Mia shook her head. “High school. It was all my fault, but I’d rather not go into the specifics.” She thought about what Lou had said a few days earlier, about Mia being welcome to take a class at Glow. Coming clean to Micky as they were drinking wine was one thing, but fessing up to Sheryl, with her demanding stare and the millions of questions she would have at the ready afterward—Mia was sure of this—was another thing entirely. This was not an intimate moment between her and a budding friend she had just done a favor. Sheryl was her boss. “I hope Lou and I can figure it out over time.”

They had exchanged a few words since that painful night at Glow when Lou had confronted her. They would never be friends, but perhaps Lou, with her gentle character and her Zen attitude could find it in her heart to forgive Mia some day.

“So you’re not ex-lovers gone awry?” Sheryl leaned back in her chair.

Mia managed a dry chuckle. “Nothing like that at all.”

“And you won’t be going at each other’s throats in the middle of the Pink Bean any time soon?”

“Most certainly not.” Mia hoped she had reassured Sheryl.

“Then you are exempt from yoga tomorrow afternoon.” She shot Mia a smile.

“Maybe some other time.” Mia smiled back.

“Dinner’s ready,” Kristin said from the kitchen.

“Let me be the one to tell Kristin I interrogated you further,” Sheryl said as they headed toward the dining table. “She’ll be able to handle it better if it comes from me.”

Chapter Fifteen

Lou had agreed to babysit the twins while Phil and Jared went to the opera. She had suggested it herself when the sitter they had booked weeks in advance had cancelled a few days ago. She wasn’t planning on going on anymore Tinder dates any time soon, anyway.

While Jared prepared the twins for bed, she confided in Phil about the disastrous end to what had been a promising date with Meredith, how she had turned up at the Pink Bean out of the blue, and how Mia had come to her defense.

“She sure has a nerve,” Phil said, while pouring them both a glass of wine as they stood around the kitchen island.

“Mia or Meredith?” Lou asked with a smile.

“Meredith has already been forgotten about.” Phil knew all about Lou’s unwillingness to ever again date someone who would even consider taking a work call during a Sunday night dinner.

“I didn’t really take offense,” Lou said. “There was something… strangely sweet about it.”

“The wolf has purchased better sheep’s clothing,” Phil said.

“You should hear the others gush about her. I can’t go anywhere these days without someone saying how utterly marvelous Mia Miller is. Like the universe decided to conspire against the harsh feelings I still harbor toward her.”