Jill slammed and locked the door to the diamond room. She took the basement stairs two at a time. Hoping to avert all out war, Jill left the napping toddlers with Delphie. Over the baby monitor, she heard Delphie’s kind intervention between the screeching children.
In her heart of hearts, Jill knew Katy was acting out this summer’s pain and anger with the person she loved and trusted the most. Seeing Paddie response, she was sure he was doing the same. Just a few hours ago, Jill spent an hour rocking them while they cried. Turning up the stairwell, Jill ran all the way up to her new attic home. She yanked open the door and stopped short.
Jacob sat in the middle of the apartment holding Katy and Paddie. Covered by what looked like applesauce, the toddlers where crying into his shoulders. Delphie stood nearby with a mop cleaning up the worst of an angry food fight. Breathing hard, Jill wanted both to intervene and to watch.
If any part of Jill hadn’t loved Jacob, if some part of her held out in mistrust or uncertainty, in this moment, Jill’s entire being loved this man. Dressed in an expensive business suit, starched shirt, and silk tie, Jacob sat cross legged in a pool of applesauce with a weeping child on each shoulder. Sensing her gaze, he looked up and applesauce dripped from his hair onto his face. He smiled his bright ‘I’m an idiot’ Jacob smile.
Jill shifted to move forward, but Delphie touched her shoulder.
“Let him do this,” Delphie said softly. “The babies need him.”
“What about his big meeting?”
“He’s been late before,” Delphie said.
“But...”
“Celia would like you to give the stone to MJ,” Delphie said.
Jill had forgotten about the diamond. She opened her hand to see the diamond still tucked into her palm.
“I promised...”
“She was much more rule oriented in life,” Delphie said. “Honey will be delighted. Especially knowing the diamond belonged to Celia. MJ will only accept the gift from you. Go now before he leaves.”
“What about the children?”
“It’s important for Jacob to do this,” Delphie said. “Don’t worry. They’ll need a bath soon enough.”
“Third today,” Jill said.
Delphie hugged Jill.
“You’re a great mother, Jill,” Delphie whispered in her ear. “Katy and Paddie are getting through this. Go on.”
Jill took one last look at Jacob. He winked at her. Beaming from ear to ear, she set off to bring a sparkly gem to the excited groom.
~~~~~~~~
Saturday evening — 6 P.M.
Lifting a strand of Honey’s hair, Sandy furrowed her forehead. She took a comb to look at the edges of the hair.
“Nail clippers?” Sandy asked.
Honey blushed. Sandy put her face right next to the back of Honey’s head.
“Pinking sheers?”
“Pruning snips,” Honey said.
Sandy nodded as if she understood why Honey cut her hair with something designed to trim plants.
“I’ve never been very good at… this.” Honey gestured around the hair salon. “I could never sit still long enough. I guess the joke’s on me.”
“Sandy’s the best,” Heather said. She held up another color of makeup to Honey’s face. Heather was having a tough time matching Honey’s fair hair, eyes and skin. “We all hate to sit still but Sandy makes it fun.”
“I’ve never been very good at that, either.” Honey gestured to Heather’s makeup kit.
“I’ll be there tomorrow so you won’t have to worry about it,” Heather said. “Then we’ll practice. If you want...”
Honey nodded.
“What would you like your hair to look like?” Sandy asked.
“Hair?” Honey replied as if the answer was obvious.
Sandy returned to looking at Honey’s hair.
“Would you use a blow dryer?”
Honey shook her head ‘no’.
“Brush?”
“Just after I shower,” Honey said. “I mean I used to. Now, the nurse brushes it after I shower then puts it up in the ponytail.”
“You have beautiful hair,” Sandy said. “It’s a gorgeous color of blonde, very soft. I bet it breaks off easily.”
Honey nodded.
“I need to think for a minute,” Sandy said. “Is there anything special you want for your wedding?”
“I haven’t thought about it,” Honey said. “I’m still not sure what I’m wearing. I think Mom has something. I don’t know.”
