Underestimated (10 page)

couldn’t help but think about Drew eating something that

messy. He would have had his little servant there picking

the meat off the bone for him.

I had a good time with Dawson, and we talked and

laughed about nothing at all. That too made me think about

Drew. I had never in the six years that I was married to

him, laughed with him. Yes, I am sure that I faked many

laughs, but this was different. Dawson was just a charming

funny guy, and so much fun to be around.

Dawson had no sooner dropped me off when

Lauren walked uninvited through my front door.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were going out with

Dawson?” she spouted.

“I didn’t know that I was,” I replied.

“Levi called me. He said you blew him off to go

for Dawson.”

“Levi wanted to take me on a date. Dawson and I

are just friends.”

“Do you really believe that, Ry?”

“What?” I asked surprised, “that we are just

friends?”

“Yes.”

“Of course I believe it. There was nothing

romantic about it.”

“Yeah okay, whatever.”

“There wasn’t, and I am not dating Dawson, Levi

or anyone else. Now stop it.”

“Let’s go to the bar,” she said letting it go.

“Um, no. I am staying home.”

“Come on, Ry. Don’t make me go by myself.”

“I just saw Joel on your porch. You’re not going

alone. You little conniver.”

“But I don’t want you to sit here alone.”

“I like being alone. I am going to change and veg

out on the couch. I’m tired. I worked harder than I am used

to this week.”

“Fine, party pooper, I will talk to you later.”

I did veg out on the couch and dozed off by ten. It

was the first night in almost a week that I dreamed, and

again I was taken back in time to being a little girl. My

mom had just gotten home from her shift at the truck stop. I

was twelve, and Justin was just a tiny baby, maybe two or

three months old. He was sick and burning up with a fever.

I was trying to give him a bottle and rock him and do

everything that a twelve year old child would know to get

him to stop.

My mom took him from me and was mad because I

let him get sick. I was crying and trying to explain that I

had told my dad to stop and tell her that he was sick on his

way to the bar, but she wouldn’t listen and slapped me

across the face for back talking her.

That was the first time that I was ever alone. She

took him to the hospital, and they kept him for three days. I

knew he was in the hospital because my dad had come

home long enough to shower and leave again for his

weekend bar routine. He never came home that night, and

my mom never came home. It was the dead of winter, and

again I couldn’t keep the only heat source burning. It was

freezing in the trailer, and there was no food in the

cabinets or freezer. I ate a bag of microwave popcorn the

first night and dry cereal for the next two days. I was

afraid that nobody was ever coming back, and by the third

day I was hungry, scared and freezing.

My parents came home together with Justin, and

again I was in trouble because the fire was out. It was so

cold in the old trailer that there was ice on the inside of

the windows. My dad bent me over his legs on the sofa,

no, he didn’t bend me over, he threw me over his legs. My

mom stood there and watched him hit me over and over

until she finally told him that was enough.

I woke up to Justin crying in my room a few hours

later. I waited for my mom to come and get him, but she

didn’t come. I left him crying in my room while I heated a

bottle. I hated my parents and neither one of them deserved

me or Justin. I could hear the bed creaking and both my

parents moaning and going at it in the next room. I put

Justin in bed with me after changing his diaper and

covered us both up.

I didn’t wake panic or scared with this dream. I

felt pain and neglect and my heart ached for Justin, hoping

that he was doing well. I wanted to go there and find him,

just to make sure for myself, but I didn’t dare. I knew that

Drew had somebody staked out there, waiting to see me. I

wiped the single tear from my eye and got up. I didn’t have

to open the shop for another two hours, but I dressed and

went anyway. I would rather have been working then

alone with my thoughts.

Before I knew it, I had been in my new dwellings

for a month. I did hang out with Dawson quite often, and

he hung around the shop drinking more coffee than normal.

The store looked sensational, and the office was actually a

well productive working space now. I filed everything in

the empty filing cabinets that were buried with boxes and

boxes of stuff that I was sure Starlight didn’t even know

she had. I used some of the petty cash and Dawson built

shelves in the storeroom for me. I had everything

organized and on shelves. I had found some really funky

things in the storeroom and continued to make the dining

room more, customer friendly. There was a box that I was

sure Starlight had gotten for that purpose that had yellow

and white checkered tablecloths. I brought out three booths

that were also buried in the back, and Dawson screwed

them to the floor for me in front of the glass windows. I

brought out three more tables and covered them all with

the tablecloths.

I also found a whole stack of beautiful Indian

paintings that needed to be on display. They were

beautiful. The first day that I had hung them on the hooks

that Dawson also hung for me, I sold three of them. I hung

some uniquely made dream catchers which were also

selling like crazy. I found the company that had made them

and ordered another box in all shapes and sizes.

Lauren and Dawson helped two Sundays in a row,

scrubbing and re-staining the wood floors. I couldn’t wait

for Starlight to get back to see her new store. I also hoped

that she wasn’t going to be mad at all of the changes that I

took upon myself to do.

