Finding Perfect (Fool's Gold #3)(93)

As for Peter, he’d simply stepped in it with the kid. His motivations had all been aboveboard, but somewhere along the way, he’d forgotten he was dealing with a ten-year-old boy’s heart. He’d befriended Peter, wanting only to save the kid. Instead he’d hurt him again.

Unable to stand the confines of his office, he stalked to the door and opened it. He half expected an angry mob with pitchforks waiting for him, but the town looked as it always had. The turning leaves fluttered in a light breeze. The sky was blue, the sun a little lower in the horizon than it had been a month ago. Winter was coming.

He’d wanted to see the town in snow, to experience the changing seasons. He’d wanted to ski at the resort, to lie with Pia by a fire, to watch her grow heavy with their two babies. It didn’t take much effort to add Peter to the mix. He could see the boy playing by the fire, or laughing as he and Raoul played video games.

As he stepped out into the afternoon, he realized the solution was obvious and simple. He could have them both, if he was willing to hand over all he was. What had Josh said? Heart, soul and balls. Without Pia, he had no use for them anyway. As for Peter, the kid probably deserved better, but Raoul hoped he was willing to accept what was offered.

He half expected the heavens to open and angels to sing. He got it. He really got it. After all this time and running to avoid the only thing he wanted, he understood the point.

It wasn’t about giving money or loaning a camp to a school. It was about giving all he had, all he was. It was about risking his heart.

Pia, he thought frantically. He had to get to Pia.

He turned toward her office, only to nearly run into a half dozen middle-aged women. They were staring at him purposefully, which wasn’t a good thing.

“Hi,” the one in front said. “I’m Denise Hendrix. Dakota’s mother? We met at the Fall Festival.”

He held in a groan. “Yes. Nice to see you again.” He nodded at the other women. “Ladies.”

The other women stared at him without responding. He noticed Bella in the crowd, but she didn’t look as happy as she had the day she’d also helped rescue him from the overaggressive tourists.

“We need to talk to you,” Denise told him.

“This isn’t a good time for me.”

“Do we look like we’re getting any younger?” the oldest in the group snapped. “You’ll listen, young man, and you’ll listen good. We have ways of making your life a living hell. Do you really want to test us on that?”

Like any good sportsman, he knew when he’d met a superior opponent. “No, ma’am.”

“I didn’t think so.” She sniffed. “Go on, Denise.”

“We’ve been talking,” Dakota’s mother told him. “We looked you up on the Internet. I don’t know what went wrong with your first wife, but she wasn’t anyone we would trust.”

The other women nodded in agreement.

“You’ve been single a few years now, so you’re obviously over her. You came here to settle down, which shows you’re intelligent. You seem like a nice enough man.”

Obviously these women hadn’t been talking to Mayor Marsha, he thought grimly.

“But you’re stuck.”

Bella pushed through the other women and moved in front of him. “Pia loves you, so we want her to have you.”

Denise patted her friend’s arm. “Bella, I think we need to be more delicate. Raoul might not know he’s in love with Pia. We might have to explain things.”

“He gets it,” another woman said. “How could he not? She’s wonderful. If he doesn’t love her, he doesn’t deserve her.”

“I agree,” someone else said. “But I’ve said it before. If we wait for the man we deserve, we’ll never get married.”

“At least he’s handsome.”

“And rich.”

“He has nice, thick hair,” Bella told them.

“And a great butt.”

The last comment was Raoul’s tipping point. “Ladies,” he said loudly. “I appreciate the intervention. I know Pia will be grateful when she hears of your very vocal support.” Humiliated, he thought while smiling for the first time in hours, but grateful.

“However, this is between me and Pia. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go talk to her.”

Denise grabbed his arm in a surprisingly strong grip. “Not so fast. What are you going to say?”

He stared at them all. While he could easily tell them it wasn’t their business, he hadn’t changed his mind about settling here. Fool’s Gold was going to be his home for a very long time, and these women were his neighbors.

“The truth,” he said simply. “That I’m desperately in love with her and I’m begging her to give me a second chance.”

Several of the women sighed.

Denise gave him a shove. “Don’t just stand there,” she said. “Go find her.”

He took off at a jog, trying to figure out where to go first. It was midafternoon. He would start with her office and spread out from there.

He took the stairs two at a time and burst onto the landing. Her door stood partially open. He hurried toward it, aware of voices down by the first-floor entrance. Ignoring them, he pushed open Pia’s door and found her alone in her small office.