Hopes and Dreams

by P. J. Trebelhorn

  “Riley?” Megan asked, placing a hand on her knee.

  “I’m fine, yeah,” she said with a nod and a forced smile. Then the thought hit her that she was going to have to pay for a funeral. And she’d have to make time to clean out the mobile home and try to sell it. There was no way she’d get enough for it to even pay for half of what she was going to have to take care of. The place was in horrible condition. As far as she was concerned, it was uninhabitable. Hell, it was when she was still living there in high school.

  “You’re staying home from work tonight,” Megan said, sounding firm. Riley didn’t argue. “I’m off tonight. We’ll order a pizza and watch crappy movies, all right?”

  “Sure.” Riley leaned her head against the seat and closed her eyes. Once they got home, Megan went to the kitchen to cook them some breakfast and Riley sat at the kitchen table, still in a bit of a haze. She knew it was mostly from the lack of sleep rather than because she’d just lost the only family she had. Her mother had never talked about her side of the family, so Riley had never met any aunts, uncles, cousins, or grandparents. She wasn’t even sure any of them existed.

  “Do you need me to do anything?” Megan asked when she sat down with plates of eggs and bacon in front of them. “I can help with any arrangements that need to be made. I could call the insurance company and credit card companies. Just let me know what you need.”

  “She didn’t have insurance,” Riley said with a shake of her head. She looked at Megan and they both started to laugh. “And credit cards? Are you crazy? She couldn’t even keep a job for more than a few weeks. The only reason she even had a place to live was because she paid the trailer off before she stopped giving a damn about anything. And I don’t even want to know how she got money to pay the park for lot rent every month.”

  Just thinking about it made her head hurt. Megan agreed to call Nancy to let her know Riley wouldn’t be in to work that night, and Riley went to her room to take a nap. She didn’t think she’d be able to sleep, but when she opened her eyes again it was three in the afternoon. She showered before heading back downstairs and joining Megan on the couch.

  “What did Nancy say?” she asked.

  “She told me to give you her condolences and not to worry about a thing. She’ll make sure everything keeps running at the theater for as long as you need to take off.”

  “She’s been a great friend to me ever since high school, you know?”

  “I do know,” Megan said. “There are a lot of people in this town who care about you, Riley. You know that, don’t you?”

  Riley was spared having to respond when the front doorbell rang. She went and opened the door, surprised to see Andy standing there.

  “How are you doing?” he asked.

  “I’m okay,” Riley said with a nod. And she really was. She stepped aside and motioned for him to come in. They went to the living room and sat on the couch. Megan squeezed her shoulder briefly as she excused herself and went to her room.

  “Nancy asked me to come over here and discuss something with you,” he said. “She would have come herself if she could have gotten someone else to open the theater today.”

  “What’s going on?” Riley asked, wondering what else could go wrong this day. “Is Nancy okay? Are you?”

  “We’re fine,” he said with a wave of his hand. “Back when your mother first started drinking, and it became obvious you were being neglected, Nancy and I put some money away for you in case you needed it someday. It isn’t a lot, but it would be enough to pay for a funeral.”

  “I can’t ask you to pay for this,” Riley said, shaking her head. “I’ll finance the cost if I have to, but this isn’t anyone’s responsibility but my own.”

  “Nancy thought you’d say something like that,” he said with a chuckle as he pulled a bank book out of his back pocket and held it out to her. “This has all the information you need to see we really did open this account, with your name on it, back in 1996. The interest is minimal, but we did add some money a couple of times over the years. We want you to have it, Riley. You don’t have to do this on your own.”

  She took the book and opened it, seeing her name was indeed on the account, and it was opened when she was fourteen. She stared at the amount, thinking she had to be seeing it wrong. “Ten thousand dollars?” Her throat felt as though it was closing, and her eyes filled with tears. She shook her head. “I can’t take this.”

  “Listen to me,” Andy said, taking her hand between his. He waited until Riley met his gaze. “You know Nancy and I never had kids. You were always like a daughter to us, and you still are. You always will be. We want you to take this money to pay for the funeral, and to at least help to pay off any outstanding bills your mother might have had. Please, let us do this for you.”

  Riley finally nodded after a few moments of thinking how wonderful this man was. She never expected anything from him or Nancy, but this gesture was so like them. She thanked whoever was responsible for putting them in her life. God only knew where she might have ended up if it wasn’t for them.

  “We know how you felt about your mother, Riley, but no matter your relationship with her, I know her death had to create a vacuum in your life.” He put his arms around her and held her as she began to cry. Not for her loss, but for the incredible generosity.

  But he was right. There did seem to be a hole in her life now, knowing she would never see her mother again. Never speak to her on the phone again. It was a loss, even though it wasn’t. She realized she could now mourn the relationship she always wanted but never had with her mother.

  “Thank you for this,” she said as she pulled away from him. She wiped the tears from her cheeks and took a deep breath. “I love you guys.”

  “We love you too, honey,” he said with a smile. He placed his hands on his knees. “I should probably get going. Let us know when the service is, because we both want to be there for you.”

