One Woman’s Treasure

by Jean Copeland

  “Okay. Fine. I understand. No big deal. Have fun.”

  “You don’t sound like you’re fine with it.”

  “It is what it is, Nina. I know how important your commitments are to you.”

  Wait. What? Was that a shot at the fact that she’d cheated on Zack with her? Or maybe she was suggesting that she’d strung her along because of her commitment to Zack? Or was she just being hypersensitive? She couldn’t deal with this now.

  “I have to take Noah to my mother’s. I’ll call you tonight.” She hit the end button and waved Noah back to her.

  After he’d signaled one more minute with his finger in the air, Nina turned toward the table in time to see Daphne bright-eyed and talking with an old couple. The woman held a set of vintage candle lanterns as the man paid Daphne cash. She hung back and waited for them to complete the transaction before returning.

  “Did you just make your first sale?” Nina indicated the old couple walking away as she approached the table.

  Daphne was jumping up and down and nodding, as excited as a kid who’d hit a game-winning homerun in Little League. Nina rushed at her behind the table and attacked her with the bear hug she’d thought of earlier.

  “I’m so proud of you,” Nina said, still embracing her. “And you did it on your own.”

  “I was so nervous at first when the wife started asking me questions, but then I just answered her, and we started talking. They were both so sweet.”

  “You’re officially a businesswoman.”

  Daphne beamed. “I am, aren’t I?”

  “You know what this means, don’t you?”

  “I have to activate my website now,” Daphne said with a cautious grin. She took out her phone and clicked on the app.

  “Would you like a drum roll?”

  “Done.” Daphne looked up, and exhilaration simmered in her eyes.

  “How does it feel to know you’ve made your biggest vision come to fruition?”

  Daphne closed her eyes as though breathing in success. “Wonderful. I don’t know how to thank you for all your technical and emotional support. I couldn’t have done it without you.” She hugged Nina so tight their bodies came together from head to toe, like a hand sliding into a supple leather glove.

  As Nina held onto her, inhaling the light scent of perfume mingled with sweat on her neck, a burst of excitement raced through her—but not the traditional kind for a friend’s success. When she realized Daphne’s hug was arousing her, she withdrew.

  “You give me too much credit, Daph,” she said casually. “All you needed was a little push in the right direction.”

  “Nina, you designed my whole website for me and basically held my hand every step of the way. I’m definitely not giving you too much credit.”

  Nina laughed at Daphne’s dramatic gestures as she spoke. She’d loved helping Daphne through every phase of her new venture. It had filled her with joy watching a woman clueless to her potential slowly but surely starting to realize it.

  “I think you have other customers.” Nina jutted her chin toward two young women browsing the table. “I’m gonna run Noah over to my mom’s, and I’ll be back.”

  “No rush. I got this,” Daphne said with a playful smirk.

  “That’s my girl,” Nina replied, instantly chastising herself as she walked away with Noah. That’s my girl? What the hell was that all about? She’d come off sounding like a condescending daddy. Or, worse, her lover.

  While heading to the car, Noah told her all about the vintage Spiderman comic he was able to procure for a discounted price, but she couldn’t concentrate on anything except the way Daphne’s hug had made her feel.

  * * *

  While Nina was gone Daphne had sold another item, an early twentieth-century mantel clock that still kept perfect time and chimed as daintily as it likely had when it was a practical item a hundred years earlier. She’d bought it for a hundred, added a little antique polish, replaced the glass over the face, and sold it for two-fifty. She could get used to this.

  She checked her phone again to see if Brynne had replied to the text she’d sent after her first sale two hours earlier. Nothing. In Brynne’s defense, it was probably hard to respond to anything while paddling down a river. She’d try again later.

  After about an hour, Nina returned with sandwich wraps and flavored waters from a gourmet deli near her mother’s house. She was so thoughtful. She could’ve eaten lunch at her mother’s by the pool, but instead she came back to have it with her. Lacey was a lucky woman. Good thing she’d come to her senses and grabbed Nina before someone else realized how amazing she was.

