Cimarron, Denver Cereal Volume 4 (38 page)

“
Now what’s a found
family?” Aden asked.

Noelle began to speak. Her bright chatter
filled the second floor hallway. They were in the car before she
finished what she had to say. Charlie heard only the sound, not the
words. He was too overwhelmed by the fairy, and Aden, and the
thought that he might have a new family. He let Noelle sit in front
while he sat in the back.

“
What do you think,
Charlie?” Aden looked at him thought the rear view
mirror.

“
Do I have to get lame
glasses?” Charlie recovered himself enough to ask.

“
Yes,” Aden said. “It’s a
rule. I was thinking about something manly, like those ones with
red lips on them.”

Aden started the car and Charlie
laughed.

~~~~~~~~

Tuesday morning — 8:35 A.M.

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

Katy ran out to the wave to fill her bucket
with water. She and Jacob had worked all day yesterday on an
elaborate sand castle. Katy and Paddie were up at five that morning
ready to get back to work.

Of course, Jacob and Colin were much less
excited to get up. Jill took them down to the water before they
woke everyone up with their enthusiasm. For the last two hours,
they had played knights and princesses in the Castle. Jill tried to
sit close enough to enjoy their play while letting them have their
time together.

“
They are cute,” Delphie
said.

Jill turned in her beach chair and
smiled.

“
Do you mind if I join
you?” Delphie asked. “I brought you some coffee.”

“
You’re always welcome,
Delphie,” Jill said. “Coffee is definitely welcome.”

Delphie sat down in a beach chair next to
Jill. She gave Jill a Styrofoam cup of coffee prepared just as Jill
liked it.

“
How about a chocolate
filled croissant?” Delphie asked.

She pulled two pastries wrapped in a napkin
from her pocket.

“
Yes please,” Jill
said.

The moment Delphie gave Jill the pastry,
Katy ran over. Jill broke the croissant in half for Katy. Katy
grabbed the pastry with sandy hands and ran back to Paddie.

“
You let her eat with those
hands?” Delphie asked.

“
A little sand won’t kill
her,” Jill said. “But don’t tell her Daddy. He’d think it was
gross.”

Delphie laughed.

“
How was your first night
in Mexico?” Jill asked.

“
Fun,” Delphie said.
“Dinner was amazing. This place is gorgeous.”

The women looked around the resort. They
were sitting on a private beach far away from the hustle and bustle
of the city. Their rooms looked out over the white sand and the
blue water of the Gulf of California.

Katy ran over for a bottle of water. Jill
gave her the water and she carried it back to Paddie.

“
They look like they’re
having fun,” Delphie said.

“
They are,” Jill said. “I
could sit here all week and watch them play.”

“
Sounds like something you
should do,” Delphie said.

“
Oh, I don’t know,” Jill
said. “There are whales to watch, museums to visit… I think we’re
scheduled for some play?”

Hearing a sound, the women turned to watch
Megan’s three sons running toward them. The boys splashed in the
water. Megan’s youngest son joined Katy and Paddie in their sand
castle.

“
You really love kids,”
Delphie said.

“
I’ve been spoiled by
Katy,” Jill said. “She’s such a great person. Every day with her is
a different kind of adventure.”

Delphie smiled.

“
Meg’s kids are pretty
great too,” Jill said. “I was living with Meg when she had Ryan.
That was fun.”

“
Sounds like you’re excited
for the babies,” Delphie said.

“
You mean Sandy’s and
Valerie’s?” Jill asked. “I’m positively thrilled. Sandy’s been too
busy with Aden’s kids, and now with Charlie, to even think about
her nursery.”

“
We have a lot of fun ahead
of us,” Delphie said. “How’s Mack?”

“
Gorgeous,” Jill said. “I
don’t think I’ve seen a prettier baby. Heather says he’s growing by
leaps and bounds. Heather’s happier than I’ve ever seen
her.”

Jill looked up to see Katy running over to
her. Katy crawled into her lap. For a moment, Katy just sat in
Jill’s lap. When the moment passed, Katy ran back to play with
Paddie and her cousin.

“
What was that?” Delphie
asked.

“
She likes to make sure
that I’m still here,” Jill said. “I think it’s a remnant from
living with Trevor.”

“
I’ve been meaning to talk
to you about that,” Delphie said. “Do you think Katy is traumatized
by everything that happened?”

Jill looked over at Delphie. The women sized
each other up for a moment.

“
How traumatized is she?”
Jill asked.

“
Well…” Delphie
said.

“
What do I need to do?”
Jill asked. “We took her to therapy and the therapist didn’t think
she needed help. I don’t know what else to do.”

Delphie nodded.

“
Hey you guys,” Jacob
called from their room. “It’s time for breakfast.”

Jill got up to get Katy and Paddie. They
washed the sand off their hands in the ocean. When Jill turned
around, Delphie was walking up to the hotel with Sam. While Jill
collected their belongings, Colin came down to get Paddie. Jill
took Katy’s hand and they walked up to the hotel.

“
Don’t worry, Mommy,” Katy
said. “This isn’t something you can control.”

Jill stopped walking to look at her baby
girl. Sometimes the four year old wasmore like a grandmother than a
child. Katy held out her arms and Jill picked her up.

“
Love you, Katy-baby,” Jill
said.

Katy nestled her head under Jill’s chin.
Jill carried her to breakfast.

