A Wife for Stephen by Valcine Brown Page B

eat?” Celeste dishes out his portion
of dog food and places it on the floor next to his water
bowl that she has cleaned and refilled. The time on the
clock tells Celeste that she has half an hour before Jenny
will be arriving to pick her up.
    “We only have time for a short walk today, Thomas. I’m
going out of town overnight, and I will be leaving in half an
hour. Better eat up if you want to go for a walk.”
    Thomas obliges and finishes his food within minutes.
Celeste changes her mind and decided it will be better to go
outside into the backyard and exercise Thomas rather than
taking a walk. That way she doesn’t run the risk of losing
track of time and not being ready to leave when Jenny
arrives.
    As Celeste opens the sliding glass door that leads to her
private backyard, Thomas follows closely on her heals. She
goes over to the corner of the yard where Thomas has left
his bright yellow tennis ball and picks it up. Thomas knows
what will follow.
    Celeste throws the ball over and over, each time having
it returned to her by her lovable furry pal Thomas. When
the sound of her doorbell chiming breaks into the quiet
time
she
has
been
having with
Thomas,
Celeste
tells
Thomas that this is the last one and throws the ball one last
time.
    Celeste proceeds to the front door after locking the back
sliding glass door into place. “Now you be good and don’t
give Helen a hard time when she comes to take care of
you,” Celeste tells Thomas as she rubs his head and neck
good-bye.
    “Hi, Jen,” Celeste says upon opening the door. Celeste
picks up her overnight bag from the floor and retrieves her
purse and keys from their resting-place. Thomas takes his
turn to greet Jenny. When Celeste moves to go out the
front door, Thomas lies on the floor and looks pitifully up
at Celeste.
    “Don’t you
start that. I’ll be home tomorrow evening. I
love you.” Celeste says as her final good-bye before exiting
the door.
    “How is Thomas feeling about your trip?” Jenny asks,
trying to keep the sarcasm out of her voice.
“Think what you will, but Thomas understands far more
than people give him credit.”
“I know, he’s some sort of wonder dog.”
Having rehashed this conversation with Jenny numerous
times before, Celeste finds it best just to ignore Jenny. As
much as Celeste loves Jenny, she also knows that there are
some things that she and Jenny will never agree on one
hundred percent.
Celeste drapes the shoulder strap of her overnight back
across her shoulders and turns to lock the door behind her.
Jenny takes the lead in escorting Celeste to the vehicle. A
long white stretched limousine. The driver is standing at the
rear door of the passenger side of the vehicle, where he has
opened the door. At seeing Celeste and Jenny emerging
from the walkway, the driver comes forward to relieve
Celeste of her overnight bag, “Please allow me to carry that
for you.”
“Good afternoon, Ms. Brooks,” he says as he relieves
Celeste of her baggage. Once Jenny and Celeste are seated
comfortably inside, the driver shuts the door and goes to
the rear of the vehicle to place Celeste’s baggage into the
trunk.
When the driver seats himself behind the steering wheel,
the car is put into gear and Celeste feels herself floating
away from the curbside. “Wow. This rides nice.”
“As if you’ve never rode in a limo before,” says Jenny.
“I haven’t,” confesses Celeste.
“Surely with all the events your job hosts, you’ve had to
go to at least one of them in luxury.”
“No. I’ve always driven myself. That way I don’t need
to stick around any longer than necessary. I can leave
whenever I feel like it.”
Jenny quirks her mouth and tilts her head to the side
before saying, “And knowing you, you probably leave at
the first available opportunity.”
Feeling
slightly
rebuffed,
Celeste
decides
not
to
comment but to relax and allow herself to enjoy her first
limo ride in style. The supple leather interior, also