Colorado 03 Lady Luck (72 page)

At his rumble, I had looked over the counter
and I saw Bess’s man, Roland, and Honey’s man, Zander, sitting in
armchairs but I watched my husband appear from behind the couch in
our sunken family room. Ella Alexi was on his back. We called her
“Lella” or “Lell” because, when she started speaking, that was how
she referred to herself.

She called my other Ella Gramma.

My husband shifted to his feet with his
daughter on his back with practiced ease. This was because both
Lell and Vivie considered their father’s large frame their own
personal jungle gym and treated it as such.

He didn’t complain. Not once.

Lell locked her arms around his neck, her
little legs not long enough to surround his chest (even though she
was well off the charts for height, still, she wasn’t even five)
but they still clutched tight. Ty helped, curving a long arm behind
him under her bottom.

Lell secure on his back, I watched as he
bent then I heard a squeal and he came up with Vivian Bess, our
Vivie, carrying her under his free arm like a sack of grain. She
kept squealing but it wasn’t her pissed off squeal, it was her
giggly squeal.

Then he strode to the four steps then up
them carrying his daughters while his head turned and his eyes slid
to me. I grinned at him. He grinned back. Vivie squealed again. His
grin turned into a smile.

Then I lost sight of him as he headed to the
front door.

I looked back to the sunken living room
which had floor to ceiling windows out in a point that were nearly
a story and a half tall and gave a view of the hill, Carnal and the
hills and mountains beyond. The family room was vast. Up the four
steps it opened into an almost equally vast kitchen that sat at the
heart of the house and faced the family room over a high counter
with stools. Off to one side and up two steps was a circular room
that was a dining room that had huge windows and French doors to a
deck. Off to the other side and down two steps was a square room
that was an office, ditto with the windows, doors and deck. Down
the wide side hall to the front door at the front of the house was
a more formal living room and a set of stairs that led to the top
floor. Down the other wide, side hall off the office that also
eventually led to the living room was a smaller opening that
included a butler’s pantry and an area the developers called a
“Mom’s Unit” which included cupboards and a long counter with a
cutout at one end that gave space for a chair. That was where I had
my sewing machine and did my craft stuff. Further down that hall on
one side was a half bath, on the other side was the door to a three
car garage. On top of all this vast space was another, smaller,
open family room, five bedrooms and three full baths, one of those
full baths being in Ty and my gigantic master suite that also faced
front in a point with floor to ceiling windows to our spectacular
view and off the side opposite the bath there was a private
deck.

I found the house about three weeks after
our ordeal finally ended for good. It was in a cushy development up
a hill off the north side of Carnal. The houses were few and very
far apart. Ours had been ordered by a family whose father
unfortunately and unexpectedly lost his high-paying job so they had
to back out. The good news about that was, they’d gone for the
gusto on build with all the upgrades they could order and the
developers were scrambling to find someone who’d take it off their
hands. So we got it for a song though that song was still a
whack.

Once I saw it, I went back with Laurie,
Wendy, Betty and Maggie who all agreed it was the shit then I went
back with Dominic and Kayeleen and they told me I
had
to have it so I took my husband
there thinking he’d say no way.

It was huge. It was pricey.

But it was us.

Ty, being Ty, walked through without comment
then stood in the empty space of the master suite that had only two
weeks before been carpeted and had criss-cross stripes of tape on
the massive windows. He stared out the windows for three seconds
then looked down at me and muttered, “Get it, mama.”

I didn’t demur. I got it.

We made a whack on the condo, we had a whack
in the bank and we recovered the whack that Arnold Fuller stole
from our safe. Our mortgage ended up being the same as the condo
and we still had money in the bank.

I had Ella Alexi and finished my massage
therapy certification which didn’t triple my salary, it quadrupled
it (not to mention, I loved being a massage therapist because I was
right, peopled loved coming to see me, I was the highlight of their
day).

So it was all good.

