Cascade (4 page)

“
Nervous?”

“
Nah. You?”

“
Excited,” Valerie said. “Dad too.
What did Mom say?”

“
That she loves you,” Jacob
said.

“
Of course.”

Tres came back into the conference room.
Sitting back down next to Aden, he nodded to Jacob.

“
Right this way.” They heard Blane
from outside the conference room. “We’re having a bite to eat.
Won’t you join us?”

Jacob let out a breath. Show time.

~~~~~~~~

Sunday afternoon – 1
P.M.

“
So I said I would,” Sandy said to
Jill.

Knowing better than to make a scene, Jill
beamed. They were walking behind Noelle, Nash and Katy at the
Denver Zoo. Katy ran off to see the penguins with Noelle right at
her heels. Even with last night’s snow on the ground, the day was
bright and warm.

“
What about the kids?” Jill
asked

“
I love these kids as if they were
my own,” Sandy said. “It’s like my little brother and sister were
practice for these guys. I don’t know how the next couple of months
will go.”

“
Since you work so
much?”

“
Yeah, I’m scheduled every day for
the next six weeks. I’m off on Thanksgiving but that’s it,” Sandy
said. “Everyone wants the perfect hair for their holiday
parties.”

“
We’ve been invited to a dozen, at
least,” Jill said.

“
Another round of charity events,”
Sandy said. “It’s been a weird year. Can you believe that in
January you were married to Trevor?”

Jill gave a dramatic shudder. They
laughed.

“
Do you think you and Jacob will
have kids soon?”

“
I don’t know,” Jill said. “Seeing
Heather…”

“
How happy and supported she is?
That wasn’t possible when you had Katy.”

“
It gives me the urge. But Katy
was so upset about Bree and Becky on Halloween. We decided to wait
a while so she could adjust to all these changes.”

“
Probably smart,” Sandy
said.

Katy ran back to Jill for a hug then took off
to catch up with Nash at the Bear Mountain.

“
What about you, Sandy? You could
have kids. Aden is a great father.”

“
Thinking about spending my life
with him is enough to adjust to,” Sandy said.

Jill laughed.

“
I’m not opposed to the idea,”
Sandy said. “I’m just…”

“
Cautious.”

“
I don’t know if I’d be a great
mother. I like kids. I took care of my brother and sister until I
moved out. But… Well, you know what they say about people like
me.”

“
Whatever,” Jill said. “Just
because there’s some statistic that people who were abused can
become abusers, doesn’t mean it has to be that way, Sandy. I mean
really, who have you ever hurt?”

“
There are a few people on my list
I’d like to hurt.” Sandy’s face went dark. “Like my sperm donor
father.”

“
He’s an asshole.”

“
I wanted to hurt Trevor, but I
guess your Dad got to him first.” Sandy laughed.

“
Do you think he’s my father? You
mean like my real father?” Jill asked.

“
Your mother calls him ‘your
Papa’,” Sandy said.

“
I need to spend more time with
her, but I haven’t had a Mom since I was ten years old. I don’t
really know how to… do it.”

“
She’s coming over for dinner
tonight right?”

Jill nodded.

“
Enjoy it,” Sandy said. “I bet she
feels uncomfortable too. It’s a lot of pressure after all those
years in quiet Costa Rica.”

Jill nodded. Running back to Jill, Katy threw
herself into Jill’s arms and cried.

“
What’s the matter, Katy-baby?”
Jill asked.

“
Apes don’t like snow,” Katy said
in Jill’s ear.

While Jill held Katy tight, Sandy watched a
group of boys approach Nash. The boys seemed to argue and one of
the boys pushed Nash. Then the boy pushed Nash again!

As Sandy ran to him, Nash fell onto the
ground. Sandy helped Nash up.

“
You stupid jerk,” Noelle yelled
at the boy. “Who do you think you are? You can’t push my brother
around.”

The boys laughed at Noelle. With one arm
around Nash, Sandy grabbed Noelle’s arm. She dragged them away from
the jeering boys.

“
I was thinking about getting some
cocoa,” Jill said.

“
Cocoa sounds perfect,” Sandy
replied. Turning to Nash, she asked, “What was that?”

Angry, Nash shook his head and looked at the
ground. When he slumped into himself, Noelle shrugged.

“
I didn’t hear them,” Noelle said.
“There’s a new boy in Nash’s class that’s a real bully. He’s mean
and he gets all the boys to gang up on other kids. Girls, too. I
don’t like him at all. Like not even one little bit.”

“
We’ll get some cocoa and non-Dad
approved snacks then see the other side of the zoo,” Sandy
said.

Nash brightened at the idea of snacks. Jill
put Katy down so she could run off with Noelle to the snack
area.

“
Nash?” Jill asked. “My brother
Mike knows exactly how to handle boys like that. Would you like me
to ask him to teach you?”

Nash’s head jerked up to look at Jill. Hope
flashed across his face and he nodded.

“
I bet we could track him down
today,” Jill said. “He could meet us here at the zoo, even. Would
you like that?”

Nash nodded.

“
Great,” Jill said. She held the
door for Nash. As they walked through it, she said, “I was bullied
for a lot of years. I know how awful it feels. But there is nothing
wrong with you. I would tell you if there was. There’s something
wrong with them.”

Nash threw himself into her arms. Jill held
him.

“
Nash! They have brownies!” Noelle
yelled.

With a smile of gratitude to Jill, Nash ran
off to meet his sister. Sandy and Jill shared a look of
understanding. Sandy followed the kids to pay while Jill called
Mike. Hopefully they wouldn’t see the little bullies
again.

At least until Mike arrived.

