What Happiness Looks Like (Promises)

by Lenfestey, Karen

  Joely studied the shadows in the vaulted ceiling. “Is there anything I can do?” She had to offer, even though she knew there wasn’t.

  “If I’m going to lighten up about Jake, you could try harder to get along with Lily.”

  Joely turned her head sharply toward Kate, propping her jaw up on her bent arm. “You’re kidding, right? I caught Lily going through my purse! I can’t leave anything of value in my room for fear it will be taken.”

  “Lily isn’t like that. She doesn’t have a history of stealing.”

  “Then what does she have a history of?” Joely didn’t really know anything about their new roommate, except that she was sullen and seemed to alternate between devotion and resentment toward her infant.

  “I’m bound by confidentiality.” A worried expression crossed her face. She faced Joely. “You told Anna to stay out of Lily’s room, didn’t you?”

  Joely nodded. “She respects other people’s property—unlike some people.”

  Rolling her eyes, Kate returned her focus to the ceiling. “Let’s just say, Lily has had a hard life.”

  “So did we.” Their parents had died when she was seven and Kate was only ten. But they’d grown into responsible adults.

  “I know. That’s why I invited her to move in. I want her to have a chance to overcome her past. To make a good life for herself and for Dayna.”

  Joely grappled to understand Kate’s motivation. Mitch had insinuated that they were going to adopt Dayna, but Kate made it sound like Lily might never move out. “I try to always look on the bright side of things, but I don’t see Lily doing anything to make her life better. Does she have a job? Is she going to college?”

  “She has a job, but not a high-paying one. She’s very bright. I wish she could go to college, but she didn’t make good grades in school. Plus she doesn’t have any money.”

  “Couldn’t she get financial aid to go to a community college at least?”

  Kate’s eyes searched the ceiling. “Her parents would have to provide their financial information until Lily is twenty-one. Then she could get financial aid based on her own income. But she doesn’t have any contact with her parents. She doesn’t even know who her dad is.”

  Joely didn’t know what to say. Kate knew more about colleges and financial aid than she did. If she couldn’t figure out a way, then Lily couldn’t go.

  Her sister sat upright, pointing her finger in the air. “Wait a minute. The fact that she has crappy parents could help her here. Because she was taken away from them. . .put into foster care. . . and foster care children get their college tuition paid for by the state!”

  Excitement danced through Joely. She may not like Lily, but she loved the idea of the downtrodden taking charge of their lives. “Are you sure?”

  Kate nodded. “Pretty sure. I haven’t had too many foster care kids go to college, but I know Lily is smart enough. I’ll have to check into things a bit more.”

  Joely slung her arm around Kate’s shoulders. An attempt at reconciliation. “That would be great.” Especially if it would get Lily out of the house.

  # # #

  Joely didn’t wait for Jake’s call. She carried the cordless phone into her bedroom, as if contacting a secret boyfriend, and dialed. “Good news!”

  “Joely?” He cleared his throat. “I didn’t expect. . .I tried calling earlier.”

  “I know. Kate hung up on you. I had a talk with her and she’s still being a control freak about you coming over, but she said you can call to talk to Anna.”

  “Is AJ still up?”

  Joely glanced at the Picasso-style clock on her wall. Nine p.m. “No, she’s been in bed for a while.” Why had she called him when their daughter was asleep? “You can call here tomorrow around four to talk to her.”

  “OK. So, what’s new with you?”

  She pulled her drapes closed, then sat in the rocking chair that she’d once used to lure Anna to sleep. “I’m painting a mural for a friend. It’s so fun and it’s all coming back to me.”

  “Of course it is. You’re talented. Talent doesn’t disappear.”

  She used her feet to push herself faster. “Yeah, but I’m rusty. I messed up some of the detail today.”

  “Can you fix it?”

  “Maybe.”

  “I’m sure you will.” He paused. “You sound different. Lighter.”

