Cimarron, Denver Cereal Volume 4 (56 page)

Seth began his presentation.

~~~~~~~~

Sunday afternoon — 3:27 P.M.

“
What do you mean?” Katy
asked. “I’m going to see Paddie at school. Tomorrow.”

Jill picked up Katy and set her on her hip.
They were just leaving after Mass brunch hosted by Paddie’s
grandparents. Jill’s family, Paddie’s entire extended family and,
of course, Paddie had been eating, talking and laughing for most of
the afternoon. The children had been playing in Paddie’s
grandfather’s playroom.

“
Sweetie,” Jacob said.
“We’ve talked about this.”

“
About what?” Katy asked.
“We talk a lot.”

Jill set Katy into her car seat and went
around to the passenger seat of her Lexus SUV. Jacob got in the
front seat. Pulling out of the parking lot, Katy waved to Paddie as
they drove off.

“
You’re starting a new
session tomorrow, right?” Jill asked.

“
Paddie and me are going to
pre-school,” Katy said. “Like we did last year and the year before
and…”

“
Katy, honey, you’re going
to Kindergarten on Monday,” Jacob said.

“
Kindergarten. Pre-school,”
Katy shrugged.

“
Paddie is going to
pre-school,” Jill said.

Katy fell silent. She wasn’t sure what her
parents were saying but she knew it was something important.

And bad.

“
But Paddie and me are in
the same class,” Katy said.

“
No, Katy-baby,” Jill said.
“That’s what we’re trying to tell you.”

“
WHAT?” Katy’s eyes welled
with tears.

“
Paddie’s too young for
kindergarten,” Jill said. “He’s smart and tall and your best
friend. But the cut off is May and he won’t be four until the
middle of June.”

“
No!” Katy said.

Katy banged her feet against her car seat.
Jacob began counting the No’s. Katy usually gave a ‘three No’s’
warning before she started a serious tantrum. They’d survived one
No.

“
No!”

That was two.

“
Paddie and I go to school
together. We have the same class and the same teacher
and…”

“
Not this time,” Jacob
said.

“
I’m so sorry,” Jill turned
around in her seat to look at Katy. “I…”

“
NOOOOOO!!”

That was three. Jacob pulled over to the
curb and Katy started screaming at the top of her lungs. As if her
heart had broken in two, tears fell from her dark round eyes. Katy
was mad and sad at the same time. That was a volatile combination
inside the SUV.

Jill stepped out of the car to get in the
back seat. Knowing Katy only wanted her mother, Jacob stayed put.
Jill unhooked Katy from her car seat and held the screaming child
on her lap. Katy kicked the seat and bat her hands but Jill held on
fast. For more than fifteen minutes, the little girl wept out her
frustration and anger.

“
Paddie will forget me,”
Katy hiccup sobbed.

“
No one could forget you
Katy,” Jacob said. “Particularly not Paddie.”

“
I won’t have any
friends.”

“
You have lots of friends,”
Jacob said. “You have school friends and church friends and …
certainly Noelle is your friend.”

“
No one is Paddie,” Katy
said. “Mommy, you have to fix this.”

“
I can’t baby,” Jill said.
“I’m so sorry.”

Knowing the storm was almost over, Jacob got
out to join them in the back seat. Katy climbed over to sit on his
lap. For a moment, the little family held on through the end of the
emotional storm.

“
Will you promise?” Katy
asked.

“
Promise?” Jill asked. She
brushed Katy’s fly away hair from her round face.

“
I can play with Paddie,”
Katy said.

“
It’s all arranged,” Jacob
said. “Remember? You’re to go to martial arts class and play dates
every Tuesday at our house and Thursday at their house
and…”

Katy clapped her hands.

“
You might be sick of
Paddie by the end of the year,” Jill said.

“
I’ll never be sick of
Paddie,” Katy said.

Jacob held Katy close and let Jill put her
back in her car seat. Jill went around to the passenger seat. They
continued up University toward home. Worn out by her strong
emotions and the full day, Katy fell asleep.

“
I feel awful for her,”
Jill whispered to Jacob.

“
It’s the only way,” Jacob
whispered back. “If they stay in the same class, the inevitable
boys want to be with boys and girls with girls stuff will break
them apart. If they are to stay friends, they have to be in
different classes.”

“
Are you sure?” Jill asked.
“She’s had a tough time making other close friends.”

“
Because she’s always with
Paddie,” Jacob said. “She’s going to be fine.

“
Psychic prediction?” Jill
asked.

“
Not mine,” he said. “It’s
too close to me. I care too much.”

“
Who?

“
Delphie.”

“
Delphie’s behind this?”
Jill asked.

Jacob nodded. Jill reached around to lay a
small blanket over Katy.

“
Poor Katy,” Jill
said.

“
We have to believe this is
the right thing,” Jacob said.

“
And if it’s not?” Jill
asked.

“
We can always change our
minds,” Jacob said.

Worried about her tough skinned, fragile
hearted daughter, she fell silent. She watched the cityscape
outside her passenger window.

“
Don’t worry,” Jacob said.
“She’s stronger than you think.”

Jill nodded to him but still worried. Katy
had been through so much in her young life. Paddie was the one
thing that carried her through the divorce with Trevor and every
other awful thing. Katy hiccupped in her sleep and Jill turned to
look at her.

She’d grown so much in the last year. She
was taller and so much happier than she was last spring. Jill
reached back to smooth her hair. When they arrived at the Castle,
Jill insisted on taking her out of her car seat and carrying her to
the loft herself. She went through the quick motions of changing
Katy’s clothing and putting her down for her nap. She was just
about to leave when Katy opened her eyes.

“
Mommy?” Katy
asked.

“
Yes Katy-baby,” Jill
said.

“
Promise me that you’ll
always love me,” Katy said.

“
I will always love you,”
Jill said. “I don’t need to promise.”

“
Even when the new babies
come?” Katy asked. “Will I still be your Katy-baby?”

“
Always,” Jill said. “Even
when you have babies of your own. You’ll always be my
Katy-baby.”

She leaned over to kiss Katy’s face.

“
The new class is a big
change for you,” Jill said. “I’ll be with you every step of the
way.”

“
And Paddie?” Katy
asked.

Jill smiled. Katy fell asleep before hearing
the answer. She kissed Katy again and left the room. Change was
coming to them. She touched her stomach. Seeing her gesture, Jacob
wrapped her in his arms.

“
When do we see the
doctor?” he asked.

“
In a couple of weeks,” she
said.

“
We should take advantage
of the time we have now,” he said.

She gave him a soft smile and let him lead
her into the bedroom.

