Celia's Puppies (25 page)

Jill nodded.

“
My father has a
particular gift for dealing with difficult people. He thinks
they’re funny,” he said. “That’s why we kept Ashforth around for so
long. He will enjoy taking care of your in-laws so you won’t have
to deal with them all the time. He’s Trevor’s father-in-law after
all.”

“
But...”

“
Don’t worry,” he said.
“He loves you. He won’t care what they say either.”

“
I don’t know.”

“
Do you trust me?” he
asked.

“
Of course,” she said.
“But...”

“
Then tonight, we’ll eat
and rest. Tomorrow, I’ll sort out this Trevor inflicted mess.
And...”

He took a bite of spaghetti and purred with
happiness.

“
And?”

“
And we can get to down
the real work of making a babies,” he said.

“
Work, work, work,” Jill
said. “You are a workaholic.”

“
Indeed.”

~~~~~~~~

Saturday evening — 6:30 P.M. PDT
Hollywood, California

“
Can I kick her if she
says, ‘I mean it’s just like you know’ again?” Mike finished tying
his neck tie.

“
I will.” Valerie
straightened the knot. She looked into his face. “You’re mad
because you missed the hockey tournament.”

“
With Jake out, our team
sucks anyway,” Mike said. “I’m okay to miss one. But just
one.”

“
You hate
this.”

“
I… love you,” Mike said.
“This is your work. I can hang. It’s just that these people are
so...”

“
Pretentious?”

“
Stupid,” he
said. “All they talk is how
hard
they’ve worked
as if to justify the ridiculous amount of money they have. Most of
them work a two days a week!”

“
If that,” Valerie said.
“Listen...”

“
I’m all right,” Mike
said.

“
I told you we should have
stayed in the bathtub,” she said.

Shaking his head, he lifted the keys to her
Mercedes sedan from the key hook.

“
It’s just a moment in
time, Val,” he said. “Let’s make it an early night.”

“
Are you tired?” she
asked.

“
Something like
that.”

He scooped her up and kissed her breathless.
Setting her down, he opened the front door to their Hollywood Hills
home. Valerie opened her cell phone.

“
Hack, hack,” Valerie
coughed into the phone. “I’m getting sick and I have an early call.
We’re going to have to miss tonight. I know. I’m disappointed too.
Yes, I will. Besos to you.”

“
That’s my
girl.”

Shutting the door with a foot, he lifted her
into his arms and carried her to the bedroom.

~~~~~~~~

Saturday night — 9:30
P.M.

“
I think you should move
in,” Aden repeated.

“
I love my condo,” Sandy
said. “Why would I give it up?”

“
To live with me and the
kids,” he said. He nipped her bare nipple. “To be with
me.”

“
Aden, I...” Sandy shifted
away from him. Rotating her feet to the side of the bed, she sat up
and began gathering her clothing.

“
Too soon?” Aden
asked.

Sandy dressed. Standing at his bedroom door,
her eyes wells of sorrow, Sandy shook her head. Aden jumped out of
bed.

“
Say something,” he
said.

“
I can’t,” she said. “I’m
sorry. I can’t.”

He nodded.

“
So I guess this is it,”
she said. “I’ll get my things and...”

“
Whoa. Wait. This is not
it. No, no, no, no, no.” Aden shook his head back and forth. “No
way.”

“
What other choice do we
have?”

“
We continue doing what
we’re doing,” Aden said. “Some day, the time will be right or maybe
never. Some couples live in different houses. I guess
I...”

“
But you need a wife and
your children need a mother,” Sandy said. “And I… I can’t…
I...”

Smiling, Aden clutched her to him.

“
It’s not all or nothing,
Sandy,. You weren’t put on this planet to make my every wish come
true. You don’t have to give into every thing I want when I want
it.”

“
Oh.”

“
What do you want,
Sandy?”

“
I like the way things
are,” Sandy said.

“
Ok. Then come back to
bed. Let’s start over.”

When Sandy shook her head, Aden let out a
breath.

He knew that look.

