Cimarron, Denver Cereal Volume 4 (13 page)

“
That lady hit Katy,”
Paddie said.

Jacob pulled Katy back to look at her. Katy
nodded and pointed to her cheek. Jacob kissed her cheek.

“
Can we still go on the
road-a-vores?” Katy hiccupped through her sobs.

“
Road-a-vore?” Jacob
asked.

“
The b-b-big machines,”
Katy said. “Mommy said they eat the street.”

“
I promised the kids they
could drive the big equipment today,” Valerie said. “I’m so sorry.
I had no idea…”

“
It’s totally my fault,”
Jacob said. He rocked Katy against him. “I knew she
was…”

“
Insane?” Valerie
asked.

Jacob nodded.

“
They’re going to have
bruises on their wrists and Katy’s face…” Valerie said. “Jill’s
going to kill you. Have any arnica?”

“
At home,” Jacob said. “I
don’t get bruised in the office.”

“
Softy,” Valerie laughed.
“I have some in my bag from the movie. I think it’s in the
car.”

There was a knock at the door. Aden’s
secretary poked her head in.

“
I brought some ice for
Katy’s cheek,” she said. “Aden said to give you this.”

She gave him a tube of Arnica gel. Standing
with Paddie, Valerie took the Arnica and ice.

“
Thanks,” Valerie
said.

Aden’s secretary nodded then closed the
door.

“
Fix the door,” Valerie
said.

“
Done.”

Jacob worked his skill to seal the door
closed. Valerie put arnica gel on Paddie’s wrists then tossed the
tube to Jacob. Jacob put the soothing gel on Katy’s wrist and face.
He wrapped the ice pack in his handkerchief and held it against
Katy’s cheek. He said a silent prayer that the arnica gel would
help to keep the bruise down.

“
Chocolate?” Jacob asked
Katy.

As if agreeing to something important, Katy
gave him a solemn nod. Jacob took out the box of ‘fancy chocolates’
he kept for Katy’s visits. Paddie jumped off Valerie’s lap to
explore the box with Katy. Tears calmed, the chocolate seemed to
sufficiently restore the children.

“
Road-a-vores?” Jacob
asked.

Katy and Paddie clapped their hands.

“
Let’s get out of here,”
Valerie said. “Can you come?”

“
I wouldn’t miss it,” he
said.

He unsealed the door. Moving quickly, they
walked past the crazy secretary. They never gave her another
thought. With road-a-vores and chocolate around, who could think of
anything else?

~~~~~~~~

Thursday afternoon — 3:30 P.M.

“
Hey Pete,” Sandy
said.

She’d seen him standing outside her hair
studio. He looked up when her client left but didn’t come to the
door. She opened the door.

“
Would you like a haircut?”
Sandy asked. “I have time.”

Pete nodded. Sandy washed his hair. Because
of the surgery, she had to shave his hair down to less than a half
an inch. She lathered him up and gave him a shave. They went
through the ritual in silence.

“
You’re done,” she
said.

“
Molly says I need to have
a job before she’ll talk to me,” Pete said. “I’ve been looking all
day. I mean really looking. No one will hire me.”

“
What about Lipson?” Sandy
asked.

“
You have to be clean six
months to work there,” Pete said. “I’ve burned a lot of people with
my drug use. Plus, I look like a homeless person. At least now I
look like a homeless person with a good hair cut.”

“
Do you use drugs any
more?” Sandy asked.

“
No, Jill helped me with
it. I mean, she gave me a start but I still have a long way to go,”
Pete said. “I was clean in prison. I went to three meetings today
and I got a sponsor. I’m done with drugs. I need someone to give me
a chance.”

“
I know that feeling,”
Sandy said.

“
Yeah, I bet you do,” Pete
said. “I heard about what happened, you know, with your
Dad?”

“
Father,” Sandy said. “You
remember my Dad? He was the cop.”

“
Yea, I remember him. Great
guy.”

Sandy picked up a load of towels and began
walking toward the back.

“
I wanted you to know I
never thought anything bad about you,” Pete said. “You were always
nice about me and Molly. I knew something was going on when we were
in high school. I always thought it was that pilot guy. He
was
old
and so…
dashing.”

Sandy stopped walking. She nodded to him and
put the towels in the hamper.

“
When I heard, I still
don’t think anything bad about you,” Pete said. “Bad things happen
to people. Doesn’t make them bad.”

“
Thanks,” Sandy
said.

“
I bet you could use some
help here,” Pete said. “I could help you. You wouldn’t have to pay
me but I…”

“
The boys were helping me,
Pete,” Sandy said. “Nash and Teddy but they’re back in school. I
could use some help. I really need someone here at night. It’s not
the greatest neighborhood.”

“
Like live here?” Pete
asked. “I could do that. Molly let me stay in the basement last
night. She’d be glad to have me gone for a while.”

“
I don’t want to be in the
middle of you and Molly,” Sandy said.

“
Molly made me sign divorce
papers,” Pete said. “But she didn’t file them. She’s really mad at
me, hurt. The kids don’t trust me. I’ve really fucked
up.”

“
I’ll talk to Molly,” Sandy
said. “Why don’t you come back around five? I can show you what I
need done. You can look at the space and see what you think. If we
agree, we can call probation and set up an appointment.”

“
Thanks Sandy,” Pete said.
“I won’t let you down.”

“
Let’s just take it one day
at a time.”

Pete hopped to his feet. He hugged
Sandy.

“
I’m not going to be your
girl, Pete,” Sandy said. “Just your boss.”

“
I only want Molly,” Pete
said. “But I could really use a friend.”

“
Friend? I can do
friend.”

