Falling Awake

how Dad always used to say that whenever he couldn’t make it to a school play or go on vacation with us?”
    “Farrell is not Dad,” Isabel said.
    “I keep telling myself that, but I’m starting to feel so alone, the way Mom must have felt when she realized her marriage was falling apart.”
    “You’re not alone,” Isabel said quietly. “I’m here. Don’t ever forget that.”
    Leila managed a watery smile. “Thanks. You know, I’m sorry you lost your job at the Belvedere Center for Sleep Research but I’m really glad you’re in town for a while.”

    “Trust me, I’m glad to be here, too.” She glanced at her watch. “Got to run. My next class starts in three minutes. Kyler Method instructors are never late. Sets a bad example.”
    “Isabel, about this Ellis Cutler. What, exactly, do you know about him?”
    “Well, he told me that he’s a venture capitalist. Advises start-up companies and finds investors to finance them. You could call him a business consultant, I suppose.”
    Leila frowned. “A business consultant? And he wants to hire you to analyze his dreams?”
    “Go figure, huh?”

10
    h e was waiting for her when she emerged from the seminar room that afternoon. She didn’t see him immediately because she was the last one to leave, but she could feel him. It was like coming too close to an electric fence. Little shocks pulsed through her.
    He was wearing his dark glasses indoors again. She wondered if he wore them to bed and immediately got a sexy vision of him walking toward her across a bedroom wearing nothing but a pair of sunglasses. She felt herself turn violently warm.
    “What are you doing here?” she asked, trying not to look excited.
    “I told you I’d get back to you.”
    “Oh, right.” He’s a potential client. Smile, for heaven’s sake. She smiled. “Have you decided if you want to contract with Wright Dream Analysis?”

    “Uh-huh. Mind if we discuss the details of the contract over dinner?”
    She went blank. “Dinner?”
    “In a restaurant. You know, where you order the food off a menu and people serve it to you?”
    “Oh, dinner.” Not a date, she told herself. He’s asking you out for a business dinner. Huge, massive difference. “Sorry, it’s been a long day.”
    “I see.”
    She glanced around to make certain that none of her fellow instructor trainees was within earshot and then lowered her voice. “Don’t tell anyone I said this, but, frankly, four hours of positive energy and creative, strategic thinking has a numbing effect on the brain. At least it does on mine.”
    “All the more reason to take the evening off and relax.”
    “I think you’re right. I’ll take you up on your offer of dinner. Thanks.”
    “It’s a deal. When do you get out of here?” he asked.
    “I’ve got one more class and then I’m done for the day.”
    He grinned at her pained expression. “Good luck in getting through another hour of positive thinking.”
    She straightened her shoulders. “A Kyler Method instructor finds a positive way to deal with every bump in the road. Problems are opportunities in disguise.”
    “Is that a fact? Could have fooled me. It’s been my experience that problems are usually just problems.”
    She gave him a sunny smile. “Shows how much you know.”

    “Isabel.” Tamsyn spoke from midway down the hall. “There you are. Farrell and I have been looking for you.”
    Isabel turned.
    Farrell was in his late thirties. He had an athletic frame and he was handsome in a rugged, clean-cut, western sort of way. But Isabel did not think that most people, male or female, noticed his looks, one way or another. It was Farrell’s dynamic personality that pulled you into his force field. He had charisma, loads of it. He never forgot names and faces and he could make conversation with anyone, regardless of age or background.
    Isabel had once mentioned to Leila that Farrell would have done very well in politics. Her sister had laughed. Farrell is too ethical for the political arena, she had said with loving pride. He couldn’t handle the sausage-making parts, the backroom deals and the compromises.
    Tamsyn looked as vital and attractive offstage as she did when she stood in the carefully directed lights at the front of the auditorium. She practically vibrated with enthusiasm. Her Kyler jacket was carefully tailored to discreetly exhibit the curves and cleavage created by the expensive breast implants she had invested in following her