Celia's Puppies (38 page)

When the receptionist closed the door, Blane
pulled a ring box from his pocket. He pushed it at Heather. Heather
opened to box to see a three stone diamond engagement ring.
Puzzled, she looked at him.

“
I went with MJ on
Saturday to order Honey’s ring. I saw that and bought it for you,”
Blane said. “I know how vicious people can be about unwed mothers.
Even now in modern times. I didn’t want you to...”

Weeping, Heather clutched him to her. He
laughed.

“
We talked about getting
married so you would have legal custody of the baby,” she said
through her tears. “I never thought... I...”

“
Let’s try it on,” Blane
said. She took the ring out of the box and slipped it on her left
finger. “It’s big.”

“
That’s all right. I’m
growing bigger, and my hands will swell.” she said. She hugged him
again. “It’s perfect.”

“
You know I’m not going to
be your real husband.”

“
I won’t be your real
wife. Someday we’ll find love and have real husbands. We’ll be a
family first,” Heather said. “Besides, every girl needs a gay
husband.”

Overwhelmed by her simple statement, he
hugged her.

“
Oh, I’m sorry,” the title
clerk said as she walked into the room. “I didn’t mean to
interrupt.”

“
We just got engaged,”
Heather said. She held her left hand out like the starlets did when
they were showing off their big rings. “See!”

He’d worried he was being anti-gay. Since
buying the ring, he’d confronted himself over again. Was he playing
a straight guy? Was he like all those scumbag married guys that
used to pay him for blowjobs when he was on the streets? Would he
destroy her world like all the lying closet cases of the world?
When Heather turned to look at him, she winked.

Nah, he was going to be her gay husband.

And she was going to be his straight
wife.

