The Face In The Mirror (17 page)

When the get-together was about over, John Welsley came to talk to me.
“I’ve known you for a long time, Renee, and I know this will be a successful
endeavor for you. I admit that I’m sorry to lose you, but once you are up and
running, Cindy will be one of your best customers,” he said, referring to his
wife. “And you know she knows
everyone
in Brentwood…”

“Word of mouth is the best advertising!” I said with a grin.

“When you’re ready, I will be happy to repay your years of service by
helping you with the contracts.”
“Thank you. Mitchell is already looking into zoning and what all we need
to get started. We are moving to Mom’s condo at the beach and the business
will be at Granny’s.”
“It will always be ‘Granny’s’, won’t it?” he said with a smile, and hugged
me.
“I hope so,” I replied.
As we drove home afterward, Mitchell squeezed my knee. “One door
closes, another opens,” he said.

n

On Saturday, Mitchell and I arrived at The Beaches Country Club at six in
the evening as instructed. Midge loved to host parties there, and liked to brag
that she’d gotten a lifetime membership when she divorced ‘#2’. It was classy
and elegant, and when we entered, the guests were already there. She told us
later that she wanted everyone there so we would walk in and begin the
festivities and not have to wait.

I wore the dress that I wore when Mitchell and I began our life together,
again. Midge was right - Mitchell loved seeing me in it.
“I know what’s under there,” he whispered in my ear, putting a big smile
on my face as we entered the room.

The table centerpieces were close duplicates of the bouquet I’d carried for
the wedding. Every thing was first-class. Midge was a lovely hostess for the
festivities. Soft music played as we made our rounds and everyone looked so
beautiful. Alecia was waiting with Midge when we entered and both of them
had tears in their eyes. My dad and Roxanne were there, along with some of the
lawyers in his firm. Derek and Janelle were there too, as well as some of my
friends from Welsley and Ryan. Mitchell’s crew rounded out the crowd. And
happily, I saw Ashley talking with Dave again. Frequently.

The meal was wonderful. We dined on salmon and Chateaubriand, and
Midge had ordered a carrot cake for dessert when I told her that’s what we’d
had the evening of the wedding. Dave took a copy of the picture disc and had a
slide show set to music that flashed on a large TV screen throughout the
evening. Finally, a DJ played music and Mitchell and I danced to Van Morrison.

“Have I told you lately that I love you…” I sang in his ear as he held me in
his arms.
“You could tell me a million times, and each time you tell me it will excite
me more. I love you, Renie.”
I tried to avoid it, but I danced with my dad. “Renee, you are a more
beautiful bride than you were when we shared this moment twelve years ago.”
“It’s because I know what I have this time,” I told him. He held me close. I
missed the father-daughter moments we used to share, but I wasn’t done being
angry with him.

Later in the evening, I was sitting with Midge. “This is all so lovely,” I said.
“You said nothing over the top. I think this is classy. You know, Renee, I
don’t have children. You are, and always will be, the closest thing to a child that
I ever wanted. When I was going through all of this in my head, two things
came to my mind. First, how happy your mom would be. That money she left
me wasn’t meant for me. I didn’t need it. I didn’t want it. So I thought,
WWMD?”

“WWMD?” I asked.

“What would Mona do?” she laughed. “And this is what she told me to
do.”
“Midgey, I love you and I can’t imagine you not being part of my life.
‘Nother Mommy’,” I said. Midge pulled me close and we shared a hug, and
tears. I could hear the sound of camera flashes going off around us as we
shared our tender moment.

n

I worked at Granny’s cleaning, packing, sorting, and discarding, during the
day, and met Mitchell at his house each evening when he got off work. We
went through the same actions there, packing and discarding. Dave came home
with Mitchell each evening, and I carried the crockpot in to share whatever I’d
thrown in to cook that day, exploring options for Convenient Cuisine.

“Mitch,” I’m sure her looks played a big part in you choosing Renee as
your wife, but for me, it’d be all about this right here.” He lifted his shirt,
rubbed his belly, and we all laughed. “I’m gonna hate when this is over and I
have to go back to Subway for my sustenance.”

“But Dave,” I said. “You can stock up on grab and go meals when we get
up and running! Pick up your own crockpot, start it when you leave, and voilà,
dinner is ready when you get home!”

