My Dreams Are in Color
Chapter One
Terri walked down the hall to the kitchen, speaking aloud as if someone could hear her, “I need some coffee.”
Since her daughter had left for college, Terri found herself talking to herself quite often, though in this case, she told herself she was speaking to her black Japanese bobtail cat, Mr. Whiskers. A neighbor rescuing him from the pound had given the cat to her. Unlike some people, she wasn’t superstitious about black cats, but felt she shared a commonality with them.
Reaching into the cupboard, she retrieved her oversized mug to pour her “go-go juice,” as she called it. After adding raw sugar and cream, she took that first sip, releasing a sigh of relief at her daily ritual.
Hearing Mr. Whiskers at her feet, she looked down at him, smiling. “Ready to get the paper?” He followed her to the front door.
Terri and her daughter Camille had moved into the neighborhood ten years earlier, after her book of short stories for children became a success. The old Victorian-style house had a charming front porch supported by large pillars, with slate stone halfway up the columns. Since moving to Rock Hill, South Carolina, she’d admired the house when she and Camille passed it on her way to work back then. In her mind, it was her dream home, cozy and simple.
Opening the front door, an original fixture of the house, she watched the cat pounce at a butterfly. “Watch out,” she heard a male voice say, glanced over and saw a moving van parked in the drive next door. Well. Guess I have new neighbors.
The house next door had been vacant for over a year, since Mr. Vaughn’s children moved him into a retirement home after their mother passed. Mr. Donnie and Mrs. Zettie, a sweet older couple, had built their house back in the thirties, becoming one of the first to move into the neighborhood. They became surrogate grandparents for Camille when she was growing up, sometimes watching her when Terri had to work her full-time job. Although she received some financial compensation from that first book, it wasn’t enough to give up her day job, she’d joked.
Walking across the porch with the cat following her, she noticed her miniature yellow rosebush needed water. Her attention on keeping her coffee cup level, she leaned over to pick up the watering can on the edge of the porch, and was startled by the barking of a large dog. She jumped back, spilling the hot coffee on her shirt. She dropped the mug, and it shattered on the hard floor.
“Caesar!” She heard a voice yell as a man came to retrieve the dog.
“I’m so sorry,” he said, grabbing the dog by its collar. “I just turned my head for a second, and he jumped out of the car.”
“You know we have a leash law in the city,” Terri sarcastically said as she pulled the wet, sticky shirt from her torso. In her mind, she probably had third-degree burns.
“Was that hot coffee?” Before she could answer he said, “Quick, go inside, wet a towel with cold water and put it over the area. You need to stop the burning process.”
Angry, Terri said, “What are you, a doctor now?”
“Yes,” he said, “and don’t worry about the mess.” He spoke as he put the leash on the dog, but noticed she hadn’t moved, “Go, check the burn, please.”
He was right. The skin under the shirt was stinging now. She rushed to the bathroom and wet a hand towel. The cold, wet towel felt good when she placed it on her chest. “Wow, a doctor next door,” she muttered. “Now I get a doctor next door, when Camille’s grown. Where was he when I had to visit the ER at two a.m.?”
After changing her clothes, she remembered the mess on the porch. The ants would smell the sugar in the coffee. But when she returned to the porch, the spill was already gone. He’d even picked up the broken mug. She sighed. “Damn, I’m going to miss that mug—”
“How bad was the burn?” He spoke as he walked up onto the porch.
“Oh, ah … not too severe,” she said. “Just a little redness and stinging.”
“May I look at it?” He nodded at her neck. “Look, I don’t want to seem forward, but your neck looks a little blistered.”
When Terri didn’t object, he moved closer. “No blistering. Good,” he said, but when he raised his eyes to hers, they lingered. “Keep an eye on it, take some ibuprofen if it becomes painful,” he said while he examined the area again. “It looks to be a first-degree burn, but if it starts to blister check with your physician—”
“I think it’ll be okay,” she said, blushing because he was staring at her chest. Terri knew he was simply examining her as any physician would. But, he was a handsome man.
“I’m sorry about that,” he said. “Caesar’s usually very gentle, but these are new surroundings for him,” he told her, extending his hand. “Hi, I’m Jaxson Wolfe, your new neighbor. Sorry my first impression had to be an apology.”
She accepted his hand. “Terri Blake, nice to meet you,” she said, admiring the man in front of her. He was devilishly attractive, with his dark brown skin, hair closely cropped and eyes that were jet black, something she had never seen before. As she shook his hand, she noticed how soft it was. “What breed is Caesar?” she asked to deter her stare.
“Oh, he’s just a mutt my son and I rescued from the pound.” He smiled warmly at her. “You might say we went to the pet store for a goldfish and left with Caesar.”
