Mirror, Mirror

by Judy Baer

  “Frankly, I don’t think she’s interested in hearing it right now.” Jack pointed to a far corner of the studio. Maggie and Sam were wrapped in each other’s arms. “He came and scooped her up as soon as they quit filming. She started crying and telling him he was the best-looking guy in the world. Next thing I know, they’re off in the corner whispering.”

  Jack grinned and took my hand. “Congratulations, Madame Moderator, I think you may have a new hit on your hands.”

  The congratulatory lovefest went on for some time before I noticed that Pete was missing and Eddie wandered over to ask where his sister had gone. It was then I remembered Dash and the fact that a stagehand had locked them outside before the taping.

  Eddie and I raced to the door and flung it open.

  “Hey, sorry. I didn’t know you guys got locked out. You could have gone to the reception area.” Then Eddie looked more closely at his sister. “You’ve got a goofy look on your face, Kris.” He turned to stare at Pete. “But it’s no goofier than yours. What’s been going on out here?”

  Dash woofed and dodged inside as if he’d had enough kissing and making up to last a doggy lifetime.

  “Oh, brother,” Eddie groaned. “Don’t tell me!”

  “That’s right,” Pete said, not breaking his gaze with Kristy. “I’m going to be your brother. Well, brother-in-law technically, but same thing, don’t you think?” He bent to kiss Kristy.

  “It’s about time,” Eddie grumbled to me. “I thought Kristy was going to ignore him forever even though it was killing her. She was scared of letting him know she still had feelings for him, because she figured he’d have dozens of women after him now.”

  I looked at the besotted pair in the entry. “I don’t think Kristy has a thing to worry about.”

  “I’m glad I came to the studio.” Jack commented as we said good-night. “I didn’t expect so much to happen.”

  “Nor did I.” I couldn’t help grinning.

  Pete and Kristy had gone off immediately to look at wedding rings. Never let it be said that Pete doesn’t learn from his mistakes. He’s not going to let her get away this time.

  Sam and Maggie were still at the studio when we left, holding hands and gazing raptly into each other’s eyes.

  “It wouldn’t surprise me if we had two weddings in the very near future.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  “It’s another Saturday with just you and me, Dash. What do you feel like doing? Going out for a burger at the drive-through? Watching a movie? Working out?”

  I looked at him as he gazed up at me, his tail wagging back and forth like a metronome. “How pathetic is this? I’m asking a dog what he wants to do on a Saturday afternoon.”

  His wagging increased, obviously to indicate his full agreement with my seriously pitiful state.

  Pete and Kristy are absolutely no company whatsoever, lost as they are in their own little world. Maggie and Sam aren’t much better. Sam is as deeply in love with Maggie as she is with him. They are already starting to read each other’s minds and finish each other’s sentences.

  I’m delighted, of course, but it has left an enormous hole in my social life. I’ve quit hoping that Jack will call since he performed another vanishing act and I haven’t seen him all week.

  I’ve never been so piteously grateful to hear the phone ring as I was today.

  Ben was on the other end of the line, burbling like a running stream. “Nathan’s mom let him adopt a greyhound and we’re going to look at some, too!”

  Jack took the phone from his son. “Tell me I need to have my head examined.”

  “Your head is fine. I think it’s wonderful that you’re going to adopt a dog.”

  “What makes you think we’ll adopt one? I just told Ben that he could look at them.”

  “When you go looking for a pet you’ll always find one,” I warned. “Don’t take him looking if you don’t plan to bring one home.”

  “Would you and Dash like to come with us?” Jack surprised me with the question. He’s been as distant as Istanbul lately, so this was not what I’d expected.

  “Sure. But Dash? Are you sure that’s wise?”

  “Ben wants him to sit in the backseat with him.”

  “Dash is always ready for a car ride, but you don’t have to—”

  “We want to. Pick you up in thirty minutes.”

  Thirty minutes. I changed clothes three times, paced the length of my house, chewed off a fingernail and still had plenty of time to wonder why Jack had called now. I also had time to get angry.

  “I’m tired of being convenient,” I said to Dash as he sat patiently by the door in his red doggy sweater. “He only calls when Ben wants to do something with me and it’s never going to change. What’s the point? He’s married to a memory and I’m the last person in the world willing to try to break that up.”

  I paced some more and Dash whined and lay down on the rug. “What’s wrong with me? Why don’t I feel like going out and doing things? I don’t believe in sitting around and waiting for a telephone to ring. I should have just told him no, Dash. N-O, no.”

  And why haven’t I? Because I love him and I’m not the least bit happy about it. Jack’s not going to change. He’s going to be charming, funny, pleasant to be with and single for the rest of his life.

  If I had a brain in my head, I’d accept that as fact and move on.

  “I’m going to tell him, Dash. I won’t be available anymore for impulse outings at his convenience. We need to put a stop to this. I don’t want to be his buddy. I want to be his…” The thought hit me like a hammer.

  “I want to be his wife.”

  But first we had to look at a greyhound.

  “Nathan’s mom says there are three to pick from,” Ben greeted me as I let Dash into the backseat with him. They’re all ready for good homes. We’d be a good home, Dad.”

  “Don’t get your hopes up, son. I said we’d look, nothing more.”

  Ben looked at me and winked. I winked back. We’d allow Jack to live in his fantasyland just a little bit longer.

  We walked into the dog’s current foster home and were left speechless. Three incredibly sleek, elegant dogs were standing there looking as us with what, I swear, was hope in their eyes.

  “The black one is Midnight. We call him Middy. The little girl in the middle, the brindle, is Princess and the male on the end is Daffy, which pretty much explains his personality.” The woman who had greeted us leaned over to scratch Daffy’s ears. “I’ve had a call from a family who is interested in adopting two dogs, so if you are interested in one of these, you can have your pick.

