Gold Hill (50 page)

“
Right,” Sam said. “Do you
know about the chapel?”

“
No,” Honey said. “What’s
going on with the chapel?”

“
Jake got a call from Jim,
the stained glass guy. He finished the windows,” Sam said. “I
haven’t seen them but Jake says they’re gorgeous.”

“
Are they in already?”
Honey asked.

“
Yep,” Sam said.
“Installed them today.”

Sam turned left on Race
Street and stopped at Seventeenth Avenue to wait for the traffic to
pass.

“
That’s amazing,” Honey
said. “So we won’t have the ceremony in the back?”

“
Nope,” Sam said. “We’re
consecrating the chapel with the love ceremony.”

He gave a wry smile and
drove across Seventeenth Avenue.

“
What?” Honey
asked.

“
I don’t mean to make
fun,” Sam said. “Love is really important to me. Certainly it’s
made my whole life . . . ”

“
Worth living,” Honey
said. “Mine too.”

“
It just sounds a
little . . . goofy,” Sam said. He clicked his remote
control. When the metal gate opened, he pulled into the lot. “Like
some hippy love in.”

“
What are we going to do
with all the people who are coming?” Honey asked.

“
They’ll go out back,” Sam
said. “It’s supposed to be a warm night. Delphie told me to tell
people to come at four, rather than go to work, you
know.”

“
MJ and I can take care of
the hordes.”

“
Oh no,” Sam said. “You
are on the
must be there
list. And trust me, you do not want to run afoul
of Delphie today. Really ever. Yes, don’t ever run afoul of
Delphie. I mean I’ve known her since we were kids
and . . . well, just don’t do it. And really don’t
do it today.”

“
She’s on a
tear?”

“
That’s one way of saying
it,” Sam said.

He got out of the truck and
got her wheelchair. She had the door open and was ready for his
help when he got there. He set her in her wheelchair and grabbed
her purse. They moved across the driveway.

“
What did you want me to
see?” Honey said.

Pushing her wheelchair, Sam
headed toward across the driveway to the side door. At the very
last moment, he ducked left onto the patio outside Honey and MJ’s
old apartment home.

“
What . . . ?” Honey started.

The door to their apartment
was open and he slipped her wheelchair inside.

“
Oh my God,” Honey
said.

When she turned around, Sam
was standing at the door.

“
But . . . ?” she started.

He gestured for her to look
around and closed the outside door. She rolled through their
sitting room then backed up to check the extra bathroom. Everything
was clean and beautiful. As if they’d always been there, fluffy
towels and soap were sitting on the counter ready to be used. She
spun around and checked their bedroom. The bigger bed was new, as
were the comforters. A bassinette like Sandy’s sat on Honey’s
bedside table. She bit her lip, closed her eyes, and got up the
courage to spin in place. Wheeling as fast as she could, she left
their bedroom, went through the doorway to their sitting room, and
passed their tiny kitchen that ran across the wall to her right.
She stopped at the door to the new rooms. She’d talked to Jake
about putting in a nursery and a shared office. She closed her eyes
and said a small prayer.

Pushing open the door, she
saw MJ. He turned around when he heard her.

“
You won’t
believe . . . ” MJ sniffed at unshed tears.
“It’s . . . ”

Honey wheeled past him and
into the baby’s room. The room was painted a gorgeous mint green.
Mike had painted ducks and bunnies dancing along the wall under a
tree that could only have been painted by Noelle. A light wood crib
with bedding that matched the room stood against the far wall. A
green hand knitted baby blanket lay over the railing. There was a
low bureau and changing table along the side wall.

“
It’s full of clothes and
stuff. Alex said it’s not all new, but a lot of it is new. Hand me
downs,” MJ said. “My team, the wives, your family, my brother and
sister, they . . . ”

He gestured around. Honey
was too surprised and overwhelmed to speak.

“
There’s a half bath with
a toilet and sink in here, wheelchair height,” MJ said. “Jake said
sometimes it’s nice to have one close when you have a baby. There’s
another door to the main house on this side too, just in case we
need help and someone needs to come right away. There’s a panic
button by the door. If we need help, the bell rings all over the
Castle. Just in case I’m not here
and . . . ”

MJ gestured down the
hallway. Honey opened a drawer to the bureau. Her fingers caressed
a tiny baby onesie.

“
Our office is at the
other end,” MJ said. “It has computers and stuff. All super secure,
of course. Raz and Troy were still here when I got here. They went
through everything with me so that I can show you.”

Honey pulled the hand
knitted baby blanket off the crib. There was a tiny tag with a
picture of a blue delphinium. The blanket was knitted by Delphie.
Of course. In all of her life, she’d never felt so loved and
understood. She sniffed back a tear.

“
Say something,” MJ said.
She turned to look at him. “What do you think?”

“
It’s . . .
it’s perfect,” Honey said. “Amazing. You?”

“
We’re really going to
have a baby!” MJ said.

He kneeled down to hug her
and she cried.

Chapter Two Hundred and
Eighteen
.
 
.
 
.
after .
 
.
 
.
 

Friday afternoon — 7:25
p.m.

“
Mom?” Tanesha pushed open
the sliding door to a room off the main Castle living room. Her
voice was low and slurred by her wired jaw. “Mom?”

Tanesha stepped into the
room and looked around. A rack of dresses hung on the right. She
heard laughter and Claire Martins came out from behind the privacy
screen that covered the fireplace.

“
Cherchez-vous votre
mère?” Claire said.

“
Uh . . . ?” Tanesha shook her
head.

She found these French
people to be nearly impossible to understand in English and her
French was lost somewhere in a Jeraine-induced high school fog.
Claire smiled at her.

