Irreplaceable
Chapter 3

Mia knew everyone in town felt sorry for her when Betty said she could clean up the mess of Damion 'walked to class until the eighth grade by his mom' Paulson. Betty never volunteered to clean anything, and since she came with the place when Mia bought it, she was sure Betty had never cleaned before. But after the pitiful dumping that Mia got, Betty was willing to do it. Which meant it was worse than Mia had thought. Much worse.

Betty enveloped her into a tight hug with too much menthol and too much old lady boob for Mia's liking, but she accepted it. Because her life was in the crapper.

"You go see your mama, baby. She will make you feel better," the woman stated in her 'pack a day since time began' gravelly voice.

The only answer Mia could give her was a nod as she headed for the back of the café and her jacket. No way was she going to her mother's, though. Her mom thought Damion was her last chance to catch a decent man. There were so few of those around. Pulling on her jacket, she headed out the door. After a decade of working at the café and a few of those owning it, she didn't bring anything but her coat with her anymore. Her purse was left at home because it was just a building away, and she never needed it here. The bitter cold assaulted her as she walked out the back door and shoved her hands into her coat pockets. She had forgotten her mittens this morning, and she was paying for it now. Hurrying, Mia headed for her apartment, where she would spend the rest of the day on the couch with a good bottle of whiskey and a good movie or two. Which was all way better than dating Damion "scared of rabbits" Paulson.

Coming up the alley, she saw there was almost nobody on Main Street this afternoon. It seemed the temperatures were keeping people from being out and about, which was fine by her. Across the street, she could see Ruth Kennedy sitting at her desk in front of the big insurance office window.

The woman was looking the other direction, so Mia didn't wave. Sometimes when she was looking out, Mia would wave, and Ruth would sometimes wave back-more often in the last few weeks since they had started a book club together. Before that, it was more hit-and-miss, but mostly miss and ignore.

Admittedly, Ruth had been one of the original members, her and Tess Thorn, who was the president of the bank. But Mia had found her way in by providing a location and encouraging everyone to keep coming back, even when the location changed to Ruth's apartment. Mia would've loved to have had it at the café forever, except the booze flowed too freely for her little café. Due to the city council being old busy bodies, the location had to be moved before the town discovered what made the club so much fun. There were six members in all since Mia had forced her cousin to go. Mostly because she didn't know Tess well and what she knew of Ruth wasn't very encouraging for her to stay a member. Mandy Nordskov was loved by everyone, and nobody would kick her out of a book club, or her cousin who had kindly invited her to join.

The other two were quite a bit younger, and Mia was sure that neither would return to another meeting since they spent their lives avoiding each other. But Hazel May and Natalie Beckett kept coming back week after week. Sure, they said nothing to each other, but Mia was convinced they would work things out one day. It was her goal, so she knew it would happen.

Walking in front of the clinic between the café and her apartment, she saw her cousin sitting at the reception desk. The town was too cheap to actually hire someone to fill that spot, so Mandy had to be the receptionist and nurse practitioner all in one. So far, Mandy had been at the job for a few weeks and had time for it all, but Mia was encouraging everyone she knew to go to the clinic. A successful clinic made a healthy, happy town.

Pushing her way into the clinic, she wanted to say it was because she wanted to talk to her cousin, but it was because it was too cold to go on without a little stop to warm-up. The hot air hit her, and she breathed deeply for the first time since she left the café. Mandy's blonde head came up from looking at the computer and smiled at her. "Business or pleasure?"

"Is a checkup business or pleasure?" Mia demanded. Neither were actually very descriptive of what could happen in this place.

Mandy's blue eyes went to the computer, and she started to type. "Do you have an appointment?"

"No, I don't have good enough insurance to make appointments. Appointments are for those with fancy insurance. My insurance only covers me asking my cousin hypotheticals over Sunday dinner." Mia leaned against the counter and loved that her cousin laughed at her joke. Okay, maybe a joke, but mostly real.

But Mia knew Mandy hadn't been overly happy to move back to her hometown. Mia hadn't pushed for details because she was happy Mandy had moved back. Mandy was one of four siblings, and only her brother lived in town until Mandy had found her apartment. The other sisters were off living in the big city. Well, two different big cities. It was the same for Mia's sisters. Of the six of them, only two still lived in Landstad, and Kipling was only there because she was in high school. Since she was a senior, Mia knew she would soon be gone as well.

For now, she was enjoying having Mandy here, and she lived right above the clinic. That made her Mia's next-door neighbor. It was nice having family so close.

"Aren't you supposed to be working?" Mandy asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Aren't you?" Mia countered.

"You, my dear, stepped into my workplace. Not the other way around." Mandy grinned.

"Want to play doctor?" Mia teased her.

"Nurse practitioner and I don't play doctor." Mandy always pointed out that she wasn't a doctor, but she was as close as they got around here. And everyone who knew her loved her. "So, why are you off so early?"

"Damion dumped me." She pouted as she slumped into a hard plastic chair.

