Gold Hill (52 page)

“
She needs to take it to
make the alterations,” Yvonne said. “You want it to be perfect,
don’t you?”

Ava looked at Yvonne and
then nodded.

“
How will I
pay . . . ?” Ava started.

“
It’s all taken care of,”
Claire said.

“
By Seth?”

“
I believe so,” Claire
said. “Now, please.”

Claire lifted the form
fitting, sheer lace dress from Ava’s arms. The dress had a boat
neck, long sleeves, a scoop back, and flared in the back at her
ankles. If Ava ever had a dream dress, this was it.

“
Hurry now,” Claire said.
“They are waiting for you.”

“
They’re waiting for all
of us,” Yvonne said. Claire smiled at Yvonne. “We’ll wait for you
here.”

“
Bien sur,” Claire left
through the door at the end of the room with Ava’s
dress.

“
You look lovely,” Ava
said.

“
This is my dinner dress,”
Yvonne twirled back in forth in her off-the-shoulder, light blue,
full-skirt silk dress. “Have you ever seen anything more
lovely?”

“
Um,” Ava pointed to where
Claire had carried away her dress.

Yvonne smiled. Ava went
behind the screen to put on her regular, boring, jeans and shirt.
Afraid to get rumpled, Yvonne stood by the door.

“
You know,” Ava said. “I
remember you.”

“
You do?” Yvonne
asked.

“
I do,” Ava stuck her head
out from behind the screen and nodded to Yvonne.

“
Have we met before?”
Yvonne asked.

“
My Mom and sisters went
to a ranch in Montana one summer,” Ava said from behind the screen.
“I was supposed to go with them but I broke my leg on my BMX bike.
I had to stay home. Dad had a trial so I stayed home with him. Beth
was on the back of the bike when I crashed so she broke her arm. I
think I thought I would spend the week with her.”

“
But?”

“
Dad brought me to your
house every morning,” Ava said. “I think he mostly wanted to see
you and, truthfully, I was pretty bad off. I should have been in
the hospital, but I pretended to be better than I was because I
thought I’d get to see Beth.”

Ava came around the screen
and Yvonne smiled.

“
You don’t remember,” Ava
said.

Yvonne shook her
head.

“
Well, I do,” Ava said.
“You really took care of me, better than Mom would have. That’s for
sure. You baked me cookies and made me sleep. Mid-week, I was
better enough to go out. You talked Dad into letting me go to the
Art Museum and Natural History Museum. You wheeled me around like I
was a princess. Dad met us for lunch. It was like a dream, for me.
I remember someone meeting us at the museum. I realize now that it
was Jeraine’s Mom, Dionne. My mother doesn’t really have women
friends. I’d never seen two adult women friends. You laughed and
chatted. I told you about Beth and you insisted on calling her.
Beth and I spent the last couple days of break with you. It was an
amazing week, truly amazing.”

“
Why?”

“
Because you were so
beautiful and kind,” Ava said. “I love my mother, please don’t get
me wrong, but she can be cold and calculating. Her biggest goal is
for me to marry well, to look right, and improve my social
standing. I was, I don’t know twelve, thirteen, when I met you. I
learned that week that women can be a lot more than pretty objects.
Beth too.”

“
Are you and Beth still
friends?” Yvonne asked.

“
Beth was my best friend,”
Ava said.

“
But?”

“
She was killed this
year,” Ava said the words before she realized what she was saying.
She waited for the avalanche of sorrow. Under Yvonne’s kind
attention, the sorrow seemed to transform from unbearable pain to a
sad reality she could share with an empathetic listener.

“
I’m so sorry,” Yvonne
hugged Ava. “Some losses just never feel better.”

“
She used to talk about
you,” Ava nodded. “The beautiful woman who showed us the world.
That’s what she called you.”

Ava smiled.

“
That’s you,” Ava
smiled.