“Do you want to do your own hair?” Sandy asked.
Honey fell silent. She’d never focused on her hair, makeup or even looking anyway other than clean. She left all of that to her pretentious mother and evil sister. But having spent the last day with Sandy, Tanesha and Heather, Honey could see that a few simple things made a difference. Tanesha smelled like Vanilla and Cocoa Butter. Heather had sparkly lip gloss. Their hair was beautiful, practical and, according to Jill, easy. Honey felt like she had entered a whole new world.
“Here’s what I’m thinking,” Sandy said.
“Ok.” Honey’s voice betrayed her nervousness.
“I think we cut it all off in a kind of modern Mary Lou Retton page boy,” Sandy said.
“But…”
“But it won’t lie well if we leave it,” Sandy said. “Your hair is too soft.”
“Exactly,” Honey said.
“We need to add a little color to it to give it some structure – maybe a dark honey color.”
“Dark honey!” Heather said. “That’s the color I need.”
Honey laughed.
“Ignore her. Colors make her very excited,” Sandy said. “I have a product that lies on the hair so it gives fine hair a little more body. I don’t know if you’d want it but I was thinking for the wedding we could match some of MJ’s crazy red in the back. We’ll cut it out as it grows. I bet your hair grows fast.”
“It did,” Honey said. “I don’t know what it will do now.”
Sandy shrugged.
“But what will I do...”
“You’ll either come back here,” Sandy said. “Or I’ll come to you. When MJ’s gone or you’re feeling lazy, you can just comb it after a shower. Or blow it dry when you want fancy.”
“I don’t know how to blow dry...”
“I’ll show you. What do you say?”
Honey nodded.
Over the course of the next hour, Honey’s hair was washed, colored and cut to the sound of Sandy and Heather’s chatter. Honey was under a dryer when Tanesha arrived. Before her injury, Honey had a lot of friends. But with the focus required to survive, she had lost touch with almost everyone. She had friends at Craig, but, outside of a few nurses, they were men. She missed the easy company of girlfriends.
“I brought something for you.” Tanesha pushed the dryer off Honey’s head. She opened her backpack and took out two packages. “Jill had these framed for you.”
Tanesha helped Honey remove the paper covering the frames.
“We know you’ll have pictures of tomorrow, but Jill thought...”
“We thought you might want Jill’s drawing from when you and MJ talked about the wedding with her this morning,” Heather sat down on the edge of Honey’s seat. “They are beautiful. Aren’t they?”
“It was like magic. Jill took our feeble words and created this dream,” Honey gazed at the color pencil drawing of her wedding. “It’s gorgeous. Dad and Jake were going to make everything look...”
“They’re almost done,” Valerie said as she walked in the salon from the back. “Is she ready?”
“Just need to wash it out,” Sandy said.
Honey moved from the drying station to her ultralight wheelchair then followed Sandy to the washing station.
“Are you guys going out tonight?” Honey asked.
Laughing, Sandy washed Honey’s hair. Honey closed her eyes to enjoy the warm water and great smells. When she opened them, Valerie was holding a glass of champagne
for her.
“When you’re done, we’re going to get you something to wear,” Valerie said. “Then it’s girl’s night out!”
“Mom has something for me,” Honey said. “You guys can just...”
Valerie laughed.
“What?”
“This is your party, Honey. We know you have a lot of friends, but during this transition we hoped you might let us be your friends,” Sandy said. “Jill would totally be here but given the Katy and Paddie war, she thought she better stay home.”
“I have her card!” Tanesha held up the Platinum American Express card.
“I thought every place closed,” Honey said. “Mom said I had to choose between my hair or my clothes.”
“For the little people,” Valerie said in a fake sophisticated accent. “I called a bunch of stores. They were delighted to stay open to help a STAR!”
“Who A-listed you?” Heather said. Her hand covered her mouth as if she could not believe she said that.
“Oh I know,” Valerie laughed. “They didn’t seem to know I was a D-lister wanna be!”