“A crockpot isn’t what he needs,” Mitchell commented. “He needs the
wife to go with it. It’s not just the food - it’s the companionship, Dave. Oh, and
the sex…”

“Well ain’t he just all romantic,” Dave said and we all laughed.
n

On Thursday evening, I went to the house to meet Mitchell and noticed
that he and Dave were already there. And then I noticed Ashley’s car.
“Hey,” I called out as I entered through the kitchen door. There was no
reply. I set the crockpot on the counter, plugged it in, and walked around the
corner to the dining room to find the three of them waiting. There were
flowers and balloons… and a cake.
“Happy Birthday!”
“I brought dessert!” Ashley laughed.
“But,” I started, and then Mitchell interrupted me.
“Did you think I forgot?”
“No,” I laughed. “There’s been so much going on, I did!”

Later, Mitchell handed me a box to open and I immediately began to
protest.
“Wait, Renie. It’s something special. Don’t ruin the gift with ‘you shouldn’t
haves’. I put a lot of work into this, so just open the box.” He put his hand on
mine before I lifted the lid and continued, “Just know I love you, and I believe
in you. I believe in us, and this is an important step in our future.”
I thought his words would make me feel like a scolded puppy, but they left
me feeling only excited to see what was inside.
“Oh, all right.” I laughed, and lifted the lid. Inside was a folded piece of
paper. I meticulously opened it, thinking it would be a poem, or a love note.”
“Just open the damn thing,” he chuckled. “It’s a copy – the original’s too
important.”
Now my curiosity had the best of me and I quickly unfolded it to find a
legal document. I scanned the information – that’s what I do. I saw that it was
zoning approval for Convenient Cuisine at Granny Ella’s - Grab and Go Meals
and Breakfast Café.
“Breakfast Café?” I asked as I looked up at him.
“The world cannot live without experiencing those omelets!” he laughed,
and Ashley was enthusiastically nodding her head in agreement.
“It’s nothing carved in stone. It’s an option. Better to do it upfront then try
to do it later if you decided you wanted to add the breakfast option. It’s the first
step, Renie! It didn’t seem to make much sense looking into anything else until
we knew we could get the zoning to do it at Granny’s.”
“The second best gift you ever give me!”
“What was the best?” he asked with a devilish smile.

n

On Friday, I had everything packed for our trip to the beach when Mitchell
came in from work. The crockpot had been cooking our dinner all day while I
continued the cleaning and sorting. It was hot, and would only need a little time
to reheat when we got there. We loaded the truck and took off.

After we arrived, Mitchell poured us a glass of wine and we curled up on
the sofa waiting for the crockpot to re-heat. While we sat there, we laid out our
plan for the next two days. We had plenty to do. We’d stay until Monday
morning, and Mitchell would drop me at Granny’s on his way to work.

Later, we lay in bed, snuggled, and read until we finished Volume Two.

Saturday morning, we were up early and Mitchell ran out to grab groceries.
While he was gone, I dove in. I still had some things to box up for the
Salvation Army. They were coming at eleven, and the couple coming to look at
Mom’s bedroom furniture would be there just after lunch.

I knew once Mom’s bedroom furniture was gone I’d be OK sleeping in her
room, but I knew I couldn’t sleep in the bed she died in. The chaise was
staying. I’d felt my mom so strongly when I napped there that day, that I could
never let it go.

When Mitchell returned, he came to Mom’s bedroom looking for me. He
embraced me and whispered in my ear. “Breakfast special order before we
move on?”

“Did you stop and get sausage biscuits at McDonald’s?” I laughed.
“No,
I
have a special order,” he grinned.
“And that would be?”
“One of your omelets before we get busy?”
“Anything for you,” I said, and as I did, he leaned back and raised a

dangerously suggestive eyebrow.

His hands, still on my back, did this spider-massage move. That’s the only
way I can describe. His hands moved around my back and I could feel the tips
of his fingers move as though they were pulsing – in and out, up and down. It
felt amazing. I never wanted him to stop.

“I can wait till later for ‘anything for you’,” he spoke softly in my ear.
n

After breakfast, we got busy. It seemed that it took us forever to go
through the paperwork and unpacked boxes in Mom’s office. Then we were
distracted by the journals. We’d finally finished in there on our last visit. There
were three bedrooms at the condo - the master, the room we’d been using, and
a bedroom that had only been used for storage that we’d yet to tackle. We
moved things around to use the empty room as a staging area. As we emptied a
room of its’ contents, we planned to paint, clean the carpet and start moving
stuff in from Granny’s. I just didn’t want it to look like Mom’s place. It would
take time.
One room at a time,
I told myself.

