Page 2 of Beautiful Dreamer

“I love it. My client will love it even more. Thanks, Karen.” Thenshe remembered Ricky, who was still on her heels.

“So, what can I help you with exactly?”

He had a hungry look about him. “How do I move from privatelistings to developments?”

Well, wasn’t that the million-dollar question, literally. Shetossed him a glance. “You want to work with developers?” It didn’t shock her.There was nothing in the world like being handed a fifteen-million-dollarbuilding and selling out the entire thing single-handedly. The dollar signsfrom the commission alone sent her a thrilling chill. That didn’t even begin tocover the street cred.

Ricky came farther into her office and sat in the oversizedleather chair across from her desk. There were times she slept in that chairwhen it made more sense than going all the way home. “Yes, very much, and youseem to have it all figured out.”

“I do okay.” She flashed a smile, knowing it was an understatement.She played hardball in the big leagues with her name on the tip of everyone’stongue and loved every minute of it. It came at a price, though. She couldn’tslow down for so much as a millisecond or she’d lose it all to someone who waswilling to schmooze harder or stay up an hour longer. Good thing she loved thegrind.

“How did you get started?” Rick asked.

“With high-rises? You start with a single listing in one building,prove yourself by knocking it out of the park by bringing in a killer offer,and hope the developer is so stoked that they give you another shot, thenanother, followed by an entire building of high-end inventory.”

He nodded along enthusiastically.

“Then their developer buddy sees that their multimillion-dollarbuilding sold out in three months and wants to know who they used. It’s allabout your track record and forming strong relationships. Prove yourself, andthere’s always more.”

Ricky stared at her like she’d just invented electricity. “That’samazing.”

“It can be.” She grabbed a Red Bull from her bottom drawer forherself and slid one to Ricky, who happily scooped it up. “New construction inPhiladelphia is up twenty percent. It’s a good time to get your feet wet ifyou’re serious.”

He blinked hard as she spoke as if committing her wise words tomemory. “I am. Very serious, in fact.”

Despite her schedule, Ricky’s obvious sincerity snagged herattention, prompting her to make an uncharacteristic decision. “Listen, I havea four o’clock this afternoon with a known wheeler-dealer. The guy never stops.In fact, I don’t think he sleeps with all the buildings he’s got going up. Doyou want to sit in on the meeting? He’s three-quarters of the way into constructionon a building on Walker Avenue, and I’m angling for it.”

“The whole building?”

“Of course the whole building.”

His face lit up in admiration. Bless his heart. “Yeah. Yes. Iwould love that. If you’re sure you don’t mind.”

“I don’t. We’ll likely do drinks after a tour of the property.There’s a bar around the corner he likes.”

Ricky paused. “Just so I’m clear, this might be a late workday?”

Devyn understood that Ricky would likely need to let his wife knowthat he wouldn’t be home for dinner. She couldn’t imagine being tied down likethat. To her, every day was a late workday, but that was the kind of pace thatgot her fur up and made her excited to get up in the morning, to get out thereand sell. She didn’t live by the clock, and that had paid off in spades.Financially, she was set. She lived in an upscale condo in the heart ofdowntown Philadelphia and reaped the rewards of her hard work, as evidenced byher round-the-clock concierge and large staff of various assistants both atwork and in her personal life. “Yeah, Ricky. We might go past six. You still upfor it?”

He grinned and rolled with the punch. “Definitely.”

“Great. Meet me downstairs at three fifteen. I have a slice ofcake to finish now while I present these new offers to my client.”

“Best of luck,” Ricky said, shooting her two enthusiasticthumbs-up.

She smiled and leaned back in her leather desk chair. “I won’tneed it.”

* * *

Elizabeth Draper and Hank the hound dog were getting alongsplendidly that morning. In fact, as far as Elizabeth was concerned, Hank wasalways a pleasure to walk, tongue hanging out the side of his mouth like acalling card. They rounded the corner onto the last tree-lined street of theirweekly Wednesday-morning walk. With winter melting into spring, the green wasreemerging in the grass, trees, and bushes after months of dormancy. Thebrighter colors inspired a bouncy spring in her step that she swore translatedto Hank, who she’d decided months ago was an incredibly intuitive doggo.

She paused the walk to let Hank and his nose investigate thesuspicious crevice in the sidewalk, while she took a deep inhale of fresh air.Someone nearby was brewing coffee with the windows open, and it only added toElizabeth’s enjoyment of the morning and the happy reminder that she still hadthe whole day stretched out ahead of her.

“Almost home, big guy,” she said to Hank as they neared the redbrick one-story where he lived with his owner, Pam. The reminder wasunnecessary, however, because Hank was already pulling on the leash and whiningsoftly. He knew exactly where he was and was anxious to lap up some waterbefore falling onto his side on the cool kitchen floor for his late-morningsnooze. Dutifully, she let them into the house with the key Pam had provided,made sure Hank had plenty of water, and retrieved the weekly payment left forher on the kitchen counter. “You have a good day, Hank,” she said with a finalpat and kiss to the side of his big, sloppy cheek. “Be nice to your mom whenshe gets home from the office, and I will see you on Friday morning.”

With a thud, he fell onto his side to absorb the cool from thetile. She smiled as he let out a long and contented sigh. They’d had a goodwalk that day, and for the first time in quite a while, she’d been able toleave her jacket and car at home where she worked from her converted garagethat she’d turned into a functioning office for On the Spot, the errand and oddjob company she owned and operated. True, there was only one full-timeemployee: herself, but she did employ a wide variety of part-time workers allcategorized by their dependability and particular skill set. The communitycollege kids had been a great resource for the kind of work she did, and as shegrew, so did her Rolodex. And they did continue to grow. The town of Dreamer’sBay had truly embraced the business, and Elizabeth was beyond grateful.

In fact, in checking her phone after Hank’s walk, she learned shealready had three new requests for tasks that very day. Mrs. Belmont was underthe weather and looking for help picking up her dry cleaning and ingredientsfor fresh tomato sauce. The Hubbard family wanted to hire either her or one ofher vetted childcare workers to take the younger two Hubbards to the park forsome exercise once school let out for the day, and that grumpy Mr. Ivers wantedMcDonald’s for lunch again, even though his doctor had told him countless timesthat his cholesterol was too high and salty foods should be avoided. She sighedand shook her head at that one. It wasn’t her job to evaluate the requests ofher clientele. Though, when she delivered the Big Mac and large fries, shewould certainly have trouble holding her tongue entirely about his continuedhigh sodium consumption. She happened to care about him, grumpy or not.

---