“That’s too sweet,” Terri said, to hide the fact she wasn’t fond of dogs—and her disappointment that the doctor was probably married.
“Dr. Wolfe,” a young man came up to them, “we need your help for a minute.”
“Okay, be right there,” he told the young man. Turning back to Terri he said, “Sorry again about Caesar, but keep a check on that burn. I hope the rest of your day is better.” They shared a laugh before he walked down the steps.
“Thanks,” Terri said, watching him catch up with the young man. Nice body, too bad he’s married— Hearing the phone ringing, she walked back inside to answer it.
“Who’s the new neighbor?” Reba asked before Terri could say hello. Reba was one of the two women living in the house on the other side of the Vaughns’ old place. Both Reba and Selena were retired teachers, and had moved in about the same time as Terri. They, along with Terri, became part of Donnie and Zettie Vaughn’s surrogate neighborhood family.
“Oh, Dr. Jaxson Wolfe,” Terri said nonchalantly.
“A doctor? Wow, he’s easy on the eyes I must say. Is he married?”
“I don’t know. We only spoke briefly, when he came back to apologize for his dog startling me and breaking my favorite mug.” She sighed. “I’m going to miss that mug.”
Reba cackled. “Terri, you had a handsome man standing on your porch, and all you can think about is that damn mug?”
“But I loved that mug,” Terri said. “Besides, he’s probably married anyway. He did mention having a son.”
“He could be divorced, or just a baby daddy,” Reba said between laughs.
Terri had to giggle. “I’m sure before the end of the day, you will have all the facts.”
“Selena and I need to work in the garden today. Maybe we’ll, uh, run into him. Anything you want to know?”
“Not right offhand, Reba, but I’m sure you’ll get all the information pertaining to Dr. Wolfe.” Terri grinned into the phone, hearing the excitement of her nosy neighbor. “Talk to you later.”
She walked down the hall to her home office; because of her encounter with Caesar, she had an idea for a short story. Sudden inspirations were how most of her stories came to her, actually, and she would never ignore one. She’d begun writing her stories after they became an instant success at the daycare. When Camille was a toddler, Terri worked part-time at the daycare while she attended community college. Every day after lunch was a struggle, getting the children to take their naps, until Camille asked her mother to tell one of their bedtime stories. Terri was hesitant at first, but listening to her daughter’s plea, told one of the stories.
Once she started the tales of Cooter the turtle and Prissy the pelican, the children were mesmerized. It became a daily ritual for the children, and made it easy to get their promise that they would take their naps after the story.
One of the children went home and asked his mother to buy him the book. The mother had never heard of the book, and asked the director of the daycare where the books were sold. The director informed her they couldn't be purchased, because Terri had made them up. That disappointed the mother, because her son just raved about the stories. After hearing that, Terri decided to start writing them down for Camille to someday read to her children.
When the director heard what Terri was doing, she suggested she get them copyrighted and try to publish them. At first, Terri wasn’t interested—it seemed like a lot of work, and she was already so busy—but decided to try it anyway. To her surprise, she found a publisher that was interested in starting a series of books for her stories entitled, “Turtle Cove and Pelican Bay.”
That was fifteen years ago, and that was when Terri and Camille’s lives changed forever. They were able to move from the housing projects to a house, and while each book in the series was published, Terri received her college degree in early childhood education. She’d been a kindergarten teacher, until the year before, when she purchased the daycare where it had all started.
“Let’s see,” she muttered, turning on her laptop, “how about, A New Neighbor at Pelican Bay? Oh, Prissy’s not going to like that.” She laughed at the reactions of her characters while she spent the rest of the day writing.
It was dusk when she walked into the kitchen, after remembering that she hadn’t eaten all day. Unfortunately, she sometimes had to remind herself to eat when writing, and she was worse now that Camille wasn’t around. “What’s for dinner, Mr. Whiskers?” she asked the cat as she looked in the refrigerator. Taking out a bowl of leftovers for dinner, Terri remembered she needed to prepare something for the family dinner tomorrow with Reba and Selena. She began making suggestions to herself as she ate dinner with Mr. Whiskers.
When she rose from the table to begin cleaning up, a glance out the kitchen window told her the new neighbor’s house was dark. “He must be waiting for the rest of the family before he stays the night,” she said to Mr. Whiskers. “Well, I think it’s our bedtime too.” The cat dutifully followed her down the hallway for the night.
It was a beautiful Sunday morning when Terri was awakened by the sound of a bird singing outside her window. Both she and the cat stretched as they prepared for another day. “Good morning,” she said to Mr. Whiskers as they got out of bed, and she dressed for the day.
