Page 13 of A Chance at Forever
The next weekpassed with a flurry of activity. Mia’s boys were on vacation with their grandparents, so the women were able to tackle the worst parts of the inside of Victoria’s new home. They washed, scrubbed, cleaned and aired the various rooms, stripped and polished the old hardwood floors, and painted the walls.
In the early evening hours before the red ball of sun dipped low in the western skies, Steve and Danny repaired cabinets, replaced weak floorboards, and fixed the faulty plumbing.
One evening toward the end of the week, the men stared in dismay at the crumbling masonry of the stone fireplace in the grand main room.
“I wish Rusty were here,” Danny complained. “We could sure use his brawn.”
“And his brain. When is he coming home, anyway?”
Danny shrugged. “Beats me. Last time we spoke he said he was, and I quote, ‘fishing and philosophizing’.”
Steve grinned and began to remove loose stones with a trowel. “Sounds like Rusty. Hey, are we going to tell him about his beautiful new neighbor?”
Danny struck the fireplace with an axe, then paused and returned Steve’s grin with a smirk. “Nah.”
Both men burst into laughter.
Although repairs were still necessary on the outside of the house, Steve and Danny pronounced the interior fit for habitation on Friday. The girls cheered their approval.
“You know what that means, ladies.” Victoria grinned in delight. “Tomorrow is an all-day shopping expedition.”
“In ‘Frisco?” Mia inquired. Steve frantically shook his head, trying to get his wife’s attention, but she pretended to ignore him.
“In ‘Frisco,” Victoria confirmed and winked at Steve.
The women cried, “Charge!” and Steve and Danny groaned.
*
On Saturday morningMia picked up Jonica and Victoria in her Ford Expedition. They needed the larger vehicle to accommodate the amount of purchases Victoria intended to make. Since it was the first time she was leaving Bud behind, the sound of his whines and sharp barks caused her heart to drop into her stomach as she followed Jonica out of the house.
“This is hard,” Victoria declared. “I hope he doesn’t think I’m abandoning him.”
“Oh, he’ll be fine,” Mia replied as Jonica slid into the front seat and Victoria climbed into the back. “Bud will relish being with Steve and Danny.”
The friends started their trip by eating breakfast at Smith’s Diner, much to Ma Smith’s delight. She fed them their favorite blueberry pancakes wrapped around link sausages and laughed with them over cups of coffee as they ate.
During the hour commute to San Francisco, Victoria put Bud out of her mind and concentrated on enjoying time with her friends. As they approached the city, the water of the bay sparkled beneath the Golden Gate Bridge. Mia drove toward Market Street where the Westfield San Francisco Centre boasted nine stories of shops and restaurants. Its dome-covered atrium drew plenty of tourists. It was a perfect day to be out in the summer sun that shone in all of its glory in the azure sky above.
They pulled in front of Nordstrom’s to use its valet service and entered the mall. At Bloomingdale’s, the friends found everything Victoria needed for her kitchen, bathrooms, and bedrooms. They chose window treatments for every room, bathroom décor and accessories, towels and washcloths, bed linens, rugs, small kitchen appliances, and gadgets galore.
Mia and Jonica helped Victoria choose her dinnerware, drinkware, and flatware, in addition to home accent pieces. Now that she had an idea of color schemes, she could choose the appropriate furniture. Victoria decided she wanted an old-fashioned, comfortable style for her home.
After they shopped for several hours and ate lunch at the impressive food court, they left the mall and headed toward a Jennifer Taylor Home outlet store. There, Victoria found the furniture she wanted for her main room, kitchen, formal dining room, the master suite, three extra bedrooms, and the library. She paid cash for the jaw-dropping amount, drawing a stunned exclamation from the sales associate. Arrangements were made for the furniture to be delivered and set up by Tuesday of the following week.
Their final stop of the day was an office supply store where Victoria purchased a computer desk, ergonomic chair, and a printer. Somehow they managed to get everything in the back of the Expedition. Tired but excited, they chattered non-stop all the way back to Marysville.
“Do you know what I love the most?” Victoria asked.
“The luxury bed linens?” Jonica ventured a guess.
“No. My new wardrobe!”
When she had told her friends she wasn’t shipping her clothes to Marysville, Mia and Jonica understood why. Victoria had shared pictures of her glamorous life in New York City with them and on social media, and she had always appeared unhappy and out of her element. Sadness lurked behind her pasted-on smiles.
Now, humiliation and self-doubt replaced the sadness.
*