Sandy finished styling Honey’s hair. With everyone standing around, Honey saw her new hair and make-up for the first time.
“I’m… I’m… pretty,” Honey said.
“You’re beautiful. Come on! Mike’s driving the limo. We thought shopping, dinner, then maybe dancing?” Valerie leaned close to Honey. Speaking softly, she said, “We can leave at any time. Just let me know what you’re up for.”
“Sounds fun,” Honey said.
~~~~~~~~
Saturday night — 8 P.M.
“Oh come on, Jerry! You know me. You know my father. Hell, you knew my mother,” Jacob said. “When have we ever cheated you?”
“Could happen,” Jerry the site manager said. “Economy this bad, I gotta look after my own.”
“The bottom line is this: we have three months to make our projections,” Aden said.
“Every site manager will hire an assistant of their own choosing to help them stay on target,” Jacob said. “Big Sam will be available to any site that might need the help.”
“We can choose anyone?” Bambi, Honey’s old site manager, asked.
“They have to fit Lipson requirements,” Aden said.
“But after that?” Bambi asked.
“Anyone,” Sam said.
“Aden needs the experience of running the company. We can give him that experience. Now. While Dad’s still available to help,” Jacob said. “By January, we’ll meet all the board’s requirements and begin the sale.”
“What if we don’t?” Jerry asked. “I heard you were going to sell to the Board.”
“It’s my company!” Jacob said. “If I say I’m selling to the employees, I’m selling Lipson Construction to its employees.”
The room fell very silent. The site managers looked at each other.
“Isn’t it Val’s company too?” a woman’s voice yelled from the back.
“Valerie owns a little more than ten percent of the company on paper,” Sam said. “She’s given the rights and control to her shares to Jacob. He’s effectively owned the entire company for the last four years.”
“I’ve said before and I will say again. My sister and I will fulfill our parents’ dream of selling their company to its employees or we won’t sell it,” Jacob said. “Period.”
“We have the best site managers in the city,” Aden said. “Jake and Big Sam are foregoing salaries so you can have the help you’ve asked for. We can do this.”
Somewhere near the back of the room, someone began to clap. Standing next to Aden, Blane began clapping. The room broke into clapping and cheering. The site managers stopped to shake Jacob and Sam’s hands on their way out of the room. When everyone was gone, Bambi came forward to talk to Jacob.
“You said anyone. Right?” Bambi said.
“Anyone who meets our standards,” Jacob said. “Why? Who did you have in mind?”
“I want Honey.” Bambi shifted her shoulders back to enlarge her entire six foot frame. “Honey knows everyone at my site and everyone likes her. She’s really good with numbers and I trust her. Completely.”
When Jacob didn’t say anything, Bambi added, “Plus I have great bathrooms.”
“I don’t know Bambi,” Jacob said. “Honey has surgery on Monday and...”
“You said I could have anyone, Marlowe. I want Honey Lipson. Make it work.” Bambi flipped her hair and walked toward the door. Turning as she reached the door, she said. “Please.”
“We’ll see what we can do,” Sam said.
“Thanks!” Bambi wiggled her fingers in a flirty good-bye.
“Fuck,” Jacob said. Blane patted his back.
“When are the flowers delivered?” Aden asked.
“In a half hour,” Sam said. “We have quite a bit to finish tonight. Wanna join us?”
“Noelle would kill me if we didn’t help,” Aden said.
“Are you going to be all right, Jake?” Sam asked.
Jacob nodded.
“Then it’s back to work, boys,” Sam said. “We have a wedding to create.”
~~~~~~~~
Sunday early morning — 3 A.M.
“Sexy panties and sexy, sexy stuff under the very sexy dress AND...”
Honey giggled when MJ kissed her. He was carrying her up to a second floor apartment.
“You are very drunk,” he said.
“Yep!” Honey giggled. “My last night of freedom!”
“And?” he asked.
She kissed him with such fervor that he had to set her down. Pressing her against the wall of the second floor hallway, he devoured her mouth with unbridled passion. Honey’s ardor ignited him.
