The Face In The Mirror (26 page)

When I returned, Cassie was packed up and ready to go. She wrapped her
arms around me and said, “You need to go home today and kick your feet up.
Have a glass of wine. We still have another week. Work from home the next
two days. I’ll be in early Monday and you can call me and check on whatever
you think we need to do and I’ll take care of it.”

“You’re awful sweet,” I said.
“Oh Renee, I love you. I’ll do anything you need.”
“Cassie Palmer, how lucky I am for you to share this experience with me.”

I said, as she breezed out the door.
“Finish up. I’ll take you to the shop with me for a little while and then we’ll
go home,” Mitchell said.
“Let me grab some paperwork that I need to finish, and then we can go.” I
said and gathered up my things, including a meal that I’d prepared.
“You know it’s going to be fine,” he said when we were in the truck.
“I do. It’s just wishing she could be here to witness the experience.”
“From what you keep sharing with me, she’ll be there.” He patted my knee,
as he drove.
“She was there today,” I confessed.
“She knows when you need her.”
When we reached the warehouse, he came around to open my door.
“Do you think that’s weird? I mean, do you have the psyche ward on speed
dial?”
“Renie, I believe you see her. I believe that she comes to you because you
want her to. I believe the soul never dies. She will always be with you.”
“What a gift.” I said, grabbing the crockpot from behind my seat.
“What’dya have in that pot?” Dave asked, moving in for a sniff.
“Your dinner!” I laughed. “I decided I want burgers.”

When we arrived home, I pulled burgers from the freezer and thawed them
while Mitchell fired up the grill. It was a cool but lovely evening, and we shared
a glass of wine on the patio while the burgers cooked. There was no
conversation; just quiet, peaceful, solitude as evening set in.

The migraines have gotten so bad that I decided to go ahead and retire.
Millican and Ross offered to keep me on as a consultant, and I decided to do
it. When I’m feeling good, I can go advise on cases or do research. I always
enjoyed reading cases.

The firm planned a huge formal party. Wayne attended, but I didn’t care if
he was there or not. He’s been ‘so busy’ that I hardly see him. I think he sleeps
in our bed; sometimes his side appears that he has been there, but I know
mostly he ‘sleeps at the office’, and I no longer care. I know he has that
Murphy bed in his office, but I suspect he doesn’t use it for sleeping.

As the party began, I looked up just as you entered the room. I was looking
for that adorable strawberry blonde haired child, but what I saw was a
beautiful woman. Your dress was exactly the shade of teal that set your eyes
ablaze. I noticed that the men in the room stopped to look and saw the same.
There was only one other thing that I could imagine to make that vision more
perfect… Mitchell.

He pulled me close and whispered in my ear, “Is that the picture of you
and your mom on the dresser?”
“Mmm hmm,” I replied, but it wasn’t the picture I was focused on. It was
the man that my mother knew all along was ‘the one’. I put my head on his
chest. My ear, so close to his heart, heard the sound of his heartbeat, and to me
it was an aria, sweet music in my ear.
He put the book aside, his fingers finding the hem of the nightie that I
wore. Slipping his hands under, and then up my body, the heartbeat quickened.
Every touch of his fingers on my skin made my own heart race. I felt him ready
for me, and I was ready for him, but I didn’t want to hurry. I loved the feel of
my body wrapped in his arms, and my heart beat out of control. I was thinking
about the time I’d wasted with him not there holding me; remembering, like an
old movie of flickering images, every time we’d made love before.
His hands, still caressing, warmed me with each touch, and suddenly, I
couldn’t wait any longer. “Now Mitchell, please… now.”
“Your command is my wish,” he said in a low, raspy, whisper.
His lips on mine were like fire. He rolled to hover above me and I could
feel him ready. I encouraged him by arching my body to meet his as he pushed
inside me. I dug my fingers in the skin of his back, pulling him closer, meeting
his rhythm as our bodies came together again, and again.
And once more I was thankful for his return to my life.

Our trial runs on Monday and Tuesday at Convenient Cuisine went well.
No mishaps, nothing but happy people, and I loved every second of it. We
couldn’t sell food, so Cassie and I baked a couple dozen of every muffin variety
we had and cut them for sampling. I was whipping omelets out and Sarina
served samples of each for our guests to taste. Mitchell manned the coffee pot
and every time I looked at him, I smiled. He’d grabbed one of the aprons I’d
made and wore it proudly! His guys gave him a good ribbing about it. I was so
happy, and I knew we were ready for opening day.

