Here's to Tomorrow

by Teagan Hunter

  I lose it. The laughter bubbles up and spills—very ungracefully, I might add—from my mouth. I’m pretty sure I snort, because that’s how hard I’m laughing. Tears start falling and I’m struggling to catch my breath.

  Hudson starts clearing his throat some more and shifting uncomfortably in his chair, glancing around the shop and politely smiling at other customers who I’m sure are openly staring since I’m not being all that quiet.

  I swipe away the tears and take a deep breath, trying to sober up some.

  “I’m fucking with you, Hudson. Come on, you’re buying me a coffee for being so late. And so gullible.” I grab my purse and head to the front counter, leaving Hudson sitting at the table gaping at me.

  I’m looking over the menu when I feel him approach. He steps in closer than he really should and my breath catches. It’s suddenly a lot hotter in here than it was just seconds ago.

  Guess he’s over my fake-out.

  “You’re something, Rae. And I like it,” he says softly in my ear. He doesn’t step back at all.

  Luckily the barista turns toward us, his words drowning out my shallow breaths.

  I can’t seem to form any words and I guess I stand there longer than I should because Hudson orders for me. “We’ll take two large black house coffees, please.”

  We. I really liked the sound of that. Like a lot. A lot more than I should.

  “Thank you. How’d you know what I wanted?”

  “Shot in the dark. Can’t really go wrong with plain coffee. You can change it if you want,” he says.

  I shake my head and make my way to the pick-up counter while Hudson pays. I take the opportunity to study him from afar. He’s dressed in simple jeans and a semi-tight short-sleeved baby-blue shirt, making his eyes and messy dark hair stand out even more against his lightly tanned skin. He must have spent the day outside yesterday because he’s a little darker than he was on Friday night.

  I envy his ability to tan so easily. I’m not horribly pale but my skin rarely tans. It burns, peels, and goes back to being its boring pale shade.

  “Here you go, gorgeous,” the barista says as he slides my coffee toward me and winks.

  I smile at him and look over in time to catch Hudson scowling at the poor high school kid. I shake my head and pour a generous amount of cream and sugar in my coffee, topping it off with a few shakes of cinnamon.

  “Cinnamon?” Hudson asks, crinkling his nose.

  “Don’t hate. It’s delicious.” He still has a look of disbelief plastered on his face. I sigh. “Let me guess, just black? No sugar or anything?”

  He smiles, takes a sip of coffee, and lets out an exaggerated cry of pleasure. Someone’s sarcastic today.

  As we settle down back at the table, I pull out my small folder of ideas.

  “So, I’m not super familiar with your situation at Jacked Up, but I did do a little research after work last night.” I flip to my page of notes and begin reading off some facts I found. “It opened in 1985, so you’re coming up on your thirtieth anniversary. It’s locally owned, obviously. You have six employees total and don’t seem to have much of an online presence, or at least not one that I could easily find.”

  “Yeah, we really need to work on that. We have a rather shitty website that badly needs updated. We have no social media accounts, which I know we need to remedy. Currently we have one small billboard and a tiny spot in the phone book. That’s about it.”

  I cringe a little. “That’s it? Dang. That’s not a lot. Well, you’re already aware of your lack of social media presence, so that’s good. I actually know a few up-and-coming web designers that would probably be more than happy to help you out for a reasonable price. It’ll help build their portfolio so it’s a win-win for both of you. How do you feel about a whole new look?” I ask hopefully.

  He thinks on it for a minute. I like it. I like that he takes the time to really think about what’s best for his business instead of just jumping into anything.

  “I can be persuaded. I’m not real fond of what we currently have but I also don’t want it to turn into a huge expense.”

  “We can talk with the graphic designer about that when we do the website. You’re gonna want everything to blend together anyway, so updating it all at once would probably be best and cheapest. Speaking of that, how about business cards? I know you have them, but have you thought about passing them around town? I mean, you’re a small business, and I know that in little towns like this the small guys like to stick together. I think if you talk with a few places about getting some counter space for business cards, it could be good.”

