Once Upon a Blue Moon

Chapter Two, Scene One

Cincinnati, Ohio. Early summer 2012

Claire carefully placed her appointment book on her desk. She turned the page to today's date and ran her forefinger down the list of meetings and appointments. Three showings, one across the river that would take up most of the afternoon, a conference call with a title company, and an early evening staff meeting.

A full day. She grinned. Just how she liked it.

Glancing at her cell phone, she took in the time. Eight fifty-two. Enough time to check email, make a quick call to Rick to see if they were still on for lunch, and fill her travel mug with coffee. Followed by a ten-minute drive to the downtown condominium she was showing at nine-thirty. Plenty of time.

She double-clicked her mouse and her Gmail sprung to life.

Speaking of the devil. An email from Rick:

From: Richard Gentry

To: Claire Winslow

Date: June 14, 2012

Subject: Lunch

Can't make lunch today, honey. Sorry! Travel agent called and wants me to look over the documents for the honeymoon trip. All is okay, I just need to sign and write a check. See you tonight? —R

p.s. Don't forget to renew your passport. If you don't have time, put Joyce on it. Quit procrastinating.

Claire frowned.

Well, all right. She could forgive him the lunch, she supposed. They had not spent a lot of time together lately, and she was looking forward to this lunch, but no matter. After all, it was for their honeymoon. She had allowed him that one task to take on himself, and everything else she had told him hands off. The perfect wedding for the perfect couple was going to commence without a hitch, if she had anything to say about it.

And of course, she did.

She was curious about the honeymoon. Rick was extremely tight-lipped about it and she couldn't wrangle any details from him whatsoever. She had dropped as many hints as she could about where she would like to go, but he wasn't budging.

Men.

Her passport. Dammit. They had time! Why was he hounding her? She jotted a note in her day planner, and scrolled through the remaining overnight mail in her inbox. Nothing she couldn't deal with later. But she did linger on an email from a realty company in the Outer Banks. She'd signed up for their newsletter several months ago, before Rick had decided to commandeer the honeymoon plans. Of course, that was his deal, she knew that, but she was longing for a quiet and lazy week on a secluded beach somewhere—no phones, no appointments, no list of things to do—and occasionally flipped through the North Carolina company's website perusing beach rentals.

Well, one could dream. One day.

She responded to Rick with a quick, Of course! and then pushed send to reply.

So, if Rick couldn't make lunch, then perhaps her best friend Vicki could. She wanted to run some wedding details by her maid of honor, anyway.

She pressed the button for the desk speakerphone and punched Vicki's number in with her index finger.

The phone crackled on the other end. Claire glanced at the odd sound and said, "Hello?"

"Claire? My God! The phone didn't even ring!"

"Vicki? Is that you?"

"Yes. Weird! We must have picked up at the same time."

"But I called you." Claire rummaged through her top desk drawer, looking for a pencil. Finding one, she started making notes in her day planner of things she needed to tell Vicki.

"No, I was calling you!"

"Using your psychic powers, again, my friend? What's up?"

"Hey. You know I do not use my powers frivolously. I just called to see if you wanted to go to lunch. I haven't seen you in weeks."

"Well, that's why I called you. Between the wedding and work..." Claire noticed the red button light up and flash on her phone indicating an incoming call.

"I totally get it. Can you spare an hour today? I have news."

"News?" Claire's interest was piqued, and she stopped scratching her list and looked out the window. "Of course!"

"All right," she said. "How about that little Chinese place in Montgomery. I know it's a bit of a drive, but it's so good. Okay with you?"

Claire's assistant ducked her head in the door and flashed paperwork and then made a phone call gesture with her thumb and fingers by her ear. Claire noticed the call parked on the other line. "Perfect." The restaurant was on her way to her afternoon showing. "I've got another call, Vicki."

"No prob. I'm on my way to the gallery. Sounds great."

"Twelve-thirty?"

"See you then."

Joyce, Claire's assistant, hurriedly stepped toward her desk. "I need your signature on these contracts, and it's Joe Bachmann on the line about the house in Hyde Park."

Claire nodded, closed her planner, and glanced at her watch while heading for the door. "Tell Joe I'll call him from the car. I have to run."

She stopped and half-turned back to Joyce. "My passport is in the safe. Would you see what I have to do to renew it?"