Authors: Dianne Harman
Sean was surprised at how true his words were. He and Sam were both doing very well. The cravings for Freedom were becoming less and less frequent. Sean felt a lot of it was because he and Sam talked about their feelings and cravings. He was sure if Luisa joined them she would be helped too.
"Oh, Sean, thank you so much. You're offering me hope. When I made the decision last night, on one hand, I was sure it was the right one, but on the other hand, I was dreading what I might go through. If I have someone to talk to, it will be much easier," Luisa said, clearly grateful for Sean's help.
"And Luisa, don't forget. I'm a psychologist and Sam is a doctor so you're getting two professionals helping you for free."
They both laughed, knowing full well that Luisa could afford any professional she wanted. She told him she would have Skype installed and would call at 9:00 p.m. next Wednesday. She hung up feeling hopeful, as if a huge burden had been lifted from her shoulders. If she could get help from Sean and Sam, she felt she could make it through this time of almost insurmountable grief. She was eager for Wednesday to arrive.
CHAPTER 36
After leaving the Blue Coyote Motel on Memorial Day weekend, Jill drove to her home in the desert feeling great once again. She'd always loved the desert and even more so on late spring days like today. There was a little nagging voice in the back of her mind, a reminder that Rick still watched over her. She knew that he would have been unhappy with her decision to take Freedom, but she just didn't think she could go back to how she felt after his death. She was finally enjoying her life and had no desire to return to a mental state where she didn't care whether she lived or died and had seriously contemplated suicide.
When she got to her desert home, she called Aaron, who had become her best friend, her lover, her confidante, and her constant companion whenever they could arrange it. When he answered the phone, Jill said, "I'm so glad I went to that little motel in the desert. I really feel better and I think I look better too. I was probably overly tired, but I'm feeling fine now. You've never been to my home here in the desert. Why don't you fly into Ontario airport next Friday and I'll pick you up. It's only about an hour's drive from the airport to my home. The desert is so beautiful this time of year. Bring your clubs and I'll make a golf reservation for us."
"I've been so worried about you," Aaron said. "This is great news and a celebration is definitely in order. I'll meet you at the airport on Friday. My scheduler will make my flight reservation and I'll get back to you with my arrival time. I haven't played golf in a long time, although I've been meaning to take it up again. I never could seem to find the time for it, but I guess the time is now. We’ve never talked about this. Are you any good?"
"Well, I haven't played for a long time either, but at one time I could play without totally embarrassing myself. I'm not sure how I'll do now, but I'm game. I can't wait to see you!"
When Jill hung up, she realized just how true that was. She had missed him more than she had thought possible. She wasn't sure just how long she wanted to continue a long distance romance. The times she spent in between seeing him were getting terribly lonesome. Aaron had built a very lucrative and successful medical practice and she knew that if any future moves were to be made, they would have to be on her part.
As she unpacked, she noticed the little vial of Freedom pills in her suitcase and made a mental note to put them in her medicine chest when she returned to Newport Beach. She thought that Aaron, like Rick, would probably not be in favor of her decision to continue with the pills. It was something she'd hold off telling him, if she told him at all.
Jill picked Aaron up at the Ontario airport at 3:00 p.m. on Friday. They had to wait a long time for his golf clubs, but they finally slid down the chute marked "Oversize Luggage." Aaron wasn't the only one to ship golf clubs to the Ontario airport to be used in Palms Springs. The area had a worldwide reputation for having some of the finest golf courses in the country. A large number of golf bags joined Aaron's in the baggage claim area.
They had an easy drive to the greater Palm Springs area, arriving at Jill's home just before dusk. Aaron left his clubs in the car while they hurried into the house, poured a glass of wine, and took their drinks out to the patio. Her home faced the seventeenth hole of an exclusive golf club and was a perfect spot to watch the sun set. It was a beautiful evening and the desert was magical with breathtakingly beautiful pinks, purples, light blues, and dark blues. When it was finally dark, the sky was filled with stars.
"We don't have nights like this in San Francisco. There's too much fog and too many lights from the city. This is really something," Aaron said. "I don't remember seeing a sky like this in Newport Beach either."
"Newport is the same as San Francisco," Jill said. "Too many city lights; the desert has a beauty all of its own. I love to come here because I always feel like I'm on vacation."
Aaron said, "To change the subject. Do you remember Lenore? You met her at a hospital fundraiser when you were in San Francisco with me. Evidently, she's a good friend of your friend Marge, who, as I understand it, is the chairperson of the big Newport Hospital fundraising gala. I believe you handled the last silent auction for her. Anyway, Marge was going on and on about how successful it was because of you, so Lenore called me to see if you would be interested in moving to San Francisco. They're at a place where they need a full-time fundraising director at the hospital and they've decided to create this new position. I understand that it pays well and I think you would be great for it."
Aaron took a deep breath and went on, "I know it's early in our relationship, but I'd like you to move in with me and let's see where this goes. I've never been married and I'd like to take my time before either of us makes any permanent decisions. Take your time and think about it as long as you like, but please say yes."
Jill sat perfectly still, barely able to comprehend what she had just heard. A job in San Francisco and Aaron asking her to move in with him? She hadn't known what she wanted, but now that it was presented to her, this was exactly what she wanted.
"I don't even need to think about it," she said. "Absolutely! How soon does she want me to start? I'll need to take care of a few things before I can move to San Francisco, but I'll make it work. Oh, Aaron, I love you and I want to be with you. I've been so worried about the future of our relationship. I didn't know how we were going to make it work. This is a miracle."
Aaron reached out and took her face in his strong hands. "I promise I will do everything in my power to make you as happy as you're making me at this moment. Let's celebrate by going out to a fancy dinner, but first I'd like to celebrate privately in the other room."