After the Salvation Army left, I had an emotional meltdown. It was hard to
see pieces of her being taken away. Even the ones that seemed unimportant to
me were still hers, and they must have meant
something
to her or she wouldn’t
have had them. I knew it seemed silly for me to dwell on it, but it just brought
it all home – she’s not coming back. I tried to focus on the idea that her things
would help someone else, but my heart still hurt. I went to her room and
stretched out on the chaise to try to get myself together. Mitchell came in a
little while later.

“Hey, sweetheart, the couple who are coming to look at the bedroom
furniture called. They’re about ten minutes out. Go wash the tears off your
face,” he said, kissing my forehead.

And one more time, when I looked in the bathroom mirror, I saw my
mom. She was smiling, as if to let me know that it was just ‘stuff’ being hauled
away, nothing important.

This ‘visit’ with her had taken place on a couple of occasions – always
something important or emotional for me, like the night of the reception, and
my last day of work at Welsley and Ryan. I’d finally mentioned it to Mitchell
but I didn’t go into the whole story of what I really saw or felt when she
appeared. He usually just replied with the idea that I resembled her. It didn’t
feel
like that to me. We didn’t look
that
much alike. My eyes were blue, deep-set and
oval, hers were green, but the same shape. Everyone always said I looked more
like Granny Ella.

When they arrived, we met the sweetest young couple. “Cassie and Chuck
Palmer,” the young woman said when they came in. She had a happy bounce in
her step that reminded me of Tigger from Winnie the Pooh. Mitchell took
them to the room to show them the bedroom furniture. I paced - it’s what I do
when I’m nervous or anxious. Finally, they returned.

“We love it!” Cassie announced. “May I ask why you’re selling it? It looks
brand new.”
“It is. It’s my mom’s,” I started, and the paused to take a deep breath to
keep from crying again. “Was,” I added.
Mitchell stepped up, slipped his arm around my shoulder and took over.
“Renee’s mom passed away recently and we’re going to move in here once
everything is squared away. We want to use our own furniture when we do.”
“I’m so sorry about your mom.” She stepped forward and was suddenly
hugging me, and it felt natural, like she was an old friend comforting me.
“Anything else for sale?” she asked, running her fingers along the buffet a
second later. “This is gorgeous.”
“Mitchell?” I asked.
“Up to you.” I nodded, and he added, “Give us a minute, please.” We
stepped in the kitchen. We hadn’t decided what to do with anything but the
bedroom furniture at that point. I liked the living room pieces, but we hadn’t
talked about much beyond that.
We talked a moment and returned to the dining room. Mitchell told them
what we thought.
“Yes!” Cassie said. Chuck just smiled, shaking his head.
“We’ll be right back. I have to go to the bank. I didn’t know we’d be
buying dining room furniture, too!” he smiled at Cassie and I felt love all
through the room.
“Can I stay behind? That way you know he’s coming back,” Cassie giggled.
“I’ll ride with you if that’s OK,” Mitchell laughed, and then added, “Two
females yapping is one more than I’m ready for.”
“Chuck and I got married a year ago,” she said after the guys left. “We’ve
been living with our college décor and just bought a house so this will be a
lovely addition!”
“I’m glad it worked out for both of us. I am taking the money from
anything we sell to invest in a start-up business.”
“Oh! This is exciting news! Please share!” Cassie said, and it seemed her
interest was genuine.
I told her about Convenient Cuisine, my plans for grab and go as well as
frozen prepared meals.
“I love this idea! When you get up and going, give me a call - I’ll be your
best customer!” She scribbled a number on a card and handed it to me just as
the guys returned. I slipped the card in the pocket of my jeans.
Chuck had made a call while they were out and three guys pulled up with a
bigger truck and trailer to help take their new furnishings away. When they
were ready to go, Cassie hugged me again and said, “I hope you’ll call me.
Chuck and I are new here and we haven’t made many friends yet. He’s a trauma
nurse at the hospital.”
“Count on it,” I said.
When they were gone I walked into my mom’s room. All that remained
was the chaise, Granny’s afghan still strewn across it from when I laid there.
I stood there a moment, lost in my thoughts. Finally, Mitchell grabbed me
in a hug, whispering in my ear, “Let’s go for a ride and get some lunch.”
“Where to?” I asked.
“Not sure yet, let’s just go.”
“Well, the last time we did this we came home married!” I said, making us
both laugh.