Sandy had retreated to someplace far in the
back of her head. Helping her out of her clothing, he led her back
to the bed. He spooned around her until the storm he’d come to
expect arrived. He pulled her onto his chest while she cried.

He had no idea why he loved her so much. He
just did.

If he ever found the bastard responsible for
scarring her so deeply, he would kill him.

Chapter Forty-Two
No shoot!

Six weeks later

With Katy perched on her lap, Jill sat on a
plastic chair in the Cleveland Airport. Katy was sucking her thumb.
The thumb sucking was new for Katy. She started it in earnest to
defy Trevor’s father.

Sweet, charming Katy did nothing more than
glare when Trevor’s parents were around. Outside of responding to
direct questions like, ‘Are you hungry?’, Katy had stopped talking
more than a week ago. When they were alone, Katy wanted to cuddle,
nuzzle and hug. But when Trevor’s family was around, Katy was
absent.

Jill had forgotten about this Katy. Trevor’s
Katy. Trevor never met the Katy that Jill knew. Trevor’s Katy was
silent, obedient and bland. She never broke anything. She never had
giggle fits or squealed or got angry or danced around or hopped in
place or ...

Jill caressed Katy’s head. Her eyes shifted
to look at Jill. Katy smiled around her thumb.

At least they were finally done with Trevor.
All of Trevor’s funerals, two memorials and burial, were over.
Watching Trevor’s body descend into the ground, Jill felt a wave of
relief. She had fooled herself into thinking that once Trevor was
in the ground, his parents would back off.

She was wrong.

She’d wanted to push them out of the moving
rental car. But instead, good girl Jill returned them to their
assisted living facility.

The last thing they said?

Trevor’s asswipe father: “Only a horrible
mother would let her child suck her thumb like that.”

Trevor’s psycho mother: “I can’t believe
Trevor chose to breed with that woman.”

Good girl Jill kept her mouth shut, waved at
the ex-in-laws, then made a bee line for the airport. She and Katy
giggled at the entrance. They skipped to the counter where they
discovered that...

Jill’s ticket was messed up and...

Her credit card was refused and...

A load of other stuff that didn’t make any
sense.

Jill wanted to launch herself over the
counter and beat the woman senseless. Didn’t the airport counter
woman realize Jill had been alone!? With her evil ex-husband’s
body!? And his terrible parents!? For...

Ok, she wasn’t sure how long. But a very
long time. She had to get home.

Instead, good girl Jill just smiled. She
thanked the woman for her help then sat down in the nearest chair.
She wasn’t sure how long she had been sitting here, or how long she
would sit here.

At the very least, she would sit here until:
Jacob answered her forty phone messages or she thought of a plan or
she could figure out how to use her Frontier Airlines standby
passes to get home or Sandy got off work or hell froze over.

Yes. She was grateful for Jacob’s help.

Yes. She would never be rid of Trevor or his
parents if Jacob hadn’t stepped in to fix this mess.

Yes. Jacob’s father was a genius at dealing
with the asshole ex-in-laws.

Yes. She was the one who insisted on taking
Trevor’s body back to Ohio.

YES! ALONE! Well, with Katy, her old Katy,
not this Katy zombie. Still. She HAD to do it.

Yes. Jacob had paid for everything, expected
nothing – which was good because he got nothing – and was a
fabulous friend.

But where was he?

Of course, her phone battery died hours ago.
Every time she tried to charge it in the rental car, Trevor’s
father removed the charger. She didn’t have a wall plug
charger.

There was always the white courtesy
telephone. He could have called her there. But no. No. Calls. From.
Jacob.

“
Mommy, I’m hungry,” Katy
said. “Can we go to the clowny place?”

“
McDonald’s?”

“
Uh huh. Paddie says they
have food for kids there,” Katy said.

“
Ok, Katy-baby. Let’s get
something to eat.”

Jill mentally counted the money in her
wallet. She had hidden a Jacob-gifted fifty dollar bill and thought
she had at least four singles tucked in her change pocket. Just
enough for a room and McDonald’s.

