Book One, Page Three. Neutering Dinner.
Julie listened to Jerry rave on about his restaurant all evening, right into bed, where she fell asleep while he was still talking. She had her own dream about a restaurant--something about a lady coming in and having dinner while Jerry neutered her dog. It was funny enough to wake her and leave her chuckling.
The room was now dark, and Jerry was asleep. Two-twenty. Julie lay there for a long time, thinking about Jerry's restaurant fantasy. Actually, it sounded like more fun than being a veterinarian's wife. That was rarely good for anything more than starting a conversation that would inevitably lead to how a beloved pet died. Julie always felt sympathy for such stories--she'd had her own departed dogs--but sympathy is not a mood you want when you're trying to have a good time with friends.
On the other hand, opening a restaurant would mean giving up a good business for a risky one. One that Jerry didn't know much about. Julie liked the idea of owning a fun place, but she hated the idea of a dent in the family income. It might slow down her buying and selling houses, or even stop it. She hadn't made much doing that, but it interested her greatly.
Two-thirty now. And there was that stupid name. The Best Of Restaurant! It's barely literate. The name a recent immigrant from Albania might think of. Julie tired to think of a different name for the place. She had none in mind when she fell asleep again.
Jerry arose before dawn feeling the same white heat of motivation he'd gone to bed with. He made cafe au lait (this for sure would be on the menu, but should it be the Café du Monde or the Morning Call that he would credit?). He turned on his computer and started working on a logo. He wasn't much good at graphics programs, and spent almost an hour trying to figure out software. Then another hour looking through the hundreds of fonts. He would have been late to open his office if Julie hadn't alerted him to the hour.
"Mrs. Lancaster is here for her cat," said Peggy, his assistant, when Jerry entered the veterinary office at a quarter to nine.
"Mrs. Lancaster?" he asked her. "What's wrong with her cat again?"
"She rolled over it yesterday. She wants to know if you were able to save it."
"The cat was DOA," Jerry said. "It's in the freezer."
"Oh, that's very bad," Peggy said. "She's all smiles out there. She's been here for about a half hour, and everything she's said to me is how great a vet you are that you could help Pinky to pull through."
"Hmm," Jerry said, looking over the appointment list. As he did, he wondered whether he could use his client list to promote the restaurant. Then he looked up at Peggy. "What you say her name was, again?"
