Gold Hill (48 page)

He was carrying her
downstairs when Yvonne gave a yelp and pressed her face into his
shoulder.

“
What is it?” Rodney
stopped on the landing next to the antique stained glass window.
“Yvie, what is it?”

“
There’s a man in the
house,” Yvonne said. “They’ve come for us.”

She raised her head to look
at him.

“
I can smell him,” Yvonne
whispered.

“
Stay here,” Rodney set
her down. “Don’t move.”

Yvonne slumped into the
corner of the landing. She tucked her knees up to her face. Rodney
leaned down to stroke her face. For a moment, their eyes held. He
nodded to her and went down the stairs.

Yvonne’s anxiety rose. From
where she was sitting, she could only hear murmurs and rumblings.
She had no idea what was going on. She heard Rodney’s voice and
another man’s voice. There was a kind of slapping which she assumed
was them fighting. There was a slam and a bang. As the minutes
dragged on, she started to shiver with fear.

Just then she felt
something soft sniff at her. A wet muzzle nudged her hands until
she looked up. She was staring face to face with a big, black dog
with a friendly white face. She was tucked into a ball and the dog
had to forced himself past the barrier of her legs to lick her
face.

Yvonne let out a giggle and
her hands went around the dog’s neck. She pet the dog and the dog
licked her face. After a few moments, he turned around and sat in
her lap. She rested her head against his shoulder.

“
I see you met Mr.
Chesterfield,” Rodney said from the bottom of the
stairs.

Yvonne looked up to see
Rodney standing next to a sweaty young man.

“
This is Akeem,” Rodney
said. “He’s staying in the carriage house out back while he’s
getting on his feet. He’s been watching Mr. Chesterfield and taking
care of the house these last couple of days. They just got back
from a run so Mr. Chesterfield probably doesn’t need a
walk.”

Yvonne nodded and went back
to snuggling the dog.

“
Akeem is very sorry he
startled you,” Rodney knocked the young man’s chest with the back
of his hand. “He’s used to me being gone during the day. He
promises to be more careful, more polite. Don’t you
Akeem?”

“
Yes sir,” the young man
said. “I mean, I’m sorry I startled you, ma’am.”

When Yvonne looked up, the
dog turned around to lick her face again.

“
Dat your wife?” the young
man whispered to Rodney.

Rodney nodded.

“
Wow!” He mouthed.
“She’s . . . ”

Akeem shook his head. His
hand rotated back and forth over his chest. Rodney
nodded.

“
You still getting married
tonight?”

“
Yvie?” Rodney asked. “Are
we getting married tonight?”

“
I don’t know,” Yvonne
looked up and smiled. “I never got asked or got a pretty engagement
ring.”

“
Tanesha told
you?”

“
My handsome Homeland
Security agent,” Yvonne said. “He said my ring was very pretty. He
also said my dress would be done tonight, but it would probably be
tomorrow by the time it all happens. I don’t have a ring so it
won’t happen for me . . . ”

She gave him a big smile
and went back to petting the dog.

“
There goes the surprise,”
Rodney smiled. “You going to come down here?”

He glanced at the young man
standing next to him.

“
Don’t you have something
else to do?” Rodney asked.

“
Not a chance,” Akeem
said.

Rodney scowled at the young
man but Akeem stood his ground. He waved Rodney forward.

“
You want to do this
here?” Rodney asked. “What about Miss T?”

“
She said she’d rather
miss the engagement than never have a wedding,” Yvonne
smiled.

“
You talked to
her?”

“
After we got done with
the police,” Yvonne said. “Hasn’t been more than an hour so I
remember.”

He smiled at
her.

“
I don’t know what your
problem is,” Yvonne gave him a sassy smile. “The last time you
asked me to marry you, we were in a barn under a bunch of
hay.”

“
After you ran off
crying,” Rodney smiled at her.

“
They killed my chickens,”
Yvonne looked into Mr. Chesterfield’s eyes and scratched his head.
“Isn’t that the most horrible thing you’ve ever heard
of?”

The dog made a happy
guttural sound and seemed to agree.

“
Plus, that was a long,
long time ago,” Yvonne said.

“
We had to wait ten years
to get married,” Rodney said.

“
Eleven,” Yvonne said.
“But you were worth the wait.”

Rodney jogged up the short
flight of oak stairs to reach the landing. He pushed Mr.
Chesterfield out of the way and kneeled down to her.

“
Yvonne, will you marry
me?” Rodney asked. “I know I haven’t been a good husband. I didn’t
save you and . . . ”

She put her hand over his
mouth.

“
Don’t say that again,”
Yvonne said. “Don’t you see? We don’t have time to play the ‘It’s
my fault game’ and I’m not going to waste my happily ever after on
guilt and shame. I worked too hard to get here.”

As if to absorb her words,
he shut his eyes for a moment.

“
I’ll marry you,” Yvonne
said. “I’ve always been married to you. My soul has belonged with
you the moment I came into this world; it’s never left your
possession.”

He wrapped her in his long
arms and held her tight.

“
I love you, Yvie,” he
said in her ear.

“
I love you too,” she
said.

He kissed her hard on the
lips. Digging in his right pocket, he came up with a ring box. He
opened it showing three diamond crusted bands of yellow, pink, and
white gold.

“
We’ve had three lives,”
Rodney said. “When we were kids, when we were imprisoned, and now.
We need three rings for three lives, three chances to breathe the
same air together, and only one never ending love.”

Yvonne threw her arms
around his neck. Rodney buried his face in her shoulder. They heard
a sniffle and looked to see Akeem wiping his eyes.

