Celia's Puppies (32 page)

“
Gosh, beekeeping is
fascinating,” the man said. His eyes drifted around the restaurant
looking to see if his adoring public had noticed him
yet.

“
I think so. I have
something for you,” Max said. Opening his briefcase, Max gave the
man an ultrasound photo. “I’d like introduce you to your
son.”

“
Whoa. You’ve made some
mistake. I’m not the father of any baby.”

“
What pisses
me off the most is that you thought you could come to MY home! MY
party! And treat MY friends like garbage.” Valerie’s face was all
smiles but her voice was pure rage. “Did you know that after paying
for
your
lunch, Heather slept at the airport? Carrying
YOUR child! She was kicked out of her home. She has no where to
live.”

“
Of course, some girl lies
and Valerie is on the case,” the man said.

“
My FATHER told me,”
Valerie said. “Heather had too much class to say a
word.”

The man looked from Valerie to Mike then at
Max. Calculating his next move, he raised his eyebrows at his
possible out.

“
DNA results?”

“
It was tough to get them
so quickly,” Max said. “But my sister has a lab that processes DNA
within twenty-four hours. Government connections, you
know?”

“
I never gave a sample,”
the man said.

“
Your DNA is on file,” Max
said.

Max smiled his big ‘imitating Alex’ smile.
The man’s face registered surprise. Still trying to work another
angle, his eyes shifted to look at Valerie.

“
Val, please. You know I’d
never do anything to upset or offend you… OR your friends. You’ve
got to believe me. I was out of my mind! Freaked out!” The man’s
voice rose. Realizing his adoring public might hear him, he dropped
his voice. “One moment, I’m thinking I had found my ticket out of
the platinum handcuffs and the next I realized I’d lose everything.
Not just the money and status, but my wife produces the soap opera
we’re on. I had a panic attack in the restroom. I could barely make
it home.”

“
You managed to pack up
her belongings and dump them with your doorman,” Mike
said.

“
I was out of my mind!”
The man drained his wine.

As if on cue, the waiter brought their meal.
They went through a round of ‘Would you like fresh pepper?’ and
‘How about some fresh parmesan?’ before anyone looked at each
other.

“
I assume she kept the
baby?” the man broke the silence at the table.

“
I bet you didn’t know my
twin had the same security installed at the Castle as they
installed in your home.” Max smiled.

“
I’m not sure what that
means,” the man said.

One at a time, Max laid four photographs in
front of their guest. Taken of the videotape from the night of the
party, the images showed this man and Heather in a variety of
delicate positions.

“
We have the video.” Max
held up a DVD with the video on it.

“
In fact,” Valerie pointed
to someone behind the man. The man turned to look. “See that
guy.”

Valerie waved. The guy waved back with a
picture in his hand.

“
That’s PEREZ
HILTON!”

“
Is it?” Valerie asked.
“He looks very busy with his laptop.”

“
But... Valerie, please,”
the man said.

“
Shut up,” Max said. “You
fucked up. Here’s what you’re going to do about it.”

“
I’m not doing
anything...”

Valerie raised her hand to wave Perez over
to their table.

“
Ok. okay, what do you
want?” the man asked.

“
First you’re going to
wire one million dollars from your ‘secret’ off shore bank
account,” Mike said.

“
How did
you...”

“
Alex would be here to
explain,” Max said. “But she’s otherwise detained. Remember,
beehives?”

“
Oh,” the man
said.

“
My computer is set up for
the transfer,” Max said. “We have the codes, of course, but I’d
like you to pretend you are a decent chap. Make this right by
typing in the codes.”

The man typed in a series of codes. Turning
the laptop back to Max, he gave a smug grin.

“
I set it up for the money
to be deposited then returned.”

“
Yeah, that only works if
you leave the money sitting in one location for more than a
second,” Max said. “Look! All that money magically
disappears.”

“
How did...?”