I heard movement and mutterings and looked
to the side, my hands on a rolling pin rolling pie dough, and I saw
Laurie, Tate, Ty and my daughters emerge from the hall. Lella was
still on her Daddy’s back but now Vivie had her little arms wrapped
around Tate’s neck, one of his arms was behind him supporting her
booty, the other hand lifted and holding onto her forearm.

I smiled at him then looked to Laurie who
was talking.

“Hey, guys,” she greeted Ella, Bessie, Honey
and me, all of us in the kitchen cooking, something Ty told me I
should not allow (except Bess and me) but something, since it was
Thanksgiving, I really couldn’t stop them from doing.

Laurie got heys back and walked into the
kitchen, dumping bags on the counter beside me and saying, “Sorry,
honey, but Jonas is a no show. This week he and his girl have
decided it’s forever and he’s at her parents’ house for dinner. We
didn’t get the news until about an hour ago and thus ensued a
father son talk that I was dragged into as an innocent but silent
bystander, silent because I couldn’t get a word in edgewise, so I
didn’t have a chance to warn you.” Then she leaned in and said
quietly, “This has not made his father happy.”

I looked in her eyes and asked a surprised,
“Tate doesn’t like Jonas’s girlfriend?” And I was surprised because
I’d met her more than once, she was cute, she was sweet, she was a
cheerleader and since Jonas was the captain of the football team,
handsome, smart, funny and doting, they fit.

“Tate doesn’t like Jonas bailing on his
family on a family holiday at the last minute for some girl,” she
replied then told me something I already knew. “Though, they’ve
been together now for three years so she isn’t exactly some girl.
But Tate also doesn’t like them being together for three years. He
does not want his son to make his father’s mistakes. That said,
she’s really sweet and not exactly like Tate’s high school
girlfriend but he’s having flashbacks. Neeta flashbacks have a way
of grabbing hold and not letting go. So, I’ve said my piece on the
way here and now I’m being neutral. They’ll have to figure it
out.”

I was filing this away to tell Ty later as
proof that sons might not always be easier than daughters when
Laurie gave me more fodder.

“
Jonas looks just like his Dad and acts
just like his Dad. This is not lost on Tate. Though Tate doesn’t
see that Jonas has skipped the twenty-five years his father lived
through hell with Neeta. I’ve also explained this to him and he’s
ignored me so he’ll have to figure
that
out too.”

This was good stuff and I wanted her to tell
me more but she shut it down.

“Now,” she clapped her hands. “What can I
do?”

“You know how to make sweet potato pie?”
Ella chimed in readily.

“Of course,” Laurie said, “that’s my
favorite.”

“Stuff’s all set out,” Ella jerked her head
to another counter across the kitchen where the stuff was, indeed,
all set out. “Have at it.”

Laurie moved the sweet potato pie station
and Honey moved to Laurie’s bags and unearthed a six pack of beer,
two bottles of wine, the chocolate pecan pie Laurie promised to
bring, a gallon of ice cream and three cans of spray whipping
cream, the best kind.

Vivie suddenly shrieked, my head snapped up
and I saw that Ty had switched the channel from the parade to a
game to watch with Tate, Roland and Zander.

His eyes came over the back of the couch to
me and they spoke volumes. I looked down to my pie crust and kept
rolling while grinning.

At shriek two from Vivie which included
actual words this time and they were, “
No footbaw, Daddy!
”, Bessie forged into the opening breach,
calling while walking toward the living room, “Vivie, girl, get in
here, baby, you too Lellie, honey. Girls get to be in the kitchen
doing the fun stuff.”

Lell appeared instantly, dashing in quickly
but quietly.

My first born was like her father. She had a
lot to say and a lot of ways to communicate but not all those were
with words.

Vivie made a mad, boisterous dash,
screeching, “
Fun stuff!
” and
shaking her hands over her head.

And it was obvious who my second born took
after.

Lell attacked her grandmother’s legs,
wrapped her arms around, tipped her head way back and smiled up at
Ella. Ella instantly bent and lifted her, depositing her bottom on
the counter and explaining she was peeling potatoes so we could
mash them later. Lell listened with rapt attention and stared with
absorption at her grandmother’s hands.