“
But I can’t wear this!”
Yvonne pushed away from him. “Tanni would have a fit.”

“
They’re Canadian
diamonds, no slaves,” Rodney said. “Plus, her friends figured out
how to get it. Your handsome agent stopped in New York to pick up
the ring for me on their way here.”

He took the ring out of the
box and slipped it on her finger next to her thin gold band. She
hugged him again. Not to be left out, Mr. Chesterfield nudged his
way in between them. Akeem cleared his throat.

“
I was just going to make
some lunch,” Akeem said.

“
Yes, let’s eat,” Rodney
said. “Come on Yvie, let’s tour the kitchen.”

He picked her up again and
they went off to the kitchen for lunch.

Chapter Two Hundred and
Seventeen
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ever .
 
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Friday afternoon — 4:25
p.m.

Heather drove her Subaru
toward the nondescript warehouse where a few teenaged kids stood
near a door smoking cigarettes. Seeing the entrance to the parking
lot, she pulled in and parked. She bit her lip and worried for a
minute before getting Mack from his car seat. With Mack in her
arms, she got to the door just as a teenager was leaving the
building. He sneered at her but let her pass inside the Urban Peak
homeless shelter. Once inside, she had no idea where she was or
what to do. Mack squirmed and she set him down.

This had seemed like such a
good idea. She wasn’t sure now.

Holding Mack’s hand, she
started down the hallway. On her left was a large room filled with
picnic tables. There were a few kids sitting in groups around the
tables talking or working on homework. A crew of volunteers
appeared to be making dinner in the kitchen at the far
end.

On her right was a computer
lab. Teenage boys and girls were diligently working on computers.
She and Mack stood at the glass looking into the computer lab. The
kids were of every race from the palest white to the deepest black
and everywhere in between. The youngest boy seemed to be about ten
years old and the oldest girl was almost twenty.

“
Ta,” Mack patted the
glass. “Ta.”

He patted the glass harder
this time and the kids turned to look.

“
Ta,” Mack laughed and
patted the glass even harder.

Out of the corner of her
eye, she saw a girl get up and come around to them. Sure she’d done
something wrong, Heather grimaced and picked up Mack.

“
Heather?” the young woman
asked.

“
Tink?”

Heather shook her head as
if she couldn’t believe the sight. Tink’s frizzy dark hair lay in
wavy curls. Her blue eyes and skin were clear. The girl was wearing
a top that Heather recognized as a hand me down from
Sissy.

“
What are you doing here?”
they both asked at the same time and laughed.

“
You first,” Heather
said.

“
I live here,” Tink said.
“You?”

“
Oh,” Heather bit her lip.
“My husband and I got approved yesterday to have one foster child
to ‘evaluate for adoption.’ We know how even one day can make a
difference so we wanted to get the process started right away. We
were supposed to meet a guy here at six but Tanesha’s parents are
getting remarried and . . . ”

“
Isn’t that
neat?”

“
Very neat,” Heather
smiled. “Of course, we’re right in the middle of it
all.”

“
Of course,” Tink
said.

“
Anyway, I called the guy
this morning and told him I could be here now and not later, but I
never heard back,” Heather said. “They’re kind
of . . . ”

“
Flakes?”

“
I wasn’t sure what I’d
find here,” Heather said.

“
The office is like that,”
Tink said. “But here at the shelter, it’s really great. I can show
you around if you’d like.”

“
You don’t mind?” Heather
asked.

“
Not at all,” Tink said.
“Let me go sign off the computer. If I don’t, no one else can get
on.”

“
Thanks,” Heather nodded.
Mack squirmed again and she set him down. He ran to the glass to
watch the older kids. When Tink came out again, he hopped up and
down. “Mack likes you.”

“
I play with him at the
Marlowe school sometimes,” Tink said. “I work there a few hours
after school. I help with pick up and after school
snack.”

“
Sounds like a good job,”
Heather smiled.

“
I really like it,” Tink
said. “I get to play with the kids and I’m the snack lady so I’m
kind of a hero to the littlest ones.”

Heather smiled.

“
Do you mind?” Tink
pointed to Mack. Heather shook her head and Tink picked up
Mack.

“
Ta!” Mack patted Tink’s
face. His voice echoed off the metal ceiling and he squealed with
laughter.

“
He always seems so
happy,” Tink said.

“
We’re very lucky,”
Heather said. She looked up to see Blane jogging toward her. “Do
you know my husband?”

“
Mr. Lipson? Yes,” Tink
blushed. “He usually picks up Mack.”

“
Hi Tink,” Blane
said.

Blane kissed Heather’s
cheek and touched Mack’s head.

“
Da da da,” Mack
said.

“
He’s just learning his
words,” Heather said. “He gets so excited when he knows the word to
match the person.”

Mack squawked. The sound
echoed off the ceiling and a few kids looked to see what was going
on. Mack squealed with laughter.

“
And he can make a big
noise,” Blane said. “Is the guy coming?”

“
I don’t know,” Heather
said. “Tink said she’d show us around.”

“
Oh great,” Blane said.
“Thanks.”

Mack squirmed in Tink’s
arms and she set him down. He took off down the hall.

“
I can show you while we
follow,” Tink said. “This is the dorms. We sleep in bunk beds. Mine
is way on the end. I sleep on the bottom because I have
seizures.”

She pointed to a room next
to the dorm.

“
That’s where the
counselors work,” Tink said. “I have a really great one. He keeps
track of my school and my doctor’s appointments. I even see him
once a week for counseling.”

“
That seems really great,”
Blane said.

“
I love this place,” Tink
said. “I was really lucky to get a bed.”