Gold Hill (20 page)

“
Blane made the cake for
me,” he said.

She smiled at
him.

“
And a little dancing, a
little bathing, a little love making,” Jeraine put his hands on
either side of her face. “For one moment, I want you to know that
you are my whole world.”

Tears began to stream down
her face and he kissed her.

“
Oh, I forgot.” He pulled
back and began digging in his pockets. He tipped his head to the
left to think for a minute and then nodded. He pulled a velvet
pouch out of his pocket. “You know how your girl Jill’s been
helping me with my bling.”

“
She said you have a lot
of stuff, more jewels than any woman she knows,” Tanesha
smiled.

“
Right,” Jeraine said.
“And good that I do. She’s going to help me auction it off on one
of those sites and . . . anyway, that’s not the
point. I had everything out and tucked next to back of my case, I
found this.”

He held up the velvet pouch
out to Tanesha. She gave him a puzzled look.

“
Oh right,” he took a ring
out of the pouch. “After I left here, just two days, I got on a bus
to go on tour with . . . Oh it doesn’t matter. I’m
blowing this.”

“
Blowing this?”

Frustrated, he blew out a
breath.

“
You were on a bus on tour
with some big star singing back up,” Tanesha said. “Your mom said
you had to learn the ropes.”

“
Right,” he said. “I had
some money in my pocket for the first time and, like I said, just
two days after I left here, we stopped at this . . .
I don’t know what it was, estate sale, junk sale, in Arkansas. The
lady running the show liked to shop at these side things,
especially in places where white people didn’t expect us. Throw
them off guard or whatever.

“
I got you this,” Jeraine
held out a ring. “It’s a yellow diamond from Arkansas. I thought it
would look really pretty on your dark skin.”

Looking at his expectant,
happy face, Tanesha took the ring from him. She gave him one last
glance before looking at the ring. It was old with gorgeous hand
detailed flowers along the side. The gem was about half an inch
long in a radiant cut.

“
The lady said her
great-great grandmother wore it and that her great-great
grandfather found the diamond in Arkansas. No slaves,” Jeraine
said. “Jill said it was Victorian filigree and big – at least three
carats or more. It was expensive. All the bonus money; every penny
I had at the time. Everyone thought I was an idiot for getting it
but I thought it would be so pretty on your hand
and . . . ”

Tanesha slipped the ring
next to hear plain gold wedding band.

“
It fits! Look, it’s so
pretty!” He kissed her. “Jill said she thought it might. Do you
like it?”

“
It’s . . .
all this . . . Oh
Jer . . . ”

“
Don’t cry!” he smiled.
“Let’s dance.”

She threw her arms around
him and he held her close. Listening to the music, they began to
sway.

Chapter Two
Hundred
He Said

Saturday morning — 7:53
a.m.

Westword reporter, Barton
Gaston, opened his car door in the King Soopers parking lot. With
his eyes never leaving the four-plex across the street, he slipped
into the driver’s seat. It wasn’t until he slammed his car door
that he spilled his precious hot coffee all over
himself.

“
Crap.”

He fumbled around in the
trash on the back seat of his car until he found an old fast-food
napkin to mop up the mess. His attention was so focused on the
spill that he didn’t notice the car pull up across the street until
the car door slammed.

“
Well I’ll be God damned,”
Barton said, as a man got out of the driver’s seat.

He grabbed his digital
camera and began to snap photos. Across the street, the scene
played out. Before the man was halfway up the walk, a beautiful
woman opened the door in a lace negligee. Even from this distance,
he could see how attractive she was, how gorgeous she must have
been. Through the telephoto lens, he took in the numb look in her
eyes and the lack of joy in her lovely smile. She smiled at the man
and stepped back to let him into the apartment. Before she closed
the door, her eyes scanned the yard.

Thinking she’d seen him,
Barton ducked down behind the steering wheel. He counted down two
full minutes on his digital Mickey Mouse watch before he dared to
look. When he did, he saw what he’d seen the entire hour he’d
waited – cars rushing past well cared for four-plex apartments. He
took a drink from his coffee cup. Going through the photos, he
realized he didn’t have a photo of the man’s face. He’d need that
for anyone to believe him.

His source had told him the
man stayed for at least an hour, sometimes two. Feeling safe,
Barton got out of the car and walked down the block. When he was
far enough away not to be noticed, he took a photo of the man’s car
and made sure to get the license plate and the street sign in the
frame. To be safe, he went around the block before getting in his
car again.

Now he waited.