  “I will,” she said, even though she was pretty sure she’d just have her cremated. No one other than Andy, Nancy, and Megan would show up for a service anyway. She walked him to the door and hugged him again before he left.

  Her phone vibrated in her pocket as she was heading toward Megan’s room, so she stopped and pulled it out of her pocket. Vic. Again. Her finger hovered over answer, but she sighed as she swiped ignore. As much as she wanted to hear her voice, she just wasn’t ready to talk to her quite yet.

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Vic sighed as she drove to the property she’d purchased in Summerville, a town about twenty minutes northeast of Wolf Bay. The house on the land was big—nearly twenty-five hundred square feet—and she had hopes that Riley might one day agree to live there with her. She waved at the foreman for the crew doing the renovations inside. He was a friend of the family, and her father had arranged for all the work she wanted to be done.

  “Vic, it’s good to see you again,” he said as he shook her hand with a big smile.

  “You too, Philip,” she said with a nod before looking at the house. “How’s it going?”

  “Pretty damn good actually. I’ve had a full crew here seven days a week for the past three weeks. I think we’ll be finished ahead of schedule. You want to see what we’ve done?”

  She followed him into the house through the two-car garage. The door opened into the kitchen, which had been fully updated with granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. From the breakfast bar you could see the entire first floor, which consisted of a dining area and a large living room with floor to ceiling windows. And a humongous fireplace she would love sitting in front of during the snowy part of year. Especially if she was lucky enough to have Riley there by her side.

  She cautioned herself to not get her hopes up, but she couldn’t help dreaming. She hadn’t even spoken to Riley in close to a month because she wouldn’t answer her calls. In fact, she must have blocked her number, because whenever she called, it went straight to voice mail. She planned on dropping in at the
theater once this house was ready to move into and do everything possible to make things right with her.

  The upstairs held two bedrooms, with the master suite taking up half the floor. It also featured floor to ceiling windows. There were two huge walk-in closets and a bathroom that was almost as big as the bedroom itself. There was a huge walk-in shower with two showerheads, one of them a rainfall because Riley had fallen in love with the one at her penthouse. The bathroom floor was heated, something Vic insisted on since it could get so damn cold in the winter. There was a Jacuzzi tub and double sinks with a large mirror and a ton of counter space.

  Unfortunately, there was no rooftop swimming pool, but the backyard sported an Olympic sized pool and an eight-person hot tub. The entire property was well over three acres, and the closest neighbor was almost a mile away, so privacy wasn’t a concern, but she still opted to put in a privacy fence around the spacious backyard.

  “I think you’re really going to like it here,” Philip said as they stood beside the pool. “It’s quiet, and there are deer all over the place in the mornings. It’s very peaceful.”

  “I’m happy with the work you’ve done,” she told him, turning to head back into the house. “And you think you’ll be completely finished in two weeks?”

  “My best guess? We’ll be out of here in the next seven to ten days, tops.”

  She shook his hand again and headed back to her car. She really wanted to see Riley but questioned whether it would be better to wait. She shook her head as she started the engine and decided to just head back to her hotel room. She’d need to go back to the city for the closing on the sale of her penthouse in two days, and then she wouldn’t have to return to the city ever again if she didn’t want to.

  So, she was a little perplexed to find herself pulling into Riley’s driveway twenty minutes later. She really had planned on going to the hotel, but her mind seemed to have its own agenda. She didn’t even remember turning toward Riley’s instead of her hotel. She shut the engine off and walked to the door, knowing that because it was Monday, Riley probably had the day off, but she noticed her car wasn’t there.

  “Well, fuck me,” Megan said when she opened the door and saw Vic standing on the porch. She chuckled then and held up a hand. “And, no, that wasn’t an invitation.”

  “I didn’t think it was,” Vic said with a slight smile. “Is Riley here?”

  “No, she left a few hours ago to drive into the city to see you. Hence the expletive when I found you on the doorstep.” Megan stepped aside and motioned for her to enter. “Can I get you something to drink?”

  “Water would be great.” Vic looked at the time on her phone and sighed. “When exactly did she leave?”

  “Not sure. I was asleep when she left. I’m working second shift this week.” She shrugged and handed Vic a glass filled with water.

  “Can you call her? Maybe she didn’t leave that long ago, and she can turn around and come back.” Vic hesitated a moment as the words Megan had spoken sunk in. She felt true optimism for the first time in weeks. “Wait, she was going there to see me?”

  “She misses you,” Megan said with a nod as she presumably looked for Riley’s number before putting the phone to her ear. “I’ve been telling her she needs to sit down and talk to you about everything, but she can be so damned stubborn sometimes. She isn’t answering.”

  “Fuck,” Vic muttered. There was no point in her trying if Riley wasn’t even picking up for Megan.

  “Yeah, I told her she should call you before just going there out of the blue.” Megan led her into the living room where they sat on the couch. “Stubborn and impulsive. Not really a good combination. So why are you here?”

  “I don’t live in the city anymore. I sold my place there and bought a house in Summerville. I’m closing on the penthouse on Wednesday.” She was more than a little stunned to learn Riley was going to see her without calling first. “I’ve been trying to get in touch with her every day, Megan. It goes right to voice mail.”

