Me And Mrs Jones (3 page)

The first six months after her gallery had opened were the most painful in her life because she wasn’t sure if the funds she had set aside would be enough to keep her business afloat. Add trying to have a respectable enough exhibition to stay in business for longer than a year was a lot to take in, but she did it and without the help of anyone else.

What she hadn’t known back then was she had been on everyone’s radar and she did mean everyone’s. She never knew that impressing the ‘right’ people was so important in the art world. Yeah, she knew drawing in a certain clientele would make or break her grand opening but getting a dedicated following along with a collector base almost left her in tears at one point.

“Renee, what are you doing here? I thought you would be at Dana’s café since the tea you ordered has arrived. Dana called looking for you and I told her you weren’t here.”

Spinning around, Renee stared at Cruz Martinez coming in her direction carrying a ladder with his left hand and a painting with his right. Cruz was one of the best employees she had working for her at
Divine Design
. He was truly the only person besides herself she would allow to deal with the more expensive paintings.

“I was on my way there, but I decided to stop by the gallery first. I wanted to see if you had gotten the butterflies paintings hung up yet,” she said, sliding her hands into the pockets of her slacks.

“No, they’re still in the back room. I wanted to get these new paintings by Romeo up first. You know how impatient he can get when his work isn’t on display within twenty-four hours after he gives it to us.”

Renee nodded her head. Cruz was right. Romeo was an excellent artist with an outstanding eye for colors and details which was the only reason she put up with his craziness. Ninety-five percent of the time it was totally uncalled for. It shouldn’t matter if his paintings didn’t get out in the showroom within a time limit, but to him it did.

“I’m sorry you have to deal with him so much lately. I know how demanding he can be,” Renee said. She knew that Cruz was patient, but Romeo’s diva attitude could push even the nicest person over the edge.

“Oh, I don’t allow Romeo to get under my skin,” Cruz said placing the ladder against the wall. “You know how I am when it comes to a pretty face. I can overlook anything else. I think that may be one of the reason I’m constantly dating jerks.”

Renee didn’t know why Cruz couldn’t find a good relationship because he was gorgeous with his olive complexion, dark sultry eyes and thick black hair showing off his Mexican heritage. He was almost walking perfection. It was just a shame she didn’t have what Cruz was looking for.

“Well, at least you’ve been dating,” she sighed, taking her hands out of her pockets. “I can’t remember the last time I was out on a date. I keep pretending that I’m not looking for love or think about going out on a date with a hot guy. But it’s a lie I keep feeding myself to make it through the day so I don’t have to admit how truly lonely I am. How sad is that?”

“Sweetie, I’m sorry to hear you’re still single and looking for love. I swear that asshole Robert should be shot for everything he put you through. At least, he’s gone out of your life for good and is getting what he deserves with that new wife of his.”

Robert’s life and problems were no longer any of her concern. She’d learned a long time ago that her ex-husband was the type of man who
always
wanted the attention on him. It only took him cheating on her mixed with a heated divorce for her to figure his real personality out. God, she had been living with such blinders when it came to Robert and his dominating side.

“Cruz, just let it go,” she sighed. “I’ve moved on. I’m stronger now than I have ever been before thanks to you and Dana. I still can’t believe I wasted all of those years listening to his bullshit!”

Moving away from the ladder, Cruz came over to her and placed his hands on her shoulders in a comforting matter. “Renee, I think everyone once in their lives have either dated or been married to a guy like Robert. Of course, we never see what a jerk he really is until another person opens our eyes to it.”

Renee smiled at Cruz and placed her hands on top of his. “You’re right. I guess I shouldn’t be so hard on myself. I guess I should consider myself lucky that Sheila came along when she did. Now, she’s the one carrying an extra two hundred and fifteen pounds weight around on her back instead of me.”

“You are so bad.” Cruz laughed as he stepped back from her. “Are you going to stay here and help me hang up these new paintings?”