“
Sister? Government?” Max
pulled a stack of papers from his briefcase. “You will sign this
document. This document relieves you of your parental rights,
responsibilities and duties.”

The man smiled. Letting out a breath, he
picked up Max’s pen and signed the form.

“
That’s it. A million
dollars and a signature?” the man beamed. Looking from face to
face, he laughed. “You’ve saved my ass! You have no idea how
freaked out I’ve been. Thank you so much!”

Valerie opened her mouth to say something
then shut it. She set her fork down.

“
I’m sorry,” Valerie said.
“I feel sick to my stomach. I don’t think I can eat any
more.”

Mike put his arm around her. They shared a
look.

“
We need to get to Denver
anyway,” Mike said.

“
I thought you had another
week on the soap?” the man asked. “I was looking forward to your
dramatic exit. Car crash isn’t it? I narrowly escape to spend
months in the hospital mourning your death?”

“
My sister is getting
married tomorrow,” Valerie said. “I need to be there tonight to
help. I’ll be back on Monday.”

“
Great! I’ll catch up with
you then,” the man said. “And don’t worry about Perez. I’ve dealt
with him before.”

While Max packed his belongings, Mike stood
then helped Valerie with her chair. They were almost to the door
when Valerie could not resist her urge to return to the gloating
man.

“
Your wife phoned me last
night,” Valerie said. “She’s seen the video from your apartment and
wanted to know what I knew. I didn’t hesitate to tell her
everything.”

Turning in place, Valerie moved away from
the man. He lunged at her, but ran into Mike’s muscular chest
instead. Mike pushed the man back into his chair. Turning away,
Mike placed his arm around Valerie. They made their way through the
dining room. Near the front, they met the man’s wife.

“
Did he send the money?”
the woman asked.

“
It’s done,” Valerie
said.

“
If she needs anything...”
The woman said.

“
She’ll be all right,”
Valerie said. “Thank you. For everything.”

“
I feel awful. Poor child.
And to think? I’m the one who supported and protected that jerk,”
the woman said. “You’ll send me pictures and...”

“
I will,” Valerie
said.

The woman hugged Valerie. Squaring her
shoulders, the woman gestured to three men in business suits. The
men followed the producer into the patio where her show down with
her soon to be ex-husband was documented for the world on the
celebrity blog.

“
Don’t you dare feel bad
for him,” Mike said to Valerie as they pulled out from the
restaurant.

“
I don’t,” Valerie said.
“I keep telling myself people get what they deserve. I’m just never
sure what I deserve.”

“
Wedding cake?” Max
asked.