~~~~~~~~

Tuesday morning — 8:35 A.M. PDT

Hollywood, CA

“
Who was that?” Mike asked
as Valerie set down the phone.

“
My agent,” Valerie
said.

“
And?” Mike
asked.

He picked up her work duffle bag. She’d had
a later call and was just about to start another sixteen hour day.
She followed him out the door to their rented car.

“
The director of this movie
went to some director’s group last night,” Valerie said. “Had a lot
to say about me.”

“
Because of Delphie?” Mike
asked.

“
Actually, yes,” she
said.

He opened her door and helped her into the
SUV. He dropped her bag in the back and went to the driver’s
side.

“
Sorry to hear that,” Mike
said. “He seemed totally cool last night.”

“
He is,” Valerie said. “He
told a few of his director friends I was ‘good people.’ He told
them about flying to Denver to help Delphie, my mother’s best
friend. My agent said the phone’s been ringing off the
hook.”

“
Why?”

Mike started the car and drove through the
Chateau Marmot complex to the street.

“
I guess there’s a bunch of
directors and actors who insist on working with good people,”
Valerie said. “My agent said it’s the hardest club in Hollywood to
get into. But…”

“
You’re in?”

“
I’m in,” Valerie said.
“Hanks, Spielberg, Lucas, Howard… Those guys.”

“
Wow,” Mike
said.

“
My agent said all the
offers are for after the baby,” Valerie said. “He said he was a
little defensive, kind of – ‘you know she’s pregnant’ – and they
were excited to have me after the baby. My agent even said, ‘you
know she brings her husband’ and they were like ‘good.’ I don’t
know if there will be a ton of work but it should be good work. TV
too. My agent said I can work as much or as little as I want
now.”

Stopping the car at a traffic light, Mike
leaned over to kiss her.

“
Congratulations,” Mike
said.

“
It never occurred to me
that I could have you and babies and my career and…” Valerie’s eyes
filled with tears. “I can just be me and…”

Mike took her hand and they smiled at each
other.

“
It’s a good life,” she
said.

“
It’s a very good
life.”

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED and
THIRTEEN

My life now

Wednesday early morning — 2:47 A.M.
Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

“
Jill.” Jacob shook her
shoulder. “Jill.”

Lying next to him, Jill was sweating and
shaking her head. Her hands were up near her face and she was
crying. Her lips were moving. He leaned close to hear what she was
saying.

“
I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m
sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” Jill whispered.

“
Jill!” Jacob said again.
He shook her shoulder. “Wake up!”