She shook her head. “No, I need to head on over to Dana’s café. She’s probably wondering what has happened to me.”

“Oh, are you going to do the Speed dating?”

God...not Cruz too
, Renee thought. She didn’t need him and Dana both pushing her towards men she had no curiosity about. She was happy being single and alone at the moment.
Now if only she believed her own lies.

“I’m going to tell you, Mr. Matchmaker, the same thing I told your buddy Dana. I have absolutely no interest in the matching process of speed dating. Or any other kind of dating system Dana might come up with just to find me a man,” Renee said a little fed up at having the same conversation again with Cruz. “I can decide fairly quickly if a guy piques my interest without sitting down at a table and waiting for a bell or whistle to interrupt us.”

Cruz held up his hands in mock surrender. “Okay, I’ll leave you alone. I just thought it might be something fun for you to do for a couple of hours. You spend
so
much at this gallery or at the library researching art. You need to get out more.”

Instantly, Renee felt bad for snapping at Cruz. She couldn’t deny what he was telling her. Everything was the truth. She did spend almost ninety percent of her time doing things for the gallery. However, this place was her first love and she would make sure nothing went wrong with making it the success she knew it could be.

Divine Design
was a business...her business.

Her main goal was to welcome people and not to let them
ever
think this was only a hobby for her. Anytime she spoke with a collector, beginner or seasoned, she had to speak the language of art with them in a way they could understand.

A large majority of the people who’d shown up for her showing last night weren’t very educated about art and didn’t have the depth of expertise like she did. So, she tried to keep it simple as much as she could, so no one would get overwhelmed and leave without coming back again.

A part of her wanted to show off or flaunt her understanding of the art world lingo, but in the end how would any of that help her? If all of her information went over the potential buyer’s head, they might be impressed at that moment. However, in the end she would scare them away and lose a sale.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I shouldn’t have jumped down your throat like that.”

“Not a problem,” Cruz answered, lowering his hand. “I know you’re just stressed. I don’t take your comment seriously. How about you leave before Dana calls again searching for you? I need to finish getting these painting ups and then meet Trey for lunch.”

“How’s your brother doing?” Renee couldn’t recall the last time she’d seen Cruz’s brother at the gallery.

“Trey is doing pretty good. He’s been out of town for the past six months. He was in New York auditioning to be a back up dancer for some singer’s video.”

“Well, tell him I said hi and to stop by here before he leaves town again.” Spinning around, Renee headed for the door. Her mind was already on if she could find another artist before her next art show in a couple of weeks.

“I’ll tell him,” Cruz yelled at Renee right before she went out the door.

Chapter Four

The second the doors of Dana’s café closed behind Renee’s back she thought about turning right back around and coming back tomorrow for her tea. The café was filled to capacity with men and women looking for their perfect match.

Twenty to twenty-five mahogany tables lined the area and not one of them had an empty seat. Everyone was chatting and smiling at each other like they were old friends getting reacquainted or lonely people just searching for someone...
anyone
to be close to for a minute or an hour.

Just the thought of sitting down at one of those perfectly designed tables and ending up with another man like her ex-husband sent a quick shiver of apprehension through her body. Renee knew the best thing for her to do was find Dana, pay for her tea order and then make her way back home. There was a pile of information on her desk from potential buyers that she had to get entered into her computer.

Looking around the café, it took a few minutes but Renee finally spotted Dana near the front desk talking to one of her male employees. Renee maneuvered her way through the tables and was almost at Dana when a young waitress came up to her.

“Ma’am, are you here for the Speed dating?” she asked. “I can help you get all of your information filled out and then you can join the next round after this one.”

Ma’am
...

She hated when a young person addressed her ma’am. The term always made her feel so much older than her forty-two years. In her humble opinion, the greeting should be outlawed from everyone’s vocabulary. She didn’t look old enough to be called Ma’am at anytime in her life.

