“If you would take Mia in the playroom and keep her occupied, that would be great,” she told Kayla. “There’s a new Mickey Mouse music thing in there she likes a lot.”
“When are we eating?”
“Not for another couple of hours.”
Kayla had that I-don’t-know-if-I-can-wait-that-long look on her face.
“Would you like a snack?”
Kayla nodded with a wide grin.
“Help yourself to some fruit or cookies. You know where to find them. Hey, you’re wearing the ring.” Paige had not known Jessivel to have ever taken off their father’s ring from around her neck. Now Kayla wore it.
“Mom lets me wear it on special occasions.”
Paige had had it appraised one time when she told Jessivel she wanted to have it cleaned for her. The stone turned out to be a rare diamond worth more than $15,000. She added it to her own insurance policy but didn’t share its value with Jessivel. Now that she saw her letting Kayla wear it, she thought better of it and made a mental note to talk to Jessivel about it.
A few minutes later, when Leland didn’t join her in the kitchen, Paige called out for him. When she got no answer, she called him on his cell phone.
“Where are you?”
“I’m just pulling into the driveway.”
“Where were you?” she asked, annoyed that he would have left the house with so much to do before the big meal.
She turned when she heard the side door open. Leland held a bouquet of fresh flowers—a mixture of carnations, zinnias, mums, and pepper berries all in autumn colors.
“I thought these might look nice on the table.”
“How sweet.” She leaned in for a lingering kiss and took the flowers. “If you keep surprising me like this, I may just have to keep you this time.”
“I brought you flowers before. Remember?”
She looked him straight in the eye. “No, I don’t. Was I that out of it?”
“There’s no prudent way for me to answer that.”
This was not the first time she’d been reminded how not ready she had been when she married Leland the first time.
“You’re right. Will you give the turkey another squirt?”
A long series of giggles was heard coming from Mia’s playroom.
“Mickey Mouse?” Leland asked.
“Probably.”
“Kayla is so good with her.” He glanced into the adjoining room. “Didn’t she forget part of her outfit or something?”
“That’s what they wear, apparently. My mom didn’t approve of my wearing over-the-knee socks, clogs, and a crop-top either, if I remember correctly.”
“Hmm. Could you recreate that look for me sometime? Maybe late at night, after Mia’s gone to bed?”
Paige wrapped her arms around him from behind. “Maybe.”
They continued working in the kitchen, chipping away at the list of food dishes Paige had planned.
“So how does Jess like living in your mom’s house so far? Has she gotten over the fact that it’s where her father’s other family lived?”
“She’s made it her own, so that doesn’t bother her. At least that’s what she says. And Kayla loves her new school, so that helps.”
“How’s the SUV working out for her?” Paige had given their father’s SUV to Jessivel when Jessivel’s car had needed repairs costing more than the car was worth.
“She loves it. Who wouldn’t love that car? Dad bought it loaded.”
“And how’s Crystal doing with Floyd the Grump?”
“You better be careful calling him that. You’re going to slip in front of them one day and—”
“There’s a couple I’ll never understand.”
“Crystal and Floyd?”
“What do they have in common anyway? She’s nice. He’s not. And he’s got to be at least fifteen years older than her.”
“Yeah? So what do we have in common?”
“Hmm. We both like Pearl Jam.”
“I outgrew them years ago.”
“S’mores?”
“Too fattening.”
“Making out in the back seat of my ’64 Ford Mustang?”
“I had too many bruises from that.”
“Hmm…there must be something.”
“Help me with this pan. It’s heavy.”
“So why did you want me back, if we’re so different?” he asked.
“To lift things, of course. And hang pictures. Oh, and to drag those stupid garbage carts out to the curb every Friday morning.”
“You’re such a romantic.”
“I’m working on it.”
“I thought you were going to say because of my stunningly good looks and hunky body.”
“That too.”
“We all know, of course, that I married you for your money,” he said.
“The stones, right?”
“Yep.”
“Well, at least you’re honest about it,” she said with a smile. After consulting with her parents’ estate planning attorney to verify she and the other beneficiaries had legal rights to the stones, she sold them at auction, and dispensed their share of the profits to Natalie, Jessivel, and Wanda. She set aside money for Tamir and Emma and planned to give them their share as soon as she was able to locate them.
“How’s JP’s coming along?”
With some of the cash she had received from selling the stones, she started a construction project at one end of her strip mall to house an organization that helped homeless men and women and others who lacked relevant life skills to prepare for and find jobs. JP’s—Jessivel and Paige’s—had been Jessivel’s idea, and she would be the one to manage it.
“If the weather holds out, enough of the outside construction will be done and they can work on the inside during the winter. If all goes well, we’ll be open in the spring.”
She sashayed over to him and snuggled into his arms, his strength making her feel safe, physically and emotionally. She absorbed the smell of him. “Only for the money?” she asked him.
“No, there were other things.” He hugged her tighter.
“Like what?”
He patted her on her behind. “Now I’m not sure. All I can think of right now is—”
“We have too much to do, sweetheart.”
“Mm-hm,” he sighed.
“I love you, Leland Cushman.” And that wasn’t all. She loved their newfound intimacy—the emotional kind, the kind that would allow her to leap off that two-story building and know he’d be there to catch her…or at least break her fall. She had confided in “the girls” when she had first felt her heart going in that direction. After bombarding her with a multitude of questions, they had unanimously approved.
But as much as she reveled in the change in herself after reuniting with Leland, Paige didn’t credit him as much as she did Jessivel with becoming her newfound self. Jessivel had been the one to set the example for her, something Paige hadn’t realized until Jessivel talked to her on that level one day.
“I had built a wall around my heart,” she had told Paige. “And that not only protected me from getting hurt, but it also kept me from understanding others. And then I met you and learned that no matter how someone appears on the outside, you can’t judge them without knowing them. And you can’t know them without letting down that wall.”
“I love you, Paige West,” Leland said to her. “What time are we going to Tracy’s by the way?”
Paige continued to work one day a week at Tracy’s Backstreet Kitchen. Without any prodding, Jessivel had joined her in the weekly ritual.
“Five.”
“Everyone coming with us?”
“Kayla’s going to stay here with Mia.”
“Alone?”
“Lee, she’s fourteen, almost fifteen.”
“Okay, but—” The doorbell interrupted him. “Fasten your seatbelt, sweetie, here they come.”
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Florence Osmund
Other Books by Florence Osmund
Non-Fiction
How to Write, Publish, and Promote a Novel
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Nineteen Hundred Days
They Called Me Margaret
Living with Markus
Regarding Anna
Red Clover
Daughters
The Coach House
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About the Author
“I strive to create stories that contain complex characters and thought-provoking plots that challenge readers to survey their own values.”
After a long career working for large corporations, Florence Osmund retired to write novels. Getting the rather late start in life as an author, she published her first book at the age of sixty-two. In the beginning, she made many mistakes trying to get established as an author, and she hopes her book How to Write, Publish, and Promote a Novel helps others avoid making the same ones.
Florence is a contributing writer for The Book Designer blog and book reviewer/assessor for indieBRAG, Awesome Indies, and Windy City Reviews. She continues to write literary fiction from her home on a small, tranquil lake in a far northern suburb of Chicago where she enjoys a wide array of wildlife who pay her frequent daily and nightly visits.
If you are a new or aspiring novelist, visit Florence’s website/blog where she offers substantial advice on how to begin the project, writing techniques, building an author platform, book promotion, and much more.
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