Mandy looked at her in confusion. "Didn't you dump him like a month ago?"

"I was thinking about it, but then decided to keep him through the holidays. That was a mistake. He'd been cheating on me for weeks, which I was willing to overlook in order to have a man to point at during the holidays. Except he didn't even show up for either holiday. And he was 'busy' on New Year's. A complete bust."

"Are we still talking about Damion Paulson? Shorter than average and with that oddly shaped head?" Mandy mimicked the shape against her own head with her hands.

"Yes, and he cheated on me. Me! Would you cheat on this?" She waved her hands over her jacket-covered body.

"In that jacket? Nobody. That jacket is amazing," Amanda said sarcastically.

"Is it because it's pink? I'm a woman; I can wear a pink jacket." Looking down at it, she knew it was far from the latest style. And maybe it did make her look like she was four. But she had thought she had been pulling it off. "You look like you're six, Mia." Amanda chuckled.

"It's cute and makes me look young. And it was on sale."

"Young, like a toddler. How big of a sale?"

She shrugged. "Very!"

"Your mom bought it for you, didn't she?"

"Wrong! She bought it for Kipling, but she wouldn't wear it. Mine was falling apart, and it fits." She really only needed one jacket, but maybe she should look for a different one when winter ends, and the winter sales begin. "Why would you take it if an eighteen-year-old won't wear it?" Mandy questioned.

"Eighteen-year-olds are fickle creatures. And a free jacket is a free jacket. I also got a sweet pair of boots in matching pink if you're so interested in colors. I didn't wear them today because it didn't snow. But you just wait."

Not that she was going to mention that the tennis shoes on her feet were actually a shade lighter than the jacket itself and matching boots, and she had purchased them herself. What can she say? She was a girly girl at heart. The jacket being pink hadn't been the worst part of it, that had been the extra fluffiness. "Your mom guilted you into taking these, didn't she?"

"Have you seen my mom's eyes, Mandy? You cannot say no to that woman!" Which was a lie; Mia said no all the time. But the woman had a shopping problem that sometimes came in handy for her oldest daughter, whose café took all her shopping time without giving her much in way of shopping money.

"They are the same as my mom's, and I have no issue with it," Mandy stated. In fact, they were the same ones Mandy herself had. Sadly, they weren't the eyes Mia ended up with. What she wouldn't do to have those amazing baby blues for herself. Narrowing her eyes at her cousin, Mia said, "You're cold, Mandy. She's your mom."

Mandy gave her the same look back. "You let your mom get away with way too much."

"I'm all she has-everyone else moved away. And we all know Kipling isn't coming back once she graduates from college. Not to mention that I haven't given her any grandkids yet, and I'm telling you, I have to give her something. And now Damion has dumped me, so again I have no prospects. I'm a spinster and shall remain alone until I die." Mia sighed and looked at the ceiling to keep the tears at bay. Her life svcked.

"You're just being too picky, Mia."

"Does Damion 'lives with his mother' Paulson scream picky to you, Mandy? Damion 'hates walnuts' Paulson is scraping the bottom of the available men barrel within a hundred miles, Mandy."

"He hates walnuts?" her cousin asked, as if that was of any importance at all.

"Yes, and you know they are the best nut available. His loss. Me and walnuts!"

"You are walnuts, Mia," Mandy accused with a smirk.

"Thank you, because they're the best. And I know you were making a dig at me, but I don't care. Want to watch a movie tonight? I just happen to have a frozen pizza that I know you love waiting in my freezer."

"You mean the type of pizza you love?" Mandy raised an eyebrow in question.

"Maybe," Mia admitted. She figured everyone liked what she liked since everyone loved her specials at the café.

"Can't anyway. I have plans to meet up with a few friends in Grand Forks." Mandy looked at the clock on the computer since there wasn't one in the waiting room. Nobody needed to know the time when they were out there. Instantly, she started shutting down the computer.

"Cancel," Mia whined. Why was everyone abandoning her suddenly?

"No." Mandy jumped up from her chair and shrugged off her white jacket, hanging it on a hook behind where she had been sitting.

"For me?" She gave her best pathetic smile.

"How about tomorrow?" Mandy suggested, and she grabbed her jacket from the same set of hooks and shrugged it on. The jacket was in a nice black, and Mia knew from the logo it was expensive.

Not that Mia was jealous.

"Fine, but you pick up a pizza for yourself, then. I can't stock everything we both like." She followed her cousin out the door. It seemed once Mandy was done at the office, she was done. No hours of cleaning for her to do like at the café.

"Deal," Amanda agreed and waved as she walked to her car in the other direction.

The weather hadn't warmed up one bit since she had gone into the office, but it was a good thing it was only a few more feet to her apartment stairs door.

Talking to her cousin had improved her mood for a few minutes, but once she hit her apartment, she was back to being the woman Damion "let's split the bill every time" Paulson dumped. The only thing that could fix that was ice cream, and luckily Mia had a lot of that.