Valerie laughed.

~~~~~~~~

Saturday
afternoon — 3 P.M
.

Standing in the small basement room that
held ‘her’ diamonds, Jill wondered what to do. Celia’s Marlowe
diamond collection included ten loose diamonds. Jill’s heart told
her to give MJ a diamond for Honey. MJ couldn’t afford a diamond
for Honey and Jill had so many.

But there was that restriction: “The Marlowe
diamonds cannot leave the Marlowe family.”

When Jill accepted the diamond bequeath, she
never thought she would be in such a position. If she gave MJ the
diamond this afternoon, he could have a ring made. The ring would
be ready by the time Honey got out of surgery on Monday. In her
mind’s eye, Jill saw Honey’s excited face as she woke up from
surgery.

But Celia’s love for Honey did not make
Honey a Marlowe.

Jill plucked a one and a half carat diamond
from the group. Setting the stone in the palm of her hand, she
admired its beauty.

But... Crap! What should she do?

She was about to set the diamond down when
the baby monitor in her pocket squawked. Katy screamed that she
hated Paddie. Paddie returned the insult. Jill sighed. The toddlers
had been fighting all day.

Jill slammed and locked the door to the
diamond room. She took the basement stairs two at a time. Hoping to
avert all out war, Jill left the napping toddlers with Delphie.
Over the baby monitor, she heard Delphie’s kind intervention
between the screeching children.

In her heart of hearts, Jill knew Katy was
acting out this summer’s pain and anger with the person she loved
and trusted the most. Seeing Paddie response, she was sure he was
doing the same. Just a few hours ago, Jill spent an hour rocking
them while they cried. Turning up the stairwell, Jill ran all the
way up to her new attic home. She yanked open the door and stopped
short.

Jacob sat in the middle of the apartment
holding Katy and Paddie. Covered by what looked like applesauce,
the toddlers where crying into his shoulders. Delphie stood nearby
with a mop cleaning up the worst of an angry food fight. Breathing
hard, Jill wanted both to intervene and to watch.

If any part of Jill hadn’t loved Jacob, if
some part of her held out in mistrust or uncertainty, in this
moment, Jill’s entire being loved this man. Dressed in an expensive
business suit, starched shirt, and silk tie, Jacob sat cross legged
in a pool of applesauce with a weeping child on each shoulder.
Sensing her gaze, he looked up and applesauce dripped from his hair
onto his face. He smiled his bright ‘I’m an idiot’ Jacob smile.

Jill shifted to move forward, but Delphie
touched her shoulder.

“
Let him do this,” Delphie
said softly. “The babies need him.”

“
What about his big
meeting?”

“
He’s been late before,”
Delphie said.

“
But...”

“
Celia would like you to
give the stone to MJ,” Delphie said.

Jill had forgotten about the diamond. She
opened her hand to see the diamond still tucked into her palm.

“
I promised...”

“
She was much more rule
oriented in life,” Delphie said. “Honey will be delighted.
Especially knowing the diamond belonged to Celia. MJ will only
accept the gift from you. Go now before he leaves.”

“
What about the
children?”

“
It’s important for Jacob
to do this,” Delphie said. “Don’t worry. They’ll need a bath soon
enough.”

“
Third today,” Jill
said.

Delphie hugged Jill.

“
You’re a great mother,
Jill,” Delphie whispered in her ear. “Katy and Paddie are getting
through this. Go on.”

Jill took one last look at Jacob. He winked
at her. Beaming from ear to ear, she set off to bring a sparkly gem
to the excited groom.

~~~~~~~~

Saturday evening — 6 P.M.

Lifting a strand of Honey’s hair, Sandy
furrowed her forehead. She took a comb to look at the edges of the
hair.

“
Nail clippers?” Sandy
asked.

Honey blushed. Sandy put her face right next
to the back of Honey’s head.

“
Pinking
sheers?”

“
Pruning snips,” Honey
said.

Sandy nodded as if she understood why Honey
cut her hair with something designed to trim plants.

“
I’ve never been very good
at… this.” Honey gestured around the hair salon. “I could never sit
still long enough. I guess the joke’s on me.”

“
Sandy’s the best,”
Heather said. She held up another color of makeup to Honey’s face.
Heather was having a tough time matching Honey’s fair hair, eyes
and skin. “We all hate to sit still but Sandy makes it
fun.”

“
I’ve never been very good
at that, either.” Honey gestured to Heather’s makeup
kit.

“
I’ll be there tomorrow so
you won’t have to worry about it,” Heather said. “Then we’ll
practice. If you want...”

Honey nodded.

“
What would you like your
hair to look like?” Sandy asked.

“
Hair?” Honey replied as
if the answer was obvious.

Sandy returned to looking at Honey’s
hair.

“
Would you use a blow
dryer?”

Honey shook her head ‘no’.

“
Brush?”

“
Just after I shower,”
Honey said. “I mean I used to. Now, the nurse brushes it after I
shower then puts it up in the ponytail.”

“
You have beautiful hair,”
Sandy said. “It’s a gorgeous color of blonde, very soft. I bet it
breaks off easily.”

Honey nodded.

“
I need to think for a
minute,” Sandy said. “Is there anything special you want for your
wedding?”