“
I’m sure I was delighted
to have a little one to take care of,” Yvonne said. “If I’d have
had my way, I would have had ten children.”

“
You don’t because of my
Dad.” Ava’s face shifted to disgust.

“
I don’t because I don’t,”
Yvonne shrugged. “That’s my life. And this is my life now. I can
either focus on all the sad things that happened, but then I have
to live in all that sadness. Or I can look at this amazing house,
my beautiful dress, and think about all those people who want to
celebrate with me and Rodney today. Which would you
pick?”

“
I want you to know that
I’m really sorry,” Ava said.

“
For what?” Yvonne
smiled.

“
For everything. I mean
you . . . ”

“
It’s over,” Yvonne said.
“And it wasn’t your fault.”

“
But if I believe that
Beth is gone and I . . . ”

“
Love never disappears,”
Yvonne said. “You love Beth?”

Biting her lip to keep from
crying, Ava nodded.

“
Then she lives in your
heart all of your life,” Yvonne said. “Imagine your reunion when
this part of your life is all over. Do you really want to tell her
that you tried on your dream wedding dress and were miserable
because she wasn’t here? What would she say?”

“
She’d be mad,” Ava said.
“Really mad. ‘You have to live for me, Amelie.’ That’s what she
said while I was at the FBI. ‘I can’t go so you have to experience
everything double and tell me all about it.’”

Lost in thought, Ava
nodded.

“
Are you ready?” Claire
asked.

“
We’re ready,” Yvonne
smiled.

Claire slid open the
sliding door and Yvonne followed her. For a moment, Ava stood lost
in thought.

“
Come along my dear,”
Claire said.

