Katy flopped on her side. Certain she would never get to sleep, she flipped onto her back.
And fell into a trance.
~~~~~~~~
Wednesday afternoon — 1 P.M.
“I’m not afraid, Dad,” Noelle said. “I’ve seen ugly things before and I don’t care if Buster is ugly. I mean, he’s our dog. I hope he’s going to be my dog. My special friend. I could really use my own dog.”
Aden was wheeling Noelle through Children’s Hospital in a wheelchair. A nurse walked beside them. Sandy, Buster and Nash were waiting for them outside on the sidewalk.
“Your dog?” Aden asked.
“My dog! I don’t know. I want him to like me most. Even if I have trouble with my eye and my face is all messed up. Dogs don’t care about that. Do they, Dad?”
“No, dogs don’t care and when did you start calling me Dad?”
“I’m almost eleven, Dad. Daddy is for little girls. Not for big girls like me. Big girls who have their own dogs and their own rooms and their own Moms.”
Aden laughed and Noelle giggled.
“Don’t worry, Daddy. I was trying on the whole tween thing. That’s what it’s called you know - tween. That’s when I get to be snotty and mean to everyone and… I don’t know, Daddy, I don’t think I can do it. Do you think Sandy was like that when she was a tween?”
“I doubt it but we can ask her.” Aden pushed the blue wheelchair button for the doors to open.
“I’m going to have my eye fixed today, right?” Noelle asked.
“Sandy’s going to take you to the ophthalmologist to have her do a second procedure,” Aden said. “I have to go to…”
“Work,” Noelle said. “Daddy, you should have worked yesterday. Why didn’t you work yesterday?”
“My baby was in the hospital.”
“Will they fire you?” Noelle asked.
“No,” Aden said. “Val’s still in town. With Jake, Sam and Val, there are a lot of us to run the show. But I have to go this afternoon.”
“Daddy, what about Buster? What will Buster do when I’m at the doctor or school or…”
At that moment, Sandy, Nash and Buster came into view. Nash let go of Buster’s leash and the dog ran up to Noelle. Putting his front legs on her lap, Buster licked Noelle’s face. She squealed, laughed and cried.
“But… but…“ Noelle said though her laughter.
Sandy leaned down to hug Noelle and kiss her cheek. Nash hugged Noelle. He gave Noelle her favorite Teddy Bear. Aden hugged Sandy.
“Buster’s not ugly at all!” Noelle said.
“It’s love at first sight,” Aden said.
~~~~~~~~
Wednesday afternoon — 1:35 P.M.
Jill had gone in to check on Katy and found her in a trance. Unsure of how to help her baby, Jill climbed into the bed. Sitting with her back against the headboard, she moved Katy onto her lap. Scooter snuggled close to both of them. An hour passed. Katy’s trance had lasted longer than any Jill knew about. Jill was about to call Jacob when Katy woke screaming.
Wrapping Katy in blankets, Jill carried her to Celia’s rocker by the front windows. In the afternoon sunlight, Jill rocked Katy in the chair. When Katy’s tears began to slow, Jill asked:
“What happened, Katy-baby?”
With watery eyes, Katy looked at her mother, shook her head and started crying again.
“Should I call Daddy?”
Katy shook her head against Jill’s chest. Katy tucked her face against Jill’s neck and cried. Kissing Katy’s warm forehead, Jill rocked her until she fell asleep. Unwilling to leave her alone, Jill carried Katy into her office. Katy usually slept like a stone for at least a half hour after these trances. Jill settled her baby on the couch in her office then slowly started back to work on her school project.
~~~~~~~~
Wednesday afternoon — 2:05 P.M.
Valerie set her empty suitcases on her living room floor. As if she’d never seen them before, she opened them and then sat down on the couch. She was chewing on her thumb when Mike came down from Katy’s room.
“What’s going on?” Mike asked.
“I’m packing.”
Mike looked at the empty suitcases and raised an eyebrow to Valerie.
“I can see you’ve been working hard,” he said.
“I don’t want to go.”
“What? Why?”
