Page 10 of The Maestro and the Roofer

Then he stood, his wonderfully lean body unfolding to its full height. As the significance of his statement lingered, he grabbed her empty bowl and spoon and left the room without another word.

Fierce longing speared her as he departed, and she followed like a bat out of hell. But he reached the kitchen before she could stop him, and she schooled her features, mindful of Eric and Jerry.

Travis passed the bowl and utensil to Jerry, who was on dishwasher duty. Mia didn’t even note Eric’s absence until he reentered the cottage with an uneasy look, holding something close to his chest.

“I’m sorry to ask this,” he began, “but would you mind signing my daughter’s playbill?”

Her world tilted off its axis at the sight of the weathered booklet in his hand. Staring in shock, she clutched the counter to anchor herself, the cold marble a shock to her system. There was no denying it—her cover was blown, and her throat strained to form a reply.

So much for anonymity.

“Um. Sure.”

Not the most eloquent or enthusiastic response, but it was something. To avoid Travis’s probing look, she rummaged around for a marker.

“You famous or something?” Travis asked, the question fraught.

“No,” she insisted in as firm a voice as she could muster. “Not at all.”

Eric refuted that claim almost immediately. “You’ve never heard of Maestro Mia?”

“Guess I’ve been out of the loop,” Travis answered in a clipped manner.

To her horror, Eric launched into an abridged version of her career. Completely disoriented, she continued searching for a marker as the words buzzed in her ears like white noise. One was stuffed in the back of a drawer, and her hands shook as she retrieved it and signed the playbill’s front cover. She pushed the booklet into Eric’s hands, stopping the Maestro Mia history lesson before he reached the most embarrassing portions of her story.

After avoiding Travis’s gaze for as long as possible, she glanced at him with contrite eyes. Despite having nothing to apologize for, her chest still ached with regret. More than anything, she lamented the loss of the precious normalcy she’d experienced with him. Such fleeting moments, and she should’ve known it wouldn’t last, but it didn’t lessen the blow of the unmistakable despondency in his eyes. His expression confirmed that she’d morphed from a hoity-toity city girl he’d enjoyed teasing to something unattainable, and her head pounded painfully at the new reality.

Travis raised his eyebrows. “Sounds pretty famous to me.”

“I’m not famous,” she repeated. Trying to regain control of the situation, she turned to Eric. “Did you know the whole time?”

“You looked familiar, but it didn’t hit me until last night,” he explained. “I’m sorry to ask, but my daughter is a huge fan of the show, and she’s been having a hard time at school lately?—”

“It’s fine,” she said, cutting him off. He’d let the cat out of the bag in the worst way possible, but she couldn’t begrudge him for being a good father. “But could you keep this under wraps? I’m trying to?—”

“Stay anonymous?” Travis supplied.

Her eyes cut over to him in a silent plea to let sleeping dogs lie, at least for the time being. He could give her hell later, onceshe’d fully processed her loss of anonymity, and she tried to say as much to him without speaking a word.

“I won’t say anything,” Eric promised. “Thank you so much. This is going to make her day. You have no idea.”

She permitted a tight smile and then tossed the marker back in the drawer. “I should start cleaning up.”

“And we should get back to work,” Travis added, eager to break up the awkward interval.

The men headed to the door, and Eric clasped Travis on the shoulder. “Still can’t believe you stuck it out with us.”

Although the comment wasn’t intended for her, Mia jerked her head in surprise. “What do you mean?”

Eric nudged his boss in the side. “This one typically just checks in and then heads back to the office. He hasn’t spent this much time on a worksite in God knows how long.”

Travis scoffed, his cheeks turning pink. Mumbling under his breath, he stepped outside, and the other men left as well, leaving Mia alone to digest the news.

He stuck around for me.

Her eyes got misty at the revelation. Over the past few years, many people in her life had jumped ship when things got tough. Her ex-husband hadn’t put up a fight to save their marriage, and her friends in the industry had stopped calling once her influence waned. Lord knows her parents were already aloof and distant and had been for her entire life. Otherwise, they may have ditched her too.

Butthisman, who she’d known for mere hours, had deviated from his routine in an effort to stay close.

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