~~~~~~~~

Sunday afternoon – 3:30
P.M.

Standing in the wheelchair accessible stall,
MJ began the chant.

“
Two lines, two lines, two
lines.”

He peered into the beige plastic apparatus.
Honey was sitting on the toilet.

“
You’re sure we have to do this
right this moment?” she asked.

“
Why wait? Plus you said those
financial people had already been here,” MJ said. Gesturing with
the pee stick, he continued, “You’re over the hard part of your
day. I have to leave for a trip on Tuesday. I figure if this test
is positive, we’ll go to the doctor tomorrow and see what’s what.
We don’t really know if we can keep the baby, if there is one
because of all the meds you’ve been on. I mean, maybe it makes the
baby sick or ill or… We don’t know about the Crohn’s either. I
talked to Steve and he said his sister Cindy, and Delphie of
course, are working on good recipes for you.”

“
MJ,” Honey said.

“
I know you didn’t like some of
the things she made for you, but it’s still nice of her to try.
Delphie froze all that food from their garden. They’ve found some
really great stuff too. Or at least I’ve thought it was great. And
you beat the infection. And you haven’t had a flare up in
a…”

“
MJ,” Honey said.

“…
while. I mean, I know it’s been
really hard. I travel a lot, but you’ve been so happy the last
month or so. Working with Bambi and having Steve help you. Steve
told me Leslie is thinking about staying home when the baby comes.
That means he’ll be available to help even after his baby
…”

“
MJ!” Honey yelled.

“
What? Why are you
yelling?”

Honey pointed to the beige plastic stick. MJ
looked at the pee stick in his hands. Yelping with joy, he lifted
Honey from the toilet. She laughed as he danced around the bathroom
with her in his arms. With great intensity, he kissed her lips.
Helping her back into her motorized wheelchair, the pee stick, with
its two pink lines, fell. Honey caught it before it hit the
ground.

