Under the Millionaire's Mistletoe by Maureen Child Page A

boarding.”
    Sam pulled his brother in for a brief, hard hug, then let him go again. “I’m not gonna worry about you anymore, Garret,” he said with a smile. “I think you’re going to do just fine.”
    Garret’s features sobered and he nodded as if accepting an award. “Thanks for that, Sam,” he said. “I really will be all right, you know. So now that I’m off your worry list, why don’t you tell me all about Anna and we can figure out a way to get her back in your life?”
    â€œI’ll tell you,” Sam said, draping one arm over hisbrother’s shoulders to steer him over to the chairs. “Then you can tell me all about Shania. As for me, I’m doing whatever I have to to get Anna back.”

Nine
    C hristmas was over and New Year’s Eve was just a day away. Anna had buried herself in work, wishing away the holidays, wanting to get lost in the dark, gray days of January. A storm was settling in over Crystal Bay and the cold damp suited Anna’s mood perfectly.
    Maybe her father was right. Maybe the new year would be filled with lots of opportunities. But at the very least, time would be passing. And the more time passed, the easier it would become to get over Sam.
    At least, that’s what Anna fervently hoped.
    â€œFor now, though,” she told herself firmly, “I’m going to concentrate on work and try to put everything else out of my mind.”
    Sounded good in theory, but Sam’s image would never completely leave her thoughts. He was with her, sleeping and waking. He was always there, just behind the mental door she tried repeatedly to close.
    â€œHow’s it coming, Anna?”
    â€œWhat?” She jolted and her grip on the paintbrush in her hand tightened. Whipping around, she looked at Mateo Corzino as he walked toward her. The owner of Corzino’s, home of the best lasagna on the California coast, Mateo had hired her to do a mural on the wall of his restaurant.
    It was a big job that could keep her busy for a couple of weeks. He wanted a view of a Sicilian harbor, fishing boats tied up at a dock, complete with cliffs and sand-colored buildings in the background. And he wanted it to look as though the view was seen through a crumbling wall. She was eager to dig in, loving the challenge and a crumbling wall was one of her favorite effects. If only she could fully concentrate instead of having her heart and mind torn in two.
    â€œJeez,” he said with a grin, “didn’t mean to scare you.”
    â€œSorry.” She shook her head and laughed a little. “I guess I was just thinking so hard I didn’t hear you come up.”
    He glanced at the wall where she’d just begun laying down the dark brown tracer lines that would eventually look like cracks in old plaster.
    â€œIt already looks real,” he said, a touch of awe in his voice. “I don’t know how you do it.”
    Pleased, Anna smiled and wiped her fingers on a paint rag. “Well, I don’t know how you make that amazing sauce of yours either, so we’re even.”
    â€œSpeaking of that, I’d better get back to the kitchen. My wife’s minding the stove and the baby.” He looked at the wall again and nodded in appreciation. “You need anything, you give a shout. The restaurant won’t be open until dinner, so no one will bother you.”
    â€œThanks, Mateo,” she said, but he was already gone, hurrying back to his family. She heard a deep baby giggle coming from the kitchen and then Mateo’s wife laughed along.
    Anna sighed and turned back to her paints. Emptiness filled her as she reached up to paint another jagged line on the wall. As she did, she felt as though she were capturing in paint the cracks in her own broken heart.
    She worked for another hour or two uninterrupted. Then she heard a frantic knocking on the glass door behind her. Anna ignored it, figuring that Mateo