Cimarron, Denver Cereal Volume 4 (5 page)

“
Everything all right?” MJ
asked Nash. “You seemed a little upset.”

“
I need to learn dating
skills,” Nash said.

“
Don’t we all,” Jacob
said.

At that moment, the driver took off from the
Castle. They were off to Mike’s big event.

CHAPTER
NINETY-TWO
Mike’s show

Sunday evening — 6:15 P.M.

Denver Art Museum

“
When we get home, will you
talk to me about what happened between you and Johansen?” Jill
whispered into Jacob’s ear. “And how you are about it? And
everything?”

They were standing in the middle of the
nearly empty art gallery. Most of their close friends and family
were looking at one or the other of Mike’s gorgeous paintings. No
one had seen his entire collection. When Katy ran off to play with
Noelle, Jill took Jacob’s hand and led him to the middle of the
room. He held her in his arms.

“
I don’t have anything to
say,” he whispered in her ear.

“
You’ve been avoiding the
subject since it happened.”

“
I’ve been a little busy
with Lipson and trying to keep the Castle from falling down,” he
whispered.

She let the conversation lag on his lie. She
kissed his neck.

“
Please let this drop.”
Jacob stepped back to look in her eyes. “I can’t talk about it. I
just can’t. Not now. Please.”

She kissed his lips.

“
I love you,” he said. “I
keep hoping my buddy Mike will paint you naked. Then I remember
that my buddy Mike is your big brother. Kinda spoils the whole
thing.”

Jill laughed. For a moment, they fell into
their usual ease and levity. Jill’s eyebrows pinched together.

“
Are you all right?” she
asked.

He nodded.

“
Just in your man
cave?”

He burst out laughing. He pulled her to him
to hide from people’s looks.

“
I need time to… sort out
my own mess. You know how I love to sort out messes,” he whispered
in her ear. “It just takes a while. Delphie has helped me, but I’m
on my own now. I…”

He shook his head.

“
I’m here. Maybe I can
help,” she said.

“
I’d rather just love you.
If that’s okay,” he said. “I’ll get through this.”

Unsure of what to say to her complicated
husband, she held him close.

“
Wanna try the bathroom for
a quickie?”

Jill laughed.

“
Mike and Val are moving,”
he said. “Must be time to start.”

“
Jacob…” Jill’s serious
voice brought his full attention to her. “You will tell me… when
you can?”

“
I will. Don’t worry. When
I have something to say, you’ll hear all of it. You’ll hear so much
you’ll be sick of hearing me talk. Then you’ll say.” He shifted his
voice to imitate her voice. “…shut up, Jake. You go on and on and
on.”

She smiled and kissed his lips.

“
I love you,” he whispered.
“What do you think it would take to get Mike to paint you
naked?”

“
A sudden frost in hell?”
Jill whispered.

Laughing at the idea, Jacob took her hand
and they joined their families.

~~~~~~~~

Sunday evening — 6:25
P.M.

“
Are you ready?” Valerie
asked.

Mike nodded but the panic in his eyes tore
at her. She straightened the collar of his new Frederec Martins
tuxedo.

“
You look great,” she said.
“Frederec did an amazing job.”

“
You look beautiful.” He
touched the flowing silk of her Martins gown. “Wow.”

She hugged him.

“
All you have to do is walk
around,” Valerie said. “That’s it. Let your amazing paintings speak
for themselves. They have a lot to say. You don’t have to say a
thing.”

“
Except when people talk to
me.”

“
You like people,” Valerie
said. “Everyone loves you. If you get stuck Jake or I or any of us
will rescue you. All of your friends and our family are already in
the gallery. Jill brought Katy. She’s always a good
distraction.”

“
I wish Delphie was here,”
Mike said. “This is really her show. She and Jake made me start
painting and… I miss her. I thought she’d be here.”

“
Me too.”

Valerie kissed his lips and wiped the
lipstick from them. He held her to him.

“
When we get home…” he
started.

“
Yes,” she said.

He took the hand she held out to him.
Together they walked to the front of the museum. Through the glass
doors, they saw a line that wrapped around the building and the
block. Mike nodded to the security guard.

The doors opened.

~~~~~~~~
Sunday evening — 7:15
P.M.

“
Glad we came?” Blane
asked.

He looked across the room. There were so
many people that they hadn’t found their friends.

”
You were right. I’m glad
to be here for Mike,” Heather said. “Plus, it’s fun to get dressed
up.”

Looking down into the sling, she saw that
Mack was awake. She smiled at her son. Blane put his arm around her
to look at the baby.

“
Hey buddy, did you wake
up?” Blane said. “With making dinner, I didn’t get his run
in.”

Mack yawned.

“
He’s all right,” Heather
said. “Sleepy. We’ll be all right.”

“
Blane?”

Blane and Heather looked up to see a tall
brown-haired man with blue eyes coming toward them. Blane blushed.
The handsome man held his arms out and Blane hugged him.

“
This is my wife, Heather,”
Blane said. “Heather, this is Michael Moore.”

“
Oh, hi!” Heather blushed.
She shook Michael Moore’s extended hand. “You’re Mike’s makeup
artist.”

“
Among other things,”
Michael said. “I heard you had a baby, Blane. May I?”

Heather tipped the sling so that Michael
could say hello to Mack.

“
Oh my God, he’s adorable,”
Michael said. “This is Mack?”

Cooing, Mack grabbed Michael’s finger.

“
Wow,” Michael said. “How
old is he?”

“
Eighteen days,” Blane
said.

“
So tiny. Congratulations,”
Michael said. “Say, you wouldn’t happen to be the Heather that does
Valerie’s makeup.”