With any luck, they were going to have a
baby.

~~~~~~~~
Sunday evening – 5:17 P.M.

They had expected one venture capitalist. A
friend of his mother’s. His buddy who split his season tickets with
Jacob. Five suits arrived. It seems this friend of his mother’s had
Twittered that he was going to look at a construction company and
four of his venture capitalist friends wanted to take a look. Of
course they weren’t looking to invest in Lipson Construction. They
wanted to play with the construction equipment. It was Sunday after
all.

Well, one guy wanted to meet Valerie. He’d
followed Valerie around all day like a love sick puppy
dog.

Jacob rested his head on his desk. He was bone
tired and nervous at the same time. The investors – four men and a
woman – were nice people, really smart, and knew business. In
between sites, they asked him solid questions about Lipson
construction. He felt like he had spent the day defending a PhD
thesis in front of business experts.

Aden came through with flying colors. The VCs,
that’s what they liked to be called, loved the idea that he started
at Lipson as a day laborer. More than once, they commented on the
rapport Aden had with the employees. The VCs liked Tres too. And of
course, Sam charmed them completely.

They left the real grilling for
Jacob.

And now Jacob waited. The VCs had been in the
conference room for over an hour. Every once and a while, he heard
them laugh. He looked up as Aden came in the door.

“
How are the kids?”

“
Good.” Aden plopped down in an
armchair opposite Jacob’s desk. “They spent the afternoon at the
zoo. Everyone’s waiting for us at the Castle.”

“
Everyone?”

“
Well, the family,” Aden
said.

Jacob nodded. Valerie wandered in the room and
sat down next to Aden.

“
How’s Mike?” Jacob
asked.

“
Excited. He and Colin are going
to start a little martial arts school for kids,” Valerie said.
“Colin’s been working with Katy and Paddie since last summer. Aden
agreed to let Nash and Noelle join. I guess Honey wants to learn
what she can do. Jill and the girls are probably in. Anyway, it’s
not for money. They’re doing it for the chance to do
it.”

“
Sounds fun,” Jacob
said.

“
Oh, Mike volunteered you to help
too,” Valerie said. “So it’s you and Colin and Mike. I guess Colin
has a couple other kids in mind too. There’s a boy living with Alex
that’s Nash’s age. Teddy, I think his name is. Does Nash know
Teddy?”

Aden shook his head.

“
He’s their pilot’s kid,” Jacob
said.

“
Right, Teddy is Zack Jakkman’s
son.” Valerie laughed. “I don’t remember Zack but I guess he has
quite a reputation. Anyway, everyone’s waiting for us for
dinner.”

“
I’ve heard,” Jacob
said.

Sam came in the office with cold bottles of
water for everyone.

“
Delphie made her eggplant pasta,”
Sam said.

“
Oh, that’s so good!” Aden said.
“I’m starved.”

Jacob took a package of Nutter Butter cookies
and set them on the desk. Valerie and Aden were grabbing cookies
when Tres came in.

“
They’re close,” Tres said.
“That’s what they said.”

“
Hey, Tres,” Blane came through
the door after him. “Thanks for the roses. Heather said they’re
gorgeous. You had someone shoveled the snow?”

“
I arranged for a service to clear
your snow this winter,” Tres said. “With the baby on the way, you
don’t need to worry about snow.”

“
That’s very thoughtful of you,”
Blane said. “I’ve been so sick that Heather shovels the
snow.”

“
I thought that might be the
case,” Tres said. “And it’s the least I can do. I’m really sorry
for being such an asshole.”

“
Yeah, thanks for that too.” Blane
smiled.

Blane walked over to the desk for some
cookies. He held the package out for Tres to get some. Sam gave
them each a bottle of water.

Jacob put his forehead on his desk.

“
Are you all right?” Sam asked.
“How’s your heart?”

“
Just tired, Dad,” Jacob said. “I
may miss pasta for a long nap.”

“
I’ll go check again,” Tres
said.

Tres was walking to the door when Celia’s VC
friend stuck his head in the door.

“
We’re ready to talk to
you.”

CHAPTER
FIFTY-EIGHT