“
I’m sorry,” Claire said.
“Your mother and I were speaking French. I forget myself around
her. I feel as if I’ve known her all of my life.”

Claire gave Tanesha a
bright smile.

“
Yvonne?” Claire looked
into the screen. “Votre fille est ici.”

“
Tanni?” Yvonne asked. “Do
you have a dress for her too?”

“
Oui,” Claire said. “I’ll
get it.”

“
You are a dear,” Yvonne
said.

Tanesha watched her
mother’s arms as she hugged Claire. The French woman smiled at
Tanesha and left the room through a door at the end. Yvonne came
out from behind the screen. Even though her face was clear of
makeup and she was wearing only undergarments, Yvonne looked
radiant. Tanesha smiled. Yvonne hugged her.

“
How is your jaw?” Yvonne
gave her jaw a light touch.

“
Hurts,” Tanesha
said.

“
And school?”

“
Fine,” Tanesha
said.

The sliding door opened and
Jill’s sister, Megan, appeared. She was holding a glass of water in
her hand.

“
I was sent here to ask if
you’d like to have flowers for everyone in the audience or just for
you or . . . ”

Megan walked to them and
then, almost as if she tripped, she touched Yvonne’s shoulder.
Yvonne looked up into Megan’s eyes.

“
You can remember now,”
Megan said.

Yvonne blinked.

“
What do you think about
flowers?” Without removing her hand from Yvonne’s shoulder, Megan
looked at Tanesha.

“
I don’t think we care,”
Tanesha smiled.

“
I didn’t think so either,
but you know Delphie.”

“
She seems a little
uptight,” Tanesha said.

“
Everything is gorgeous,”
Megan removed her hand from Yvonne. “Wait until you
see.”

Megan gave a little shrug
of her shoulders and left the room. Tanesha and Yvonne stood
together for a moment.

“
Now don’t get me wrong,
Tanni,” Yvonne said. “I like your friends and I’m so grateful
for . . . everything, but that Jill and her
family?”

“
They’re pretty amazing,”
Tanesha smiled.

“
Clumsy,” Yvonne said. “I
think I’ve seen every one of them today. They all trip and then say
the same thing.”

“
You can remember
now?”

“
Strange,” Yvonne said.
“Nice people, but very strange.”

“
You remember them,”
Tanesha said.

As if she was trying to
understand what Tanesha had said, Yvonne looked at her daughter.
She gave a slow nod.

“
Listen,” Tanesha said.
“While we’re alone, I wanted to talk to you about
something.”

“
What’s going on?” Yvonne
asked.

Tanesha took a breath. Her
jaw hurt. Talking hurt. But she had to tell her mother before
anything else happened.

“
You know Dad had a tough
time when he was first in prison,” Tanesha said.

Yvonne nodded.

“
He has HIV,” Tanesha
said. “He got it in prison.”

“
He told me,” Yvonne
said.

Tanesha smiled.

“
What?” Yvonne
asked.

“
You remembered something
for more than an hour.”

Yvonne smiled and hugged
Tanesha.

“
I don’t remember any
details,” Yvonne said. “But I gather it was pretty awful. Do you
want to tell me what happened?”

“
I don’t know exactly
either,” Tanesha said. “He doesn’t talk about it. He takes
medication, eats well, and stays fit. But
tonight . . . ”

Yvonne smiled at
Tanesha.

“
What?” Tanesha
asked.

“
You’re trying to tell me
to not get sick,” Yvonne leaned over to kiss Tanesha’s cheek. “I
don’t think I saw it until this very moment.”

“
Saw what?”

“
I’ve been your child,”
Yvonne’s eyes welled with tears.

“
No, not child,” Tanesha
said. “My beloved mother.”

“
Who is a mess,” Yvonne
said. “But . . . I’m going to be all right now. Your
Daddy too. He said you take care of him too.
You . . . ”

A tear slipped from
Yvonne’s large eyes.

“
Thank you,” Yvonne hugged
Tanesha. “I love you. Your Daddy does too. Don’t worry. We’re going
to be just fine. Plus . . . ”

Yvonne leaned back to look
at Tanesha’s face.

“
We’ve been doing this
since before you were born,” Yvonne said. Tanesha
laughed.

“
O’Malley!” Delphie’s
voice came through the sliding door. “Where have you been? We have
an entire party to set up. You have work to do.”

Tanesha and Yvonne turned
toward the noise. Seth’s voice was a low rumble.

“
Ava, Claire has a dress
for you,” Delphie said. “Go. In there. Go.”

They heard more of Seth’s
low voice.

“
I’ve never seen Delphie
like this,” Tanesha said.

“
I have,” Yvonne said.
“The only one who could calm her down was Celia. I bet Jake and Val
are hiding. Sam too.”

Yvonne chuckled and shook
her head.

“
Delphie feels like she
has to do everything,” Yvonne said. “Celia would sit her down with
a cup of Chamomile tea and tell her to pull herself together. She
wouldn’t let her up until she’d drunk all the tea.”

“
Pull herself
together?”

“
Delphie is incredibly
powerful,” Yvonne said. “You and I, we can’t even conceive of how
powerful she is. But when she gets overwhelmed, her energy scatters
everywhere and she’s ineffective. Know anyone like
that?”

Yvonne gave Tanesha a sly
smile.

“
I’m no Oracle,” Tanesha
said.

“
Yes, but you just
finished your first week of medical school, haven’t slept but a few
hours every night, worried over everything and everyone, and here
you are trying to help me and your Daddy.”

Yvonne kissed Tanesha’s
forehead.

“
You need to rest,” Yvonne
said.

“
SAM!” Delphie
yelled.

“
You think there’s
anything I can do . . . ” Tanesha pointed to
the main living room where Delphie was yelling.