~~~~~~~~

Thursday afternoon — 3:30 P.M.

“
I think you know why we’re
meeting,” Aden said to Evette. “We’d like you to clear out your
desk. Ms. Roberts has your last check.”

Aden nodded toward the director of Human
Resources.

“
Mr. Norsen, I have no idea
what you’re talking about,” Evette said.

“
Today will be your last
day at Lipson Construction,” Aden said. “We have a number of
offenses, but more than anything, you’re not qualified for your
position. Ms. Roberts?”

“
We find your typing and
general secretarial skills to be insufficient for our
staff.”

“
Jake doesn’t need me to
type,” Evette said. “He uses me for other things.”

“
Such as?” Ms. Roberts
asked.

Evette batted her eyes in the direction of
the Human Resources director.

“
Are you suggesting that
you and Jacob Marlowe have been intimate?” Aden asked.

“
Intimate is a word for it.
Passionate is another.” Evette flipped her hair. “He’s amazing. So
you can’t fire me.”

“
Colorado is an ‘at-will’
state,” Aden said. “Your employment is not working for us. We are,
in fact, firing you.”

“
Suit yourself,” Evette
said. “I’m sure the world would love to know about Jakey and my
relationship.”

“
What relationship?” Ms.
Roberts asked. “There is no...”

Evette winked at Ms. Roberts.

“
I’ll take thirty,” Evette
said. “To stay silent.”

“
Thirty what?” Aden
asked.

“
Thirty thousand,” Evette
said. “That’s the going rate.”

“
Get out,” Ms. Roberts
said. “Now.”

Evette took the check from her hand and
flounced out of the room. Aden and Ms. Roberts stared at each
other.

“
You don’t think…” Ms
Roberts said.

“
I don’t,” Aden
said.

Aden’s secretary looked in the open door.
Aden made a motion and she closed the door.

“
Lawsuit?” Aden
asked.

“
Worse,” Ms. Roberts said.
“Women like her make big bucks making accusations against wealthy
men. It’s disgusting. I’m sure the media will eat it
up.”

“
Any way to protect Jake?
Lipson?’

“
We’ll just have to hold on
through the storm,” she said. “That’s what we’ve always done for
Valerie.”

“
Should we tell
Jake?”

“
Jacob Marlowe could not
care less about this kind of tripe. This is not the first time some
woman has gone to the papers about her fictitious relationship with
him.”