A young girl from the next town over stopped in

one day and had just opened up a cookie and cupcake

store and wanted to know if I would be interested in

placing an order. I had told her that I would order once

and see how they went and if they did okay I would order

more. They did more than okay, and she was bringing

fresh orders daily. The display case that Dawson helped

get from the back room to beside the counter was perfect

and I even had room for Phyllis’s Saturday morning

doughnuts in the case. I was the one to get the cookies,

cupcakes, and pastries from the case. I hated the way it

was before and people could just finger whatever. I felt

much better about taking the food out with my plastic

gloved hand.

Dawson was there, as normal, earlier than he

needed to be on Saturday morning. I was frantically

cleaning and making sure everything was perfect for

Starlight. I was a nervous wreck and hoped that she was

okay with all of the changes.

“Will you get over here and sit down,” Dawson

pleaded. “I know Starlight. She is going to love it.”

I got a cup of coffee and sat at the booth in front of

the window with him, patiently waiting and wishing that

she would get there already.

“You want to go eat some ribs tonight?” Dawson

asked as we waited.

“Hmm, maybe,” I replied.

“Maybe?”

“Well it’s six o’clock in the morning. I can’t think

about supper until I have breakfast and lunch.”

Dawson laughed. “Okay, let me know after lunch.”

I ran to the back room when I heard the door

unlock, knowing that it was Starlight. She came in with

huge eyes, and her hand covered her mouth. Dawson had

followed me back, wanting to see her reaction, as well.

“Oh, my God, Riley, did you do all of this,” she

asked in awe of the neatly organized storeroom that you

could actually see the floor, and it was clean.

“Well, I had some help,” I answered, smiling at

Dawson. “I would have never been able to do it all

myself.”

“You haven’t seen anything yet, Starlight. This girl

is a working machine. Welcome home,” Dawson added.

“I don’t think I am home. This is not the store that I

left.”

She walked down the hall and opened the office

door and gasped. I had hung pictures on the walls, the desk

was clear, except for the computer and a folder in a medal

slot with an order for some psychedelic flip-flops that I

wanted to purchase for the store. It was now pretty warm

out, and with the tourists that I had been getting in the

store, I knew they would sell.

Starlight couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

She opened the drawers and filing cabinet with the wisely

placed tabs with a tangible system. She couldn’t seem to

close her mouth. She continued and walked in both the

men’s and women’s restrooms. They too were transformed

into delicately decorated rooms. Both rooms had an Indian

theme and the décor all came from things that I had found

in the storeroom, except for the paint. We did paint those

two rooms because they desperately needed it. The rust

colored paint with the Indian design looked almost urban.

“Riley, I am speechless,” she exclaimed.

“So you’re not mad?”

“Mad? No way. I am in shock that you did this.”

“Keep walking,” Dawson said. I gasped when I

felt him place his hand on the small of my back. I knew it

was just a friendly gesture, but it made me feel like, like, I

don’t know, like maybe I liked it.

I thought Starlight was going to have a heart attack

when she finally made it to the front. She took note of

every little detail, not missing a thing, and commenting on

every little alteration.

She loved the new look and thought that my design

was magnificent. She thought we had painted there too,

and couldn’t believe it when I told her that we only

scrubbed the walls. I told her that I had wanted to get the

ceilings painted as well, but didn’t want to use all of her

petty cash.

“I will get the ceilings painted for you,” she almost

demanded. She walked around the new counter and slid

the deli case open just in time for Phyllis to bring in the

Saturday morning doughnuts.

“Oh, I better get the coffee going,” I said,

forgetting the time after getting wrapped up in showing

Starlight everything.

“Oh no, you don’t. You’ve done enough. I’ve got

it,” Starlight demanded, taking a bite of an oatmeal cookie.

“I love the cookie idea, and I love you, Riley Murphy,”

she stated. Dawson and I smiled at each other.

Dawson didn’t hangout as long as he normally did,

and Starlight was again amazed at the traffic that came in

and out all day. We didn’t get to close until an hour later

than normal and stayed another hour restocking the sold

merchandise.

“Riley, I don’t know if we can keep up at this

rate,” she said as she replenished the tie-dye shirts on the

rack.

I smiled at her, and she shook her head. “Let me

guess, you already have it covered?”

“I do,” I said. “I sent for a catalogue from this

company out of Oregon. They have the coolest stuff ever,”

I explained, disappearing to the office to retrieve it.

Starlight followed me, and we sat across from

each other at the desk while she turned each page. I had

corner pages folded of the things that I thought would be

nice for the store and she circled a few things, as well.

My cellphone rang, and I answered the call from

Dawson.

“Are we eating ribs or not? I’m starving.”

“I forgot all about it, Dawson. You go ahead. I

think I am going home and making homemade pizza.”

“You made me wait until eight o’clock at night and

didn’t call me. I’m coming over for homemade pizza,” he

demanded, and I laughed.

I wasn’t nervous around him anymore and wasn’t

worried about anything happening between us. We had

been hanging out for a month, and he had never even tried

to kiss me.

“Okay, I have to stop at the store and then I am

headed that way.”

“Sheriff Dawson, uh?” Starlight smiled.