backseat was one of those little half-sized things, difficult to get anything in and out of, and transporting food in the open bed was out of the question. And she couldn’t keep borrowing Zoe’s car, especially if things turned as she hoped and she began making several deliveries a day.
On the other hand, she needed a beefy vehicle for her landscape work. At the very least, something with a trailer hitch. A mid-sized SUV or van could probably handle both needs.
Someone once told her that wishing for a thing wouldn’t make it so. And yet she was a firm believer in visualizing the future. The clearer picture she could form, the more likely she was to manifest the reality. It was a technique she used in cake design all the time. Now she figured she better apply it to her business plan. The company vehicle would be a good first step. She sipped her coffee and flipped through the newspaper.
After an hour she’d come to the conclusion that her truck and all the cash in her checking account would just about make an even trade on the van she needed. She placed a couple of calls on vans that were listed for sale but both were already gone. Undeterred, she kept the image in her head while toasting two slices of bread and topping off her coffee.
Kelly emerged from her room and Sam noticed that she was shivering in her light cottons from southern California.
“I don’t think I own anything warm enough for September in Taos,” she said.
“You’re welcome to look through my closet but I don’t think anything’s going to be a great fit on you.” Kelly was about the size of a pencil.
She dashed into Sam’s room anyway and came out with a pair of sweats that, while still large on her, were ones Sam had shoved to the end of the closet rail because they hadn’t fit in years. The sweatshirt overpowered Kelly’s slim frame but she seemed glad of the extra space in it.
“I’ll have to do some shopping,” she said.
Sam saw her bank balance take a dive.
“I’ve got some money, Mom. I collected my final paycheck. And there are credit cards.”
Sam didn’t want to get into the conversation about how she’d gotten into trouble with those cards already. The stare she sent tried to convey
What she said was, “I’m looking at a vehicle for my business, so I’m not going to have any spare cash to help you out, Kell.”
“I know, Mom. I don’t expect that.” She poured herself some coffee and joined Sam at the table. “Actually, I think I have a job prospect.”
She saw the surprise on Sam’s face.
“I talked a lot with Iris last night, and I even mentioned the idea to Beau.”
Another surprise.
“You went in the bathroom right after dinner. That’s when I ran the idea past him.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Iris is getting pretty frail. She told me that Beau worries about her, that he runs home a few times during the day to check on her, and it’s causing trouble for him at work. When anyone mentions nursing homes they both get emotional and can’t talk about it.” Kelly sipped at her coffee. “So, I suggested that I might become Iris’s caregiver. Well, she called it a babysitter. It would just be during the day, because he’s there with her at night.”
“What did he think of the idea? Can he afford to pay someone?”
“Well, that’s the thing. Yes. I guess he’s been thinking of it for awhile but he wasn’t sure about having a stranger in the house. He even interviewed a couple of women a few weeks ago but Iris didn’t like either of them.”
A rush of conflicting emotions ran through Sam. Kelly working for the man she was about to be romantically involved with. Would Kelly be dependable? Would they be happy with her work? Would she be happy doing that sort of thing—she’d done nothing but office work for years.
“Iris loved the idea. She wants Beau to hire me right away. He said he’d think about it, and I said I would need to run it past you.”
Sam wasn’t sure what to think but covered her utter surprise by carrying her empty plate to the sink and refilling her mug.
“It’s quite a commitment,” she said. “She’ll need more and more help as she gets older.”
“I know. I think I can do it. And Beau kept saying we could ‘give it a try.’ He probably doesn’t know how his mother will react to having someone else around all the time either.” She went to the cupboard and found some peanut butter crackers, which she slowly unwrapped. “At least it’s something, some way for me to earn my keep until I find out what life holds next.”
“As long as you are fair with them, Kell. You can’t take this job and then bail out when some high-salary corporate thing comes through.” Sam held up a hand. “I’m just saying. Be sure you’re ready to live up to the responsibility.”
Kelly nodded. “Let’s see what they say about it today. They may have changed their minds.”
A few minutes of silence passed. “Kell? I’m glad you’re thinking creatively about this. And I’m glad that you understand my situation and are willing to pitch in with expenses.”
Kelly came over and gave her a warm hug. “Remember how it was when I was little? Just you and me. You gave up a lot for me, Mom. I don’t expect you to keep doing that. I hope things work out for you and Beau.”
How’d she get to be so wise? A tear threatened Sam’s eye and she blinked it back.
The phone jangled on the kitchen wall and they both jumped.
“There’s Beau now,” Kelly said. “So, what do you think?”
“It’s your choice. I know you’ll make the right decision.” Sam reached for the phone. “And how do you know it’s Beau?”
Of course it was, and after talking to him for a minute she turned the call over to Kelly. While they discussed details, she busied herself taking inventory of her baking supplies.
“I can start tomorrow,” Kelly said to Beau. Done deal.
When she hung up she said, “Now I really better find some new clothing. Looks like I’ll be here for the winter.” She had a huge grin on her face.
With Wal-Mart, one department store and a variety of expensive, touristy specialty shops in town, Sam gave Kelly the options and suggested she might rather drive to Santa Fe where there was a mall and some outlet stores.
“I guess I could spend a day in the city,” Kelly said. “What about you? Want to come along? I didn’t even ask what you were doing when I walked in here.”
Sam told her about the decision to find a new vehicle and, like the younger-thinking person she was, Kelly suggested looking online. Why hadn’t she thought of that? She busied herself at the computer while Kelly dressed for her shopping trip.
“Don’t spend all your money in one place,” Sam kidded as she headed out the back door.
“You either!”
Back at the computer, Sam found a few possible vehicles of interest and sent emails requesting more details. While waiting for responses she figured that she better get her own truck cleaned up and ready to sell. She carried a caddy of cleaning supplies out and worked over the interior, detailing the dashboard with cotton swabs until the thing looked like it had just arrived from the showroom. Moving on to the backseat she came across the bag with the wilted stems that Zoe called deathcamas. She’d completely forgotten to mention it to Beau last night.
She set the bag in the service porch and finished cleaning the truck, inside and out.
By eleven she was more than ready for a break. If it were true that the little wooden box gave her some kind of magic energy zap, she was sure wishing she’d called upon it this morning. She put in a call for Beau, needing to tell him about the deadly plant, and then made a sandwich and flopped into a chair at the kitchen table while she waited for him to call back.
As it turned out, he stopped by instead.
“Hey, the truck sure looks spiffy,” he said, giving it an admiring look.
She thanked him again for last night’s steak dinner and then told him about her plan. “As much as I hate to part with it, I need the other vehicle more.”