  “Any big plans with Brynne this week?” Nina sat with her feet up on the edge of the table as she ate, her long, tanned legs stretched out before Daphne.

  Daphne shrugged. “I’m sure we’ll get together, but now that the website’s up, I feel like I should take a ride treasure hunting. I still have stuff at home, but what if my stock runs low and I can’t fill orders? What do you think?”

  “Ah, the beautiful dilemma of every entrepreneur,” Nina said as she licked honey mustard from the corner of her mouth. “If you’re asking my opinion, I’d say see how you do today and this week on your site before you start panicking about inventory. Zack has Noah next weekend, so I can sneak off with you if you want.”

  “Sneak off?” Daphne smirked. “You have to hide from your girlfriend already?”

  “It was just an expression,” Nina replied, seeming slightly defensive.

  “I’m only kidding.” Daphne reeled in damage control. “I didn’t mean anything bad against Lacey.”

  “I know you didn’t. I must still be a little sensitive about the idea of sneaking around.”

  Nice play, Shakespeare. Daphne stiffened at her uncanny ability to offend people even in the most laid-back situations.

  Thankfully, as if on cue, Lacey’s name appeared as an incoming call on Nina’s phone. “Hey, babe.” Nina shifted away from Daphne as she talked. “About four thirty…Yeah, but she may need help packing the items that don’t sell.”

  Daphne strained to continue eavesdropping as Nina’s voice started growing softer.

  “I know, but it’s just this one time…All right. Let me call you later, okay?” She looked back at Daphne self-consciously and mimed that she’d be off the phone in a minute. “Yeah, okay. I’ll text you when I’m on my way home.” She seemed a bit exasperated as she ended the call and turned back to her.

  “Nina, you don’t have to stay till the end. I’ve got the hang of this now. Call Lacey back if she wants to get together.”

  “That’s not really the point, Daph. I made arrangements to help you today, and she should respect my plans with my friends, not give me a hard time about them.”

  Daphne tried not to let disappointment flower on her face. It was starting already. “It’s fine, though,” she said. “It won’t be a problem loading the rest of the stuff myself. I’d feel terrible if I caused the first rift in your new and improved relationship.”

  “Ha.” Nina leaned back, sipping her water. “If the relationship really is new and improved, something like this shouldn’t cause a rift.”

  “How are you always so logical?” Daphne asked. “I’m dreadful at confrontation, even if I have a valid point.” She glanced at her dormant phone on the table. “It’s kind of nice that she wants to see you so badly.”

  “It’s a fine line between being eager to see someone and being demanding. I used to cave to pressure from Zack and change things to accommodate him even if it wasn’t convenient. I’ve since dropped that bad habit. And besides, Lacey and I spent Friday and last night together, so it’s not like I’m neglecting her.”

  “Okay. As long as you don’t feel obligated to stay here with me…”

  Nina smiled. “It’s a gorgeous day. I’m hanging out with my bestie. Where’s the obligation?”

  Daphne smiled back, secretly stoked that she was Nina’s choice. For now, anyway. Would Lacey start
demanding more of her time as they grew closer or try to narrow her social circle? If things kept moving along the way they were, they’d probably move in together eventually. Then what would happen to her friendship with Nina? No way they could remain as close as they were now. She hadn’t realized her expression had faded into gloom.

  “What’s wrong? Still haven’t heard from Brynne?”

  Daphne shook her head solemnly, more about Lacey than about Brynne.

  “You might want to think about having sex with her,” Nina said. “I mean, if you like her enough to want to foster something more meaningful, now’s probably the time to show her.”

  Daphne studied her hands in her lap.

  “Do you?” Nina said.

  “What? Like her enough or want to foster something meaningful?”

  “Both. They kinda go hand in hand.”

  “I suppose they do.” Daphne was pensive. She didn’t like how she couldn’t answer Nina’s question with any degree of certainty. “I’m going to decide on the way home before I call her tonight.”