  Joely smiled to herself. “Everyone who comes in the clinic comments on how gorgeous it is. I’m hoping maybe someone will ask me to do some work for them.”

  “I hope so. If not, what will you do?”

  Her eyes fell to the nightstand where a newspaper sat folded open to the Help Wanted section. She had circled a couple of ads that seemed promising. But she hadn’t taken it farther than that. She dreaded the interview and the inevitable question: Why have you been out of work for so long? She took a deep breath. “Waitressing, I suppose.” It was her only other skill.

  “I have an idea. Remember that coffee shop you took me to right across from AJ’s school?”

  Joely nodded. She could work there. It would no longer serve as her retreat, but beggars couldn’t be choosers.

  “Why don’t you show the manager some of your paintings? Maybe he would display them on the walls.”

  Adrenaline surged through her veins. “That’s a great idea. I never thought about that.” When she hung up a moment later, she did a little dance with her arms.

  If her body could, she would’ve skipped down the basement stairs. As it worked out, she simply walked down to search for her portfolio. Bypassing the boxes she’d recently opened, she selected one that contained stuff from college: sketchpads, textbooks and old photographs. Back then, she’d done a series of four paintings depicting a tree during each season. Her professor had given her an A and hung the canvases in the school’s art gallery. A sense of pride sailed through her as she gazed at a photo of the exhibit.

  While sorting through the pictures, she found one of her and Jake. It had been taken at a college Halloween party. He’d gone as Edward, the wealthy businessman who fell in love with the classy call girl in “Pretty Woman.” Joely had thought it was fun to dress as Vivian in a mini-skirt and thigh-high boots, probably because being overtly sexy was quite the opposite of her real personality. Edward, however, was a pretty good match for Jake’s personality—tough on the outside, soft on the inside.

  They’d had so much fun that night. They’d continued the charade all the way back to his bedroom.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  LILY

  Dear Dayna,

  I heard Mrs. H and Mr. H fighting the other day. They didn’t throw things or yell very loud, but the tension is definitely still there. I’m not sure why they’re fighting. It scares me, though, to leave you here with Mr. H. Here’s another truth: Men can fool you. They can smile and say you look beautiful, but when they get mad, they will call you names and hurt you.

  Lily

  JOELY

  “Want to break for lunch?” Dalton asked Joely.

  Lifting her brush from the horse’s ear she’d been painting, She looked down the ladder. “No. I’m making such progress, I want to get as much done as I can before I have to go get Anna from school.”

  Pippa, with her purse in one hand, waved at them with the other. “See you in an hour. Unless I go into labor in the middle of Dairy Queen.” She laughed. Joely knew from the way Pippa kept looking for a place to sit and wiping sweat off her forehead, that she was quite uncomfortable. So for Pippa’s sake, she hoped she delivered soon, but Joely would miss chatting with the receptionist about baby names and sleep schedules.

  After Pippa left, the room was empty. The clinic was closed for the lunch hour. Dalton put his hands in his lab coat pockets. Beneath the white coat, his signature blue jeans and cowboy boots seemed out-of-place. “You have to eat.”

  Joely bit her lip, knowing he was right. If she pushed herself too hard, her lupus would act up. “I don’t want to take the time to go somew
here. You go and bring me back something.”

  Scratching his dimpled chin, Dalton stepped back. He examined her artwork. “It looks three-dimensional. Like it did when we actually saw that colt’s birth.”

  Joely was too close to see things the way he did. She tilted her head back to gain perspective, but it didn’t work.

  “Climb down here,” he said. “For a minute.”

  Joely obliged him. Once down, she rubbed the kink in her neck and studied her work. She nodded, pleased.

  He grasped her hand. “Let me do that.” He draped her hair over her collarbone and massaged her shoulders.

  Putting her head down, she reveled in his gentleness. “You don’t have to do that.” But she didn’t want him to stop. She gave in to her heavy eyelids. With her eyes closed, she realized how stiff and overworked her muscles had become. “Thank you.”

