It felt safe and warm.
His hand brushed against the blanket and suddenly the image blurred and he woke. He lay in bed, wishing he could have seen the woman's face. Who could it be that would make his dream feel so content and calm?
His dream had felt short, but powerful. It left him with a warm feeling in his chest. He rolled over, hoping to fall back into the dream and find the girl again, but found that he was no longer tired. He lay there, letting his mind drift and his thoughts wander.
The image of the blonde girl in his bed at the Palace, the one from the dream, kept coming back into his mind clear as a photograph. The auburn hair was his only clue as to her identity. Was it a premonition or just his current preoccupation with the new hire? He couldn’t be sure.
Chapter 3
Sabrina
Sabrina was on cloud nine as she left the conference room and walked toward the lobby of the hotel. There was a beat of exhilaration and energy in her step, now that the interview was over and she had landed the job of a lifetime.
Things are turning around for me, she thought. This opportunity is going to be the new beginning that I've needed for a long time. I can't believe how things are coming together right now.
She flashed a confident smile toward the young man working at the hotel's front desk, before striding out of the entrance and into the parking lot. She found her old beat up Toyota Corolla sitting lonely at the edge of the parking lot. She hopped in and turned the key.
The engine jerked and then rumbled to a start, causing the worn belts to squeal in agony. While the engine warmed, she pulled out her cell phone and dialed her mother, Anna. It rang four times before she finally picked up.
“Hello?” her mother said. Her tone made it sound like Sabrina had interrupted her, which was highly likely, since she was always busy.
“Hey, Mom,” Sabrina said, her smile from the successful interview still plastered across her face. “What are you up to?”
“Hi, honey,” she said, her southern accent think and warm like honey. “I actually just walked in the door and was about to clean up the house a bit.”
“Were you teaching today?” Sabrina asked.
“Yes. Ms. Donahue, the first grade teacher over at Belmont, called in sick again today,” Anna said. “But it's great, because I'll be able to get a lot more hours in. With your father not working, I need to make as much money as possible. I'm sad that Ms. Donahue is ill, but glad to have the extra hours.”
“Are you done for the day?”
“Unfortunately, no,” Anna said, with an exaggerated sigh. “I've got an after school meeting after my shift.”
“You're a substitute teacher, though,” Sabrina said. “I thought you didn't have to attend those meetings.”
“Normally that's the case, but I've been putting in so many hours over there that they have asked me to participate anyway. I'm practically a full time teacher with how many shifts I've put in this year,” she said. “But it's not a bad thing that they want me to come to the meeting. They're paying me to show up, so I'm not complaining. I'll just grab a cup of coffee on my way there.”
“Please take care of yourself, Mom.” Sabrina pleaded. “I know we need the income, but it's not worth risking your health. I don't want you to work yourself to death. We'll figure things out, one way or the other. You know that.”
“I know, but when the opportunity is here I need to take it. I have to make hay while the sun shines,” she said, repeating the phrase that Sabrina had heard a thousand times growing up. “Anyway, what are you up to, honey? How was your day?”
“I just finished my interview. I was wondering if I’d be able to catch you and Dad before you guys leave for work tonight?” Sabrina glanced at the clock on the dashboard as she spoke, surprised to see that the evening was fast approaching. “I'd like to see you guys and fill you in on how it went.”
“Oh baby girl, I'm so excited to hear how it went. I hope you have good news. How far away are you?” Anna asked. “Your father has to leave in an hour. I’ll be right behind him.”
“I’m just downtown right now, about to leave the hotel,” Sabrina said, as she put her car into gear and began pulling out of the parking lot. “I can be home in ten or fifteen minutes.”
“Okay, that sounds great,” Anna said.
“Have you and Dad eaten dinner yet?” Sabrina asked. “Do you want me to stop and grab something on the way home?”
“Yes, good idea. I didn’t have time to make anything this evening,” her voice trailed off with a faint bit of guilt.
“That's okay, it's no big deal,” Sabrina said. “I’ll just grab some burgers and be home soon.”
Halfway to home, Sabrina pulled up to a little burger stand that was on the side of the road. They had the best burgers in town, though nobody would have ever guessed. The small stand looked like it would have fallen over if a stiff breeze had blown by it. Even so, there was still a line of cars, all filled with locals who knew just how good the food was.
While waiting in the drive-through line, Sabrina replayed the interview over in her head, the images still vivid and alive. More than the series of questions, though, she reran her brief conversation with Marco. The elegant tone of his voice was a song stuck in her head, something she could hear above the hum of the radio and the idling of her car.
After five minutes in line, she bought dinner for her family and pulled away. She rolled her windows down as soon as she hit the highway, allowing the air to whip across her face in celebration. It gave her the feeling of freedom and release, a sensation she hadn’t experienced in a long while. Her racing heart, combined with the intensity of the wind, kept the feeling of triumphant excitement alive in her chest all the way home.
When she arrived at her parents' trailer, she parked the Corolla nearby, on a small square of land where the grass had died from years of parked cars. All that was left was a small field of gravel and dust, which had become the official parking lot of the Wise residence. Wedged between Sabrina's Corolla and the trailer that she called home, was her family’s Honda Civic. Next to that was a small porcelain fountain. It had collected a small amount of rain water in the bottom, which had turned it into a bird bath. Surrounding the fountain were three garden gnomes and several tacky wind spinners, all things that Sabrina had wanted to throw out for as long as she could remember.
Her family’s trailer was as dilapidated as its surroundings. It had once been painted brown, but now the color had faded and chipped, exposing the graying wood underneath. The small home looked as though it had seen a few too many seasons. And as the light of the setting sun blanketed the trailer’s exterior, it only helped to amplify its many faults.
Sabrina got out of her car and skipped toward the trailer. The front door required a jerk and an upward heave to open, but once she had done so, she stepped in.
“Hey, guys. I'm home.” She sang the words as she entered. Once inside, she was greeted by a familiar stale and musty scent. It was the kind of smell you could only get used to after several minutes of pretending it wasn’t there, or after years of growing up in it. In many ways, the trailer would have been jarring to most people, but for Sabrina it was the smell of home.