Mike sat in an armchair next to the couch. Valerie got up from her spot to sit on his lap. With the question lingering in the air, they sat cuddling in the armchair.
“Are you nervous about doing the movie?”
“No.”
“Are you worried about the babies? Because the doctor said you’d be fine.”
“No.”
They sat in silence for a while.
“I don’t want to go,” Valerie said.
“I’m not sure why? We’ve been here for almost five months. That’s longest you’ve lived in Denver since…”
“High school,” Valerie said. “Yeah. But…”
“But…?”
“I’ve been really happy. You know, the last five months, here … with you… Now we have babies on the way. I don’t want to screw it up and…”
“I’m going with you to Prague, Val,” Mike said.
“What about your show?”
“We’ll come home that weekend then turn around and go back. Your agent’s already set it up. They’re going to do publicity for the movie at my show,” he said. “Remember?”
“I guess.”
“You love being an actress, Val.”
“I love driving an excavator.”
Mike laughed.
“Don’t laugh,” Valerie said. “This is a big time for the company. They need me here to help.”
“And you have helped,” Mike said. “You’ll be able to Skype in for meetings. Nothing really changes. You can drive an excavator all summer.”
Valerie didn’t say anything for a while.
“You’ll come with me?”
“Of course,” he said. “I’ll even go to the set with you, if you want. I’m not leaving you – never by choice.”
“Never by choice.”
She threw her arms around his neck and cried.
~~~~~~~~
Wednesday afternoon — 2:16 P.M.
Katy woke up when Jill left to go to the bathroom. Sitting up on the couch, Katy saw Jill’s cell phone on her desk. She picked up the cell phone. Remembering how her Mom had called Auntie Megan, she pressed the ‘P’ and pressed the green button.
“Hello?” Katy said into the cell phone.
“Hello,” A nice man’s voice said back. “Who is this?”
“I’m Katy. I wanted to talk to Paddie.”
“Paddie?” The man asked.
“I pressed the ‘P’ letter on Mommy’s phone so I could talk to Paddie,” Katy said.
“You must be Katy Marlowe.” The man laughed. “I’m Paddie’s grandfather.”
“Oh. Sorry.”
Katy’s voice fell. She had been so sure that Paddie would be there.
“Did you know that I was called Paddie?”
“Really?” Katy asked. “Like my Paddie?”
“Just like your Paddie. He’s not here but I can give him a message.”
“Can you ask him for the dragon skin for my Auntie Sandy? His Auntie has some and my Auntie needs it today.”
“How soon does your Auntie need it?”
“Well, right now, but…”
“KATHERINE ANJELICA ROPER MARLOWE! What are you doing?” Horrified, Jill picked up Katy. She took the cell phone from her hand.
“Hello? This is Jill Roper. I’m very sorry to have disturbed you. My daughter’s been ill today and she…”
Jill stopped talking when she heard a man laugh.
“Hello, Jillian. It’s Patrick Hargreaves. Katy called looking for Paddie.”
Jill gasped. Senator Patrick Hargreaves! On her phone! She glared at Katy. Katy wrinkled her n
ose in return.
“I’m so sorry, sir. I’ve had this number since you gave it to me when…”
“Yes, we returned from Costa Rica,” he said. “How is your mother?”
“She’s well, sir,” Jill said. “She and her husband are here in town for a while.”
“They’re lovely people. I’m going to be in Denver this weekend. I’ll have to make sure to see them,” the Senator said. “Listen, Katy asked me for something very specific. Would you mind dropping by my daughter’s home? Someone will meet you at the curb.”
“She’s just a little girl, sir. If she bothered you in anyway…”
The Senator laughed.
“In my family, when Katy speaks, we respond,” Senator Hargreaves said. “She’s saved more than one life. Would you like someone to drop…?”
“No sir, we will go there right now,” Jill said.
“We get to see Paddie?” Katy clapped her hands together.
“Actually, Paddie is coming to my house this weekend. Would you like to join us? Of course, your charming husband as well,” the Senator said.
“Yes, sir.”
