Sedona's Heart

by Sasha Fino

“You can say that, again,” Lexy said crawling into her bed

  “You know, I feel the same way I did when my father died like a new change is on the way, and you don’t know if you’ll love it or hate it,” Kimberly confessed to Lexy

  Lexy looked at her. “Well, that pig was mean to you and your aunt; on the other hand, he was still your uncle.”

  “Yes, I feel the contradictions. I don’t know what to think,” Kimberly told Lexy falling into bed on Lexy’s other side

  “Don’t look at me. I was a newborn when my mother died,” Lexy said, “Do you miss your mother?” Kimberly asked,

  “Every day! Don’t you?”

  “Yes, I do along with my father, but I know that they are together somewhere up there. I also know that Uncle Dean is with them along with Bethany.”

  “Who is Bethany? How do you think your aunt will hold up?”

  “Bethany was Dean and Blanche’s daughter, who died in early childhood. I really don’t know how Blanche will hold up. Thank you for helping my aunt and me tonight. Your Aunt Renee was wonderful to us, too.”

  “What do I do now?” Blanche said to Max once the girls went to bed, and Renee turned in for the night. They went outside and sat on the balcony and talked for hours, gazing out into the night

  “Blanche, you have what will be a very successful and lucrative café. It will keep you and Kimberly well provided for. You can keep on running your café, you will be just fine, Blanche.” Max took a sip of his drink.

  “Don’t let death stop you. Trust me, I know all too well what you are feeling. Cynthia loved Sedona, we honeymooned here and decided that we wanted to raise a family here. Still, when Cynthia died, I didn’t know if I could stay in Sedona or even look at Lexy. Then I held Lexy in my arms for the first time, and I fell in love with that newborn who needed her dad more than ever, and I took her home to our old Sedona house. Don’t be scared about running The Sedona’s Heart Café,” Max told her

  “What if it fails? What if no one comes back to the Cafe? What will I do then?” Blanche questioned him “Then we will cross that bridge when we get to it, but I believe that Sedona’s Heart will not fail. We got this,” Max replied looking at her in the moonlight

  “We?” “Yes, you and me. I want to be in your inner circle if you will let me?” Max told her

  “You’re already in my inner circle. You know, you are amazing, Max. It shocked me when I met you, I mean you are THE Max Heller, the famous playboy,” Blanche told him. “And yet you have the heart of an angel.”

  “You are too kind.” Wanting to kiss her, yet he was not sure.

  “It is so like Dean, to die just as I opened my business,” Blanche said with a long sigh, looking up at the moon.

  “Why don’t you go to bed now? It’s past 2:00 a.m.,” Max said, standing up.

  “Good idea; I am truly exhausted, can I sleep in your room, Max, I don’t want to be alone tonight.”

  “Let’s get some sleep,’ Max said gazing at her

  “Max, and thanks for everything that you are doing for Kimberly and me.”

  “You are welcome and good night, Blanche,” he said as he kissed her with love.

  Chapter 27

  The next morning, Lexy, Max, and Renee were at the breakfast table. Kimberly and Blanche were still asleep upstairs. Max read the newspaper while Lexy and Renee sat quietly, eating their breakfasts.

  “Amazing! Unbelievable!” Max said with a long sigh, “What is it, Dad?” Lexy asked

  “A long story about last night’s party. Someone at the ‘Arizona

  Republic’ will pay dearly for printing this!” Max said angrily putting the paper down Lexy picked it up and read the headline An Earthshattering Night at the Hellers’ With a Revealing Movie and a Death!

  “I didn’t know that a reporter from the ‘Arizona Republic’ was at the party,” Renee commented.

  “Neither did I! They had no right to include Dean’s death! I will call my PR director after breakfast and get a retraction,” Max said

  “Last night was out of a bad B movie!” Lexy said

  “Well, yes, it was,” Max said, not paying much attention to her “Dad!”

  “What? I am busy thinking, Lexy.”

