“Thank you, Irma,” Dena said, as the plate was placed in front of her. She’d wanted to help the woman prepare lunch, but her assistance had been refused. Manny sat at the table next to her, his posture rigid. She was sure every bite of sandwich he took was like swallowing concrete. It felt like that to her.
“I’m not hungry.” Dena pushed her plate away. “Maybe I’ll do some work.”
“I’ll come with you,” Manny said, and started to get up.
“Stay with your mother,” Dena said softly. “She needs you.”
Manny ducked his head. “Okay, sure.”
She slipped quietly out of the room. Her heart ached too much for the young man. He had so much pain and confusion in his big black eyes and she wanted to somehow fix that. But what could she do? Perhaps she’d speak with Zeke later on. It wasn’t really her place to interfere and yet, already, she felt like she was part of this big extended family.
Walking past the pool, Dena saw the clock-thermometer registered two-fifteen. She opened the door of the casita and smiled at the black cat. So far she hadn’t run across any feral cats. Tonight she’d set out a bowl of water and some food scraps.
The place was cool and inviting, and she loved the vibes that spoke of home. She kicked off her shoes, ambled into the bedroom, stretched across the bed and dialed her previous receptionist.
“Hey, Wendy, how goes it?”
“Dena,” Wendy said, in an almost squeal, then softened her voice and spoke with precision.
Dena grinned. It was that whole PR image thing. It seeped through her cell phone and into her ear and felt both familiar and foreign at the same time. To think three days ago that had been her. “Cut the good behavior, Wendy, it’s me.”
Wendy laughed. “You sound great. How is everything?”
“I’m helping Zeke sort through some business issues.”
“So, you…um…you like him?” Wendy asked.
Dena laughed. “Don’t let your mind run wild. He’s a nice guy in a terrible bind—”
“But you trust him?”
“Absolutely.”
“That’s good. Hang on. I need to take this call from BJ.”
Dena listened to the “on hold” music. It was always the same. She could almost guess the title of the next song. That part of her life seemed so long ago. And truthfully, she didn’t miss it at all.
“Hey, I’m back,” Wendy said, less than a minute later.
“Do you want me to call any clients?” Dena asked. Not that she wanted to, but if Wendy needed help she’d do that for her. Besides, she’d had a strong relationship with some of them. She owed an explanation for her sudden resignation, and planned to say she needed to concentrate on family issues.
“I spoke to everyone this morning. BJ asked me to go to the psychologist’s meeting with him tomorrow.”
“That’s good, I’m glad he trusts you like that. You two are hitting it off—”
“We always have.”
“Oh. Well, thanks for calling everyone. I’ll place some personal calls later in the week. Anything that I can help with by phone is no problem, Wendy. I’m grateful you could take over.”
“No, it’s me who is grateful,” Wendy said, and lowered her voice. “I love this job. Is there anything special I should know about Steve?”
“Oh, that’s easy. He’s a simple beast,” Dena said, and laughed again. “There’s a list of ways you’ll be able to tell if you’re treading on thin ice. Are you ready?”
“Yes, thanks. Go ahead.”
Five minutes later Dena ended the call. That had gone well. The old job was one less problem to worry about. She dialed her mother.
“Mom, how are you?”
“I’m fine. I’m glad you called. Ruthie’s out at the pool.”
“That’s nice—”
“I’m ready to talk about, you know, what we were going to talk about this morning.”
Dena almost sighed but stopped herself in time. They’d had years of difference of opinion. It wasn’t going to be solved in a five minute conversation. But she would try.
“You said you owed me an apology,” Dena said, and tried hard to keep any expectation out of her voice. “I guess we could start there. But, maybe I owe you one.”
“How do you figure that?”
“We’ve never really agreed on much.” She thought about Zeke’s comments, and his pain and loss. She’d take his advice and try to mend this rift with her mother. Life really is too short to hang onto old hurts. “If I’d just tried harder—”
“No. It isn’t your fault, Dena,” her mother said. “I was always jealous of your relationship with your dad.”