Page 38 of Reclaimed Dreams
“Let’s figure that out, together.”
42 years ago
Jo sat at the hand-me-down dining room table they’d claimed from her parents garage, reading travel books and dreaming of the future. No sooner had the ink dried on the marriage license than Dom had gone back to work, taking as many hours as he could get on construction sites. It was summer in California, and business was booming. He was picking up overtime nearly every day. They hadn’t had enough money to take a honeymoon and afford the security deposit on their apartment. The apartment had won out, and the trip was on hold until they could save up.
She had a classroom placement for the fall, but until then she was content to spend her days unpacking and setting up their new home, and her nights having as much sex with her husband as he could manage before he fell into exhausted slumber.
He was working his tail off, trying to get enough savings in the bank so that they could afford to take a trip somewhere fun before the summer ended. She was distracting herself from boredom and organizational labor with trip planning. She’d narrowed down her list to Italy or France, mainly so she could eat good food, drink good wine, and feel sophisticated when she got home and told everyone about their adventures. She’d dreamed of travel for so long, and now it was nearly within reach.
Her list of places she wanted to visit was as long as her arm, but she knew she wouldn’t get to all of them on this trip. But if she had enough options, at least she’d get to see a few of them. The planning part of her brain was buzzing, and she needed more resources.
The library! That was what she could do—run over to the library and see if they had any more European travel books she’d missed.
She loaded her pens and journal and maps into her purse, grabbed the keys to her ancient Impala, and despite the obscene gas prices, headed out.
When her car began to sputter halfway to the library, Jo sighed. Maybe she should have paid more attention to the gas lines. But when she glanced down, the tank was still half full.
“No…no, baby. Come on.” She turned the keys in the ignition and the engine just clicked but didn’t turn over. Damn it! No!
Yes, her car was almost ten years old, but she took good care of it. She hardly even missed her oil changes by more than a few months, and hadn’t she just replaced the wipers? This car needed to last and get her back and forth to her school in September!
She slammed her fist against the steering wheel, accidentally knocking the horn and scaring the shit out of herself. She slipped the car into neutral and climbed out to push it out of traffic. She walked the rest of the way to the library so she could call Dom. Maybe the library had books on car repair.
They really couldn’t afford this right now.
Tearfully, Jo put her journal up on the shelf in their bedroom. There was no point in planning anything more for this summer. Their little nest egg had barely covered the repairs needed to keep her car running. So much for a quick honeymoon.
The reality of one person working a school schedule and one person working a construction schedule was rapidly sinking in. One of them would always be off during the other person’s busiest season.
She was still sitting on the bed, tears on her cheeks, when Dom walked in, filthy from a hard day building.
“Hey baby, you okay?” Dom hovered, wanting to comfort her but not wanting to get her or the bed dirty.
“Just sad about the trip. Who knew repairs would be so expensive?”
“About that…”
Jo glanced up sharply at that. “Oh God, what now?” Panic laced her voice and she gripped her hands together, bracing for bad news.
“I’ve got a surprise for you. I’m going to hop in the shower. Put on that sexy dress you bought for our trip.” And without another word, he began stripping off sweaty clothes on his way to the bathroom.
What on earth had he done? Jo’s curiosity piqued, she changed, did her makeup, and didn’t call him on the trail of dirty laundry he left on the floor. As she slipped into her espadrille sandals, Dom emerged from the steamy bathroom in a towel. She lost track of the straps when he moved said towel from his waist to his hair.
God, her husband was a handsome man. Beads of water gathered on his firm chest, and her fingers itched to brush them away. Taut muscles rippled in his arms as he vigorously dried his hair. And lower, her favorite part of him twitched as he caught her peeking. She reached for the tie on her wrap dress, intending to convince him to delay whatever plan he had in mind.
“No, don’t look at me like that, Josephine.” He pulled on briefs and an undershirt. “We have reservations.” He pulled his blue suit out of the closet. She’d never seen him wear it outside of a friend’s wedding.
“Fine, but I reserve my right to convince you later. Wouldn’t want to wrinkle your suit. Where are we going?”
Dom just shook his head. “You do understand what surprise means, yes? Come on, we’ll be late.”
They climbed in her traitorous car and he drove her into the city. San Francisco glowed in the evening mist, romantic and cool. Jo shivered in her warm-weather dress, unprepared for the change in temperature at the coast. Dom snuggled her close as they made their way up the block to Original Joe’s.
“Right this way, bella signora.”
“Hmm, grazie.”
He led her to a romantic booth in the back where a dozen roses waited and her favorite red wine was already opened and breathing on the table.
“You paid a corkage fee for a four-dollar bottle of wine?”
Dom shrugged. “It’s your favorite.”
He poured her a glass and then filled his own.
“A toast. To my beautiful bride. I may not be able to take you to Italy for our honeymoon, but I will always do my best to give you what you need to be happy. Tonight, I am hoping that a nice dinner at an Italian restaurant with your favorite wine and dancing later will soothe the sting. Tomorrow, I thought we could go to the Legion of Honor to see some statues and art.”
Tears threatened Jo’s fresh mascara. She felt like a watering pot these days. So many changes had tumbled together one after another, from finishing college, to starting her new job, to getting married, to moving into their first place together, to planning a honeymoon and then losing that chance. She could barely catch her breath. But two things stood out from the chaos with blinding clarity. One, she had definitely chosen the right partner to stand by her side through these challenges. And two, he was getting laid tonight.
She smiled at him over the table and clinked her glass to his. “To my handsome husband, for making every day magical. I love you too.”