  “I need to tell you something. Don’t freak out, okay?” “Oh god, what?” Max said rolling his eyes

  “Kasey made that movie with the help of her father and Miss Patella to get back at us,” Lexy told her father

  “Tenney! I should have known, I bought a piece of land right out from under him a week ago,” Max said pounding the table with his hand

  “You bought more land? Why?” Renee asked

  “It’s up in a canyon, very nice piece of land, 440 acres. It was a once in a lifetime deal.”

  “Wow, and you didn’t tell me about it?” Lexy asked

  “It was a surprise!” Max said

  “Are you planning to build?” Renee questioned him

  “Yes, I’m planning another resort but with a far more relaxed feel to it with a top of the line golf course and spa!” Max told them with a smile

  “Great! That’s what Heller Industries is known for, its top sixstar resorts worldwide,” Renee said happily

  “Yes, it is,” Max said. “Lexy, I apologize for that movie last night. I wish you and Kimberly had never seen it.”

  “It’s okay, Dad,” Lexy tried to tell him

  “No, it’s not, Lexy. Whatever Miss Patella said was a twisted lie.”

  “I know that, Dad.”

  “Did they have trouble getting Miss Patella off the grounds? I forgot to ask”

  “No, we didn’t. After the men tackled her, she left without a single word. It was harder getting the party guests to go home,” Renee told him

  “Well I’m shocked that she left so quietly,” Max said

  “Dad, Renee, I need to know,” Lexy said, getting up the courage to ask them about what had been on her mind for a week now.

  “What is it, Lexy?” Renee asked

  “Are you guys planning to be together at last, or do I have to make you two falls back in love? I don’t want Aunt Renee to leave us.”

  Max and Renee looked at each other not knowing what to say to Lexy

  Max was walking to his den after convincing Lexy at breakfast that nothing was going on between him and Renee. Max and Renee agreed to lie to Lexy until they figured out everything. He was shocked to see Blanche sitting in a chair by the outdoor pool, and he opened the door and walked toward her. She looked worn out and miserable, and he wished that he could do something to make Blanche.

  “Good morning, Blanche, what are you doing out here?” Max asked when he got close to her.

  “I couldn’t sleep after you got up and left,” she told him

  “It’s understandable,” Max said as he sat down in a chair next to her. “I can’t believe it. Last night felt like I was in a bad romance novel.”

  “Yes, a lot happened last night first the movie fiasco and then Dean’s death. Well, at least it didn’t make the front page this morning,” she said as his face turned red.

  “Oh, no!”

  “Don’t worry, my PR director is on it as we speak. Blanche, I want to pay for the funeral,” Max told her

  “You really don’t have to, Max.”

  “Yes, I do. Dean died at my home, and I feel bad about it.”

  “I owe you way too much, already.”

  “It’s all right, Blanche. We can hold a luncheon for everyone after the funeral in the ballroom of my hotel.”

  “Okay, I will take you up on it because my house is way too small for all of Dean’s family and friends.”

  “Great, just let me know when the funeral will be, and I will handle everything. I will also get you a room at the hotel.”

  “No! I don’t need a room.”

  “Why? I think you should have a place to relax and recuperate other than your home after the funeral,” Max told her

  “Max, I shouldn’t have slept here last night or
… in your bed,” Blanche said without looking at him

  “Why, we just cuddle falling asleep?”

  “I feel bad about being unfaithful to my husband in the month before he died… We should end this,”

  “I thought last night I was in your inner circle… that you love me?”

  “You mean so much to me... I don’t need your money, Max. I don’t want to be like the women who used you, and I don’t want people to talk about you and me. I can’t believe my husband passed away, not even 24 hours ago, and we sure a bed. I should go,” Blanche said standing up

  “Blanche, I’m sorry for what has happened, and I know it is way too soon for you to hear this, but I am very attracted to you… I truly love you, Blanche.” He confesses to Blanche’s eyes teared up as she looked at him.

  “You’re better off with Renee,” she told him and then turned from Max and walked away from him without a word. She left Max feeling stupid for confiding to her his feelings for her.

  When Kimberly and her aunt returned home from the Heller’s mansion. Half a dozen messages were waiting on the telephone answering machine from friends and family. Everyone knew about Dean’s death from the infamous newspaper story. All afternoon Kimberly watched Blanche call everyone back. It was not fun to repeat the same sad story over and over again, but Blanche did it without a tear. Kimberly wasn’t sure how Blanche did it.

