Me And Mrs Jones (2 page)

Renee knew that it was Friday, but she couldn’t think of anything really special about the day. “I’m sorry. I guess I did forget. What’s going on today? I’m still feeling the high of selling so many paintings at the art show last night.”

“I have to admit I was stunned at how fast some of those drawings sold but that isn’t the reason I’m calling you,” Dana replied.

“Okay, do you care to fill me in?” Renee was a bit concerned, because Dana only called her before eight o’clock in the morning when she wanted something from her.

“I just wanted to make sure that you’re still coming to my speed dating event this afternoon. Remember, you told me last week that you would stop by and check everything out. I really would love for you to come. I know you can meet someone to get your mind off your jackass ex-husband.”

Speed dating
....had Dana completely lost her mind?

She wasn’t interested in spending two minutes or five minutes with any guy she had no interest in dating. The only relationship she had in her life right now was
Divine Design
.

Didn’t she just get rid of Robert? Why would she want to replace him with another man so soon?

“I think I’m going to pass,” Renee replied quickly. “You know that after the hell I went through with Robert that I’m not interested in getting involved with another man. Hell, I’m not sure if I
ever
want to get into another relationship.”

Renee heard Dana’s loud sigh on the other end of the phone. “Come on, Renee. You can’t allow Robert to keep having such power over you. Didn’t he get remarried? If he could marry that slut Sheila, you have the right to have someone new in your life, as well. Your divorce from him has been final for almost a year.”

Dana didn’t understand that she wasn’t upset at all Robert had gotten remarried so quickly after their divorce. What pissed her off the most is that her lousy ex-husband had been married for almost three months before she found out. She had been paying him alimony for all of those months when she didn’t have to.

Who knew that Robert would be sneaky enough to go down to Las Vegas and get a quickly marriage to his mistress? Well, Robert and all of his drama were totally in her past now. She made herself a promise not to waste another moment of her life thinking about Robert or anything else that wasn’t good for her.

“Dana, I’m not going to do this speed dating for you. No way in hell. Now, do you have my tea in yet?” Renee asked, changing the subject. “I came by your café earlier in the week and one of your employees told me it would be in today.” She loved Dana’s black tea. It instantly relaxed her after a long day at work.

“Yes, it’s here. I have it in my office,” Dana answered. “Are you going to come by today and get it? I’m going to be here all day because of the speed dating.”

Renee didn’t like the idea of making a trip to Dana’s shop while she was having the dating event going on, but she was out of her favorite tea and she knew she would be craving a cup tonight while she was working on her mailing lists.

“Okay, I’ll be by there later on to get it,” Renee said finally giving in against her better judgment. “Just make sure you don’t try to sneak the speed dating on me again because I’ve already told you no and I’m not about to change my mind.”

Even without seeing her, Renee knew Dana was doing one of her famous eye rolls. “Fine, I won’t try to help you find a good man. But you are going to have to take a chance one day with someone. You’re too great to be alone.”

Renee wasn’t going to get into this conversation again with Dana. She was done with it. Dana was a good friend, but once she got her mind set on something it was hard to get her to change her mind.

“Bye, Dana.”

“Bye, Renee,” her best friend said and then hung up the phone.

Pushing the end button on the phone, Renee placed it back on the nightstand. She got out of bed and headed back towards the shower. She knew Cruz was probably already at the gallery working on something since he was up at the crack of dawn anyway. .

Renee had to make sure her assistant Cruz got the Realism butterflies paintings she needed hung on the walls. Last week, when the artist came in and showed them to her, she couldn’t believe how much they swept her away. After seeing them, she knew there was no way she could turn away this upcoming artist.

Yes...it would take a special collector to see the same beauty in them as she had, but she knew the right person was out there.

In the bathroom, Renee turned on the shower and then went to find her favorite body wash. Hopefully by the time she left the gallery and made her way over to Dana’s café, the speed dating event would be over and then she could just pick her up tea and leave. She had a very sneaky feeling if it wasn’t; Dana would try to find a way to get her involved.

Chapter Two

Travis Cole added more sand to his camp fire until it was out completely before he started cleaning up the remains of his breakfast. He couldn’t think of a better way to start his day than out in the wilderness with nature. He should have left the city months ago and come out here because his apartment wasn’t a place that inspired him to paint. Sometimes he thought his creativity was held back by the four walls.

There was only so much inspiration he could truly get from being closed inside for most of the day. His apartment was an incredible gift his parents had bought for him showing how much they supported his career. However, his imagination seemed to come to life more when he was living with Mother Nature and getting lost in the beauty and sounds.

So, it hadn’t been any surprise to his parents when he informed them that he was taking off for the woods for a couple of weeks to get lost in his work. This part of Wicker Valley wasn’t traveled that much which was the main reason he decided to set up camp in this spot.

Tossing the last of his trash into the garbage bag, Travis tied it up and tossed it into the back of his Jeep. He would just dispose of everything when he made his weekly trip into town. Several of his paints were almost gone and he needed to buy two new brushes while he was there.

At first, Travis wasn’t too keen on going into town to get art supplies because anytime he did there were a handful of people that considered him the bum who was wasting his time out in the woods instead of getting a nine to five job like regular people. He always felt like they were judging him when they knew absolutely nothing about him.

Yet, on the other hand several of the married and single women in Wicker Valley shamelessly flirted with him because in their eyes he was the ‘bad boy’ they were interested in dating just to get attention.

He wasn’t really positive about what had he done to make any of the married women think he would consider dating them? He would never be the type of guy to get involved with a married woman. Both of his parents raised him to respect people and cheating with a married woman wasn’t his idea of respect.

