39. “Dreams”

39

"DREAMS"

FLEETWOOD MAC

R aina and I had decided on Cat's Bites for our meeting. Thanks to Roxy's quest to finally catch a lizard landing her in the pool five minutes before I planned on leaving, I skidded into a parking spot ten minutes late. I'd texted Jenna to ask if she could please get Raina set up at a quiet table as I dried us both off and chose a new (dry) outfit. Between the residual adrenaline from jumping into the pool to ‘save' Roxy, who had clearly never heard the term ‘doggy paddle', and the mad dash to the café, I was breathless by the time I arrived.

Jenna stood behind the counter. She gave me a tiny wave and pointed to a booth in the back corner where I could see a mass of brown curls bent over a laptop. I blew Jenna a kiss which she returned and then made the universal ‘slow down' signal with her hands. I hated being late, especially for someone I'd never met before and on whom I wanted to make a good first impression. I took Jenna's advice. As I made my way to the booth, I practiced the 4-7-8 breathing Kari had taught me years ago, and I seldom remembered to use.

"Hey there, Raina." I set my tote bag down on the booth opposite her and held out my hand. "I'm so sorry I'm late. You wouldn't happen to want a golden retriever, would you?"

"It's no trouble. It gave me a few minutes to get caught up on a few emails that came in while I was driving here," she said as she stood and shook my outstretched hand. "It's great to meet you. Elyse has told me so much about you."

She returned to her seat and I slid in opposite her. "So, is that a yes on the golden retriever?"

"Oh no," she said, chuckling. "Your text earlier sealed the deal on me getting any sort of pet until the kids are old enough to help take care of it. And they're enough trouble as it is."

"Well, let me tell you, golden retrievers don't get quite the bad reputation they deserve sometimes."

Renia threw her head back and laughed. "Elyse was right about you. Smart and funny. My favorite combination. I can see why everyone's fallen in love with you."

A searing blush spread across my face and warmed my ears. "Aannnyway…"

"Elyse said you'd deflect a compliment. The way things are going for you here, you might want to get used to receiving them. Now," she rose from her side of the booth and moved to mine, "scootch over so I can show you what I've got so far." She sat in the space I'd made warm for her, and reached across the table to slide her laptop around so we could both see the screen. "I know we haven't made anything official, but I like to give potential clients a little taste of what they can expect."

She touched the keyboard to wake up the screen, and the front of my house flashed into view. I had never considered myself a ‘gasper', but gasp, I did when I saw what she had prepared. It was a website layout with a gorgeous shot of the house from the street. The color scheme for the rest of the design was exactly what I would have picked myself, and the whole vibe was tropical but airy. It was like my new home was decked out in a vintage Lilly Pulitzer dress .

"Raina! This is… I just… I love it!"

"I'm so glad. This is only a mock-up. I stopped by yesterday and took a few photos from the road in front of the house. I am really hoping you hire me because I am dying to see the inside."

"If the rest of your plans look like this, I will hire you right now." I was blown away by how she'd captured the essence of the house and the aesthetic I envisioned for my branding without us ever having discussed it.

"Why don't I show you some of my ideas for other marketing materials and a few mock-ups I put together for your social media accounts." A few clicks later, she pulled up a PDF with images and graphics that perfectly matched the website design.

Seeing it all brought together like this, where I could physically see what the marketing for my own business would look like after being a part of that process for other businesses for so many years, made it all feel so real— and surreal.

Seeming to read my thoughts, she explained. "It's so much better when you can see it on a screen. I have a potential strategy laid out as well." After reviewing a few of the beautiful design options she'd shown me, we set a date for her to come take pictures of the rooms and other areas of the house they'd be seeing during their stay.

"I'll send you a contract later today. There's a lot to do and decide before everything goes live, but you'll be a part of as much as you'd like. I'm excited to work with you!"

We made some small talk about our mutual friends and she packed up a few minutes later. I slid out of the booth after her and we shook hands again. "It was nice to meet you," she said, "and I'm really excited to be working on this project with you. It's going to be a lot of fun!"

Jenna walked up to the booth as Raina was leaving. "How did it go? I was trying not to be too obvious by staring, but I could see your facial expressions, and it seemed pretty positive overall."