  Hudson nods. “Yeah. I think a few places might be open to doing that. Could work out well for both of us, too. I’m liking this, Rae. Got anything else?”

  “Hmmm…well, other than what we’ve already hit on, which I think would help a lot, I would strongly suggest looking into advertising in the local paper and possibly even those little free thrifty magazines. Maybe even taking out a few spots in Boston? For all we know they could have some real shitty auto shops over there, so it wouldn’t hurt too much to stretch out your advertising area.”

  He’s taking another moment to think on things. He nods again. “I like this. I like it all. You’ve got some great, small ideas that I really didn’t even think of that could help get the word of the shop out a little more. I have to be honest, Rae, I was nervous to hear your ideas. I wasn’t sure how we could help boost the business in a way that wouldn’t cost me a fortune, but I think you’ve managed to throw out some great ideas that I can actually work with.”

  I honestly didn’t expect him to be so welcoming of my ideas, so his compliments make me blush a little. “You’re welcome. It was no problem at all. I even did a little research on ad space prices,” I say, handing him the folder. He eagerly takes it and begins looking over the info I’ve gathered. I can see the approval on his face.

  Turning that charming smile of his on me, he makes a suggestion that I really wasn’t expecting.

  “Go to dinner with me, Rae. Like on a date. A real one. Not a blind date, not a business meeting. An actual date.”

  Hudson

  I’m starting to think this whole word vomit thing is contagious. I just asked Rae out on a date. Like a real, legit date. What the fuck am I thinking? I can’t date!

  Wait. Can I?

  Fuck it. I can. I’m a grown-ass man and I can do whatever the hell I want. And I just realized that this is what I want. A date with Rae.

  “Please.” It leaves my mouth before I can stop it.

  Rae’s sitting there just staring at me with an extremely confused look on her face. I’m sure I’ve just completely freaked her out.

  Or maybe she just doesn’t want to date you, jackass.

  “Shit. Sorry. Just forget I said—”

  “Yes.”

  “—anything. It was a—wait, what?”

  “I said yes, Hudson. I’d love to go out on a date with you. One that isn’t about a business project and that I can actually be prepared for. One that’s not with Maura or Tanner. Yes,” she says again.

  YES!

  “Holy shit. You said yes.” Again with the word vomit.

  She lets out that beautiful laugh of hers again. “I did. Why are you so surprised? You asked me this on Friday night. I wasn’t gonna let you off the hook with a coffee date, ya know.”

  I relax a little at her teasing. “You’re right. I don’t know. I just thought maybe you wouldn’t want to with us potentially working together.”

  “Potentially? As if. I’ve got you hook, line, and sinker and you know it.”

  My turn again to stare for a minute because she’s right. She does. I don’t even really know this girl but I feel the strangest connection to her—like she was meant to break down up the road from my shop. Like she’s supposed to fit somewhere in my world.

  I take a deep breath before I look her straight in those captivating green eyes of hers and say, “You do.”

 
; Rae

  His eyes are so intense that I shiver a little. I like Hudson. I like him a lot. Probably more than I should since I just recently met the guy, but I can’t help feeling a connection to him and I have no idea why. I didn’t even know the guy three weeks ago and suddenly he’s all I want to think about.

  “How about dinner at my place on Wednesday?” he asks hopefully.

  “That sounds perfect.”

  We gather up our things and head toward the door together. Hudson’s hand finds its way to my lower back and I can’t help but find it extremely attractive. I never really got the appeal when those hunky heroes did it in all those romance novels I read, but now I do. It’s something so simple and sweet.

  “Can I walk you to your car?”

  I dip my head and he starts steering me toward my little sedan, beating me to the door and opening it for me.

  “Thank you so much for your help with Jacked Up, Rae. I feel like we’ve been a little stuck here lately and I think this is going to pump things up some for us. I’ll give that website guy a call tomorrow,” Hudson says, stuffing his hands in his pockets and rocking back on his heels a little. He looks so cute when he’s being shy.