“
Yes but it’s the first
time since he’s been married and had a child.”

“
I’ll talk to him,” Ms
Roberts rose to leave.

Aden let out a breath. It was going to be an
interesting ride.

~~~~~~~~

Thursday evening — 6:30 P.M.

“
Wow, you got really dirty
with Daddy today,” Jill said. She was washing Katy in the big
bathtub off her bedroom. “You must have had fun.”

“
We had so much fun!” Katy
said. “

“
So many bruises,” Jill
said.

“
Professional construction
workers, like me and Paddie, get bruises.

Jill smiled.

“
Mommy?”

“
Yes honey,” Jill
said.

“
What’s a
bastard?”

CHAPTER
NINETY-SEVEN
Stealing

Friday morning — 3:20 A.M.

”
Don’t talk,” Jill
said.

“
But…” Jacob
said.

“
Not one more word,” Jill
said. “My head is going to rotate off my shoulders.”

“
You don’t get to
dictate…”

“
QUIET,” Jill said. “I need
to get my head straight.”

Jacob stood up from their living room couch.
He opened his mouth. Jill shook her head.

“
Shhhh,” Jill
said.

Jacob closed his mouth and walked to their
kitchen. He filled two glasses of water and carried them back. Her
eyes glanced up at him. She took the water then returned to staring
out the front window. He sat down next to her. When he touched her,
she moved away from him.

“
Listen…” he
started.

She glared at him and looked away. Shaking
his head, he leaned back on the couch. After hours of screaming at
each other, he should be grateful for the peace and quiet.

He’d never seen Jill so angry. Thinking they
would have a romantic night, he’d opened a bottle of wine, lit some
candles, and set out her favorite snack. Romantic was not a word
for this night. The fact that Katy was still asleep was a
miracle.

He looked over at Jill. Even angry, she was
the most beautiful woman he’d ever met, known, touched, talked to,
or slept with. She meant everything to him. He would never risk
losing her. Never.

She’d already said she was leaving tonight.
He should be happy she was still sitting here.

“
I’m going to talk,” Jill
said. “And you’re going to be silent.”

“
Why don’t I get to talk?
You’re not some queen here, Jill. I…”

Shaking her head, she got up from the
couch.

“
I can’t do this,” she
said. “I’m tired of fighting with you. I’m going to pack my things.
I’ll sleep with Katy tonight. We’ll be gone in the
morning.”

“
You cannot take my child
from me.”

“
Maybe you should have
thought of that before you fucked your secretary!”

“
Jill… I never
ever…”

“
Save it for someone who
believes your bullshit. I’m not doing this again,” Jill said. “I
will not subject my child to anger and hostility because of some
lying cheating… bastard.”

Jill turned to face him. She opened her
mouth, then shaking her head she walked to their bedroom.

“
STOP!” Jacob
said.

And everything stopped.

Unable to move, Jill was stuck in place.
Tears began to roll down her paralyzed face. Jacob let out a breath
and everything began moving again.

She flew at him.

“
How dare you?”

She came at him with her palms out. He
caught her hands to keep them away from his body.

“
I didn’t know I could do
that,” he said. “I’m… sorry. I’ve never done that before. I’ve
never felt this desperate before.”

“
Let go of me!”

“
Don’t infest my body with
some horrible cancer.”

“
Cancer? Why? Are you
afraid your girlfriend will get it?”

“
Please, Jill, please. This
is me, Jacob, not Trevor. Me. I have a lot of baggage. I’m not
perfect. I am a deeply flawed individual but I don’t cheat. I’ve
never cheated on anyone, ever.”

“
Is that what Miss Precious
is going to tell the papers?”

“
We’ve been around and
around about this,” Jacob said. “I don’t take my phone with me when
I go to lunch with family. I went to lunch with Blane and Heather
on Wednesday. I met with Aden’s probation officer on Wednesday
afternoon. That’s the time that those texts were sent. I didn’t
send them. I didn’t even see them until you found them.”