“
I’ve done Valerie’s make
up. I did it tonight,” Heather blushed again. “I’m not a pro or
anything. Valerie just lets me do it because one of my best friends
is married to her brother. I don’t really…”

“
I doubt a movie star would
let just anyone do her makeup,” Michael said. “She looks
great.”

Heather blushed.

“
If you’re ever looking for
a job, let me know,” Michael said. “I’m always looking for good
people. Nice to see you again, Blane. It’s been…four
years?”

“
Five,” Blane
said.

“
Are you cooking at all
now?” Michael asked.

“
Just for family,” Blane
said. “I’m an acupuncturist now. I’ll finish my Doctor of Chinese
Medicine in a couple weeks.”

“
You look
happy.”

Blane nodded.

“
You certainly have a lot
in your life now.” Michael took another peek at Mack. “I’m
glad.”

“
Thanks,” Blane said. “I
feel really lucky.”

“
Nice to see you again.
Nice to meet you Heather.”

With a wave, Michael Moore wandered over to
another group of patrons.

“
What was that?” Heather
whispered to Blane.

“
I had a mad crush on him,”
Blane said. “Used to drive Enrique crazy.”

“
He’s very crushable,”
Heather said.

“
I haven’t really been out
in the world since everything with Enrique,” Blane said. “I just
walked away from that life. It didn’t occur to me that people
would…”

Blane shrugged.

“
Miss you?”

“
Or even notice that I was
gone,” Blane said. “This life is so good but it’s so different from
the way I used to live. It’s hard to believe I’m the same person
who lived in both worlds.”

“
I feel like that too. Just
a year ago I lived with Mom and wondered what I was going to do
with my life. Now I have you and Mack…”

“
And maybe a new job with a
make up pro,” Blane said.

“
If I can fit it in with
managing your practice,” she said.

Blane beamed at her.

“
It’s a good life,” he
said.

~~~~~~~~
Sunday evening — 7:30
P.M.

“
She looks at me like I’m
‘sposed to
do
something,” Nash whispered to Jacob.

“
Yeah, that sucks,” Jacob
said.

“
When I suggest something,
like going to get cookies or introducing her to Mike, she just
shrugs like she’s not interested.”

“
Yeah,” Jacob
said.

“
Dating skill?” Nash
said.

“
Dating skill,” Jacob
repeated.

“
What do I do?”

“
Just enjoy being around
her,” Jacob said. “Go along with the crowd. She hasn’t seen you in
a while so she’s not sure about you. You have to kind of prove
yourself.”

“
Prove myself? How do I do
that?”

“
Just be safe and nice,”
Jacob said. “She’s assessing whether she wants to be your
friend.”

“
I want her to be my
girl
friend.”

“
Yeah,” Jacob said. “It
doesn’t get a lot easier. I think that’s why Sandy wants you to
know what to do.”

“
Sandy’s really
great.”

“
Sandy’s amazing,” Jacob
said. “I wish I’d had this kind of help when I was your
age.”

“
Jake?”

“
Yeah?”

“
I need to get back to
school,” Nash said. “If she’s unsure of me ‘cuz she hasn’t seen me,
then I need to be in school. Will you be mad if I quit my
job?”

Jacob laughed.

~~~~~~~~

Sunday night — 8:15 P.M.

Panicked, Mike looked around to see if he
could get some help. He was standing in front of a painting talking
to a man - a random man, a stranger! - when the man asked to buy
the painting. When Mike mumbled something vague, the man became
more insistent. This stranger was willing to pay whatever Mike
asked. He even pulled out his checkbook to accentuate his capacity
to pay anything.

The man’s waving checkbook drew people like
a magnet. Two new strangers joined the conversation. While Mike
panicked, the men began arguing over his painting.

Where was Adam Lerner? Even though Adam was
now head curator at the Denver Art museum, this exhibit had been
his personal pet project. Mike saw Adam backed into a corner by a
checkbook waving woman.

Where was Jake? Jake would know what to do.
Mike caught Jake’s eye. Jake nodded and moved in Mike’s direction.
But there were so many people that Jake made very slow progress
across the gallery.

Mike took a clean handkerchief out of his
pocket and wiped his forehead. He was about to bolt when he felt
someone touch his elbow. He saw an elderly man move between him and
the growing group of checkbook waving people.

“
May I help you gentlemen?”
a heavily accented Russian voice asked.

Otis. Grandfather. Friend. Mike saw his
mother standing next to her father. Anjelika gave Mike a beautiful
smile.

“
I certainly understand
your interest. They are beautiful,” Otis said. “I flew all the way
from Russia just to have a chance to gaze on their
beauty.”

Otis turned to wink at Mike and led the men
away. Mike felt like he might vomit with relief. Jacob arrived a
moment later.

“
What happened?” Jacob
asked.

“
They want to purchase the
paintings,” Anjelika said.

“
Of course they do,” Jacob
laughed. “I thought you wanted to sell them.”

“
I wouldn’t mind them sold
but selling…” Mike shook his head. “This is an art museum! They
should have some respect.”

“
Is that your grandfather?”
Jacob asked.

“
My father,” Anjelika said.
“He didn’t want to miss the opening. Mike’s father is also here…
somewhere… with Senator Hargreaves, of course.”

Anjelika pointed to a group of laughing
people near the middle of the room.

“
It’s really crowded,” Mike
said.

“
Let’s get some
air.”

Mike followed Jacob through the crowd to the
wide patio outside the front door. Standing near the door, they
couldn’t help but hear people’s comments as they trickled out of
the exhibit. The early spring air was filled with praise after
knowledgeable commentary after glowing review of Mike and his
paintings.

“
Sounds like you have a
hit,” Jacob said.

“
When are we playing
hockey?” Mike asked.

“
Wednesday,” Jacob
said.

“
Let’s play
tonight.”