  Nina stared at her like she’d begun shape-shifting before her eyes. “Uh, yeah. Do that.”

  Daphne laughed at Nina’s playful sarcasm. “Cut me some slack. I’m not as experienced in relationships as you.”

  “Did you just call me a whore in euphemism?”

  At that they broke up into pure silliness, bumping each other as they laughed, snorting or gasping until they caught their breath.

  “Can I be honest without you making fun of me?” Daphne asked.

  Nina gave her a stern glare. “Do you really have to ask?”

  She knew she could tell Nina anything, but the verbal reassurance made her feel better. “Okay. Here it goes…Savannah is the only relationship I’ve ever had, not just the first woman.”

  “Ever? Not even in high school?”

  Daphne shook her head. “I was chubby, awkward, and wore a scoliosis brace. And I also never liked boys.”

  “I think the latter accounted for the lack of boyfriends more than anything else,” Nina said. “And so what if you’ve had only one relationship? Lots of people married their high school sweethearts and stay married forever.”

  “You really don’t think it’s weird that I’m thirty-eight years old and only ever had one girlfriend?”

  “Not at all. But it looks like you’re well on your way to your second one, if you can just relax and go with the flow.”

  “I’m working on it,” Daphne replied.

  They sat there smiling at each other so intently that her next customer had to clear his throat to get Daphne’s attention.

  “Oh, I’m sorry, sir,” Daphne said, standing abruptly. “How can I help you?”

  “I’m sorry to interrupt,” the well-dressed older man said. “You two are adorable.” His grin insinuated a whole backstory for them.

  Daphne smiled bashfully. “Thanks. We’re just friends.”

  Nina threw her arms around Daphne from the side of her in dramatic fashion. “Oh, darling, don’t deny our secret passion. The whole world can see it.”

  “We’re just friends,” Daphne repeated as the man laughed with Nina.

  “Well, you’d make a gorgeous couple if you were,” he said. “Are these dessert plates part of a set?”

  “I’m sure they were at some point,” she replied. “But that’s all I have.”

  “Very well. I’ll take them.”

  After she swiped his card through her credit-card app and packaged his dishes, she turned to Nina. “That was cute.”

  “What was?” Nina asked, playing coy.

  “You must really be bored sitting here.”

  Nina leaned back in the small folding chair and laced her fingers behind her head. “Actually, I’m having a great time.”

  “Me, too.” For Daphne, there literally was no place she’d rather be.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Nina and Noah lugged boxes of Halloween decorations out of the garage and piled them on the lawn in front of the porch. As she separated the items into two groups, hers and Noah’s, she watched for Daphne’s car.

  She’d texted earlier and asked if she could stop by in the afternoon to discuss an update between her and Brynne. No details, just a cryptic sense of urgency. What could it be? Daphne wasn’t prone to theatrical entrances, so she must have big news.

  Her musings were cut short as she noticed her son winding himself up in a knotted set of lights. “Noah, can you take those headstones and skeleton parts and arrange them over there? I’ll string the lights on the bushes.” She mused at how gaudy the place would look after they finished adorning it with all the spooky tchotchke Noah had begged her to buy at the hobby store. Some battles warranted an early surrender, for sanity’s sake.

  “I can put them anywhere I want?” he asked.

  “Sure. And keep an eye out for Daphne’s car.”

  “I thought Lacey was coming.”

  “She is, for dinner.”

  “How come you get to have all your friends over tonight, but I can’t have Justin and Tyler sleep over?”

  “My friends require much less supervision than yours,” she replied, then muttered under her breath, “and my friends bring alcohol.”

  “Next weekend it’s my turn to have my friends over.”

  “Sounds good to me. It’s your father’s weekend,” she said with a giggle.

  A little while later, Daphne’s car came rolling up the driveway. Nina finished layering a bush beside the porch with orange pumpkin lights and wiped the sweat from the early October sun from her forehead. “Afternoon. Did you want to meet in person so you could casually wave an engagement-ring-clad hand around as you talk?” She acted out her suggestion as she approached the car.