  “Do you leave a message?”

  “Every freaking time.”

  “Have you tried telling her you love her?”

  “Not something you say for the first time over the phone, especially on a message.”

  “You’re a romantic.” Megan smiled, seeming to be pleased at the idea. “That’s so sweet.”

  “You said she misses me?” Vic was skeptical. If she missed her, why would she avoid her calls and texts?

  “Oh, my God, I’ve never seen her so down in the dumps.”

  “Vanessa told me a little of what happened the night she left the city, but can you tell me what Riley said?”

  Megan just stared at her for a moment, no doubt wondering if she’d be betraying any confidences. She must have decided it was okay because she sat back, crossed her legs, and began talking.

  Vic was furious by the time she was done, and she stood to pace the living room floor, running her hand through her hair in frustration.

  “Seriously? Lisa told her I was bisexual? And that Tyler and I are an item?” Vic blew out a breath and shook her head. “And she overheard Vanessa telling Harper I was only having a bit of fun and would eventually marry a man someday? No wonder she won’t answer my calls.”

  “Hey, don’t shoot the messenger. I only know what she told me.” Megan held her hands up. “And another tidbit for you—your mother showed up at the theater the morning after Riley drove back, basically telling her the same thing.”

  “Are you fucking serious right now?” Vic clenched her fists in her lap. She was going to kill Vera someday.

  “For what it’s worth, she didn’t truly believe any of it.”

  “Then why won’t she talk to me?”

  “You have to understand the shit her mother put her through,” Megan said softly. “She has serious self-esteem issues. She saw those women hanging all over you that night in New York, and she thought she could never measure up. That she’d never have any hope of keeping someone like you happy. So even though she didn’t believe what they said, it struck a chord deep inside her.”

  “I need to go find her,” Vic said as she started for the front door.

  “Why don’t you just wait here?” Megan suggested, following her. “She’ll come back home when she finds out you don’t live there anymore. I have to leave for work in a few minutes, so sit and make yourself comfortable, all right? Trust me, she’ll be happy to see you when she walks in tonight.”

  Vic hated waiting around, but she nodded. It would be foolish to run after her only to pass her somewhere along the way when she was heading home. Megan handed her the remote for the TV and squeezed her shoulder briefly before going to finish getting ready for work. An idea struck Vic, and she quickly pulled out her phone.

  Chapter Thirty

  Riley stood in front of Vic’s building wondering if she was really doing the right thing. Maybe Vic wouldn’t even want to see her. She shook her head and took a deep breath, knowing that wouldn’t be the case. Vic tried calling her every day since Riley had left the city without so much as a word to her. After her mother died, she’d programmed her phone to send Vic’s calls straight to voice mail without ringing, and Vic had still left messages every single time. And Riley had listened to them, even though she’d swore to herself she wouldn’t.

  Vic implored her to call her back, to just give her five minutes of her time. But Riley hadn’t seen the point. She’d convinced herself she had nothing to give her and Vic was better off without her. But a funny thing happened over the past week or so. She realized she couldn’t live without Vic. Despite her best efforts not to, she’d fallen in love with her, and being away from her, not talking to her, caused an actual physical pain in her chest.

  Before she could change her mind, she pulled the door open and walked into the lobby. The doorman smiled at her as she approached the desk.

  “Can I help you, ma’am?” he asked.

  “I’m here to see Victoria Thayer,” she said, soun
ding much more confident than she felt. “Could you please let her know Riley Warren is here?”

  “I’m sorry, but Ms. Thayer isn’t here.” The man shook his head and held out his palms.

  “Do you know when she’ll be back?” It was three o’clock in the afternoon on a Monday. Of course she’d be at work.

  “No, what I mean is she doesn’t live here any longer. She sold her penthouse and moved out.”

  “What?” Riley felt the words like a punch in the gut. Vic had never said anything to her about moving in any of the messages she’d left. But really, why would she have with Riley acting like a child and refusing to talk to her. How stupid of her to drive all this way without calling her first. “Do you have any idea where she went?”

  “I’m sorry, but no,” he said, seeming to be truly regretful that he couldn’t help her. “She left no forwarding address.”

  “How long ago did she leave?”

  “Two weeks, I think?”

  Riley just stared at him for a moment in disbelief, realizing Vic had probably been gone when Riley’s mother died. She wasn’t sure how long she would have stood there if the doors behind her hadn’t opened.

  “Oh, thank God,” said someone as they entered. Riley turned to look and saw it was Vanessa. “I was worried I’d be too late to catch you.”

  “How would you even know I was here?” Riley asked, truly perplexed.

  “If you’d ever answer your phone, you’d know,” she said with a huff. “Come have a cup of coffee with me. We need to talk.”

  Riley hesitated, not sure she wanted to go anywhere with her. She shook her head and looked at the time. “I really should get back home.”

  “Seriously?” Vanessa laughed as she stepped into her personal space and took her by the arm as she led her to the door. “You’re telling me you drove all this way just to, what? Tell Vic you had to turn around and get back home?”