"Oh my gosh, Jenna. I can't wait for you to see." My body was so full of fervent energy that it overflowed into my words, and rushed them out of my mouth. "She made a mock-up of the website and some social media graphics and it's all so gorgeous I can barely stand it." Realizing I was one decibel shy of a charge for disturbing the peace, I looked around, but we were alone, aside from a young couple in a back booth. They were so engrossed in their own conversation that I could have stood there buck-naked reciting the preamble at full volume, and they would never have noticed.

"Cat is going to be so disappointed she wasn't here for that, but I'm glad she didn't come in on her day off. She is always here." Something I couldn't identify slid across her face, and her relaxed posture shifted as she clasped her hands in front of her. The international sign of ‘shit's about to get real.'

"About yesterday…"

I stepped forward and placed my hand on her forearm and was relieved to see she didn't flinch. That made me feel a little more confident that Craig wasn't getting handsy with her at home. Yet.

"Jenna, we absolutely do not need to talk about yesterd?—"

She put her hand up to stop me, then quickly brought it back down. "I feel I need to defend Craig a little bit. He wasn't always like this. I mean, he's never been Prince Charming, but he's…" Her eyes settled on a spot on the ceiling somewhere behind me. "He's struggling with something, and he won't admit it, let alone tell me what it is, but it's manifesting itself as jealousy. He can't bear for me to be away from home any longer than my shift here at the café. He hasn't been able to hold a regular-paying job in a few years, so he's sitting home all day waiting for me and imagining the worst.

"I've tried to stay busy to keep from suffocating at home, but I end up feeling guilty the whole time I'm gone. What's worse is, I don't drive. I've never really had to because Craig has always driven me wherever I needed to go, but now it makes me feel a little helpless. And isolated. Basically, the more I try to distance myself from the Venus flytrap at home, the more overzealous he becomes. Yesterday was an eye-opener for me, and I wanted to apologize to you for how uncomfortable the whole situation must have made you feel. Some impression I've made."

This was more than I've heard Jenna speak the entire time I've known her. "Thank you for trusting me with all that, Jenna, but you do not need to apologize for someone else's behavior. The impression you've made on me is completely separate from the impression your husband has made on me. I do have to say that I am concerned. I've grown to care about you, and what happened yesterday is worrisome."

"Thank you for understanding. And for caring. I ended up staying at Grace's last night. She was able to find the app he's been using to track me and I deleted it and silenced my notifications. Even though I know he's going to be mad when I get home later, I've actually had a pretty good morning here. I think it was partially to do with how well I slept last night. I fell asleep at eight-thirty and slept until my alarm woke me up at five this morning."

"Five? In the morning? Why on earth did you have to be up in the middle of the night?"

"Cat had someone coming to install some cameras in here, and she asked if I could come in an hour early to let him in. I usually get here at six to start my baking, so it was no trouble."

"Ok, well, I'm glad you got some sleep last night. I'm going to let you get back to work, but you have my number. Any time you want—or need—to get out of the house, please feel free to call me, ok? I mean it. Will you be ok at home tonight?"

She looked down at her feet, her embarrassment seeming to have returned. "If he's even there, he's just going to yell. Grace is going to drive me home and go in with me to be a buffer and make sure he's calmed down. Anyway, thanks for everything, and for understanding." She looked me square in the eye. "I don't care what Grace says about you. You're pretty great."

My heart seemed to grow three sizes and cut off my airway for a moment. "You don't… What does… I… Grace? " I sputtered.

"Kidding! Oh, you should have seen your face." she giggled like a twelve-year-old with a fresh bottle of fart spray and doubled over to clutch her knees for support.

"Jenna! Woo! You scared me there. I didn't know you had it in you. Wow. Sneaky with the jokes. You and I are going to do just fine."

I began to laugh just as she started winding down, which only served to wind her back up again. After a minute or so, we regained our composure, and aside from a few rogue giggles, we managed to say our goodbyes after which Jenna shocked me further by initiating a hug.

I drove all the way home on a cloud of joy.

Next Thursday night, Book Club was being hosted at Sarah's, and Roxy was overjoyed to be invited, or so I told our hostess as she was being assailed by the wagging tail of a spinning dog upon our arrival. As usual, she stole the show—and their hearts—and was somehow invited back.

When we got back home a few hours later, we were both exhausted from our outing, but when I opened up the back of the Jeep to let Roxy out, she sniffed the air and went on high alert.