Hearts & Minds | WATTY Winner

Chapter 10 | Cuddle Pup | Part 2

Nora hesitated for a moment before clicking on the accept button. It took her to LinkedIn and the same page she had scanned before. He must have seen that she'd looked at his profile. Most likely his assistant had clicked on all of the LinkedIn members who had checked on Gene Furlan's page. That was probably one of their daily tasks. Tea salon owners, captains of industry—the more possible leads on making more money the better.

Still, Nora couldn't help but wonder if the invitation was actually simply networking.

#

     Things were going marvelously for Bunny Harvey Furlan. That's what she told everyone who asked, like that little web reporter the other day—what was her name? Tobiko or Tokiko. The interior designer and contractor Bunny hired had worked fast and put together a lovely pied-à-terre in the old Ko-Harvey flat, and the rent her new tenants—Twitter employees?—paid downstairs and in Cole's house along with their security deposits was rolling in. The hole in a wall that had been that hideous tearoom was now a slick, fashionable gathering space—the Harvey-Furlan Wine Bar. She'd applied for the permits and licenses and all that tedious business as soon as she'd read her father's will and trust. Her son Carlo in particular had been an angel pushing that through with the office at City Hall—he'd dated someone there once, apparently.

How she loved her children! They were everything good. Theo was a bit sentimental, nothing like his bastard of a father, but he was smart and attractive, and that nasty business years ago would never break through to the light of day. He would go far in life—she'd see to it. Carlo was her little imp. He had a devilish streak, certainly, but he was her baby, and always would be. She rarely said no to him. His twin sister Caprice, on the other hand, was a real handful, and not in a charming way. Even Bunny had to admit that her one and only daughter marched to the beat of her own drummer—as everyone liked to point out. Caprice, ah Caprice. Just thinking about her made Bunny shake her head and sigh as she stood behind the counter of her new venture.

She wasn't actually working—that's what the hired help was for. No, she was simply chatting away on the phone with one of her dear, dear St. Helena friends who was going through a rather nasty divorce. The poor woman had broken her prenup, yet still hoped against hope for both the San Francisco condo and the vineyard. Who was she kidding? Bunny made little noises and backhanded comments that were supposedly comforting but actually hackneyed about how you simply never knew about these things and perhaps the woman's soon-to-be ex-husband would have a change of heart and find his heart, but why should the tiger suddenly lose his stripes? There was nothing Bunny relished more than a subtle, carefully worded takedown of a friend's prospects. She called it a pep talk, but honestly it was a reality check.

"How do you put up with it?" Her friend asked her. She meant Bunny's ex, of course, who had been brutal to her. Even five years after the final papers had gone through she was still stung by all that he had enjoined. Gene took the apartment in New York, the cottage in Healdsburg, the time share in Hawaii, the ski chalet in Tahoe, the vineyard, and all of their shared investment accounts. Bunny received the St. Helena house, the adjoining winery, and alimony. She also continued to share trusteeship with him over their children's trusts. He agreed to continue paying for their educational needs. As if she could afford three college tuitions. Plus graduate schools. Well, Theo had blown it, but there was still hope for dear Carlo. Technically, Caprice had one semester left at Mills College. She had taken three "gap years" so far.

Bunny had not worked since the day she married Gene Furlan, almost thirty years ago. Everything she had, Gene had given her. Until her father died. Finally, something of her own.
How did she put up with it? Her friend's question hung on the line.

"Well, my children," Bunny said quietly, knowing it would get this friend of hers right in the heart. The woman had no children, had nothing tying her to her husband of any significance. "The one good thing about Theo taking a leave from law school is that he's been available to me through it all. And it's good for him, too. He might not know what he wants to do with his life, but for now, I'm keeping him busy, the dear heart."

"That's wonderful," the friend sniveled on the other end. "And he's engaged to Chelsea? I keep looking for the announcement in the papers." Ah, her friend could play the game too—a kindly asked question tipped in venom.

Bunny crafted her answer. "As a matter of fact, they went out for drinks before he went to Japan. Didn't I tell you? I think they really hit it off." She tried not to think about what Theo had said upon his rather early return from his outing with the wine-in-a-box heiress: "Chelsea's a really good sport. And, FYI, it's not going to happen, Mother. This isn't the eighteen hundreds."

"You don't say," the friend said. "Because I heard from Suze that Chelsea is looking at a basketball coaching job in the south. Arkansas, is it?"

Bunny ignored this. "Chelsea Norland's parents and I are on the same page. She and Theo make a darling couple. And I don't see why Theo couldn't move anywhere in the world to be with her. That's the beauty of being young and unfettered. Perhaps my life isn't perfect, but I always have my children's lives to lift me out of the doldrums."

Bunny was far too absorbed in her conversation to notice that one of her two customers (well three—there was a couple sampling a flight together, the cheapskates) had been watching her intently for some time now. The young woman was slender and pretty in a way that suggested a lot of effort had been put into her looks—carefully applied layers of makeup, plucked eyebrows, and a painstakingly neat outfit. She studied Bunny while sipping a glass of Malbec. In fact, as soon as Bunny's eyes roamed over and assessed her, the woman gulped the rest of her wine—a mid-tier vintage—left money on the table and grabbed her things. Bunny didn't pay attention to the official looking metal briefcase her customer carried out of the wine bar. She was in the middle of making sympathetic sounds and smiling as her friend on the other end of the line began to sob, unable to utter one more single recognizable word.

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Thank you for reading Part 2 of Chapter 10: Cuddle Pup! What do you think? Would you drink the Drowsy Puppy tea? Who is this Alexis person? What does she want? Why is she so interested in the Furlans? Hm...More will be revealed on Friday when I post a pretty short bit—we'll check in with Tomiko. Until then, thanks again for reading, Wattpad community! Please remember to vote, comment, and share HEARTS & MINDS with your friends! — Olivia