“Why don’t you call us and let us know if you can make it?” The Senator asked. “Nice to speak with you, Jill. My guess is that you have a busy afternoon ahead.”
“Thank you, sir. I apologize again if we…”
“She reminds me of my twins – precious pains in the rear. You’d be angry if you weren’t laughing so hard,” he said. “I hope to see you this weekend.”
“Yes sir,” Jill said then clicked off the phone. “Katy! What?!”
“Mommy something very bad is going to happen.”
“Something bad is always going to happen.” Jill tickled Katy. “And something wonderful. That’s life.”
“But Mommy, it’s going to happen to Auntie Sandy,” Katy said.
“What? What do you mean?” Jill asked.
~~~~~~~~
Wednesday afternoon — 2:20 P.M.
Sandy was driving Aden’s car with Nash, Noelle and Buster in the back when her cell phone rang. Glancing at the number, Sandy passed the phone back to Noelle.
“It’s your Dad,” Sandy said. “He wants to know how your surgery went.”
“Daddy?” Noelle asked into the phone.
“Hi Sweetie! How did it go?” Aden asked.
“It was awful, Daddy,” Noelle said. “My lady doctor wasn’t there. There was a man doctor and... he was shocked at my face. I could tell. He thinks I’m ugly.”
“Oh honey. Did he say that?”
“No, he didn’t. Sandy said he was shocked by the bruise. Sandy says my bruise is shocking. Is it shocking, Daddy?”
“It’s shocking, honey, but you’ll heal up. Remember the doctor at the hospital said in a couple of months you’ll never know it happened.”
“But Daddy, I need to look good now!”
“Oh honey, no one cares.”
“But Daddy, I was going to be in a movie. And now I’m too ugly!”
“What movie? What are you talking about?”
“It was supposed to be a surprise,” Noelle said. “Sandy’s Dad was going to put me in a movie and…”
Sandy pulled the car to the curb. She stared at Noelle in the rear view mirror.
“What? What’s going on?” Nash asked.
“What do you mean, Noelle?” Aden asked. “This is important.”
“It was a surprise,” Noelle started to cry. “I wanted to surprise you. For Christmas. Sandy’s Dad said I would be the star in a movie. Now I won’t be able to! And don’t say he wasn’t going to. He was Sandy’s Dad. He wouldn’t lie!”
“Okay, honey, okay. Don’t worry. You have plenty of time to be in a lot of movies. Mrs. Valerie is a real movie star. She wasn’t in her first movie until she was at least twenty. I bet she would tell you all about being a movie star.”
“Mrs. Valerie is really pretty, Daddy,” Noelle dissolved into tears. “And I’m disgusting…”
Sandy came around the car to hold Noelle. Buster tried to lick Noelle’s face and Nash rubbed Noelle’s hair. Noelle cried her eyes out. By the time Sandy got the phone from Noelle, Aden had hung up. Back in the driver’s seat, she tried to call Aden. He didn’t answer. She dialed Lipson Construction.
“Hi, Tammy, I was looking for Aden.”
“He just left Sandy,” Aden’s secretary said.
“I have his car,” Sandy said.
“He took a Lipson truck.”
“Did he say where he was going?”
“Not to me,” Tammy said. “He talked to Jake then left.”
“Okay, thanks.”
~~~~~~~
Wednesday afternoon — 2:35 P.M.
“Auntie Sandy needs our help,” Katy said.
Jill scowled at Katy then answered the phone.
“Hi honey,” Jacob said.
“How are you?” Jill asked. With Katy on her hip, she wandered the loft looking for her handbag.
“I have an odd question for you,” Jacob said.
“What’s up?” Jill pulled a fleece jacked over Katy’s head. She put her handbag over her shoulder.
“Aden quit his job,” Jacob said. “I wondered if you knew anything about that.”
“Nothing. What happened?”
“He walked into my office and said, ‘I can’t work here anymore. Sorry.’ He took a Lipson truck and left.”
“Jacob, what’s going on? You must know.”
“Aden’s going after Sandy’s father,” Jacob said.
