37. “Blue Sky”

37

"BLUE SKY"

THE ALLMAN brOTHERS BAND

L ife in Dunedin was definitely taking on structure. Tuesdays were for ladies' league, Wednesdays were for Caleb, and Thursdays were for the Sensational Six. Having made a considerable dent in my to-do list for the week, I felt pretty good about meeting with my friends. I showered and chose a bright yellow sundress from my closet, noting how easy it was to get dressed now that I'd started making it a point to hang and fold my laundry as soon as I brought it upstairs. I slid my feet into my flip flops, slid my notebook into my tote bag, and headed for the Jeep.

We all arrived right about the same time, and after the traditional hugs and ‘hellos', a flip-flop, denim-cutoff, and Nirvana-t-shirt-clad Elyse opened the door and held it as Grace, Sarah, Jenna, and I filed into the café one after another. Grace stood next to the hostess stand and smoothed imaginary wrinkles from her white linen capris and bright orange linen t-shirt. I wondered if she held stock in Tommy Bahama. "I'm sad Ethan has an ear infection, Sarah, but I'm glad you were able to get an early appointment so you could join us today."

Sarah removed a headband that perfectly matched her white and navy floral button-down top, and smoothed her hair back as she slid it back on. "Me, too. Jeff was working from home, so it worked out perfectly."

At that point, the hostess that had been standing behind the counter chatting with the cashier when we walked in strolled over and led us to our usual booth in the back. We all spread out with our notebooks, ready for action. Jenna, seated next to me, tucked her long denim skirt under her thighs, a nervous habit I'd picked up on at our last meeting.

Within a few minutes, Betty stopped by our table. "The usual, ladies?"

"The usual," we all said in unison, then laughed.

"Quite a team you all make. Cat was ready for you and is just finishing up your eggs Benedict now. I'll go grab those now. Coffee and water for everyone?"

We all agreed, then got to work opening our notebooks as soon as she walked away.

"All right, ladies, let's hear it. What did you get done this week?" began Grace, our self-appointed forewoman.

"My meeting with the zoning commissioner went well. I filled out the application and he's going to try to fast-track it since my uncle had already begun the same process about ten years ago."

"Oh, that's awesome!" said Elyse as she fist-bumped me across the table. "It's good to know people who know people, am I right?"

"I also met with my uncle, and ladies… I have some big news. It's been so hard to hold this in, but I wanted to tell you in person."

"What is it?" asked Elyse, bouncing on her seat at the end of the booth to my right, her eyes alight with excitement.

As if on cue for dramatic effect, Betty returned at that moment with an overflowing tray. She set our plates in front of each of us, and I waited as she headed behind the front counter to retrieve our coffee and water carafes. She set them in the center of the table along with extra napkins and bid us a delightful lunch before walking away.

I looked around the table and four sets of eyes wide with curiosity stared back at me. "We have signed the paperwork, and the house is officially mine!"

The ladies all whooped with joy, and everyone high-fived me in excitement.

"We're on our way, girls!" exclaimed Grace.

"And one more thing. Two more, actually. I found a yoga instructor named Estelle to lead practice on Saturday mornings. I'll give her a trial for a few months, just to make sure she's a good fit. But Kari did a great job, and I have a really good feeling about her.

"And…" I took a bite and slowly chewed and swallowed my eggs Benedict for dramatic effect, because I could never resist. "I spoke with Caleb yesterday, and he agreed to teach a few professional development sessions on Friday mornings."

This news was met with even more raucous enthusiasm than the news about the house, and Cat peered around the door from the kitchen. "Everything ok out here? What did I miss?"

Elyse slid out of the booth and walked over to Cat. "Take a few minutes and come over. There have been some big developments this week."

Cat's eyes sought me out as she made her way to our table. She was being led by the arm by Elyse, who didn't take "I'm busy" for an answer.

"What's up, ladies? There must be something in the Hollandaise this morning; you all are a little keyed up—more than usual, anyway." She tucked the egg yolk-streaked towel she'd been holding into the waist of her emerald green apron, and perched on the edge of our booth to the left of Jenna. "Ahhhhhhh… it feels so good to sit down. El, did you just volunteer to rub my feet? So kind of you!" As Cat leaned back to lift her left foot toward Elyse, who recoiled in mock horror on the other side of the table, she removed the yellow bandana keeping her tight brown curls from taking on a life of their own in the hot, steamy kitchen. She balled it up in her hand and swiped it across her forehead, and the thin layer of sweat left behind only served to accentuate the exquisite perfection of her smooth, mahogany skin.

"Well? What's all the hubbub out here? I heard you from the walk-in cooler."

Sarah, who for the most part, had been quietly enjoying her lunch while everyone around her behaved like fools, sat up straight and slapped the table. "It's all coming together! Cat, Paige hit the trifecta this week." She looked at me. "Can I tell her?" She began again before I'd even finished nodding my bewildered consent, her sudden excitement having stunned me into silence. "She signed the papers to make the house transfer official, she found a yoga instructor for the retreat, and her writing mentor has agreed to come in and teach a few sessions!"

