mila. Part of him wished he’d never told her about his crush, but the truth was he suspected Mila was a big part of how upbeat he was feeling these days. He said, “I’m excited about the house and to start spending more time in Carmel-by-the-Sea, but if I’m honest, it’s also down to this woman I’ve met.”
“The Realtor?”
“The Realtor.”
“Can you tell me more about her? She must really be something special—I can hear it in the way you speak.”
Hersch sat back in the plump hotel chair. How to describe Mila? She was one of kind. “Well, for a start, she’s beautiful. Truly striking. Tall, blonde, muscular. But it’s much more than that. She doesn’t seem to be afraid of anything. She’s just got this way about her that makes me feel like anything’s possible too.”
His mother made a puzzled sound. “But you’ve always been like that yourself, honey. You’ve always believed you could do anything you put your mind to. And you did.”
Hersch swallowed, and suddenly all his excitement vanished. Mila had guessed something he’d kept to himself. No one in the world knew about his fear of the water, not even his mother, and he wasn’t going to burden her with his irrational fear now. He said, “Maybe I’ve changed a little. Got a little older, a little wiser.”
She let out a sigh. “Oh, my darling boy. When I nearly lost you, I thought my world had ended. I’ve forgotten to really think about what it’s been like for you.”
There was a moment of complete silence where they didn’t need to say a word, each processing, each thinking about the other. But if there was one thing his mother’s confession confirmed, it was that no matter how much he cared for a woman, he couldn’t put her in a position where he’d leave her to go on a mission from which he might never return.
After a moment, his mom said, “I can’t wait to see your house. As soon as it’s ready, let me know, and I’ll fly down.”
He loved that about his mom. She was sixty-one going on thirty-five, full of energy and always making plans for the future. Before they ended the call, she said, “And when I come, make sure I get to meet Mila.”