~~~~~~~~
Wednesday afternoon — 2:40 P.M.
Unsure of what to do, Sandy took the kids to the Castle. She knew they felt comfortable there and Delphie or Jill would take care of them. Sandy couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that Aden was going to do something stupid. She needed to find him.
Her sense of panic increased when Delphie met them at the gate. Jill was standing with Katy on her hip at the side door. The women pretended everything was cool until Noelle and Nash were settled in front of Monsters, Inc. in a sitting area off the main living room. The dogs, Sarah, Scooter and Buster flopped on the floor around them. Doped up on pain medication, the kids zoned out to the movie.
“I’ll stay with the kids,” Delphie said. “But you need to go.”
“What’s going on?” Sandy whispered.
“Jake says Aden’s gone after your father,” Jill said. “Katy says you need some dragon thing from the Hargreaves house and…”
“Let’s go,” Sandy said.
~~~~~~~~
Wednesday afternoon — 2:40 P.M.
Aden wasn’t really sure what happened. When Noelle said the words ‘movie’ combined with the words ‘Sandy’s father,’ he only saw what he had to do. It was almost as if the words were a magic spell or triggered a natural cascade.
He felt a strange kind of calm. And a deep sense of rage.
Nothing would deter him. He might not be able to protect Noelle from a court ordered visitation. But he could protect her from this.
He had set the phone down, walked into Jake’s office to quit his job, and walked out of the building. Somewhere in his mind, he realized that driving a Lipson truck was dumb. But his rage shut down all logical thought.
At least Sandy had his kids. Whatever happened today, his kids would be safe. All kids would be safe from this monster after today.
When he and Sandy started dating, they had driven around to look at all the places they had lived. Aden took her to the street corner he panhandled, the vacant lot that once held the last known residence of his parents, and the variety of apartments and houses. Sandy showed him her mother’s house and, after much cajoling, her father’s home.
Pulling up to the curb in front of the Mayfair bungalow, he was glad he remembered where the asshole lived. Aden saw the curtain move.
The asshole was home.
~~~~~~~~
Wednesday afternoon — 2:55 P.M.
Jill pulled up in front of the large room
ing house in South City Park. Alex Hargreaves and her identical twin Max were standing in their front yard. Alex opened the back of the Lexus to get in. Seeing Katy in her car seat, Alex leaned back and whistled. Colin Hargreaves and two other men came to the car.
“Hey Jill,” Max said. “Would you mind if Katy played with Paddie this afternoon?”
“She has a fever,” Jill said. “Blane has strep and we think Katy might have it.”
“Paddie’s been sick, too,” Colin said. “Of course. He’s terribly bored. Katy will be a welcome distraction.”
“Mommy, can I play with Paddie??”
“Are you sure you don’t…?”
Katy was out of her car seat and into Colin’s arms. Jill got out of the driver’s seat to say good bye to Katy and the big guy, Teddy Jakkman’s guardian, got into the driver’s seat. Max and Alex got into the back of the car.
“Sorry, Jill,” Alex took Katy’s car seat out of the back of the Lexus. “You better sit this one out.”
“But…” Jill said.
She watched the back of her Lexus SUV move down the street.
CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWO
Wait!
Wednesday afternoon — 3:25 P.M.
Riding in Jill’s Lexus SUV, Sandy watched the Denver neighborhoods fly past her passenger window. They drove up Seventeenth Avenue Parkway past the gorgeous mansions. As a child, she’d walk to her father’s house past these mansions. While she walked, she’d dream of living in one of her favorites. On her way to her father’s house once again, she pressed her forehead against the cool passenger window to keep from screaming. Jill’s car turned on Monaco Parkway. These mansions were even more beautiful, more posh, and never seemed more unattainable.
Like a suicide bomber, her past had come to destroy her perfect present. She wasn’t going to live happily ever after. She was going to live chained by the prison of her past. They were turning right on Eighth Avenue before anyone in the car spoke.
“You need to put this on,” Alex Hargreaves said. “You can put it on over your clothing but we wear them underneath. They’re more comfortable that way.”
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