  “I’m fussy about who the dogs go to, so we’d do a background check, just to make sure it gets a good home, but the dogs are ready to start their new lives.” She rubbed the underside of Daffy’s chin. “Aren’t you, big guy?”

  “We have a greyhound in the car,” Ben said. “Would you like to see him? His name is Dash.” And before we could stop him, Ben went out the door and down the sidewalk to the van.

  “We don’t have to bring him in,” I began.

  “I don’t mind. Then you’ll see if your dog is well matched with one of these. You want them to be compatible.”

  Our dog? This woman thought we were a family.

  Ben returned with Dash.

  “I’ll leave you alone,” the woman said. “I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me. Take your time. When I foster dogs, I fall in love with them. I don’t want you to take a dog that you haven’t fallen for, too.”

  Within minutes, Dash had made his selection.

  “He likes Midnight,” Ben gasped. “Look at them.”

  Dash and Midnight had lain down together on the rug and tangled themselves together much as Dash and Flash do.

  “That’s lovely,” I pointed out to Ben, “but you have to pick the dog you like best, not Dash.”

  To my surprise, Ben looked at his father and said in a very adult voice, “Dad…”

 
Jack cleared his throat and shuffled his feet uncomfortably.

  “You promised,” Ben chided as if he were the father and Jack his son. “It’s okay.”

  “I think that Dash should like the dog Ben picks out,” Jack said with a catch in his voice. “Ben and I have been talking about a lot of things lately.” His eyes flashed with something I couldn’t decipher. “We’ve talked about his mother and how we miss her. We’ve talked about our life and how empty it’s been without her. And we talked about how it is to be in love with two people and yet be true to both of them.”

  Something in his tone held me firmly frozen to the spot.

  “Ben and I have been a team for over two years now and we’ve made all our decisions about our family together. Ben and I decided that if you were willing to understand how we feel about Ben’s mom and not mind sharing her memory with us, that maybe…just maybe… Dash and Ben’s new dog could live under the same roof. And if that were the case, it would be very important to have Dash’s opinion today, don’t you think?”

  “Was that…is that…a proposal?” I blurted.

  Ben sighed, rolled his eyes and came to stand in front of his father. “He didn’t do it like we practiced,” the little boy told me. “He’s been worried that I wouldn’t want another mom ’cause I had such a good one in the first place. But I told him that getting another good mom was fine with me. I’ll always love my first mom, no matter what.”

  Ben shot his father a reproving look. “Here’s how we practiced it.” Ben took my hand and said, “Quinn, will you marry m—” He paused. Then he put my hand into Jack’s. “Quinn, will you marry my dad?”

  And as Jack and I stood there speechless, Ben, the little professor and expert at love said, “That’s how it goes, Dad. Now, you try it.”

  “Quinn,” Jack began.

  I put my finger to his lips. “Yes, I will.”

  And before either of us could move, Ben whooped and began to tug on my shirt. When I bent toward him, he kissed me on the cheek with a loud smacking sound.

  “And that’s how you do that, Dad.’

  As if waking from a trance, Jack pulled me close. “Thanks for the input, Ben, but I can take it from here.”

  And he did.

  Dear Reader,

  As you may be able to tell from Mirror, Mirror and many of my other books, I am an animal lover. I chose to give adopted greyhounds to Quinn and Pete, and all my research on greyhounds shows them to be sweet, docile, loving and wonderful pets. There are so many of these beautiful former racing dogs available for adoption that I used them to encourage others to consider this breed when seeking a new pet. Adopting a pet is both one of the kindest and most satisfying things an individual can do. Providing a home for an animal that might otherwise not be allowed to live, and in return being lavished with love, attention and devotion is highly gratifying.

  I’ve had many pets over the years, owned buffalo and horses and had a surprisingly pleasant and animated relationship with a goldfish rescued from a centerpiece at a wedding reception. Animals bring richness, love and humor to peoples’ lives. They deserve respect and affection, like the kind Flash and Dash received from the characters in my book.

  I hope you enjoy Mirror, Mirror and that it makes you contemplate the qualities of beauty. I’m sure that those you think most beautiful are lovely from the inside out.

  Blessings,

  QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

  How much of your self-esteem and that of others you know is based on how you look? Please explain.

  If money or safety were no object, would you have plastic surgery? Why or why not?

  Quinn, Pete and Maggie have a friendship that withstands many kinds of emotional weather. Do you have friends like that? What things have you withstood together?

  Jack is reluctant to date because he feels unfaithful to his first wife. Do you know someone who has ever felt this way? How can you move on when you’ve lost someone you love?

  Dash and Flash are adopted greyhounds. Have you ever considered adopting a greyhound or any other pet? Would you consider adopting a greyhound after reading this book?

  Why is Maggie so stunned to find herself attracted to a man who is not handsome? What character traits do you think she should look for in a person? How much do looks really count in a relationship?

  Quinn does not appear to pursue modeling jobs, and yet they come to her. Why do you think that is? Have you ever known anyone who exudes an air of desperation like Maggie? How does it make you want to respond to that person?

  What do you think of reality television shows? Should there be more or fewer of them? Why?

  Maggie never feels that she looks good enough. How would you feel if you looked like Maggie? Would good looks actually be the answer to your problems?

  What do you think of Jack’s son, Ben? What makes him such a wise little boy? Tell of times when children you know seemed to have more wisdom than the adults around them.

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-8597-6

  MIRROR, MIRROR

  Copyright © 2007 by Judy Duenow

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Steeple Hill Books, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279 U.S.A.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  This edition published by arrangement with Steeple Hill Books.

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