  But Daphne didn’t laugh. She shut off the ignition and sat behind the wheel frowning.

  “Oh, no.” Nina knew what had happened. “There’s no engagement ring, is there?”

  Daphne shook her head, still frowning. “I’m two for two.”

  “Oh, honey. Come out of there and talk to me,” Nina said, feeling empathy ooze from her pores.

  Daphne trudged to the porch and plopped down on the top step. “I’ve been dumped again.”

  Joining her on the step, Nina rubbed her forearm, then squeezed her hand. “I’m sorry. It’s such an awful feeling. Are you okay?”

  Apparently unable to answer without an accompanying deluge of tears, Daphne shrugged and gazed up at the autumn palette of leaves on the surrounding trees.

  Nina tensed at Daphne’s painful silence. She hated the fact that she always felt compelled to solve everyone’s problems—a byproduct of her years as a corporate executive. But in matters of the heart, sometimes there were no solutions. Just a friend who’ll sit beside you while you try to hold yourself together.

  “Wouldn’t it be nice if we could stop viewing it as being dumped?” she finally said. “If a relationship isn’t working for one or both people, somebody has to make the move. It doesn’t mean something’s wrong with the other person.”

  “Is that how you looked at it when Lacey broke up with you?”

  “No. Not at first. But after a really inspirational episode of Ted Talks, I realized that if I changed my perspective, I might be able to change or even lessen my grief over it.”

  Daphne’s lips formed a smirk. “When we met six months ago, you were still pretty salty about it.”

  “I didn’t say it was an instant fix. It’s just healthier for your self-worth and overall mindset if you find a positive spin to everything that sucks in life. Besides, didn’t you tell me that hindsight’s given you the clarity to see that your life is better now that you and Savannah aren’t together anymore?”

  “Yes, it is. But this really sucks. I had fun with Brynne, and I think I could’ve caught feelings for her with a little more time.”

  Nina pondered that remark. Daphne thought she could’ve caught feelings for Brynne? It had been over two months, but she still wasn’t sur
e? She was clearly bummed out, but Nina began to contemplate whether it was actually over losing Brynne or that she’d experienced rejection again.

  “I’m sorry, Daph.” Nina playfully butted her shoulder against Daphne’s. “If you need a shoulder to cry on, I have two. You pick. Cryer’s choice.”

  “Thanks.” Daphne let her head fall gently against Nina’s left one.

  “Did Brynne say why? How did she do it? She didn’t ghost you, did she?”

  “No. She was gracious enough. She came by my house and said she just wasn’t feeling from me what she wanted, and that if we spent any more time together, it would only impede us from meeting a more compatible mate.”

  “She literally used those words? Impede and compatible mate? Ick.”

  Daphne laughed through her nose and bopped her head against the side of Nina’s.

  Nina got up and headed back to the bin of decorations. “Wanna help me get the rest of these lights up? Then I’ll feed you some dinner. Lacey’s coming over at six.”

  “I’ll help you decorate, but then I’ll get out of here. Nobody wants a third wheel on their romantic dinner date.”

  “We already have a third wheel,” Nina replied with a nod in Noah’s direction. “You can make it a foursome.”

  “If you’re sure she won’t mind.”

  “She won’t, and Noah would love it. He gets a kick out of you.”

  “Great. I appeal to ten-year-olds,” Daphne said, twisting her mouth. “Take that, Brynne.”

  Nina giggled despite not wanting to encourage Daphne’s self-deprecation. “Besides, I want my girlfriend and best friend to get to know each other better. Tonight’s the perfect opportunity.”

  Daphne nodded in appreciation, and all three of them completed decorating the yard with time left over to put up their feet on the veranda with two pumpkin beers and a cold glass of apple cider.

  When Lacey pulled up, she seemed to take in the scene before putting on her “happy to be here” face. This did not go unnoticed by Nina.

  Had she committed a faux pas not texting Lacey a heads-up about the added dinner guest?

  * * *