The net sum of my week tumbled out of the mouth of my new friend and swirled around me. I let it be for a moment, until it settled like cooling rain over the hot-poker anxiety that had been building in me for months. Years. The steam that rose threatened the corners of my eyes and burned my eyelids. Where once a road to a gray nowhere stretched endlessly in front of me, a sunlit path had formed, and it was lined with these heaven-sent women. Cheering me on. Investing their time and energy and resources into me. Me. I was verklempt.

As the ladies chattered about the latest developments and which step should come next, I felt a light pressure land on my left arm. Jenna's hand. "This is a lot, isn't it?" she whispered, leaning in. "It's coming off you in waves. Is it relief? It must be relief." The last statement sounded more like she was answering her own question. I didn't know how, with all that was going on, she could pick up on the change in my state of mind without my demeanor having changed at all.

"It is relief," I whispered back, mirroring her posture. "Not to take a turn to negative town, but I've grown accustomed to things not going my way, and I was starting to feel the ‘me' I used to be slipping away. Does that make any sense? Do you ever feel like that?"

Hesitation stilled her momentarily before she looked at her hand still resting on my arm and answered simply, "Yes."

I wanted so badly to engage her, draw her out of her shell a bit, but no sooner had Jenna returned her hand to the fist waiting in her lap, the peanut gallery seated around us turned their attention to us.

Grace nudged me with her left shoulder. "What are you two conspiring about over there?"

Jenna and I straightened up and found the rest of the group staring at us. "What are you four conspiring about over there?" I volleyed back.

"Before I realized you two were in your own little world, I was starting to tell you I'm going to get a few session ideas together, and I can fill in where you need me to. Between Caleb and me, you should be set for a few months. I'm sure you're going to have other authors volunteering to come in and teach sessions. Maybe you can have local authors come in and do Q&As, too."

"I love it. Thank you, Grace. And if you think of some way I can repay you for all of this, please tell me. I'd be happy to?—"

"We'll figure that out later. I'm getting so much out of the planning process, and just the thought alone of a full weekend with fellow writers is like a dream come true. Anything I can do to help, I'm there. Pay it forward someday. That's all I ask."

Turning to face as many of the other women as I could, I felt my emotions threatening to rise again. "I really have no idea what I would do without you ladies," is all I trusted myself to say.

Cat stood and tied the bandana around her hair, tucking the tail under the knot to force it into submission. "This is what friends are f—," A sharp burst of breaking glass from the kitchen interrupted her sentiment. "Ok, party people, that's my ‘Cat' signal," she threw over her shoulder as she whisked the towel out of her apron, tucked it into the collar of her shirt like a cape, and cackled with laughter at her own pun.

Her counterpart, Elyse, was doubled over with joy-fueled laughter. We all waited as she got control over herself. Sarah, seated to her left, playfully drummed her fingers on the table, but her smile exposed her amusement.

"Ok, ok. Phew! That towel threw me right over the edge." Elyse took a deep breath and wiped her eyes. "I was in the store this morning wondering what more I can do to support this whole endeavor. Let's have Raina add a one-pager to her marketing strategy and we can start at least getting the word out. Even if you don't have a full website yet, she can put up a ‘coming soon' message with basic information and ‘stay tuned for details' to start warming people up to the idea."

"I'm actually meeting with Raina tomorrow at noon. She's been very busy, which is a good sign for me, but this was the first chance we've both had in our schedule to get together. I've got a whole list of projects for her. I'll add the one-pager."

"You are going to love her. I contract her services for the store all the time, and she has sold out so many of our events. I call her my marketing maven. She is so good at what she does. You're gonna have to start turning people away at the door."

"No complaints there!"

"When you meet with her, ask what she thinks about putting some flyers up before the website is ready, and if she says it's ok and sends me the file, I will hang it in the store right away."

"And I can start sharing the info on some of my social channels as well," offered Grace. "I have all these followers. They might as well do you some good as well. Ok, you're up, Jenna. Let's see what you've got."

Jenna cleared her throat and stared at her hands folded in her lap. "I've had some trouble finding time to work on these this week. Craig has been so…" she trailed off, then shook her head quickly. "Well, I just haven't had a whole lot of time, but I did put a few things together. I'm sorry I don't have more."

Jenna flipped open her notebook, and we were greeted with the most beautiful sketches of cupcakes, cookies, and pastries.

"These look good enough to eat, Jenna," breathed Sarah. "Who knew you could draw like this?"

Jenna reddened as she absorbed the compliment. "I have always loved doing little pencil sketches. It relaxes me, but I'm not very good at it."

"Who told you that ? How did we not know you had this kind of talent, Jenna?" Elyse fired back, incredulous.

"It doesn't matter. I just… anyway, here's the list of what I was thinking I could do on a regular basis, and we can switch out any of these for seasonal items."

They were passing the notebook around the table, everyone oohing and aahhing over her sketches, when we caught a disturbance at the front of the café.

Jenna's eyes moved from the scene at the door to the notebook that had just come around to me. She plucked it from my hands and shoved it into the tote bag squeezed between her feet. Her rapid change in behavior stunned me. My eyes followed the notebook until it was secreted away, then up to her face, frozen in the undeniable expression of someone who knew the rabid cat they'd tried so hard to contain had come tearing through the bag.