He stood up, took her hand, closed the patio door behind him and gently pulled her into the bedroom. The celebratory dinner had been a great idea, but the private celebration was much better and lasted the whole night.
Aaron woke up to the smell of bacon sizzling on the stove griddle along with the smell of freshly made coffee. He walked into the kitchen to find Jill setting the breakfast table on the patio. She had squeezed fresh orange juice for their mimosas and was getting ready to mix the hollandaise sauce for their bacon eggs benedict. He helped her carry the plates out to the patio table where a big bouquet of flowers she had brought from inside the house sat in the middle of the table.
"I could really get used to this. Do you cook like this all the time?" Aaron asked. "I'm sick and tired of eating on the run and I'm no good as a cook. Think you can do some cooking like this when you get to San Francisco?"
"You're in luck. I love to cook. Guess I'm just a frustrated chef and cooking just for me is not a lot of fun. Get ready! This is the part of our relationship I think you're really going to like," Jill replied.
"Actually, there aren't any parts I'm not liking," Aaron said, grinning.
As she sat in the warm morning sunshine looking out at the perfectly maintained golf course, enjoying breakfast with Aaron, the image of the white pill vial containing her supply of Freedom pills flickered briefly through Jill's mind. She quickly shut it out, not wanting anything to destroy this moment.
I'll
think
about
it
later
, she thought.
I'm
probably
going
to
have
to
do
something
about
this
pill
thing,
but
for
now
I'm
just
going
to
enjoy
the
ride
.
Jill had reserved a tee time for 9:00 a.m. The desert could become brutally hot in the afternoon and she wanted them to finish their round of golf before the heat made it unbearable. Given the fact that neither one of them had played any golf for a long time, they both played fairly well and promised each other they would continue to play regularly when Jill moved to San Francisco.
Aaron had belonged to an exclusive country club with a beautiful golf course for several years, but he'd never taken the time to play there. When he’d used the clubhouse for luncheon meetings, he'd often admired the course. It would be fun to take Jill there and play the course on a regular basis. There were a lot of things in San Francisco he wanted to share with her.
The parking lot in the Italian restaurant where Jill had made dinner reservations was jammed with Bentleys, Mercedes, and BMWs. When she saw the parking lot, she was doubly glad that she'd called for a reservation. She'd read in the local newspaper, the Desert Sun, that you couldn't get a dinner reservation for the weekend after Wednesday. They were always full. The hostess escorted them to a table for two. The place was packed and a quick glance at the food being served to the guests at the other tables reassured Jill that she'd made the right choice in selecting this restaurant.
Good wine, good food, good service, and a great ambiance. The restaurant scored a ten on all fronts. Satisfied and sleepy, they made their way back to Jill's gated community home.
They spent the following morning making plans for the future. Jill called Lenore at her home and talked to her about the job. Jill would be in charge of all fundraising for the hospital. She would meet with large donors and oversee the different fundraising groups that supported the hospital. It was a newly created position and Jill would be hiring her own staff. Jill accepted the position on the spot, knowing she would excel. She and Lenore agreed that Jill would start two weeks from Monday. Before they knew it, the day was almost gone and it was time to take Aaron to the airport.
Jill returned to her home in Newport Beach the following day feeling completely overwhelmed. How would she ever get everything done in just under two weeks’ time? She remembered something she had read about breaking things down into parts when a person is confronted with a large project. The article suggested not thinking about the whole thing, just thinking about the individual parts. She made a list of the major things that needed to be done and broke each into separate parts.
The two biggest things on her list that had to be dealt with were her house and its contents. She had some valuable antiques that she and Rick had acquired over the years, some of which might fit into Aaron's condominium, but many of her other things would have to go into storage. Jill decided to rent the house rather than sell it, but she didn't feel comfortable renting it with all her furniture and valuable antiques still in it.
She called a property manager, making an appointment for the following day. Next she called a moving company, arranging for them to come on Thursday of the following week. Lastly, she called the storage company she had passed many times on the freeway, not too far from where she lived. She began to feel a little better. Those had been the major things.
Then she moved on to the lesser items on her list. She made a list of the clothes that she wanted to take with her to San Francisco. Other clothing would have to go into storage. She knew she'd be coming back from time to time, so if she needed something, she could easily get it later.
She wondered what to do with the books, CDs, and a houseful of plants she had accumulated. Jill's mind was whirling. By Monday evening she was exhausted from all the decisions she had made. She walked into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of Silver Oak Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, one of her favorites. There were perks to having money and a good red wine was one of them.
As she walked back into the living room, she glanced at her collection of books. She loved the look of books as a decorator item in a house, but in her case, she'd read each and every one of them. She asked herself if she would ever read them again and had to admit, honestly, that she probably wouldn't. A donation to the Newport Beach Public Library seemed to be in order.
Next, she needed to deal with the houseplants. She made a note to call several of her friends to come over and take any plants that they might want along with their containers. Her large outdoor patio was filled with potted and hanging plants and every room in her house seemed to have one or more plants in it. As much as she had enjoyed them, she knew they would do fine in their new homes.
She had several valuable Oriental rugs and made a mental note to check with Aaron to see if any of them would work in his home. Back in the kitchen for a second glass of wine, she wondered what to do with all of the pantry items. The last time she had been in Aaron's home, she had made breakfast and noticed that salt and pepper were about as good as it got in his spice rack. She would have to hire a moving van to transport her clothes, some personal things, her spice collection, the Oriental rugs, and other odds and ends to San Francisco. She could donate the rest of the pantry items to "Someone Cares," the soup kitchen in Costa Mesa, which fed hundreds of homeless people every day. She knew they'd appreciate the donation.