Unwilling to continue in the hall, he jerked her back into his arms to carry her to the apartment. They kissed all the way though the apartment and into the bedroom where he ripped off her clothing. He helped her under the covers then he took his clothing off while he went around to the other side of the bed. Slipping under the covers, he moved to kiss her again.
Honey was sound asleep.
MJ laughed at himself. Pulling her tiny form toward him, he wrapped himself around her.
Tomorrow.
She would be his wife.
He fell asleep with a smile on his face.
Chapter Forty-Seven
Even the slightest chance…
Monday morning — 5:45 A.M.
“Did we get married yesterday?”
MJ touched the gold band on Honey’s finger then tugged on his matching gold band. They were sitting in the back of a limousine on their way to Craig Hospital. They had been so caught up in each other that this was their first moment to talk.
“We did.” Honey knew MJ’s Traumatic Brain Injury would prevent him from remembering their wedding. “Your team took a video. One of the guys said they captured the satellite for you.”
“Great!” MJ clapped his hands at the news. “I feel like we had a great time last night.”
“Oh yeah.” Honey leaned over to kiss his lips. “You were on fire, amazing.”
“Did we sleep at all?” MJ asked.
“Not yet,” Honey said. “You kept saying we have...”
“Plenty of time to sleep today,” he said. “I remember saying that, just not if we slept or not.”
“Do you remember saying that I was incredible?” Honey asked.
He shook his head.
“Since you don’t remember our wedding night...”
“Some, not much.”
“…you’ll have to see how incredible I actually am when this surgery is over.”
“Why wait?” MJ moved to test out the works in the back of the limo.
“We’re almost there,” Honey said.
He flopped back against the limo backseat like a frustrated teenager. Honey laughed.
“Just as well, I feel kind of sore and spent.” MJ joined her laughter.
“Me too,” Honey said.
“W
hat was the best part of our wedding?”
“For me?” she asked.
He nodded.
“When you fell to your knees to say your vows while looking into my eyes,” Honey said. “You took my hands before you repeated the priest’s words. You didn’t get up until after you kissed me and we were pronounced husband and wife.”
“I’m so romantic.” MJ kissed her. “Did you say a priest?”
“Your Lieutenant Colonel asked their family priest to marry us,” Honey said. “We agreed to go to classes then get married inside the church in a full mass.”
“Was yesterday legal?”
“Yep,” Honey said.
“We got the license on Saturday.” MJ’s smile seemed to radiate from his very being. “I remember that.”
Honey laughed. The limo slowed at the entrance to Craig Hospital.
“Carry me in?” Honey asked.
“Of course,” MJ said. “I’ll be here to carry you home too.”
MJ slipped out of the limousine. Reaching into the backseat, he lifted Honey into his arms.
“You can watch our wedding while you wait,” Honey said. “Jake said he’d bring a laptop so you can watch it.”
“I’m more interested in a video from last night,” he said in her ear to avoid the nurses hearing.
“No video from last night,” Honey laughed.
“Too bad.”
With much fuss and celebration, the nurses and doctors greeted Honey and MJ. MJ’s team set up a web broadcast so Honey’s friends at the hospital could watch the wedding. Staff and patients in every corridor had congratulations or applause for them. MJ set Honey into a wheelchair then dropped to his knees.
“You’ll come back to me?” he whispered.
She kissed him.
“We’ll just be a half hour or so,” the nurse said. “If you’d like to wait here, we’ll come and get you. You may walk with us to the hospital where she’ll have her surgery.”
MJ nodded. Honey turned in her chair to wave good-bye. Back in her hospital room, the nurses helped her clean up and change into a hospital gown. The nurses pressed her for details of the wedding, her new haircut, her dress and of course their wedding night. Honey laughed, told little stories, but kept the big details close to her heart. They were almost done when her psychotherapist arrived. The nurses left her for a few minutes while she talked to her therapist.
Celia's Puppies Page 23