Jill opened her eyes. Seeing Jacob’s face,
she threw herself into his arms and cried. He stroked her hair and
her back. He kissed her neck. When she seemed to have stopped
crying, he leaned back. She was asleep. Confused, he put her back
on her pillow. Her head had not hit the pillow when she started
crying and shaking her head.

“
Jill!”

Jacob’s voice was insistent. Jill opened her
eyes. She looked confused.

“
Jacob, what’s wrong?” she
asked.

He clasped her to him.

“
What is it?” she asked.
“What happened?”

He explained waking up to her crying and the
‘I’m sorrys’. He told her about holding her while she cried then
finding her asleep again. She looked more and more confused the
longer he spoke.

“
I was crying?” she
asked.

Touching her face, she felt her tears. She
sat up and leaned against the headboard.

“
What’s going on Jill?” he
asked.

She smiled at him.

“
Could you bring me a
bottle of water?” she asked. “I’m going…”

She pointed to the bathroom. Jacob watched
her naked body move into their bathroom. Getting up, he pulled on a
pair of pajama bottoms. He went out into their suite’s main room to
get a couple of bottles of water from the refrigerator. He returned
to their bed with the bottles. Jill came out of the bathroom and
put on a short silk robe.

“
Do you mind if
I…”

She pointed toward Katy’s room. He shook his
head and followed her to Katy’s room. Leaning over the bed, Jill
kissed Katy’s cheek and whispered ‘I’ll never leave you.’ She
stroked her daughter’s hair. Katy stirred but didn’t wake. He put
his arm over Jill’s shoulder and she tucked herself into him. He
gently led her back to bed. He helped her out of her robe and
stripped off the pajamas before getting into bed.

Lost in thought, Jill lay on her side
looking at him. He leaned up against the bed board and she laid her
head on his lap.

“
What’s going on?” he
repeated.

“
I had this awful dream,”
Jill said.

“
Awful how?” he asked. “You
kept saying you were sorry over and over again.”

“
I saw everything that
happened, you know last year? From Trevor leaving, the bee sting,
Katy and Paddie’s big fight, Katy being abducted, marrying you, and
even going on this trip. I saw it all from Katy’s perspective. It’s
weird because Delphie was saying she was traumatized.”

“
You’ve been upset by what
Delphie said,” Jacob said. “We talked about it a lot yesterday. You
talked to Megan about it too.”

“
You’re probably right,”
Jill said. “That’s why I had the dream.”

“
I didn’t say that,” Jacob
said. “This doesn’t sound like any old dream. What did you learn
from Katy’s perspective?”

“
Oh, right,” Jill said.
“Katy was fine with Trevor leaving. The party where she was
kidnapped? She thought it was a fun spy game. All the stuff at the
apartment? She was glad we moved. She loves you. Knew who you were
the moment she met you.”

“
She’s an amazing girl,” he
said.

Jill nodded.

“
What was traumatizing?” he
asked.

“
Me,” Jill said. “The
thought of losing me. Seeing me so upset when Trevor divorced me;
freaking out when Trevor was killed; checking out when with
Trevor’s parents; waking up at the hospital by herself. I guess
it’s been her fear for a long time.”

“
Did you find out why?” he
asked.

“
Trevor,” Jill said. “He
told her once if she wasn’t a very good girl, he would kill me. So
every time I was gone and she didn’t know where I was, she thought
he’d killed me. When I was emotionally gone, she was terrified that
he killed her ‘good Mommy’ and now she had a ‘bad
Mommy’.”

“
Why would Trevor say
that?” Jacob asked.

“
Who knows?” Jill
asked.

“
Wait,” Jacob said. “What
did he want her to do?”

“
I don’t know,” Jill said.
“Nothing she remembered. She was so horrified at the idea of losing
me that’s all that she experienced.”

“
He didn’t rape her?” Jacob
asked.

“
Oh God,” Jill said. “I
hope not. Do you get that sense?”