little and could faintly hear laughter and music coming from Ben’s condo. It sounded like they were having a good time, and she suspected his party might go until the wee hours. She yawned and snuggled into her pillow. She was just not a late-night person. It had been a fun evening, but she was very happy to be comfy in bed.
Chapter 23
A few weeks later, Angela surprised Mia the day before the Nantucket Book Festival Gala by calling to offer her two tickets.
“Philippe and I are flying out to LA this weekend and we won’t be using the tickets. I thought you might want to go?”
“I’d love to. Thank you!” She hung up and immediately called Izzy to see if she wanted to go with her.
“Ordinarily, I’d say yes. But, I already told Rick I’d go with him tomorrow night to a party at his friend’s house. He wouldn’t be happy with me if I bailed on that.”
“Okay. How are things going with him?” Izzy had been quiet on the subject for a few weeks, and Mia wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing.
Izzy sighed. “It depends on the day. It’s still up and down with him. But his job is going well and there have been more good than bad days lately. So, I’m optimistic and don’t want to break that streak by going to the Gala. Although, I would love to go. Why don’t you ask Ben or Sam? I bet one of them would want to go. It seems up Ben’s alley. I think I’ve seen him there in the past.”
“That’s a good idea. I’ll do that.”
Mia ended the call and thought for a minute. Ben would probably say yes in a minute, if he wasn’t already going. She agreed that it did seem like an event he’d enjoy. But she found herself calling Sam instead. She hoped that it wasn’t too short notice for him to find a sitter.
“Hey, Mia, what’s up?” He sounded happy and surprised to hear from her in the middle of the day.
“I don’t know if this is too short notice for you to find someone to watch the girls, but Angela just gave me two tickets to the Book Festival Gala. It’s tomorrow night. Any interest in going with me?”
“Oh, wow. Yes. I’d love to. Let me just check with my mother to make sure she can watch the girls and I’ll get right back to you.”
Less than ten minute later, he called back. “She’s a little too happy to watch the girls. I told her I was invited to go to a black-tie event, and she was thrilled. She’s funny.”
Mia was glad that his mother seemed to approve of Sam spending time with her. They saw each other twice a week now, every Monday for trivia and Wednesday for the bereavement group meeting. Mia looked forward to both nights each week.
The next day, getting ready for the Gala, she felt nervous for the first time. Butterflies nervous, like when she went on her first early dates with Mark. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that or what it meant. She tried to ignore the nerves and focus instead on what she was going to wear. She had a few dresses that would be appropriate—cocktail dresses she’d worn to various events in the past—but her eyes kept going to a black dress in the very back of her closet. A dress that still had tags on it and that she’d been unable to throw out or to wear. She’d loved the dress when she’d first seen it. It was a basic little black dress, sleeveless with a ruffled bottom that flared out at the knee. It was very flattering. But she’d bought it to wear to her rehearsal dinner.
She took the dress off its hanger and tried it on, then twirled in front of her bedroom window. It still fit, and it still looked good. And she didn’t feel like taking it off. Instead, she found a pair of scissors, cut the tags off and found the new shoes she’d bought the day she found the dress. They were still in the box they came in, packed with tissue paper. She tried the shoes on, too. They were a delicate, strappy silver sandal with a medium-high heel. Just enough to give her a lift, but she’d still be able to walk without too much trouble. She kept the shoes on and went to do her makeup