  “My pleasure.”

  A moment later she felt his lips brush against her neck. Her eyes popped open, surveying the room for onlookers. Of course, there were none.

  Dalton moved in front of her. “You have a little splatter of paint here.” He leaned forward and kissed the spot right above her lip. “Oh, wait. That’s not paint.”

  She realized he was talking about her beauty mark. “No, that’s permanent.”

  He smiled. “I want to kiss every one of your freckles.” He moved his lips to the nape of her neck. He looked for more, kissed the two on her forearm and when he saw no more, he put his mouth on hers.

  They kissed for a while, his hands roaming around her back, sometimes sliding a bit low. Joely fantasized about him kissing the freckle near her belly button.

  Her plan was falling apart. She liked Dalton, but she’d been trying to avoid being alone with him all week. She pulled away.

  “Why do you always do that?” he asked.

  Self-conscious, she wiped her lip. She couldn’t tell him why. The truth was she worried how long he would be satisfied with just kissing. They weren’t naïve kids. He was a hot-blooded man, who probably wanted to move their relationship to the next level. But the last time she’d slept with a man, she’d ended up pregnant. Not that she wouldn’t love to have another baby, but she wanted to do things in the right order this time. Marriage then sex. That way she wouldn’t sound like a soap opera character, a single woman jumping from one man’s bed to the next. And she wouldn’t risk bringing another child into this world that she could barely take care of.

  Speaking of taking care of her child. . .she needed to hurry up and finish this project, so she could place a picture of it in her portfolio. She kissed Dalton on the cheek. “I’d better get back to my painting. Bring me a turkey sandwich, if you’re truly worried about me fainting from hunger.” Climbing up the ladder, she found herself turning and giving him a flirtatious grin.

  KATE

  Kate couldn’t stop thinking about Evan’s kiss. Sometimes she even found herself daydreaming about that dragon tattoo across his muscular shoulders. What was wrong with her? She was a happily married woman! Well, maybe not so happy at the moment, but it wasn’t because she didn’t love Mitch.

  She let out a sigh and tried to review the notes about her next patient. She didn’t want to forget any important details.

  She wished Joely were married so she could ask her if she’d ever had a crush on another man. That’s all it was. A crush. But her sister didn’t know what it was like to be in a fifteen-year marriage. Her sister might even judge her, think less of her. Kate couldn’t stand the idea.

  Plus if she said it out loud, that would somehow make it an even bigger deal than it already was. So far, she’d done nothing wrong, she decided. She’d left as soon as Evan had crossed the line and she hadn’t spoken to him since. Even though she worried about Bobby, she wouldn’t baby-sit anymore. Evan had to pull himself together on his own. She had too much to lose.

  Hearing a squeak, she looked up to see the door to her office opening. A pale little girl with no hair walked in. The poor child had just finished chemotherapy. Her parents had sought out counseling since Zoe never cried, no matter how many times she got pricked with a needle, no matter how many times she got sick from the treatment. They worried that by spending so much time in hospitals and bedridden at home, their daughter was missing out on her childhood. They loved her so much it hurt.

  Kate smiled at the girl with the big blue eyes, imagining she’d once had wispy blond eyelashes like Anna. The fair-skinned girl had such high cheekbones and endearing features that Kate almost forgot she was bald.

  How did any parent deal with their child having cancer? Kate knew all of the counseling techniques, but if it were her child. . . . She struggled with that idea. Was it better to have a sick child than no child at all?

  She shook away those horrible thoughts and forced herself to become a professional. She smiled again at the frail beauty across the room. “Come over here, Zoe. Draw me a picture about your day.”

  JOELY

  Anna spotted the package on the welcome mat before Joely did. The brown rectangular box measured about six inches long.

  “Mommy! We got a package! We got a package!” Anna opened her car door the moment Joely parked it inside Kate’s three-car garage. She ran to the front of the house. A moment later Anna held the box in the air and rushed toward Joely. “It’s for you.”