Finally, a plan.

Jill carried Katy to the McDonald’s counter
then ordered. Reaching into her wallet, she noticed the change
compartment was open. Not worried, she went to the secret pocket
and…

It was empty.

God damn thieving parents of that cretin
Trevor! Clearly, the apple didn’t fall far from that putrid tree.
She could hear her miserable ex-father-in-law. ‘It’s my son’s money
anyway.’

Turning back to the McDonald’s clerk, Jill
opened her mouth and the entire story fell out. Ex-husband shot to
death, jerk off father-in-law, crazy mother-in-law, missing
boyfriend, freaked out child.

Jill vomited the entire story.

“
Listen, lady. If you
can’t pay, you don’t eat.” The clerk’s face reflected his disgust.
“It’s as simple as that.”

“
I’ve got it,” Sandy said.
She sneered at the clerk. “And wipe that look off your
face.”

“
SANDY!!” Jill screamed.
Hugging Sandy, she squished Katy between them. Katy
giggled.

“
Get busy,” Tanesha said
to the clerk. “Because we want some food too. And you best not spit
in any of our food because I WILL find out where you
live.”

“
TANESHA! Oh my God!” Jill
hugged Tanesha in another Katy sandwich. “Where’s
Heather?”

“
She’s with Noelle in the
bathroom,” Sandy said. “They’re trying some makeup. She’ll be here
by the time we get our food.”

“
Oh God, Sandy. I don’t
have any money! And my ticket was canceled and there’s something
wrong with Katy’s name and... Why are you here?”

“
Why isn’t your
expensively perfect cell phone working?” Tanesha asked. “I texted
you at least three times. I do not like it when I don’t hear from
my girl.”

“
It ran out of juice,”
Jill said. “I tried to charge it. Every time I plugged it in,
Trevor’s dad disconnected it, saying I was wasting Trevor’s money
with these fancy gadgets. Oh God. Oh God.”

Jill hiccupped her emotions from anger to
sadness to sheer joy.

“
It’s over, Jill,” Sandy
said.

“
How did you get here,
Auntie Sandy?” Katy asked.

“
We’re a surprise,” Sandy
said. “When was the last time you saw Jacob?”

“
I was there for his
shoulder surgery a few weeks ago,” Jill said. “I’ve been in Ohio
since then.”

“
But you’ve talked to
him?” Sandy asked.

“
I think so,” Jill said.
“I don’t really remember. Every time I tried to take a call, I was
interrupted. We’ve texted.”

“
That’s what he said,”
Sandy said. “What was the last text you received?”

“
Um, I don’t
remember.”

Tanesha laughed.

“
I’ve called and texted
about forty times and he doesn’t answer.” Jill defended her
irritation and frustration. “You know, there is the white courtesy
telephone.”

“
Jacob is at the Lipson
Construction retreat,” Sandy said.

“
No, Sandy.” Jill’s voice
carried her exasperation. “The retreat is at the end of
August.”

Sandy and Tanesha laughed. Seeing Heather
walking toward them, Sandy asked, “What’s the date today?”

“
August Thirtieth.
Why?”

“
Oh God,” Jill said. “I
lost track of the days. No wonder our tickets are screwed up. What
about Katy’s name?”

“
Jill!” Sandy looked like
she could shake Jill. “The DNA tests came through. Jacob is Katy’s
father.”

Sandy tickled Katy, who giggled.

“
But you knew that, Katy
didn’t you?”

Katy nodded.

“
Katy’s name
changed.”

“
What? Why?” Jill
asked.

“
Katy is Katherine
Anjelika Roper Marlowe now. I brought her new birth certificate
with me.” Sandy shook her head at Jill. “You filed all of the
paperwork! Where’s your head?”

“
I’m not doing very
well.”

“
No shit,” Heather said.
Realizing Noelle was there, she said, “No shoot.”

“
It’s okay, Heather,”
Noelle said. “Daddy swears too.”

“
Do I know why you’re
here?” Jill asked.