Finding Perfect (Fool's Gold #3)(29)

“You’re buying me lunch.”

“Oh, yeah. I forgot.”

They talked about what was happening in town and with their friends.

Montana picked up another letter, then put it down. “I’ve been offered a full-time job at the library.”

Pia raised her eyebrows. “That’s great. Congratulations.”

Montana didn’t look very excited. “It’s a big deal, right? I’ve been working there nearly two years part-time. They’re giving me a nice raise and I’ll have benefits.”

“But?”

Montana sucked in a breath. “I just don’t want to.” She held up a hand. “I know, I know. What am I thinking? This is a great opportunity. They’d want me to go back and get my master’s in library science, and they’d even help pay. I love living in Fool’s Gold. Now I’d have job security.”

“But?” Pia asked again.

“It’s not what I want to do,” Montana admitted in a small voice. “I don’t love working at the library. I mean, I like it. Books are great, and I like helping people and I enjoy working with the kids. But full-time? Every day for eight hours?”

She leaned her arms on the desk and slumped in her seat. “Why can’t I be like everyone else? Why can’t I know what I want to do with my life?”

“I thought you liked the library. You were really excited to help set up Liz’s book signing last summer.”

“That was fun. I just…” She motioned to Pia’s office. “You knew what you wanted to do.”

“No.” Pia remembered trying to pick a major in college. “I didn’t have a clue. I went with business because it seemed to give me a lot of options. I started in this job as an assistant, then I found out I liked it. I was lucky. This wasn’t a plan.”

“I need to get lucky,” Montana muttered, then grinned. “I was going to say ‘not in a boy-girl way,’ but that would be fun, too.” Her smile faded. “I feel so stupid.”

“Why? You’re not. You’re smart and funny.”

Montana lowered her voice. “I think I might be flaky.”

Pia did her best not to smile. “You’re anything but.”

“I can’t pick a career. I’m twenty-seven and I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up. Shouldn’t I already be grown up? Isn’t the future now?”

“You sound like a poster. This isn’t about the future. This is about making yourself happy. There’s nothing wrong with trying different careers until you find one you like. You’re supporting yourself. It’s not like you’re living with your mom and watching TV all day. It’s okay to explore the possibilities.”

“Maybe,” Montana said. “I never meant not to know what I wanted to do.”

“Better to keep trying until you find something that makes you happy rather than choose something now and hate your job for the next twenty years.”

Montana smiled. “You make it sound so easy.”

“Fixing someone else’s life isn’t hard. The one I have trouble with is my own.”

Montana raised her eyebrows. “Does any of this trouble have to do with a certain tall, very muscled ex-football player?”

Pia warned herself not to blush. “No. Why do you ask?”

“You had lunch with him.”

“It was a business lunch.”

“It didn’t look like a business lunch,” Montana told her.

Small-town life, Pia reminded herself. “How do you know? Did you see it for yourself?”

“I got the play-by-play from three different people.” Montana leaned toward her. “One of them claimed there was a kiss, but I can’t get confirmation on that.”

Pia sighed. “I swear, we need more channels on cable around here. People are starved for entertainment.”

“So there’s nothing going on with you and Raoul?” Montana asked, looking disappointed.

Pia hesitated.

“There is!” her friend crowed.

“Don’t get too excited. It’s not what you think. It’s not romantic.” How could it be? Her soon-to-be pregnancy would scare off any sane man and most of the ones only flirting with sanity.

Pia drew in a breath. “Crystal left me her embryos.”

Montana’s eyes widened. “I thought you had her cat.”

“I did, until I found out about her will. Jo got the cat.”

“And you have her babies? That is amazing.” Montana blinked. “Oh my God! You have her babies. You have to decide what to do with them. Did she leave you any instructions?”

“Not specifically. I know that having them is sort of implied in the bequest. It’s not like she wants them frozen forever. She left money to help cover some of the medical expenses and to start a college fund.”

“You’re going to have them?”

Pia nodded slowly. Reality hadn’t completely sunk in, and she was okay with that. Accepting that kind of truth should take a little time.

Montana jumped up and ran around the table, then bent down and hugged Pia. “I can’t believe it. This is so amazing. You’re going to have Crystal’s babies.”

She dropped to a crouch and stared at her friend. “Are you terrified?”