Page 59 of Reclaimed Dreams

With a final wave of fond farewell, Josephine Valenti stepped into the next phase of her life with no regrets, only happy memories.

1 year ago

Jo pulled into the driveway at the vineyard, a case of wine in her trunk and a smile on her face.

Frankie was sitting in her truck and hopped down to say hi with a hug. "Hi, Mom! What brings you out here?"

"My senior group went to a garden walk hosted by the local winemakers association down here. I thought I'd stop by on my way back and see how everything is going. Got a minute to show me around?"

"Of course I do. You won't believe what happened this morning…"

Jo followed Frankie into a house that still felt half done. Jo knew enough about construction to know that this was months from done, if the rest of the rooms looked like the ones she’d seen. She tamped down her annoyance at the slow progress. She still had that flicker of hope that Dom was going to stick to his promise this time. She wandered, wrapped up in her own thoughts, until Frankie’s words penetrated her haze.

"I found out that Jake has been lying to me. For months!"

"About what?"

"The show and all the things that have been going wrong around here. He's been manipulating all of it to create tension for the show."

"It seems like that is pretty standard for reality shows, isn't it?" Jo pointed out.

Frankie pushed back. "It seems dishonest when you are doing things to trip up the person you're sleeping with, especially when the shit he pulled could have cost me a hundred grand."

"That is a valid point. Men." Jo sighed. "Always putting payment before people. If I had a nickel for every time someone else's kitchen remodel took precedence over my needs, I'd be a wealthy enough woman to pay off the debt he's driving you into."

Jo thought back over all the years of frustrations. She didn’t want to bring her daughter into the mess between her and Dom, but she also didn’t want her to make the same mistakes.

"Jake put his job first every time. He continually set me up to fail. It's a miracle I didn't veer off budget long before now."

"That's not a miracle. That's your own hard work. You've done wonders with this place on a shoestring. It's going to be beautiful." Jo took a deep breath and stopped to face Frankie. "You know I don't like to interfere in your love life, but I have to say this. Be very careful about falling for a man who will put his job before you. It's painful to always play second fiddle to his ambition."

"I thought I did love him, Ma. I thought what we had mattered. But now it all feels false. If he lied to me about this, what other lies did I fall for? How can I trust anything he says?"

"Broken trust is the hardest thing to repair, even for someone as skilled at fixing things as you. Do you still want him?"

"I don't know, Ma. I want the him that only I get to see when we're alone. I want the him he is away from here."

"Darling, you don't get to have just one part of him. You have to take him as a whole. The good, the bad, the ugly. Is dealing with his ugly worth it for a shot at his very best?"

Jo had learned this lesson too well. She loved so many things about Dom, but she couldn’t separate that part of him from the things that drove her crazy.

With the help of her new therapist she was working her way around those things, slowly. All of her flailing for the last few years had only brought her back to the realization that home was where she wanted to be, with Dom by her side. She hadn’t given up on the other things she’d wanted to try, but she’d discovered that she didn’t want to do them alone. She could also acknowledge that the manic pressure to do all the things and the emotional brittleness she felt in the wake of Gabe’s death were not a healthy response.

They walked out of the back door. Jo turned and gasped as she took in the views of the rolling vineyards and the mountains that came right down to the edge of the property. The drought-dry brown grass and shrubs that covered them met with the green of the grapevines and created a beautiful contrast. It would show even better in the spring when everything was lush and green from the snow runoff.

She could see why the owner had built here. It was a lovely property, and if the wine association was anything to judge by, there was a great community of winemakers down here. Whoever had bought this place was in for such a fun adventure.

"This is beautiful, Frankie. I'd like to come back and see it once it's up and running. This land is like a little slice of heaven, and the work you've done is turning it into a masterpiece."

Frankie grinned. "I think that can be arranged."

They walked back around the exterior of the house toward Jo's car, and she scanned the parking lot, hoping to see Dom. Anticipation of seeing her husband was a new and welcome change.

"Ma, how will I know?"

Frankie’s question pulled her attention back from her swirling thoughts. "Know what, darling?"

"How will I know if I can trust him again?" Frankie asked quietly.

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