Plastering a smile on her face, Renee looked down at the girl’s name tag before addressing her. “No, thank you Becky,” she said in the nicest voice she could muster. “I’m not here for the Speed dating. I need to speak with my friend Dana, but you could get me a cup of black tea and bring it over to me. How about doing that for me instead?”

Becky frowned at her for a few minutes like she didn’t want to take the order. “Fine, I’ll fill your order.” Spinning away from her, the waitress stomped over to the left side of the café where the specialties teas were freshly brewed for customers; her long brown ponytail swinging behind her neck Renee watched Becky for a few more seconds. She had pissed the girl off to no end and she wondered would she actually be the one who filled her order or would she find someone else to pawn it off on

I don’t have time for this
, she thought to herself Deciding she didn’t want to waste anymore of her energy on the snappy waitress, Renee continued in the direction her best friend.

“Hey girl,” Renee called out, instantly getting Dana’s attention.

“Where have you been?” Dana asked walking away from the waiter coming up to her. “I called Cruz and he said you left the gallery about twenty minutes ago.”

Renee gave her friend a quick hug and then took a step back. “I decided to walk here instead of drive since it was such a nice day outside. You know how much I love spring.”

“I know. Have you started working in your yard yet?”

“I’m going to do it tomorrow since its Saturday.” Renee said. “That’s why I’m glad you told me my tea order was in. I want to be able to drink a cup after I finish with my landscape in the front yard. I’ll probably do the back in a couple of weeks.”

“Yes, your order is in my office,” Dana told her. “I didn’t want any of my employees to accidentally open the box and add it to the other teas. I wouldn’t have been able to order a replacement until next week.”

Next week....there was no way she could have gone another week without her tea. Since she wasn’t a big liquor drinker, tea was the only thing she used to relax her after a long day at work.

“Thanks again for thinking to place my tea in your office. I really do appreciate it. So, how is the speed dating going?” Renee asked glancing around at the crowd, glad she wasn’t a part of it.

Dana’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. “You wouldn’t believe how successful today is turning out. Are you sure that you aren’t a little curious about if you could find someone here? You never know.”

“Dana,” Renee warned in a low voice.

Why wasn’t Dana doing the speed dating herself? Most men would love a chance to date a beautiful and spunky Latino woman like her friend. Dana had everything going for her, but she just couldn’t seem to be able to find the right man.

“Okay, I’ll stop bothering you about it,” Dana sighed. “But I do have another question for you. It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while.”

“What is it?”

“Have you thought about moving out of the house you shared with Robert? I’m just concerned it’s filled with so many bad memories. There’s a house up for sale a couple of doors down from mine. I would love to have you living closer in town and being my neighbor would only be an added bonus.”

Move out of the house she’d fought so hard to get? Why would she do that? Renee loved living outside of town; it gave her the peace she craved.

Dana’s suggestion shocked Renee. Not once since her divorce had she ever thought about moving out of her home. The house was hers...it was never Robert’s. He’d never spent enough time there to make any memories with her.

“You’re a wonderful friend to be so concerned about me, but I love living on the outskirts of town. I have all the privacy I could ever want and there are neighbors around me. We just aren’t on the top of each other.

“Hey, I noticed Sheriff Arness over there in the corner when I walked in. Is he still trying to get you to go out on a date with him? I think he’s pretty cute.” Everyone in town knew the attractive Sheriff had a thing for her best friend.

“Alright, if you’re happy I’ll leave it alone,” Dana answered.

“Are you going to answer my question about Sheriff Arness?” Renee asked. She loved teasing Dana about her crush;

‘No, I’m not,” Dana replied, shooting her a ‘leave it alone’ look. “Have you spoken with Robert lately?”

The way Dana asked her the question Renee knew something was up with her ex. She could only imagine what was going on with him now. “No, I haven’t. The last time we spoke was about a month ago. I found some of his old things in the attic and placed them on the porch for him to come and get. What’s going on with him now?”