After everyone left, Mitchell, Cassie, Sarina, and I talked about our
excitement of the last two mornings.
“I can already see that we’ll need to hire another server so that you can
mingle more,” Mitchell said. “Face time, that’s important.”
And as he said those words, I leaned over to him and planted a big, noisy
kiss on
the
dimple! “I love this face!”
Mitchell blushed, and the girls laughed. Sarina said, “I have a friend who is
looking for some work.”
“Sarina, can you give her a call?” I asked, and she nodded.
“I just thought of one more thing that I think we need. I need to run out a
while. I’ll call you in about half an hour,” Mitchell said, kissed me, and hurried
out the door.
Sarina’s friend Meg came by and I hired her. We busied ourselves getting
everything in place, with Sarina showing Meg where everything was, and Cassie
overseeing what we needed to do for the next day.
My phone rang. “Hey,” I said when I saw it was Mitchell.
“Can we move the cash register counter down three or four feet toward the
door?”
I motioned for Cassie, and told her what Mitchell was asking, and we
agreed that it was doable.
“OK, slide it down. Dave and I will be there in about fifteen minutes. Sorry
for the last minute disruption, but I think you’ll be happy with it.”
All of our equipment, and work areas were on sliders so that we could pull
it everything out for cleaning. We got busy, moving the counter. Mitchell and
Dave arrived just as we finished.
Mitchell had a big smile on his face as he hugged me. “I don’t know why I
didn’t remember that I had this before. I called Dave on the way and he
plugged it in to make sure it still worked. They wiped it all down before I got
there,” he said proudly.
“What is it?” I asked, anxious to know.
Just then, TJ and Ben, two of his crew, were at the door and Dave opened
it to help them. They pushed a dolly carrying something big through the
entrance. At Mitchell’s direction, they lifted a glass case into the spot where
we’d moved things around, and he plugged it in. It was black, white, and
burgundy, and matched colors we’d chosen for the café decor. The case
contained three glass shelves, staggered to display items.
“It’s a chiller display case. It’s not for meats and things like that, temp
doesn’t get that low, but…”
“Oh my gosh! What a great idea! We can put the muffins in here and they
can see the variety…” I interrupted, and as I spoke excitedly, Cassie bolted
toward the storage room and came back with several large plates and platters
that she’d found at thrift shops and set them inside the case. We giggled like
silly girls. Mitchell and the guys watched, chuckling all the while.
“And we can use the top as a display for the brochures and specials,”
Cassie chirped, “freeing up space on the register counter!”
We pushed everything back around. Mitchell showed how the doors lifted
out and without me even asking, Sarina and Meg got a bucket to clean the
inside. I’d noticed TJ eyeing Sarina earlier and smiled watching him watch her
now.
And again, like at Mom’s visitation, I heard a song in my head, and began
to sing,
‘Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends… Mmm going to try with a little
help from my friends…’

“Mitchell Donovan, you’re a genius!”
“I know,” he laughed. “A bakery from the Northside dropped it off for
rewiring and then never picked it up. It’s been at the shop for about three years.
I’m happy to get it gone.”
“I’m so happy!” I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him close,
whispering in his ear, “we’re sleeping here tonight; I’ve got something special
for you.”
He had a big grin on his face, and I added, “In the crockpot,” and we both
laughed.
“I’ll be back around five,” he called out as he left.

Muffins baked, tables covered with clean, ironed, tablecloths; everything
appeared ready and I sent my co-workers on their way.
Cassie hugged me before she left, telling me, “This is gonna be great! I can
feel it! We’re going to be busy! People are going to love us, and they’ll order,
and come back for more!”
I prayed she was right.

We would serve breakfast until 10:30 each day, and then the focus would
be on filling orders and getting muffins baked for the following day’s breakfast
crowd. Mitchell came in at five and I was there alone, sitting quietly at one of
the tables.