  He stands several feet taller than me so I smile up at him. “It’s no problem. I’m glad I could help some.”

  “So, Wednesday. Seven thirty okay?” he asks.

  “Perfect.” He rocks back on his heels again, like he’s not sure what to say next. So I help him out some. “Goodbye, Hudson. I’ll see you Wednesday.”

  A smile transforms his face. I get into my car while he continues to stand there. I manage to pull out of the parking space, and I head back toward my apartment.

  I glance up in the mirror before I turn onto the next street. He’s still standing there with his hands in his pockets and that perfect smile plastered on his face.

  I park out in front of my apartment and call Maura back. She called five times while I was with Hudson.

  “Finally! You can’t just leave a girl hanging like that! Spill. Now,” she yells into the phone.

  “First, calm down; you’re hurting my ear,” I say in my best motherly voice. “Second, I have a date Wednesday.” She squeals loudly. “Ears, woman!” I remind her.

  “Sorry!” she whispers. “I’m just so excited for you! I can tell that you like him a lot. And Tanner told me a little about him. He seems like a stand-up guy, Rae.”

  I’m not really sure that I find anything Tanner says to be reassuring, but I’m glad that Maura approves. “Good. So, how was your second date with Tanner last night?”

  “Glorious!” she rings out. “He’s so sweet and so funny, Rae. I know he seems like a dick sometimes but it’s all just a show, like he has to prove he’s macho or some crap like that. He’s so considerate and awesome when it’s just the two of us. I like him, Rae.”

  Even if I’m still not really fond of Tanner, I’m genuinely happy for my best friend. “As long as he treats you right, I’m happy for you.”

  I hear someone in the background. “Damn. I gotta go, Rae. Order’s up! Talk to you later, love.”

  “Kisses! Bye!”

  I put my phone away and shake my head. That girl. She’s something.

  I grab my bag and head up to the apartment I share with my sister.

  “Yo, Hales! I’m back!” I yell as I bust through the front door.

  “We’re in the kitchen, Rae!”

  We? I head into the kitchen to see what she’s talking about.

  “Do you have a mouse in your pocket? Who are you—Dad!” I yell, running to the stool he’s sitting on, wrapping my arms around him and squeezing him extra tight.

  “Hey, kiddo, I’ve been missing you.”

  Even though we live in the same town, I rarely get to see my dad. He’s a big-wig accountant at a firm in Boston and he’s always working. I work nights and weekends at Clyde’s so we usually don’t get much time to see each other.

  This time it’s only been about a month since I’ve seen him last but it seems way longer than that. I take a good look at him. We have the same skin color and dark hair and that’s about where our similarities in appearance end. While my eyes are forest green, his are brown. He’s tall, I’m pretty damn short. However, our personalities are just about identical. We’re both sarcastic, off-the-wall, and usually very cheery. We get along really well because of this.

  “What brings you by?” I ask.

  “He came to see me, his favorite daughter. Duh,” Haley says as if it’s the only plausible answer.

  We both ignore her. “Just wanted to see how my two favorite girls are doing. I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever. How’s everything going? How’s the job hunt?” He turns to Haley. “How’s the daycare doing?”

  Haley manages a daycare with her best friend, Cailee. Kids adore her and since she’s nothing but a big kid herself, this doesn’t surprise me.

  I, on the other hand, am not so gifted with children. I always clam up and never really know what to say to them. I know they are all pretty harmless, but they scare me. I’m afraid I’m going to mess up their little innocent thinking patterns or something.

  I can thank my mother for that one.

  “Good. It’s going very well. I may have some leads.” I just lied to my father because I have yet to get a response from a single place.

  “And The Learning Hut is doing well. We just got two new kids the other day so we’re maxed out. Looks like we may need to expand soon.”

  “Well good. I’m damn proud of you girls,” he beams. You can easily see the pride on his face. “Now, you want to go out and grab some dinner? I still don’t trust your cooking, Haley.”