Until they found love AND real husbands.

~~~~~~~~

Tuesday evening — 6 P.M.
Swedish Hospital, Denver, CO

“
MJ!” Breaking the silence
of her private room, Honey screamed again, “MJ!”

“
I’m here.” Jumping from
the chair he’d been sitting in, he leaned over her bed. “I’m right
here.”

“
I had the worst dream.”
Tears dropped from her eyes. “I dreamed that I would never, ever
see you again.”

Climbing over her to the empty side of the
bed, he scootched close to her. He held out his arm and she nestled
her head against his shoulder. He caressed her hair while she
cried.

“
I kept asking why? Why
can’t I see him again? Why? And no one would tell me.”

“
No one could tell you
because I’m right here,” MJ said.

“
Will you stop traveling
and stay with me?”

“
I’d drive you crazy in
three seconds flat,” he said. “You’ll get better and have a whole
big life like you’ve always had. I’ll be a part of that big life.
Do you remember Bambi offering you a job?”

She nodded.

“
Do you remember Jake
saying he was able to get the contractors scheduled to make our
home?”

She nodded.

“
Do you remember Steve
helping you before the wedding and how well that went?”

She nodded.

“
A whole big life is
waiting for you to leave this bed.”

Silent, she stared at the ceiling. After a
few minutes, she said:

“
Let’s not leave the bed
for a while.”

“
Okay.”

Chapter Fifty
Happy

Six weeks later

Thursday, October 30 – 3:40 A.M.

Jacob stood near the cash register at Pete’s
restaurant while he waited for Jill to appear from the back. When
he arrived, she was arguing with a male customer. She slapped at
his hand while he fondled and rubbed her butt. Then, she stopped
cold at something he said. She was so upset that the enormous Greek
cook intervened. Crying, Jill ran to the back of the restaurant.
After the manager threw him out of the restaurant, the customer
paced back and forth outside the front door.

The top of Jill’s head and eyes appeared in
the window of the doorway to the back. Seeing Jacob waiting, her
face lit up. She skipped across the restaurant to kiss him
‘hello’.

“
How was hockey?” she
asked. “I figured you were still playing because your team didn’t
come in.”

“
Long game but we won in
over time. The guys needed to go home,” he said. “I picked up
something for us.”

Jill beamed at him. Seeing the man pacing
outside, her entire being shifted. She chewed her lip and looked
down at the ground.

“
What’s going on, Jill?”
Jacob asked.

“
Remember I told you that
Trevor’s friend said Trevor owes him money?” Jill asked. Leaning to
whisper in his ear, she said, “He said he’s going to take it in
trade. From me.”

“
How long has this been
going on?”

“
He showed up here about a
week ago. Every night, it’s a little worse,” Jill said. “I guess he
talked to the attorneys. There’s no record of Trevor owing him
money, so he’s not a part of the estate settlement.”

Jacob nodded.

“
Stay here,” Jacob said.
He looked up to see the manager of Pete’s coming toward them. “Can
you keep her here for a minute?”

“
Sure,” the manager said.
“Come on Jill. Let’s get a cinnamon roll for Katy.”

Leaving the restaurant, Jacob assessed the
customer. The man’s eyes shifted away from Jacob. He was paper thin
and his fingers were picked to the bone. Methamphetamine
addict.

“
I understand Trevor
McGuinsey owes you money,” Jacob said.

“
What’s it to
you?”

“
Jill Roper. That’s what
it is to me,” Jacob said. “Right at this moment, you and I don’t
have any problems. You keep harassing Jill? You and I are going to
have problems.”

“
What do I
care?”

“
You know how Trevor
died?”

“
He was shot or
something.”

“
Assassin’s bullet through
the forehead,” Jacob said. “You know why?”

The man shook his head.

“
Because he was harassing
Jill,” Jacob said. “The same Jill you are harassing.”

Jacob made the crazy look he usually
reserved for hockey. The man backed away to the corner then ran
down Race Street. Laughing, Jacob went back into Pete’s. Jill was
so happy to see him that she jumped into his arms.

“
I don’t think he’ll
bother you any more,” Jacob said. “If he does, we’ll figure
something out.”

“
He’s banned from the
restaurant,” the manager said. “We don’t allow people to harass our
girls.”

“
Good.” Jacob held out his
hand to Jill. “Come on, let’s go home.”

Hand in hand, they walked across Colfax and
down the half block to the Castle. With Jacob leading the way, they
wound through the Castle to the ballroom. At one end of the
ballroom, Jacob had set a red and white checked tablecloth, a
bucket of fried chicken and a couple of cold sodas.

“
I thought we could
picnic,” Jacob said. He turned on ballroom music. “I thought you
might enjoy practicing our dancing.”

Jill laughed. They settled cross legged on
the tablecloth. She picked up a chicken breast, wrinkled her nose,
and then set it down. She took off her work shoes and stretched her
feet with her hands.

“
No chicken?”

“
I have to fit into my
gown,” she said. “It’s tight.”

“
In all of the right
places,” he said. “Plus, I’ll work it off you.”

“
Promise?”

He raised his eyebrows at her seductive
statement. Of course, Jill wanted him to promise to dance with her.
Smiling, he nodded.

She dove into the fried chicken. She hadn’t
been eating much in preparation for the upcoming charity fundraiser
season. With Valerie home, they had been invited to events almost
every weekend day in November and December. Saturday night would be
her first appearance among Denver’s elite in a Martins gown. She
wanted everything to be perfect.

“
Did you check on
Katy?”

“
I called Megan around
eight. Katy fell asleep about seven-thirty.” He set his chicken
down to watch her lick her fingers.

“
How come you’re not
eating?” she asked.

“
No reason.”

“
I was hoping she would
pick something to wear for Halloween. She’s excited to trick or
treat, but she can’t seem to decide.”

“
Val was like that,” he
said.

While she ate, and he ogled her, he regaled
her with exaggerated stories from his hockey game.

“
We’re child free with an
entire ballroom to ourselves. How would you like to work off those
calories?”

“
Dance,” she
said.

Standing, he held his hand out to her. She
took his hand and rose from the tablecloth.

“
Your shoes,
madam.”

Jacob held out a pair of black stiletto
Christian Louboutins. He held her stable while she slipped into the
shoes. He raised an eyebrow.

“
You sure you want to
dance?”

She laughed off his lust. Holding out his
arms, she fit comfortably into his dancer’s embrace.

“
One, two, three, four,”
he said.

And they were off. Feeling more than seeing
each other, they moved in happy unison around the room. The music
pulsed through their veins. Time evaporated. When the sun peeked
over the horizon, they made their way upstairs to continue their
work out.