  “I’m done! How long did it take me to return all of the calls?” Blanche asked with a groan of relief, falling back onto the sofa in the living room.

  “About five hours,” Kimberly replied, sitting down next to her aunt.

  “God! What now?” Blanche asked

  “I don’t know. I guess it will be just you and me and, of course, The Sedona’s Heart Café. It’s a new chapter in our lives,” Kimberly said trying to be positive for her Aunt Blanche

  “Yes, it is, Baby. It’s hard to think that it’s just us left in our little family now; I mean, we do have cousins around, but it’s not the same.”

  “You are all the family that I need. Will you be okay?”

  “Yes, I will be okay. I’m not going to let Dean’s death keep me from living. Max and I had a long talk about its last night. Besides, I need to raise you and run the Café, and that’s my plan,” Blanche said

  “That’s great to hear, Aunt Blanche!” Kimberly said with a smile as she walked to her aunt and hugged her

  Just then, there was a knock on the back-sliding glass door. Kimberly got up to answer it and saw Gabby with her glass of wine already in her hand. Blanche got up from the sofa while Kimberly opened the door.

  “Hello, Gabby,” she said

  “I just heard what happened, Kimberly, and I am so sorry about your Uncle Dean. Is your Aunt home?” Gabby asked looking into the house

  “Yes…” Kimberly said as Gabby walked into the house uninvited

  “Blanche, I am so sorry to hear the bad news,” she said, approaching Blanche.

  “Thanks.”

  “Any word about when the funeral will be?”

  “I am planning to bury Dean next to Bethany at Sedona Mortuary. I am going to have a service for him there and have a luncheon at the Heller Hotel. It will be this Saturday.”

  “Oh, is there is anything I can do?” Gabby asked as she gave Blanche a hug, “No, but thank you.”

  “How are you holding up, Kimberly? Two deaths in one year first your father and now your uncle, poor baby,” Gabby said looking at Kimberly

  “I am doing okay,” Kimberly told her. A part of Kimberly was happy that Dean was gone, she turned back to Blanche.

  “If you need to talk, I am here for you, Blanche. That’s my job!” Gabby told her

  “Thank you, but I will be fine. I will just go on with my life. Of course, I am very sad, missing Dean badly, and I am still in shock. This isn’t going to stop me from living. Remember, my daughter passed on seventeen years ago. I can be strong.”

  “Oh, I know. Why don’t you and Kimberly come over and join Ken, Sara, and me for dinner?” Gabby said, changing the subject.

  “You don’t have to, Gabby,” Blanche tried to tell her

  “Yes, I do! Come around six,” Gabby told them

  “Alright then,” Blanche said with a sideways look at Kimberly

  “Dean was a fun drinking partner,” said Gabby’s husband, Ken, at the dinner table that night. Dinner at Gabby’s house felt weird to Kimberly as she sat there picking at the food on her plate. Gabby and Ken wouldn’t stop talking about what a good guy Dean was

  “Yes, Dean was fun at parties!” Gabby said with a smile,

  “Yes, he was. This is good, Gabby,” Blanche said to her.

  “Thanks, it is a family recipe,” Gabby said happily. Just then, the front door opened, making Kimberly looked up and saw a girl with curly red hair walk in and kick off her shoes in the doorway. Setting down her backpack, she looked right at Kimberly.

  “Sara Gabby Lewis, you are late for dinner!” Gabby told her before Sara even said “hello” to everyone

  “I sorry, mother, I lost track of time. I was reading a great book and got lost in the pages. I didn’t know that we were having Mrs. Burlington over for dinner. I would have been home on time,” Sara said as she sat down across from Kimberly.

  “I tried to call you on your cell phone. I’m sorry, Kimberly, this is my daydreaming daughter, Sara, Sara; this is Mrs. Burlington’s niece, Kimberly. Sara is one year older than you, and she is just repeating the ninth grade. Unlike her brother, Kyle, who is in college with all A’s in his classes,” Gabby said.

  “Thanks, Mom, for the introduction! Hello, Kimberly, it’s nice to meet you.