~~~~~~~~

Sunday evening — 6:45 P.M.

Seth opened Sandy’s door and laughed. The
room was filled with noise and children. Charlie and Aden were
arguing in a corner. Nash and Teddy were playing cards with Sissy
in another corner. Sitting on Sandy’s bed, Noelle was talking a
mile a minute while she braided Sandy’s hair. The happy noise level
was high enough that they missed his entrance and his first
‘hello’.

“
Hi there,” Seth said as he
walked into the room.

They missed his second hello. Knowing they
wouldn’t miss the smell of warm chocolate chip cookies, he opened
the Tupperware container he was holding. The boys looked up almost
immediately.

“
Hey,” Nash said. He stood
to hug Seth ‘hello.’ “Have you met Teddy Jakkman? He’s staying with
us this summer while his Dad flies spy planes in
Afghanistan.”

“
I haven’t met Teddy,” Seth
said. He gave the cookies to Nash and took a bottle of milk from
his pocket. Teddy stood to shake Seth’s hand. “I’ve met your
mother.”

“
How?” Teddy
asked.

“
I work for the Denver
Police,” Seth said.

Teddy nodded.

“
You seem to be doing well.
I’m glad,” Seth said. “Where are your sister and
brother?”

“
They stay with my
Grandparents on their ranch in the summer,” Teddy said.