  “Rude! I burn one pizza and turn noodles to paste twice and suddenly I can’t cook. Maybe I’d be a better cook if you didn’t have such high expectations of me, Dad,” Haley teases back.

  “I’m so sorry I’m such a slave-driver,” my dad deadpans.

  I love those two. Always so charming.

  “You mind if I freshen up real quick? I didn’t get the chance to take a shower this morning because somebody was a bathroom hog,” I say, giving Haley my best death glare.

  She shrugs. “Shouldn’t have overslept.”

  “I had…trouble sleeping last night.” I do my best to not make eye contact with my dad.

  Apparently it doesn’t fool him. “You’re still having the nightmare? I thought you said it was getting better.” I can hear the concern in his voice.

  It’s always been the same thing since I was seven. I’m out in the ocean during a cloudy day. The wind is whipping like crazy, causing huge waves to lap around me. I’m not that far out but since I’m so small, it seems like I’ll never see land again.

  Honestly, it’s not even the wind and big waves that scare me most. It’s that fact that I can see my mother just standing there watching me. I’m calling for her and calling for her but she just stares.

  Then I see a shadow of what looks like a kid my age running up next to her. He’s yelling at her but I can’t make out what he’s saying. He’s frantic. She’s still just standing there staring off into the horizon.

  And then I sink.

  I have no idea what, if anything, happens next, because that’s always the same time I wake up drenched in sweat. The dream seems so real, like it’s something that actually happened. I know that’s not possible, though, because that’s something I’d be sure to remember. Right?

  I train my eyes on my dad. “It did. I hadn’t had one in eight months. Started up about three weeks ago, though. I have no idea what caused it to come back this time. Stress, maybe?”

  Which is totally possible. The entire dream itself is stressful so maybe that’s all it is—my mind projecting that. It just seems so weird that it’s coming back now. And something feels different about this round. It feels more…real. So real that I woke up three times last night before the kid even arrived in the dream. That’s how scared I was. I drove out to Lake Q after the second one, sat f
or an hour to watch the sunrise, and came back home to sleep some more. That obviously didn’t go so well.

  My dad exhales loudly because he knows how much this affects me. “Yeah, that could be it. What with your car breaking down, you getting sick, and now all these job applications. I’m sure you’re stressed out. Maybe you should back off on the job hunt some. I mean you’re really not in any hurry to move, right?”

  I shake my head and answer honestly. “Not really. I’m not sure what exactly it is I want to do.”

  That was hard—admitting that out loud to my dad. I was so sure of this a few months—hell, even a few weeks—back, but now I’m not really sure. Hudson helped me see that.

  “Damn, sis. Why didn’t you tell me?” I can hear the hurt in her voice. She’s right to be hurt. I should have trusted her with this. She’s always been there for me so there’s no reason why I should have hidden all this from her.

  “You’re right. I should have told you, Hales. It’s just been so confusing and I honestly didn’t even realize some of my feelings until the other day. Hudson talked with me about them.”

  “Who’s Hudson?” Suddenly my dad doesn’t seem so sad. He seems protective.

  “A guy.”

  “A guy she went on a blind date with. And the same guy she was just out having coffee with,” Haley supplies, smirking at me. Payback for not confiding in her, I guess.

  “Rae?”

  I sigh. “Yes, he’s a guy. Yes, I went on a date with him Friday. Yes, we met for coffee this morning, but it was a business coffee date. He owns Jacked Up, the shop that fixed my car. He was looking to load up on the clientele some and asked for a few marketing tips, so I made up a small folder of ideas and gave it to him this morning. Happy?” I start inching my way toward the hallway that houses our bedrooms and bathroom, purposely leaving out my date on Wednesday.

  My dad huffs and concedes through gritted teeth. “Fine. You’re an adult now. Scurry along. We’re going for wings.”

  I groan because I know that means we’re heading to Clyde’s. “Give me fifteen minutes.”