Forever RiverCreek

Chapter 11 - Stop!

Alone on a Sunday morning, Tara finds herself walking around her house in her gown with an open robe, "It's so quiet, I don't like it. I miss my boys."

In the kitchen, she brews a pot of coffee to accompany a few slices of toast and jelly. Tara sits at the table, reading over the local news on her phone. Once she's finished, Tara rinses off the saucer and takes her coffee back to the master bedroom, where she picks out a black dress with pair of dark brown flat dress shoes to be comfortable since she'll be on her feet most of the day.

"It's the last wedding of the weekend; I can do this. After today it's back to one wedding per weekend. All I must do is survive today," Tara tells herself out loud before walking into her bathroom.

Undressed and exhausted from the previous night, Tara stands in front of the full-length body mirror, staring into her eyes, "I look like roadkill ran over twice. How does Cory find me attractive?" Tara looks herself up and down, counting her blessings that she doesn't have a single stretch mark from being pregnant with CJ, "Then again, I still have most of my figure from high school, so it's not all bad, I reckon."

Tara pulls back the shower curtain enough to reach in, adjusting the water temperature until it's perfect. Then, under the warm water, she stands there, feeling every drop run down her body. Tara steps back after reaching for her peach-colored loofah, squeezing some of her Lavender and Lilly scented body wash, and gently scrubbing it against her skin. After scrubbing her body, Tara gets her shampoo and conditioner and washes her long almond brown hair with her back towards the showerhead to avoid rinsing over her face. Finally, Tara turns around, turns off the water, reaches for her towel, and dries off inside the tub.

"Now I feel like a human being again," She states with the towel wrapped around her head, "Time to get ready and get this over with so I can welcome my Cory's home tonight."

Feeling energized again, Tara gets dressed, then blow-dries her hair and adds some mousse for volume and bounce. Finally, Tara places her dirty clothes into her laundry basket, takes her coffee mug back to the kitchen, rinses it out, and gathers her things prepared to leave for work. When she exits the house, Tara sends Cory a text, then makes her way to her Sportage and drives to work.

Arriving at work, Tara parks in her designated spot and walks inside. The catering team is busy placing disposable sternos and wrapping foil over aluminum pans of food. Then, the service team begins to place all the items into the restaurant van and load up with the Assistant Manager riding with Tara.

"I don't know about you, but I'm ready for the wedding season to end. Every year these things get crazier," Tara says, following behind the van.

Donald Kinzer, a tall but slightly puggy man with pitch-black hair and thick black eyeglasses, sits in the passenger seat, more than ready to agree, "I feel you on that. But, hey, you're still welcome to join us at Patsy's Pub for a drink after this thing ends. Besides, I think you and I could use a chance to sit down and talk. You know how I've felt, and I think you need a better guy in your life," he claims and tries to place his hand over Tara's on the shifter.

"As if! I've truly loved one man, and he is back in my life. Now look, Donnie, you're an okay guy and a great assistant, but I've never thought of you like that, and I won't. So, please, let's get through this event and get back to running the restaurant," Tara replies, sounding annoyed.

There's silence between them the rest of the way to the First Baptist Church of Minnesota. Once inside, Tara gets the clipboard from one of the servers and double-checks everything to ensure it's set up properly like the customers wanted in the layout. With everything in place and the sternos keeping everything warm, Tara takes her place by the door into the dining area.