Ava looked up at her and
then at Yvonne. She gave the women a quick nod and followed them to
dinner.

~~~~~~~~

Friday afternoon — 8:05
p.m.

Wearing a new blue dress
shirt and his best jeans, Nash jogged down the stairs from their
apartment and into the kitchen. With her back to him, Delphie was
talking to Jill in the kitchen.

“
Delphie?” Nash
asked.

Delphie turned to look at
him. Aden stood near the stairs watching Nash.

“
I’m sorry about today,”
Nash said. “You asked for my help twice and I didn’t give it. I
won’t make excuses, because Dad would kill me, so I’ll just say
that I’m sorry.”

Delphie pulled the boy to
her and hugged him tight.

“
Are you feeling better?”
she asked in a low tone that only he could hear.

“
I think so,” Nash said.
“Are you?”

“
I think so,” Delphie
said. She held on for another moment and let him go.

“
Is there anything I can
do to help with now?” Nash asked.

“
Yes!” Delphie smiled and
leaned in close. “Remember when we had the last
wedding?”

“
Dad’s?”

“
Yes, that’s right, your
Dad and Sandy,” Delphie looked relieved. “Do you remember what I
did with my incense and velvet alter cloth? I just assumed they
were destroyed when the chapel was ruined but Jake said they
weren’t there when we cleaned up. We had a big fight, which was
awful, and didn’t solve anything because I don’t have a clue where
they might be. I was hoping . . . ”

“
I know where they are,”
Nash said. “Do you want your book and that crystal thingy maboper
and the silver candle lighter thing and the blue snuffer
and . . . ?”

“
Yes,” Delphie smiled.
“All of that.”

“
Sure,” Nash said. “Is Mr.
Jacob mad?”

“
No,” Jacob hugged
Delphie. “Never.”

“
See!” Jill smiled. “It
all worked out.”

“
Nash?” Delphie turned to
look at the boy. “Go. Now.”

“
Oh sure,” Nash ran out of
the main Castle kitchen.

“
Another day, another
drama,” Charlie said under his breath to Aden as he walked past
him. “As the Castle Turns.”

“
Asshole,” Sissy pushed
Charlie forward and he laughed.

“
That’s three dollars,”
Noelle ran around Sissy and Charlie to find Sandy. Sissy took off
after her. By the time they got there, Sandy was holding her hand
out for Sissy’s three dollars.

“
It’s the truth!” Sissy
said.

“
Uh huh,” Sandy
said.

“
I don’t have it,” Sissy
said.

“
Here,” Aden gave Sandy
three dollars.

“
Thanks,” Sissy
said.

“
You
can’t . . . ” Sandy started.

Aden kissed her and went to
talk to Rodney.

“
It’s coming out of your
allowance,” Sandy called after Sissy.

“
I know,” Sissy
said.

Charlie walked around them
and into the dining room. He scanned the table. He knew that
everyone had an assigned seat. Jeraine and Tanesha were sitting
between his parents and Rodney. He was probably stuck somewhere
dumb. He looked around the table until he
saw . . . 

“
Tink?” Charlie
squinted.

At least he thought it was
Tink. There was a young woman who looked just like Tink except that
she had wavy black hair and a big smile. She was sitting next to
Heather. She was wearing a light blue jersey halter dress that
tucked tight to her waist. She looked beautiful.

“
Tink!” Sissy ran up to
her friend. Tink got up to hug Sissy. “What are you doing here? Are
you supposed to be here? Can you stay?”

Sissy looked around to see
if she could get the okay from Delphie.

“
I have a name plate,”
Tink pointed to the tag in front of her plate. “At least that’s
what Heather says they’re called.”

The tag said: “TINK
LIPSON.”

“
But . . . ” Sissy leaned in and
whispered. “That’s not you. You’re not a Lipson. I won’t tell
anyone.”

“
I am today,” Tink said.
“Heather and Blane and Mack and I are doing a trial run at being a
family.”

“
You are?” Sissy ran to
Heather. “She’s really great, Auntie Heather. I know you’re going
to love her. Mr. Blane, she’s just the best, nicest friend anyone
could have.”

Heather laughed at Sissy’s
bubbly stream of words. Tink turned to look at Charlie. He was
standing about six feet away just staring at her.

“
Heya Pan,” Tink
smiled.

Charlie blinked at
her.

“
Your tag is next to
mine,” Tink said.

“
But I want to sit next to
you,” Sissy said.

“
Do not mess with the name
plates,” Blane said. “We were told to sit in our assigned seats and
not to ask too many questions.”

Blane laughed.

“
No switching,” Jeraine
said from across the table.

“
We tried,” Valerie
smiled. “It was not pretty.”

Charlie managed to make it
to his seat and sat down. Sissy and Tink chatted for a few more
minutes before Aden guided Sissy to her seat. Tink sat down next to
Charlie.

She smelled really
good.

“
Are you okay?” Tink
whispered. “Are you high?”

“
Are you kidding?” Charlie
didn’t dare look at her. “I don’t want the kind of trouble that
being high in this household would bring. They’re all
psychics.”

“
That would make it
tough,” Tink said.

“
Plus, I have a lot of
time clean and . . . ” Charlie nodded. “My
sobriety is important to me. It’s the cornerstone of my
life.”

Tink laughed at his serious
tone. Charlie smiled and snuck a glance at her.

“
You look beautiful,”
Charlie said.

“
You’re not so bad
yourself, Pan,” Tink said.

Heather said something to
Tink and her head turned away from him. Under the table, he felt
something. He looked down to see Tink’s hand close to his. It
wasn’t so close that she would have to admit to actually wanting to
hold his hand. It was kind-of-sort-of close in a “Do you want to
hold my hand?” way.

Charlie felt a little
weird. Here was a girl he’d known on the streets; a girl he’d slept
with more than once. If they’d been on the streets, they’d be doing
it right now.

But they weren’t on the
streets anymore.

She was all cleaned up and
even had a nice family. If Delphie put the name plate as Tink
Lipson that was a sure sign Tink was going to be Blane and
Heather’s forever daughter.

Then again, he was all
cleaned up and had a nice forever family now too.