“
Your Grandparents?” Seth’s
face pinched with worry.

“
My Dad’s Mom and her new
husband,” Teddy said. “They’re really nice to us. I would have gone
but I wanted to work. Nash and I are working at Lipson this
summer.”

“
Good for you,” Seth
nodded. “Sissy. Wow.”

Wearing one of her new outfits, Sissy stood
to hug Seth.

“
You look beautiful,” Seth
said.

“
Still too skinny,” Sissy
said.

“
You’re getting there,”
Noelle hopped off the bed to hug Seth. “Hi Seth!”

In his sheepish Charlie way, he came up to
say hello to Seth. He stuck out his hand but Seth pulled him into a
hug.

“
Do you think I still need
rehab?” Charlie asked.

“
Yes,” Seth
said.

“
Why?” Charlie went into
full mope.

“
Because you have a chance
to clean up your life before you lose everything,” Seth said. “Just
get it done. It took your father forty years to get it straight.
You don’t have to waste all that time.”

Charlie gulped at Seth’s words. Their eyes
held for a moment. Charlie nodded. Uncomfortable with the emotion,
Charlie turned in place.

“
Hey, don’t eat all the
cookies,” Charlie said.

He took the cookies from Nash and Teddy.
Sissy took the cookies from him. Charlie grabbed a handful as she
walked away. Seth moved into the room. He sat in the space Noelle
had vacated for cookies. Sandy smiled at him when he took her
hand.

“
New girlfriend?” Sandy
nodded her head toward the cookies.

Seth nodded, “How are you?”

“
Better,” Sandy said. “I
can only have a little of this chaos in my day, so I try to enjoy
it.”

“
I stopped by to see Rachel
before I came up,” he said. “The nurse said she doesn’t show any
sign of brain bleeding? I didn’t know…”

“
It’s common in preemies as
small as she is,” Sandy said. “Every day, she gets a little better.
She’s amazing.”

Seth smiled in a way to say that Sandy was
amazing. She smiled.

“
How’s the case?” Sandy
asked.

“
As good as it can be,”
Seth said. “The Chief gave me all the resources I need.”

Sandy’s face showed her surprise.

“
I know, it’s a miracle,”
Seth laughed. “But kids are dying. That got his attention. The
Governor’s attention.”

“
It’s nice that he trusts
you,” Sandy said.

“
Yeah. I’m a big deal
now.”

Sandy gave him a proud smile.

“
Speaking of the case,”
Seth said. “I keep forgetting to ask.”

Seth dug a plastic bag with the St. Jude
pendant in it. He held it up.

“
Charlie? Can you take a
look at this?” Seth asked.

Charlie came over to the bed.

“
Is this your friend
Jeffy’s?” Seth asked. “It’s a Saint Jude. They found it in the
barn.”

“
Just a second,” Charlie
said.

He got his glasses from the new backpack
Sissy and Noelle had bought for him. Charlie took the package from
Seth.

“
Yeah,” he said. “That’s
it.”

He gave the package back to Seth.

“
Wait,” Aden said. “Can I
see that?”

Charlie gave him the
plastic bag.
Aden held it up to the light.
He moved the chain back and forth.

“
What is it?” Seth
asked.

“
I have this same pendant,”
Aden said.

Denver Cereal continues at
DenverCereal.com.

Glossary of Characters

Aden Norsen:

CEO at Lipson construction; single father of
Nash and Noelle; boyfriend of Sandy.

Alex Hargreaves:

Identical twin to Max
Hargreaves; ‘The Fey;’ the leader of the Fey Team; wife of Dr. John
Drayson; sister to Colin and Samantha
Hargreaves.

Anjelika:

Megan, Mike, Steve, Candy and Jill’s mother;
grandmother to Katy; wife of Perses.

Arthur Rasmussen:

Member of the Fey team; boyfriend of
Samantha Hargreaves.

Ava – Amelie Vivian Alvin:

Denver Police Crime Lab Technician; love
interest of Seth O’Malley.

Blane Lipson: