Leaving him as he examined the work and ran his hands over the cherry wood, I busied myself in the background. I’d been dealing with people in the showroom since my teens when I helped Dad on Saturdays, and I sensed when he stood up straight and looked around, it was time to approach him.
We discussed the wood, finish, and joinery, as well as how to take care of it. He sat in the chair and rocked back and forth, saying he remembered his grandmother sitting in a rocking chair on the front porch when he was a kid. He bought it, and when I entered his details into the computer, I repeated his phone number and address, as I always did. I wanted no more delivery foul-ups.
That took me back to Jackson’s note, and I checked the delivery address on the computer. They were missing, and that had me scratching my head. How could that be? Unless there’d been a glitch or the client had called to change the address, and what? I couldn’t figure it out. I prided myself on our excellent customer service, and this was far from that.
A call from a vendor got me out of my head. He had a delivery of maple, and I left Sandy in charge and headed to the warehouse. Going to the lumberyard wasn’t a chore because reading the wood grain was what I was good at.
Hours later when I made it back, Sandy left to pick up her grandchildren from school, telling me the people who commissioned the bedroom set had called about hardware. They’d made a choice and sent pics. In the remaining hours before I closed up, I dealt with admin, particularly invoices, which I hated. It was necessary but boring, and I preferred to be standing in sawdust.
Before I left for the night, I went into the workshop and admired the progress the guys had made. I pressed my palm on the harvest table and checked the temperature of the wood. The rocking horse was in its crate, and I said my goodbyes, telling it to enjoy its new life.
Fingering Jackson’s note in my pocket, I figured I’d drive to the client’s place and check if he received his coffee table. But smacked my brow as I recalled the blank space on the computer where the address should have been. So where was the coffee table?
I texted Jackson again, but he’d be at the exhibition until late this evening and then possibly at dinner with potential clients. He might not see the message until tomorrow.
If the customer left a lousy review on the website, I’d have to make it up to them and gift them something small from the store.
2
REMY
Longest. Week. Ever.
I popped the trunk of my car and grabbed my suitcase, shutting it a little too loudly for this time of night. Most of my neighbors were probably sound asleep, and I wanted to keep it that way.
My coat and carry-on were still in the backseat, and part of me wanted to leave them there and worry about them in the morning, but with the luck I’d had on this trip, it didn’t feel worth the risk.
Bag on my shoulder, coat in hand, I rolled my suitcase into the house, happy to finally be home. My work trip had been extended two days after numerous canceled flights thanks to a storm front. I was in dirty clothes, exhausted, and grumpy. All I wanted was a nice hot shower and my own bed.
I tossed the keys and my work phone in the basket by the door, dropped everything else where I stood, and walked straight to the bathroom. I’d unpack and look at the mail my neighbor had collected later. My priority was getting out of these clothes. I’dnever been one to pack more than I needed, and this time, that had been a mistake.
Reaching in the shower, I turned on the hot water, giving it a minute to run hot, and got undressed. When the steam began to gather, I grabbed six of my eucalyptus shower steamers and tossed them in. While I was away, I’d run out and picked up one from the local drugstore that was supposed to be “real eucalyptus.” It was not. All the artificial scent did was make me nauseous.
What my koala really needed was for me to shift and allow him to get his fur on, but that would have to wait until tomorrow. He was too antsy to let him loose in the house, and I was too tired to be driving anywhere. He’d been pushing at me hard ever since we got onto the plane. Being trapped in a metal can in the air was not his favorite. Nor mine, to be honest.
I didn’t have to travel a lot for work. I lucked out when my boss never had us return to the office. I loved that I could do most of it in my own home and not have to worry about commuting, Kevin’s gross cologne, people stopping at my desk to ask a question and then wanting to turn it into a conversation and delaying my own productivity, or any of that crap. I liked people well enough, but I could get my work done in a few hours at home or a full day at the office. I was always going to pick home.
The eucalyptus-saturated steam was now dense, the humidity exactly what I needed. I kept scenting the air, inhaling deeper, soothing my beast, and finally feeling like I was home for real. I snatched a couple more shower bombs and tossed them in. Most days one was enough. Today was not most days.
I climbed under the hot water, careful not to step on the pellets that hadn’t fully melted yet. They made the shower a littleslippery from time to time, but they worked better than any other version I’d tried, so it was worth it.
Taking my time, I washed away the remains of the trip and let my muscles relax.
Let me out.
I had to remind him that he didn’t like the shower, and just because he liked the smell didn’t mean there was real eucalyptus.
Don’t worry, I’ll give you some good yums later.
It was not easy to find fresh eucalyptus here. The one florist used to keep it in stock, but they switched to a new vendor that used preservatives that made it both gross and unsafe. I could buy in bulk and have it shipped, and did from time to time, but that was hit or miss on quality. My solution was eucalyptus tea and candy. It wasn’t great, but it was better than nothing,
When the water started to cool, I turned it off and grabbed my towel. I had a really large water tank, and when it started to get cold like this, it meant I’d been in there far too long. I didn’t need to look at my toes to know they were probably wrinkly.
I threw on some pajamas and padded to the kitchen, where I saw how full the basket of mail my neighbor had collected for me was. There were some things I could ignore until morning, but seeing an overfilled basket of mail wasn’t one of them.
My neighbor Gil was the sweetest old man and always offered to help when I was out of town. Despite the fact that it was easy enough to have my mail put on hold, I let him. He reminded me of my grandfather, and I’d learned early on that when I let him do little things like that, he’d let me help him when he needed it,instead of him promising that he could do it on his own. I was all for independence, but the first time I saw him climb onto his roof—yeah, that was a no for me.
I grabbed a cola from the fridge, turned on the kettle for my nightly tea, and plopped on the couch to look through the mail. The soda felt great going down my throat, even though it was probably a bad idea, given the caffeine. I was tired enough I didn’t think it would matter. I sorted the mail, piece by piece. There was an election coming up in town that took up the majority of it. Then I found an advertisement for a local cell phone carrier, which reminded me that my personal phone was somewhere at home.
