Going For Broke (40 page)

             
“Oh, I just have to have to say that we love love love Posey.  She’s a hoot!”

             
Victoria had thought Posey had many charms, but being a hoot wasn’t one of them.  “Thanks,” she said, for lack of anything else. 

             
“Girls!  Posey’s mom’s here,” Perkymom gave a hillbilly shout.  Maybe it’s not just us, Victoria thought. 

             
The two women stood awkwardly for a moment.  To break the silence, Victoria grasped at anything she could find.  “I love your shirt.  Is that Zac Posen?”

             
Perkymom stood straight with pride.  “Yes it is!” she said in her perkiest voice.  “They just got it in at Kindred.”

             
“Kindred?” Victoria asked.  What the hell was that?

             
“Kindred - you know!” Perkymom said it as if everyone knew Kindred.  “Kindred.  Fantastic store - amazing designers.”

             
“Oh, Kindred,” Victoria said.  “Great stuff.”

             
“I know, right?” said Perkymom.  Was she really over 40? 

             
Posey ran up and gave Victoria a big hug.  “Ready to go mom!  I’ll get my helmet.”  Her kids were great about riding their bikes everywhere.  Bud had promised Victoria he’d give her driving lessons, but for some reason, she resisted.

             
As they rode home, Victoria took them on a route through the town.  She wanted to find the store that sold Zac Posen.  It didn’t take long - it was a small town - and Victoria came across Kindred.  Victoria almost cried when she saw the window. It was a fall display featuring six different fall coats.  She could tick off the designers one by one as if she was taking an exam: Prada, McQueen, McCarntey, St. Laurent, Sander and Lanvin.  She had found the (local) mothership!

             
The next day she rode up to Kindred to ask for a job.  While she waited for the boss to come out to meet her, she perused the racks.  She ran her hands down a stunning Caroline Herrera bright pink dress and closed her eyes.  The feel of something brand-new was intoxicating.  Lost in her reverie, Susan Kindra, the owner of Kindred, came out and cleared her throat.  Victoria’s eyes flew open and she let go of the dress.

             
“It’s beautiful,” Victoria said. 

             
Susan held out her hand.  “You must be Victoria.  I’ve heard a lot about you.”

             
“You have?” Victoria didn’t even want to guess.  Had she read about Trip’s arrest?

             
“I’ve been losing customers to the Thrift Shoppe of all places.  All because of you!”   Victoria smiled.  More Tenaqua moms had come into the store looking for a unique look.  Apparently word spread quickly.   “I was wondering when you’d come in.”

             
“Your store is fantastic,” Victoria said as she picked up a paper-thin Merino sweater off the display table and refolded it.  “You have a great eye.”  Not small praise coming from Victoria.  “I’d love to work here.”

             
“I’d love to have you. I don’t have any openings. Right now.”  Of course you don’t, Victoria thought.  I can’t buy a break in this town.  “But Celeste’s baby is due in a couple of weeks, and I can’t tell you how much I’d love to have you fill in.”  Susan smiled a hopeful smile.  She knew how valuable Victoria could be for her small shop. 

             
They exchanged numbers and promises to call when the baby finally arrived.  Victoria had really expected a job, right then and there.  Maybe things were finally going the right way for a change.

###

             
Three short weeks later, Victoria and the kids were ensconced in their new life.  They had moved into a small furnished rental - a coach house of one of the mansions on the lake that had previously been occupied by the owner’s pot-smoking college son.  They finally got the courage to kick him out, and promptly rented it to Victoria to make sure they wouldn’t relent and let him back home.  As a result, Victoria got a steal in rent, and while the furniture was a bit worse for the wear, and a bit fragrant, it was perfect for their needs today. 

             
Celeste had her baby early so Victoria said a tearful goodbye to Elise and the Thrift Shoppe.  She took to Kindred like a pro and rang up record sales in her first week alone.  She was able to talk the young and beautiful housewives of Tenaqua into that $800 belt to go with their $1,200 slacks, and did it in a way that had them feeling great about themselves when they walked out the door.  From the window displays to the lighting in the dressing room, Victoria brought her unique point of view to every aspect of the already successful store.   Susan Kindra knew what an asset she had in Victoria, and switched her to an hourly pay along with a generous commission.  For the first time in her life, Victoria was  making enough money to support someone more than herself. 

             
Even though she and Bud had their weekly driving lessons, Victoria loved riding her bike around town.  Every night, she still took a walk, though she didn’t have Fritz as an excuse any longer.  She started cooking for the kids and herself, and even if the results were less than four-star, nobody ever complained.  They were the Three Musketeers and were settling into a happy routine.

             
One of the joys of settling into her new life was the freedom to say ‘yes’.   It was summer, so she let the kids stay up late.  They ate when they wanted, where they wanted.  They had access to the beach through a small path past the owner’s estate, and at night would build bonfires and make s’mores.  Kathy and Bob Berner would join them, bringing a bottle of wine (or three) and they’d make a party of it.  They were the golden days of summer, and Victoria had never enjoyed herself more.