~~~~~~~~

Thursday afternoon – 3 P.M.

“
Fairy princess,” Katy
said. Trailing Paddie, she ran from the main Castle kitchen into
the main living room.

“
Witch.” Paddie ran after
Katy with Honey wheeling close on his tail.

“
I’m no witch, Paddie
Hargreaves. Take that back.”

“
You see the future. You
live in a Castle. That’s what witches do.”

“
I do not have green skin,
Paddie Hargreaves.”

“
Green skin?” Paddie
cocked his head to the side as if he had no idea what Katy was
talking about.

“
You have to pick
something.” Honey pointed to the stack of dresses on the couch. She
held up the dress that her sisters had chosen. “Briana’s wearing
this pink one and Becky is wearing this purple one.”

“
I don’t want to wear what
they’re wearing!” Katy’s face pinched and her eyes welled with
tears.

“
What if you wear
this?”

Valerie came in from a small room off the
living room holding four antique lace girl’s dresses. Katy
gasped.

“
SO PRETTY!!” Katy
squealed.

“
They are gorgeous, Val,”
Honey said.

“
I’ve been going through
the boxes that were stored in your rooms.” Valerie made her ‘I’ve
been chastised’ face, then imitated her father’s voice, “It’s your
job, Val. Got to get it done.”

Honey laughed.

“
You found Daddy’s fancy
sparkly light,” Katy said. “We looked but we did not
touch.”

“
We didn’t ever touch,”
Paddie shook his head with sincerity.

“
Exactly. I found the
ballroom chandelier. You were smart to not touch it,” Valerie said.
She held up her hands. “I cut my fingers.”

Katy and Paddie mimicked her gesture to show
their uncut fingers. Valerie laughed.

“
Let’s see what might
work,” Valerie said.

While Katy bounced up and down with
excitement, Valerie held the dresses up to her. They were all too
big.

“
I’m so sorry, Katy.
They’re too big,” Valerie said.

“
Oh.”

Katy’s eyes filled with tears. With Paddie
following close behind, she ran through the kitchen and up the
stairwell to her attic home. The toddlers ran across the open space
to the small office toward the end of the loft. Jill looked up the
drafting table where she had been drawing. She leaned back so Katy
and Paddie could climb onto her lap. With her arms around Jill’s
neck, Katy pressed her tear stained face into Jill’s neck. Paddie
hung onto the other side.

“
What is it, Katy-baby?
What happened?” Jill set down her drawing pencil to hold the
children close. “I thought you were playing with Honey this
afternoon so I could finish these nice people’s house
design.”

“
I wanna go back to our
apartment,” Katy said. “I don’t wanna live here
anymore.”

In empathy for Katy, Paddie began crying.
Jill rubbed the children’s backs while they cried.

“
Oh Katy-baby, you hated
that apartment,” Jill said. “Remember it was stinky and hot and not
as beautiful as our new home. Plus Delphie doesn’t live there.
Daddy doesn’t live there. Auntie Valerie and Uncle Mike don’t live
there. Auntie Honey doesn’t even live there.”

“
I don’t wanna live with
them anymore. I want it to be us again.”

“
If we move back, we won’t
be able to host the haunted house tomorrow,” Jill said. “Remember
how excited your cousins were? Your friends at school? Paddie? You
and Daddy and Uncle Blane and your Granddaddy made special scary
stuff.”