In two hours, he’d have the
story of his life.

~~~~~~~~

Saturday morning — 9:53
a.m.

“
I need to speak with
him.”

Aden heard a man speaking
outside his office. Before his secretary could fend him off, the
man leaned into Aden’s office. Aden blinked. Nate Zalofsky, the
father of one of the blonde girls who had given Noelle such a hard
time, was standing in his doorway. He was the only one of the three
men who still worked at Lipson construction.

Aden got up from his
desk.

“
Have a minute?” Nate
asked.

“
Sure,” Aden
said.

“
Jake here?”

“
Jake’s out checking sites
today.”

“
Where’s Sam?”

“
He went to spend time
with Celia,” Aden said. “He’s with her from ten to eleven every
morning.”

“
That’s right. I forgot,”
Nate said. “Maybe I should come back.”

“
Why don’t you tell me
what’s on your mind?” Aden asked. “I can have my secretary sit in
if you feel uncomfortable . . . ”

“
No, it’s better to talk
in private.”

“
All right,” Aden went to
the door. His secretary raised an eyebrow to him. He nodded that he
was all right and closed the door. “Have a seat.”

Aden went around the desk
to his office chair.

“
What can I do for
you?”

“
I know things haven’t
been great between us,” Nate said. “I think you know that I’ve had
a lot . . . on my mind since
everything . . . happened.”

Aden watched the ordinarily
glib man fumble for words.

“
I know you could have
easily fired me,” Nate said. “Without a job . . .
I . . . We really appreciate Lipson hanging with me
and us for this time. I guess you know my wife went to rehab. My
wife and I went to counseling, the kids too. Lipson insurance is
really great, really great.”

Aden glanced at the
estimates on his desk. He had more than a full day’s worth of work
to finish. He was pretty sure he didn’t have time for
this.

“
And when Jake demoted me
and sent me to work with Rodney,” Nate said. “I was mad, really
mad, and I know you probably heard me say a few things about
you.”

Aden nodded and glanced at
his desk again. Sam would stop everything to talk to this man. Sam
had done it for Aden more than once.

“
I don’t know how Jake
knew it but it was the best thing for me,” Nate smiled. “Seeing
those boys – young men – I guess, fight for their jobs and their
lives, sometimes, and get them back. It’s affected me, changed me.
I find myself talking to people I wouldn’t have said a word to in
the past. I mean I worked at Lipson for ten years and never spoke a
word of Spanish. All of the sudden, Rodney’s pushing me out in the
trenches with those young men.”

If Sam could make time to
listen, Aden had time to listen. Aden felt the pressure release
from him.

“
And now we’re taking on
that big project by the airport,” Nate said. “Rodney tells everyone
we’re building a new city from the underground up. He has this way
of making everyone have ownership of the project. ‘How do you want
your city to be built? Well, for today, this is your city,’ he
says. He’s incredible. And I don’t know how we got into this
project or how Sam and Jake are now running the whole thing
but . . . It’s huge. Our team is combining with
Bambi’s to deal with just the underground work.”

“
You remember the whole
Saint Jude thing and the state’s issues with Jacob. The state
didn’t make it happen, but they didn’t block it. All of the
construction companies agreed to it. That’s what I’m working on
today. Our estimates compared to everyone’s bids. It’s going to be
a wild winter and spring.”

“
Especially when Jake is
out with his kids,” Nate nodded.

Aden nodded. Nate fell
silent.

“
I’m sorry you’ve had so
much trouble,” Aden said.

“
No,” the man shook his
head. “Don’t be sorry. This is the best thing that ever happened to
me, to us. We’re . . . happy. My daughter, the one
that’s Noelle’s age, came home last night with the best grades
she’s ever had. She’s talking about going to college and becoming a
microbiologist, a scientist, something other than being a model or
one Hefner’s bimbos. So don’t you ever be sorry.”

“
What’s going on, Nate?”
Aden asked.

“
I guess I’m rambling,”
Nate said. “Sorry. Somehow it all fits. You know Honey’s going to
be out right?”

“
Honey’s baby is due in a
month or so,” Aden said.

“
I’m going to work with
the girls,” Nate shook his head. “Sorry, old habit. That’s what I
used to call Bambi and her team. I’m going to take over Honey’s
duties while she’s off. Rodney’s hiring a new assistant. Honey
should be back by the time things are really going. We’ll figure
out if I go back with Rodney or step up to full site manager or
whatever we need.”

“
How do you feel about
working with the girls?” Aden wondered if this was why Nate had
come to talk to him.

“
Women,” Nate said. “I
worked with Honey and Bambi on Friday. Man, they work hard. It’s
going to be fun, hard, but fun. And Bambi won’t let me work for her
if I’m not fluent in Spanish, so I’m listening to the tapes in the
car and my kids are helping me at home
and . . . ”

Nate’s voice drifted off.
He looked at Aden and Aden nodded.

“
So I mentioned my wife
went to rehab right?”

Aden nodded.

“
She, um, we had a real
problem,” Nate said. “Alcohol and shopping were her things. She
likes to go to those twelve-step programs. I mean, she’s still in
treatment and therapy and stuff. Her therapist thought she’d get a
lot out of going to those Alanon meetings. So she started going to
the noon one downtown. She met your wife Sandy and Molly, Jake’s
bookkeeper, Pete’s wife, and . . . Sandy does her
hair right now and my daughter’s on special occasions.”

“
What are we talking about
Nate?”

“
I don’t want you to think
I’m ungrateful or that I’m still hanging out with those assholes
and their stupid wives.” Nate’s face flushed with rage. He took a
moment to calm himself. “I know Rodney says it doesn’t do any good
to give up today’s joy for yesterday’s pain, but I’m so mad at
myself for getting involved with them. If it was up to me, I’d
never see them again but . . . ”

“
But?”

“
My oldest daughter is
involved in the honor society and is about a month away from being
announced as a Denver Deb.” Nate looked up to see if Aden knew what
that was. Aden shook his head. “Debutante, Denver Debutante. She’s
a straight A student, a member of the National Honor Society,
and . . . everything. Before, when everything was
awful, all I cared about was that she lettered in Field Hockey, got
straight As, and all that crap. I never even knew my own daughter.
She was like this foreign creature
and . . . ”

“
And now?”

“
She’s amazing,” Nate
nodded. “We spend an hour together every day. It’s our therapy
agreement. She doesn’t care that much about the Debutante thing but
she’s put so much into it, she doesn’t want to back down now. She
thinks it will help her get a scholarship to Harvard. That used to
be really important to me too. Now, we’re looking at keeping her
home for a year, maybe working at Lipson for experience and going
on a trip to volunteer somewhere, or maybe right here in Denver.
It’s funny. I used to think I could hardly wait for her to go, now
that I spend time with her, I don’t want her to leave.”

The man looked up at Aden
and blinked.

“
Oh,” Aden said. “I get
it. Even though, you, your daughter, and family have gone through
this major transformation, you’re still in contact with the other
two.”