  I saw you once or twice out of my bedroom window, and don’t listen to my mother, she doesn’t understand me,” Sara said looking at her mother

  “Hello, Sara, it’s nice to meet you as well,” Kimberly said as she took a liking to Sara

  “And by the way, Mother, I forgot my cell phone in my room,” Sara told Gabby

  “Oh, I knew it! What will I do with you?”

  “Dad, why don’t you tell Mother to lay off me?”

  “Listen to your mother,” Ken told her

  “How are you, Mrs. Burlington? I am sorry for your loss,” Sara said to Blanche, turning the conversation away from herself.

  “Thank you, Sara,” Blanche replied

  After dinner, Kimberly got to know Sara a bit better as they walked around Gabby’s garden. Sara was not like her mother, she was involved in the high school acting group and loved to read great books and get lost in them. The reason why Sara was held back in school was that she hated science, and were bad at mathematics.

  “I am very sorry about your Dad, Kimberly,” Sara said after Kimberly finished telling her life story to Sara.

  “It’s okay. I am doing much better each day. But it is still hard,”

  Kimberly told her

  “I bet it is. So, my mother said that you are friends with Lexy

  Heller! That’s way cool,” Sara said.

  “Yes, Lexy is just like you and me, but her father is a

  billionaire.”

  “Wow, you can say that, again. My dad is not a famous lawyer

  like Mother made him out to be,” Sara said

  “Yes, your mother is the neighborhood gossip queen with her

  wine in her hand.”

  Sara laughed at what Kimberly had to say. “Oh yes, my mother

  lives for her gossip, it drives me crazy. Hey, aren’t you a year

  younger than me?” Sara asked.

  “Yes, I am.”

  “I bet you must know Kasey Tenney.”

  “Yes, I do,” Kimberly said unsure what to say

  “How is her majesty, anyway? We were in Girl Scouts and were

  in Brownies together

  Oh, how I hated it. Kasey was the queen of Girl Scouts and

  Brownies, of course.”

  “That’s not a shocker!”

  “Kasey hasn’t change
d that much.”

  “Nope!” Kimberly said as they both laughed

  “Knew it! Kasey drives me crazy. My dad is Kasey’s father’s

  lawyer, of course. I’m happy to know two other people who hate

  Kasey like I do. We should all gang up on her and put her in her

  place,” Sara said

  “Yes, that sounds great to me,” Kimberly said laughing They walked in silence for a moment and listened to the bird's

  sing

  “I am sorry for your uncle,” Sara said

  “Don’t be. He was very mean to me, to say the least.” “Oh, I know it.” Sara looked at her with an odd look in her

  eyes.

  “Hey, I bet you know this, but my aunt has a cool coffee house,

  and we have tons of books there. You should come and check it

  out sometime.”

  “Thanks, I will!”

  Chapter 28

  All morning long, the café was jampacked with people. Kimberly, Lexy, and Marge were very busy making coffee and getting people donuts or pastries out of the case. In contrast, Blanche made chitchat with her friends. It was Kimberly’s job to mind the cash register for her aunt

  “Hello, Kimberly,” Annette said as she came up to place an order with Kimberly. “Hey, Annette, what can I get you?”

  “Oh, so many choices, how about an iced coffee, light on the ice for me. Jordan, what do you want…Jordan?” Annette said looking back to find that her son was not there next to her

  “God, where is he? Jordan!” she yelled causing a blonde-haired boy in the back corner to look up from his PSP

  “Coming, Mom!” Jordan said as he put his PSP in his bag and made his way to his mother

  “Jordan, this is Kimberly, Blanche’s niece, Kimberly, this is my boy.”

  “Hey!” Jordan said

  “Hi!” Kimberly replied back to him

  “Now, what do you want? I haven’t got all day,” Annette asked Jordan.

  “Don’t know. What do you have?” Jordan asked Kimberly

  “We have every type of coffee under the sun, some tea, and Pepsi products. Of course, we also have donuts and pastries, and sandwiches at noon,” Kimberly said

  “Hmm, I’ll have a Pepsi and that chocolate donut,” Jordan said pointing to a donut in the case in front of him