             
One evening after dinner the doorbell rang.  Posey ran to the door and squealed when she opened it. 
             

             
“Mommy!  Parker! Oooh look!” she yelled.

             
Parker and Victoria ran to the door.  There, they found a basket with a big pink bow and an adorable apricot puppy, not larger than a Beanie Baby.  At first, Victoria thought it
was
a stuffed animal.  Posey picked the puppy up out of the basket and nuzzled it.

             
“Mommy, can we keep it!” she asked.

             
Even Parker lost his ten year old cool.  “Can we Mom?  Can we?”

             
Victoria looked past the puppy, instead she scanned the yard outside.  Who had left this little package at her door? 

             
“Isn’t he adorable?”  He had stolen the complacent pup out of his sister’s hands.  “What should we call him?”

             
“How do you know it’s a him?” Posey asked.  “I think she looks like a princess!”

             
“No way!  It’s a guy dog.  Mom!”

             
Victoria snapped her self back into the conversation.  “What?”

             
“Is it a he or a she?” Parker demanded.  “I think he looks like a Ralph.”

             
“Lulu!” Posey insisted.

             
“Let’s take a look.”  Victoria gingerly picked up the pup, who couldn’t have weighed more than three pounds, and took a quick peek at the equipment.  “Congratulations!  It’s a girl!”  She handed the puppy back to Posey, who was triumphant in winning the debate. 

             
“Can we call her Lulu, Mom?”

             
“Oh, Mom, that’s such a lame name.  Can you imagine me running after the dog calling her Lulu? Can’t we at least call her Killer?”

             
“I don’t know guys.  I think we need to figure out who left her here.” Victoria was too distracted about the anonymous donor to worry about the name of the puppy.

             
“I bet it was Bud,” Posey said.  Probably, thought Victoria.  They knew how much all three of them missed Fritz.  Would Bud have chosen a such a girly dog? Then again, he did have a Daschund. 

             
“Look, Mom, she even has a leash!” Parker said as he rifled through the basket. 

             
“Is there a note?” Victoria asked.

             
“Here it is!” Parker triumphantly pulled a note out of the basket.  All it said was ‘Walk Me’.

             
“I guess I better take her out,” Victoria said, grabbing the leash.  The kids wanted to come with her, but Victoria just had a feeling that she should go by herself.  What was going on?  The whole thing was making her uneasy.

             
“I’ll be right back.  Parker, get down the bowl we use for popcorn and fill it with some water.  We’ll have to run uptown and get her some food,” she said as she picked up the little dog.  She couldn’t help but nuzzle it.  It was one adorable dog.   She could have carried her in her purse, a la Paris Hilton - but figured it was best to get her out onto the sidewalk.  There, she tried to walk the dog, with little luck.  The puppy had probably never been walked on a leash before, and spent her time trying to nip the offending leash.  Victoria tried to coax the puppy down the street, but ended up dragging her instead. 

             
“I don’t think that’s how you do it,” said a voice behind Victoria.  She stopped, recognizing Mike’s voice immediately.

             
“It’s you,” she said, referring to both the dog as well as his reappearance.

             
“Guilty,” he said, holding his palms to the sky.  Victoria had almost forgotten how darned charming the guy could be. 

             
“Funny, coming from you,” she said.  She remembered how angry she had been at Mike following Trip’s arrest. 

             
“Vivi - I can explain,” he started.

             
“No need.  I was there.  I saw it all,” she said.  She tried to start to walk away, but the puppy wouldn’t budge.   She was as freshly angry as she had been the day Mike appeared at Trip’s hotel door.  “I called, to let you know.  I was trying to help you.”

             
“I know,” he said.  “I knew when you called.”

             
“Why didn’t you --”

             
“Vivi,” she melted just a bit when he used his pet name for her.  “Don’t you know that I couldn’t have involved you?”

             
“You sound just like Trip. ‘I had to leave you in a pile of shit for your own good honey’.  You couldn’t involve me?  I am involved!  I was involved the day you walked through my door.  I was involved when you took everything I have.  I was involved when you...you..”  She tried to catch her breath.  “Why did you leave?  You never said goodbye.  Not even to the children.”

             
“I was wrong.” He paced back and forth on the sidewalk, going over the events in his own head.  “On so many levels.  I was wrong to get as involved with you as I did.” She gasped a little hurt cry, which made him pause, but he went on.  “I broke every rule in the book.  I should never crossed that line with you.  It wasn’t fair to you, either.  I couldn’t help myself.  Following you every day, watching you go through all this I was able to see what an amazing woman you are.  What an amazing woman you’ve become.  You’ve bewitched me Vivi.”

             
He walked to her and took her into his arms.  She didn’t resist. He didn’t kiss her.  “I know why you were calling.  We knew where Trip was.  We knew he had come back to town.  We knew he took the children.  He was spending money like a drunken sailor.”