Gold Hill (22 page)

Aden nodded.

“
I love her so much that I
want to keep her here,” Sandy said. “I want to keep her a little
girl. God, she’s only fourteen.”

“
Almost fifteen,” Aden
said.

“
Still a child,” Sandy
said. “But . . . Seth bought his New York City
apartment back from Jeraine so she would have a place to stay. It’s
like we’re all waiting. And she’s ready to go. I hate it, but I bet
she’ll be in New York dancing by the beginning of the
year.”

“
I thought Wade
would . . . ” Aden said. “But now that he’s
Wanda, she’s not much incentive to stay.”

Sandy looked so sad that
Aden leaned his forehead against her cheek.

“
They grow up,” Aden
said.

“
You mean like Noelle?”
Sandy asked. “Our little girl is blossoming. Some boy followed her
around at Lair ‘O the Bear. Mike had to chase him away.
She’s . . . ”

A fat tear ran down Sandy’s
face.

“
Nash’s voice has
completely changed,” Sandy said. “Overnight. If Charlie wasn’t
still trying to beat his hepatitis, I bet he’d move out
pronto.”

Aden hugged her.

“
How do I love them and
let them go?” Sandy asked. “Can’t I just hold on to them a little
bit longer?”

“
I think they won’t go
very far,” Aden said. “They love you, us, so much. They won’t go
far.”

“
But they will go,” Sandy
said. “I see what Honey goes through every time MJ leaves. What if
Charlie or Nash or Teddy join the military?”

“
I think at some point, we
have to let them live their lives,” Aden said. “We brought them
this far; they have to fly on their own.”

“
So you’re all right if
Sissy leaves us?” Sandy began to cry.

“
No,” Aden said. “I’m just
saying the right things.”

Even with her sadness,
Sandy laughed.

“
Get some rest,” Aden
said. “I won’t be too long. Just a few hours. With any luck, I’ll
have time to pick up donuts and we’ll get to church.”

Aden kissed her
again.

“
Thanks for last night,”
he said. “You are . . . incredible.”

Sandy smiled and watched
him pick up his watch, tuck his wallet and cell phone into his
pockets, and move toward the door.

“
Oh, I almost forgot,”
Aden said. “I talked to MJ last night. Turns out they did all the
classes to get married, but with the baby, Honey wants to wait. He
wondered if we wanted to join them in getting remarried at the
Cathedral. What do you think?”

“
Wow, really?” Sandy
asked. “I didn’t think we’d ever be able to afford it.”

“
He said Sam suggested
it,” Aden said. “He’s going to try to talk Jake into converting.
Fat chance, but we’ll see. Anyway, I didn’t say yes because I
wanted to see what you thought.”

“
Big dress?”

“
Big dress, lots of
flowers, huge cake,” Aden smiled.

“
Sounds fun,” Sandy
said.

“
Love you.” He came back
for one last kiss.

“
Love you too,” she
said.

She waited until he was
gone before getting out of bed. With her eyes on the door, she
kneeled down to get a box from under her side of the bed. She
pushed aside the tissue to look at the gorgeous, hand sewn, hand
beaded, full length white silk wedding dress. She reverently lifted
the dress and carried it to the full length mirror on her closet
door. The dress was tight on her hips, tucked in on her small
waist, and blossomed out for her full breast. If she lost a few
more pounds, it would fit her perfectly.

“
Whoa,” Aden said from the
doorway.

He drifted across the room
to her.

“
Where? How? I mean, we
can’t . . . ”

“
It was Andi’s,” Sandy
said. “She had it made to marry Seth and never got a chance to wear
it. He has a tux to match.”

His fingers touched the
fabric. She looked up.

“
Jake thinks Jill will be
put on bed rest tomorrow,” Aden said. “I keep forgetting to tell
you.”

“
She said something about
it yesterday,” Sandy said. “Typical Jill. I was huge all over and
still delivered two months early. Her babies are tucked close to
her. She’s big but not elephant-like.”

“
Yet,” Aden said. “I guess
the babies gain most of their weight in the last couple of
months.”

“
Let’s hope they go that
long,” Sandy turned back to the mirror. “Do you think we’d be
doomed if I wear the dress from Seth and Andi’s star-crossed
relationship?”

“
I think it would be a
lovely gesture to have something from your Mom, the one who loved
you and sacrificed so much for you, at our wedding.”

“
Thanks,” Sandy said.
“It’s . . . ”

“
Like something Princess
Diana would have worn,” Aden said.

“
Gorgeous,” Sandy
nodded.

“
Okay, I’m off,” Aden
kissed her again and went out the door.

Sandy turned to look in the
mirror. As with every time she held something that had belonged to
her mother, she felt Andi’s overwhelming love for her. Smiling, she
gently tucked the dress back in its precious box, checked on
Rachel, and got back in bed.

Everything grows.
Everything changes. She would have to let her little chicks go some
day soon.