Walking down the hall, Terri could smell the freshly brewed coffee and was excited for that first cup. Opening the cupboard, she reached for her mug, then remembered it had been broken the day before. “Damn, now I have a new reason to hate dogs,” she said as a reminder of her dislike of the species. Forced to use a different cup, she finished her ritual of walking down the hall to get the paper.
As they walked out onto the porch, she saw a little gift bag. She looked around to see who’d left it there, but the street was empty. Picking up the bag, she saw a note that simply said I’m sorry about your mug, with a paw print and the name “Caesar.” Terri smiled at the gesture and the paw-print signature as she took it back into the house.
“We have a present,” she told Mr. Whiskers, who seemed more interested in the ribbon on the bag. Carefully, she removed the decorative tissue before lifting out a black mug similar to the broken one. The only difference was the picture of a black cat chasing a mouse up the handle. Excited, she took it to the sink and washed it before pouring coffee into her new favorite mug.
Terri set the covered bowl of turnip greens and the basket with the cornbread muffins into the little tray. After locking her door, she walked down the sidewalk in front of Jaxson’s house. She decided to wait to thank him for the mug until after Sunday dinner. He might think she was bringing him dinner because of the tray she was carrying. Maybe I should’ve checked with Reba and Selena about asking him to join us for dinner, she thought.
While she maneuvered the tray to one hand so she could reach for the doorbell, she was surprised by Selena. “Whoa, you almost made me drop this,” Terri said, surprised.
“Girl, if you had dropped those greens, it would be on,” she teased. “Come on in child.”
Selena was an attractive, thick and curvy black woman in her fifties. You could tell she was once a sexy woman, and not too bad for her present age. She and Reba both had worked at the same school, and moved in together during their tenure. Looking over her shoulder at Terri, she said, “Have you met our new neighbor? With Jaxson being new to the neighborhood, we invited him to join us.”
From the sly smile on her face, Terri was curious as to what they were plotting. Seeing Jaxson sitting in the den, she said quickly, “Uh, yes, I met Dr. Wolfe yesterday when he was moving in. Oh, hi, Dr. Wolfe, thank Caesar for the mug, although he didn’t have to go to the trouble.”
“Please, call me Jaxson,” he said, standing. “Caesar felt it was his responsibility to replace it, and he’s been grounded. No doggie treats for a week.” Again, his smiling gaze lingered on her.
Terri was an attractive woman with high cheekbones and amber eyes. Her hair was in a short pixie cut that accentuated her features. “Come on, let him off the hook. He’s new to the neighborhood,” Terri said as they shared a smile, but Jaxson forced himself to look away when he saw he was making her uncomfortable.
Reba interrupted the moment with a broad grin, “All right you two, dinner’s on the table.”
Terri was thankful they had a round table, because it was clear Reba and Selena were playing matchmaker. All during dinner, they kept engaging Jaxson and her in conversation. The mystery of Jaxson’s marital status was quickly answered with Reba announcing that he’d been divorced three years. “Since you’re new to the neighborhood, it’s our responsibility to take care of you now,” Reba declared.
“Reba says you’re an author,” Jaxson asked Terri.
“Yes, I do children’s books.” Terri smiled. “Turtle Cove and Pelican Bay.”
“Tales of Cooter the turtle and Prissy the pelican,” Jaxson said. “My son loved those stories of Auntie M. He’s eleven now and reads comic books, but I wish he could’ve met you a few years ago.”
Pleased that he recognized her books, Terri said, “Well, if he still has his books I can autograph one for him. Maybe one day it will be worth something.”
After dinner, they all went into the den for cake and coffee. Selena had made a strawberry pound cake with the fresh strawberries they grew in their backyard. They enjoyed dessert laughing and talking, getting to know their new neighbor.
As Jaxson placed his dish on the table, he noticed a book lying there. “Who reads Suspect Unknown?”
“I do,” Reba confessed. “You read serial-killer novels?”
“Yes, and I love that series. I like that you never know who the serial killer is. I must say, the writer gets the details close with the murders.” He looked at the title. “I don’t think I have this one.”
“It hasn’t been released to the public,” Reba said. “The author is a personal friend of mine, so I get them before they’re released.”
“Lucky you.” Jaxson smiled at her. “Do you mind if I borrow it?”
“Oh, you can have it.”
“Really? Are you sure?”
Reba nodded. “Sure, I finished it already. Would you like me to get it autographed for you?”
“That would be great,” he handed the book to her—and she then passed it to Terri, saying, “You want to sign it now, or wait until he leaves?” With Terri’s cover officially blown, Selena released the laugh she’d been holding back.
“Don’t tell me, you’re Suspect Unknown?” Jaxson asked in disbelief.
“Okay, I won’t tell you,” Terri said with a giggle.
“I can’t believe you write such dark novels,” Jaxson said at her sweet façade.