His most vivid memory of a married woman trying to seduce him happened about three months ago. She had invited him to her house with the pretense she wanted him to work on a family portrait, but that turned out to be a lie. She had only asked him over to get him away from the prying eyes of the community.

He hadn’t been inside the house for two minutes before she had pressed her body against his and was trying to kiss him. Thankfully, he was able to push her away before her husband caught them in a compromising position.

After that one occurrence, Travis made damn sure that he scheduled his meetings with female clients at a restaurant or any other public place. Since he’d started his new policy he was able to get rid of the false interests in his work replacing them with only serious offers.

The one thing all of the women throwing themselves at him didn’t understand was he wasn’t interested in dating anyone right now. His art career was taking up most of his time and he was quite happy with the direction his life was taking. He didn’t want to ruin it with a relationship if he had anything to do with it.

Travis had thought he was truly in love until he got the shock of his life when his last girlfriend dumped him for another girl. For a while he was actually thinking about proposing to Jenni until he walked into her apartment with the key she had given him and found her kissing her best friend. In the back of his mind, he always thought Jenni and Christy were a little
too
close for comfort; but it NEVER crossed his mind that they were lovers.

Numerous times from the corner of his eyes, he had caught Jenni checking out other girls when they were out on dates, but he never put much thought to it. Maybe he had secretly known something was up but he just didn’t want to believe his girlfriend since high school was interested in women and not him.

Yeah...Travis had been crushed, but he kept his anger to himself until Jenni packed up what little of her belonging was at his apartment and left with Christy. After that, he spent several days partying and drinking until he woke up with a blinding headache and smelling like he hadn’t bathed in a week.

He was a total wreck and even more disgusted that he allowed a cheating woman to send him down that road of destruction. Right at that moment, Travis decided he couldn’t focus his life or time anymore on a woman who didn’t want him. Jenni was through with him and moving on with her life. Sadly, he wasn’t going to be a part of it. The thought of jumping back into the dating pool hadn’t been the most pressing thought in his mind. What better way to get over his heartbreak than to drown his sorrows in his painting and drawings?

During the years Travis had dated Jenni his interest in painting and drawing started, so he made a decision to pursue his talent more and see where it could lead him. So, when he brought up his newest interest to his parents they didn’t question his career choice in the least.

Within a week of his breakup his parents found him an apartment smack in the center of town; it was the perfect location for an up and coming artist. Luckily enough his apartment was located a block or two from the new art gallery
Divine Design
that had opened up a few years earlier in an old department store that was located in the same spot.

Several times, he had thought about stopping by and taking a look around to get a feel of what type of art work the gallery had on display. Several other galleries outside of town had approached him about showing some of his earlier pieces, but he wasn’t fond of their lack of knowledge.

Travis knew that he wasn’t Picasso or Da Vinci, but he knew the difference between the two art styles. He wasn’t interested in handing over his hard work to a less than reputable dealer. A guy who knew
nothing
about the art world but could talk a good game might get your work into his gallery; however, after it was there he wouldn’t be able to sell one piece to any clients.

No, he had to find the right venue to sell his most prized pieces.

The more informed and knowledgeable the art dealer was would be the person who would land some of his art. More experienced art gallery owners knew how to identify who the best artists are and were better at spotting trends that were ahead of the competition.

Travis knew having a more recognized gallery owner with a good reputation for respecting their artists drew more writers and critics to art shows. This in the end paid off for everyone by drawing more interest to the work hopefully bringing a bigger crowd to the next show.

Well, he might be wishing for the rest of his life for that kind of art gallery because he hadn’t been lucky enough yet to find one gallery owner whose comprehension of art couldn’t fit onto the head of a pin. Until he did, Travis made a promise to himself to keep working on his art and storing it away until the right hands to place it in came along.

Travis could spend all day thinking about his art work, but he needed to get to town and pick up his art supplies. In addition, he made a mental note to stop by Dana Clair’s café to see if his Black Tea was in yet. The last time he was there, Dana told him to give it another week. He never thought he would be the type of guy to love tea, but Jenni introduced him to it and he hadn’t stopped drinking it since.

Getting into his jeep, Travis pulled out of the secluded part of the woods hoping that it wouldn’t take more than two hours to get everything he wanted in town, because he didn’t want to waste any more daylight than he had to on this trip. He was dying to get back and finish up the newest painting he was working on.

Chapter Three

Walking through the doors of
Divine Design
Renee instantly got a feel of peacefulness and comfort as she glanced around the place that gave her so much pleasure every time she turned the key in the lock. She loved how huge the gallery was. It was one of the things that her clients would comment about. She’d received several compliments during her showing. The expanse of white walls showcased the variety of paintings, drawings and sketches to perfection. And the few sculptures being displayed on white podiums in the corners drew the eye and added visual variety to the gallery experience.

Every painting on the walls meant so much to her. Honestly, she was probably more attached to them then the artists who spent their time painting them for her gallery. It had taken her a while to build the reputation that she had gained in the community.

Truthfully, some of the residents did give her a side look when she walked down the sidewalk because they didn’t think owning an art gallery was a true career, but more of a hobby to kill time. Yet, she wasn’t about to allow those people’s opinions to take up space in her head. The issues they had with her were their problem and not hers in the least.

Why would she allow any of them to have any kind of power over her after everything she had already experienced in life? She had already experience intellectual and financial set backs to get where she was today. Now, she was already ten steps ahead of where she never thought she would be at this point in her life.