Bessie swung Vivie up in her arms while
Vivie still shrieked, “
Fun stuff! Fun stuff! Fun stuff!
” as Bess carried her into the kitchen and
then this chant changed to, “
Pie! Pie! Pie!
” when she spotted Laurie’s pie.

“That’s for dessert, baby,” Bess murmured to
her.

“
Pie, Auntie
Bess!
” Vivie
squealed.

I ignored my daughter squealing and could do
this because I had a great deal of practice because she rarely
spoke in any other tone and I turned to Honey and asked, “Can you
get Tate a beer and see if the boys need a fresh one? Game’s
on.”

Honey grinned at me and rushed to the
fridge.

I rolled the pie crust over the rolling pin
then rolled it over the pie dish.

“
Pie!
” my daughter shrieked.

The doorbell rang.

My eyes went back to the family room to see
Ty fold off the couch. Then I looked back at my crust.

One minute later, I heard called, “Where are
my ragamuffins!”

“Grandpa,” Lell whispered, her eyes moving
across Ella to me and they were alight.

“
Grandpa!
” Vivie squealed and fought Bess’s
arms.

Bess let her down and Vivie raced out of the
kitchen. Then she moved to Lell and let her down and she raced out
too.

Thirty seconds later, Irv appeared with both
girls riding his legs, their bottoms skimming the floor as he
walked.

More greetings which Irv returned but he
came right to me, my daughters still riding his calves, ankles and
feet. He wrapped his hand around the back of my neck, bent in and
kissed my temple.

I closed my eyes.

“Hey, Irv,” I whispered.

“Beautiful,” he whispered back and squeezed
my neck.

I opened my eyes and tipped them back to
look up at him.

He smiled at me.

I smiled back.

Then, with some effort and not very quickly,
he shuffled out of the kitchen with my girls still attached to his
legs.

“You want a beer, Irv?” Honey called and my
eyes shot to Ty.

“Coke,” Irv called back with zero
hesitation, “Thanks Honey-hon.”

Jeez, I loved it when Irv called Honey
“Honey-hon”.

I let out a breath. Ty followed his Dad.
Honey raced out with Irv’s soda like she’d get to stand on a podium
and have a medal draped around her neck if she got the fastest
time. That was Honey; she’d definitely win gold for being
sweet.

I started to cut the overhang off the pie
crust around the edge.

The doorbell rang again. Ty went after it
again.

One minute later, we heard Julius shout,
“That fuckin’ pool at the hotel is
heated.
My man, I took a dip at nine thirty at night, in
the mountains, snow all around and it was
the shit!
”

“
Unkul Juujuu!
” Vivie shrieked and I could hear her
little feet on the go and I was loving every minute of my
daughter’s excitement. Mostly this was because she was excited; she
had a lot of love to give and enjoyed spreading it around so she
was in heaven. But also this was because this meant that later,
she’d be out like a light.

I looked into the family room and saw Lell
on her grandfather’s lap. Her head was turned to her sister but it
quickly turned back. This was not because she didn’t love her Uncle
Julius, this was because she absolutely freaking adored her
Granddad.

I watched as she tipped her head back and
lifted her little hand to put it to her grandfather’s throat. That
was her thing these days. She liked the vibrations she could feel
when people talked.

As for me, I liked to feel my daughter’s
hand on my throat when I was talking to her.

“That man needs to watch his mouth,” Ella
muttered.

I didn’t respond. Five years and the big
family Ty and I somehow managed to acquire that was close and
stayed close because they’d endured multiple dramas, the aftermath
of tragedy and the lingering fear that never really went away of
thwarted tragedy. This meant we didn’t stay apart long and paths
crossed often, holidays, birthdays, vacations. Everyone knew
everyone else very well. And most everyone got along.

But Ella wasn’t a big fan of Julius’s
profession or the fact that he had three women. I’d talked to her
about this repeatedly and did not change her mind. Julius being
Julius, therefore not only likeable but loveable, also did not
manage to change her mind. Bess and Honey adored him. So did my
daughters. Ella was just going to have to suck it up.