“You OK?”
“Mmm hmm, just trying to process all of this. It’s exciting, frightening…
all of that. Today was good. Thank you for the case. It’s a perfect addition and
I love it, but I love you more for thinking of it.”
“I forgot about it until today.”
“Well, it’s just what we needed and we didn’t even know we needed it,” I
laughed. We both looked around, pleased with the outcome.
“Now, what smells so good?”
“It’s Asian pork. Go shower and I’ll get it ready.”
By the end of the month, Convenient Cuisine
and
Breakfast Café was a hit.
Cassie designed a sign to install out front. Mitchell worked with her to assure
that it met city codes, and it was in the front of Granny’s - right there on the
street for the whole world to see when they drove by. We’d been so busy that
just seeing it there scared the hell out of me. The local paper came and did a big
article singing our praises, and one of the local TV stations asked if they could
come and film for a story for The AM News program as well.
We’d already had to buy another vacuum sealer and hire another gal to help
with the prep. Rachael was a veggie chopping, food sealing fool – after Cassie
meticulously showed her how we cut them ‘just so’.
“Presentation is as important as the food itself,” I heard Cassie say, and
smiled.
Cassie stayed busy at the computer printing off pick-up orders, and we
were averaging about a dozen and a half, each day. Breakfast kept us busy, too,
and I had to admit that Mitchell was right. At the end of the month we
calculated an average of thirty daily eat-in diners and 15-20 grab and go muffins
and coffee each day.
And I noticed that each day Sarina worked, TJ came for breakfast before
he went to work.
Ain’t love a funny thing?
I thought.

“I have to figure out time management better,” I told Mitchell, honestly,
over dinner one evening at Granny’s. “I don’t want to get burned out. I know
it’s still new and exciting to everyone, but I want to come home in the evening,
turn my work brain off and enjoy you. We can’t stay here so much. I want to go
home. People are already asking about a lunch service, and weekends, even a
Sunday Brunch, but I don’t want to expand, putting me here even more. Then
it would be a job and I don’t want that.”

“Then just say ‘no’,” he said. “It’s as simple as that.”
“But am I cutting off my nose to spite my face? I mean ‘no’…”
“No today doesn’t mean ‘no’ forever. Let’s respond this way, ‘we have no

plans to expand at this time’. Who knows what the future holds?”
“I like it! Can I show you something? It’s just a quick picture of the first
month. Cassie is very detailed and this morning she gave this to me.” I handed
him our first sales and expense report.
“Wow,” Mitchell said, his voice full of excitement. “I didn’t expect that, did
you?”
“Nope, but then, I’m not sure what I expected. I really had no idea how it
would be perceived, but I’m pleased…”
“But, or and?” he laughed.
“I want to promote Cassie to General Manager. I hear her talk about the
business and she always says ‘we’ when she talks, and I like it. She’s been here
almost every day since day one and I feel like she’s my business partner.”
“Let’s crunch some numbers and see if she even wants that.”
“In my proposal to her, I want to make one of the bedrooms her office, to
allow her to work on her business, too.”
“Great idea, just don’t give her our bedroom,” he laughed.
“Never! I think the small bedroom next to our office in the front of the
house would be perfect. We’ll need to hire another prep server so that it will
free her up.”
“Good ideas.”

We made our proposal to Cassie and she happily accepted. We agreed to
work her hours around Chuck’s schedule.
After we closed for breakfast one day, Sarina and Meg had music playing
while they cleaned. Rachel was working on the cut and prep so that they could
seal orders for the next day. Cassie had gone for the day. As I worked on
muffins for the next day, I enjoyed watching the three friends interact. All of a
sudden, the intro to a song began and Meg looked my way. “Can we turn this
up? JT is soooo sexay when he sings this.”
I nodded, not sure who JT was, but their excited smiles and Meg’s ‘soooo
sexay’ comment made me listen.
The slow, jazzy beat had all three girls swaying to the music. I looked and
saw Rachel with a spatula singing as if she was on stage, and I smiled. But then,
I listened.

‘Cuz I don’t wanna lose you now
I'm lookin’ right at the other half of me
The vacancy that sat in my heart
Is a space that now you hold
Show me how to fight for now
And I’ll tell you, baby, it was easy
Comin’ back here to you once I figured it out
You were right here all along
It's like you’re my mirror
Oh, oh
My mirror staring back at me
I couldn’t get any bigger
With anyone else beside of me
And now it's clear as this promise
That we’re making two reflections into one…