  Not expecting a delivery, Joely read the white label’s type, to make sure. It was addressed to her.

  “Can I open it?” Anna asked.

  Joely let Anna carry the box inside, but knew her daughter couldn’t open it. The wide, glossy shipping tape would require a sharp blade to slice it. “Put the package on the island and stand back.”

  She reached for a knife from the wooden block.

  In one easy flick of her wrist, the lid on one side came free. Then she cut the other side and realized she was as anxious as Anna to see what it contained.

  Now that the knife was put away, her daughter crowded close. Joely lifted the lid and saw the edges of white cardstock. She pulled out one and saw that it was a business card. A tiny painter’s palette and brush emblazoned the left side.

  Joely Shupe

  Artist

  Murals & Portraits

  (574) 555-4632

  Joely ran her thumb along the symbol and the raised letters.

  Anna’s face pressed against Joely’s forearm. “Cool. What are they?”

  “They’re business cards.”

  “With your name on them.”

  Joely nodded, her cheeks stretching into a grin. All week long people at the vet clinic had been asking who she was, what she charged, if she had business cards. She knew she needed some, but by the time she got Anna from school each day, she focused all of her attention on her. She made her a healthy snack, asked about her day, read her a story, gave her a bath and started dinner. Sometimes when it was Kate or Mitch’s turn to cook, Joely would play astronaut with Anna, building a rocket ship out of boxes and aluminum foil.

  Now Joely explained what business cards were for before asking Anna to change out of her school clothes. She’d managed to get some mud on the knee of her pants. As Anna ran to her room, Joely reached for the telephone.

  Pippa answered. “Taylor Animal Clinic.”

  Joely introduced herself. “Is that baby kicking much today?”

  “All the time. I don’t think he understands the way out.” She laughed. “May I help you?”

  “I’d like to speak with Dalton please, if he’s free.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me that you were Dr. Taylor’s girlfriend?”

  Embarrassed, Joely tugged on her earlobe. “I don’t think it’s official.”

  “Well, Dr. Taylor’s a good man, that’s for sure. How many people would give a job to a woman who’s obviously pregnant? No one. I know because I applied every place in the county, but Dr. Taylor was the only one who looked at my face instead of at my belly during the interview. He was the only one to offer me a job after knowing about my con
dition.”

  “He is amazing.” She would be lucky to have him for a boyfriend. If she had room in her life for one.

  “He likes to help when no one else will.”

  Joely nodded. When another call came in, Pippa put her on hold. Joely listened through the phone to a man playing guitar and singing about being torn between his wife and his true love. A few minutes later, she heard Dalton pick up. She spoke before he could. “Billy Joel’s better than that.”

  “Huh?” he asked.

  “That depressing country and western music. Never mind. I got your gift today.”

  “My gift? Is it a special occasion? Is it already the one month anniversary of the first time you got naked at my house?”

  “Dalton! I was alone in your bathtub. Who’s there listening?”

  He chuckled good-naturedly. “No one. I’m in my office with the door closed.”

  She pictured his office with its wood paneled walls. A couple of boxes on the floor contained the items he hadn’t had time to hang on the walls yet. Framed pen and ink sketches of armadillos and rattlesnakes, photographs of childhood pets, his diplomas. He also needed to put up shelves, he’d told her, for the trophies he’d won roping cattle as a teenager. On his oak desk sat a brass hunting dog statue, given to him by his grandfather. It struck Joely as a bit contradictory that a man who grew up hunting now couldn’t stand to put an unwanted litter of kittens to sleep.

  She smiled. “The package of business cards arrived. I wanted to thank you.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “You didn’t order me business cards to hand out to anyone who asks about my painting?”

  “No. But that’s a great idea. You should leave a stack here when you’re done.”

  Joely tapped her fingers on her thigh. “Oh, sorry. I assumed. . .” She couldn’t wait to hang up the phone so she could think.

  LILY