At least love lingered. She
hoped.

~~~~~~~~

Sunday morning — 8:15
a.m.

Seth swam to the edge of
his lap pool and pulled off his goggles. Hearing the sliding door
to the house open, he expected to see Ava coming to tell him how
Lizzie was doing. When Ava stepped out, she turned to speak to the
medium sized, dark skinned man behind her. He followed her through
the door. He wore a dark blue dress police uniform and had his hat
in his hand. Seth hid a grin and hopped out of the pool.

“
Get the hell off my
property!” he yelled across the yard.

Stunned, Ava stopped
walking. She glanced at the man with her.

“
Put something on,” the
man kept walking toward Seth. “That white skin is searing my
retinas.”

“
This is my backyard!”
Keeping up his pretense, Seth limped toward the man. Ava’s eyes
went from Seth to the man and back again.

“
This is not your
backyard. This is your Daddy’s backyard,” the man said. “And
anyway, you’re in the City and County of Denver. Burning a man’s
retinas is bodily harm and that’s a crime.”

“
What’s it to you,
Kentucky lawman?”

“
Didn’t you hear?” the man
asked. “I’m going to be the next police chief.”

Seth laughed and shook the
man’s hand.

“
Where’ve you been?” the
man laughed. “In a coma? Sick with some unknown toxin? Hanging out
with the stars in Malibu?”

Shaking his head, Seth
patted his back.

“
Good to see you, Munch,”
Seth said.

“
You too, Stoner,” he
said.

Looking at Ava, Seth saw
she was confused.

“
We go back.”

“
I see that,” Ava said.
Turning toward the man, she said, “Would you mind having a seat?
Seth isn’t supposed to stand for long.”

“
Thanks,” Seth smiled at
her. Ava took Seth’s elbow and helped him to a lawn chair. “Can you
get . . . ?”

Smiling, Ava went to the
pool house to get his clothing.

“
I hear that’s Asshole
Alvin’s daughter,” Munch said.

Seth nodded. He shook his
head at Seth.

“
I love her,” Seth
shrugged. “It’s crazy. I know it’s crazy. Old man like me, but I
do. And she’s . . . ”

Seth leaned closer to the
man.

“
You heard about what
happened in that barn?” Seth asked.

The man gave a curt
nod.

“
She’s amazing,” Seth
said.

“
She asked me to come
here,” he said. “I toured the crime labs. They paraded her team and
all of their awards in front of me like they were prized puppies.
When I had a chance to speak with her, she suggested I talk to
you.”

“
Why?”

“
Come on, Seth,” the
soon-to-be Denver Police Chief said. “You know how it is. She takes
the heat for your decisions.”

“
Hey . . . ”

“
Before you say it, he had
no right to come between you two,” Munch said. “Two different
divisions.”

“
Just politics,” Seth said
out of the side of his mouth. “Put pressure on her so she’ll put
pressure on her Dad.”

Seth watched Ava come out
of the pool house. She smiled at him.

“
Well, you sure stuck it
to them. You want to stay quit?”

“
What did you have in
mind?” Seth asked. Ava gave him his shirt and sat down next to
him.

“
Reinstatement?”

“
Not a chance,” Seth
pulled a T-shirt over his head.

“
I heard you’re going on a
concert tour,” Munch laughed. “Twenty cities?”

Seth laughed.

“
They told me that over
lunch,” Munch said. “I almost choked I was laughing so hard. Who
would believe that?”

“
My father,” Ava
said.

“
Ah yes,” Munch said.
“Someone who doesn’t know Seth very well. I’ll tell you. If you
come back, there’ll be no showboating on
my
watch.”

“
You’re still mad about
that,” Seth laughed. “It’s
been . . . ”

“
Twelve years,” the man
said.

“
What?” Ava
asked.

“
I solved a case for
them,” Seth said.

“
He solved a case,” the
soon-to-be Denver Police Chief imitated Seth’s voice. “Let me tell
you how this went down. We’re busting our humps twenty-four hours a
day for three months to find this creature that did some horrible
crimes to more than a few nice people.
Seth . . . ”

“
And Mitch.”

“
Good Lord, that’s right.
And Mitch. Stoner and the glorious Mitch Delgado waltz by the
department and say, ‘We got the guy. He’s sitting in
interrogation.’”

“
They had their own guy
for the crime,” Seth said. “Trouble
is . . . ”

“
Mitch and Stoner were
right,” the soon-to-be Denver Police Chief laughed. “You know how
they solved that case?”

Seth laughed.

“
How?” Ava
asked.

“
The perp
told
them,” Munch said.
“They’re looking over an old crime scene and a guy comes up and
starts talking. Few minutes later, he’s walking them through what
he did and didn’t do. That man bragged about the whole
thing.”

“
He didn’t know we were
cops,” Seth laughed. “Mitch and I got in the night before to check
in.”

“
And so you could play
jazz all night,” Munch laughed.

“
Perp wanted to impress
me.”

“
Showing off his crimes to
impress a celebrity?” Ava laughed.

Seth nodded.

“
How dumb can you be?” Ava
laughed.

“
Fairly dumb,” the Munch
said. “The press got a hold of it
and . . . ”

“
How is that my fault?”
Seth laughed.

Munch turned to look at
Seth.

“
How many offers have you
received?” he asked.

“
I’m not sure,” Seth said.
Turning to Ava, he asked, “What did Schmidty say last
night?”

“
Ten,” Ava
said.

“
Ten police departments
have cases they want you to look at,” Munch said.

“
So far,” Seth shrugged.
“So I’m thinking . . . ”

“
What if you work for us?”
the soon-to-be Denver Police Chief asked. “We’ll take care of all
those nasty details like who pays and how much. You’d get access to
first class crime scene analysis. You could come in full time and
get back with the union or be a contractor.”

“
I have people who help me
now,” Seth said.

“
Who?”

“
What’s it to
you?”

“
I heard you were using a
psychic. That’s what it is to me.”

“
And if I am?” Seth
asked.

Munch’s head tipped back
and forth as if he was weighting the situation.

“
I suppose it doesn’t
matter,” he said. “Is this person any good?”

“
Why don’t you meet her
and find out?” Seth smiled.

“
I know that smile well
enough to make sure
that
doesn’t happen,” Munch laughed.

“
I’ll talk to the union,”
Seth said. “They probably have some options.”

“
You do that,” Munch said.
“You know, you won’t be able to call me Munch anymore.”