The Denver Cereal
Authors: Claudia Hall Christian
Tags: #fiction, #romance, #serial, #denver
The Denver Cereal
by
Claudia Hall Christian
StoriesbyClaudia.com
The Denver Cereal
Celia’s Puppies
Cascade
Cimarron
Black Forest
Fairplay
Gold Hill
Silt
Larkspur
The Fey
Learning to
Stand
Who I Am
Lean on Me
In the Grey
Finding North
The Queen of
Cool
Tax Assassin
Carving Knife
The Denver
Cereal
Claudia Hall
Christian
Cook Street
Publishing
Denver, CO
Originally
published at DenverCereal.com :
June–December, 2008;
copyright © Claudia Hall Christian
Licensed under the
Creative Commons License:
Attribution–NonCommercial–Share Alike 3.0
SMASHWORDS
EDITION
ISBN (
13 digits
) :
978-0-9822746-2-0
Library of Congress
:
2009909009
PUBLISHER’S
NOTE:
This is a work of fiction.
Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of
the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Third edition © May,
2014
Cook Street
Publishing
PO Box 18217
Denver, CO
80218
CookStreetPublishing.com
For the Silent Partner,
who talks a lot.
Table
of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
Jill
“
You cannot be serious,”
Megan said to Jill.
Jill’s hazel eyes shifted
to catch Megan’s reflection in the full-length mirror. Jill nodded
and then smiled at Megan’s sour face. Jill zipped the back of her
tight, black leather skirt and tugged at the starched, white shirt.
Reaching behind her, Jill took a white vest from Megan.
“
Turn around,” Megan
said.
Jill turned so Megan could
help her button the vest.
“
It’s tight,
but . . .” Megan buttoned the top button of the
white shirt.
Jill turned back to the
mirror to evaluate. At twenty-five years old, post one baby, she
was still round and flat in all the right places. Leaning around
the Colorado Rockies sticker on the mirror, she checked for mascara
smudges.
“
You are not going,” Megan
said.
“
I’m going,” Jill
replied.
Jill wandered into her
bedroom looking for the match to the four-inch, black heel she held
in her hand. Her head was under the bed when Megan said,
“
He only invited you as a
courtesy.”
Jill grabbed the pump from
under the middle of the bed.
“
I have an invitation. I’m
going,” Jill said. “I want Trevor McGuinsey to see what he’s
missing.”
“
He’s not going to see any
farther than his fiancée’s father’s wallet.”
Before Jill could put the
shoes on her feet, Megan snatched them from her hand.
Jill looked Megan in the
eye. ”You are not helping, sis.”
“
I don’t have any
intention of helping my little sister make a complete fool of
herself.”
Turning the shoes back and
forth, Megan shook her head at the worn, dry Salvation-Army-found
shoes. She peered at the point of the heel. At least the plastic
wasn’t showing yet.
“
Pllleeezzzzeee,” Jill
begged.
Megan dropped the shoes in
resignation. Why fight it? She could never resist Jill.
“
Wear your boots,” Megan
said. “If you want my help, don’t just bring the boots. Wear
them.”
Jill’s eyes grew wide. She
trotted into her bedroom closet and pulled out the boots — those
beautiful boots. Holding the boots against her chest, Jill drew in
the smell of the butter-soft, black leather from the thigh-high,
five-inch-stiletto-heeled boots. They smelled like love, luck, and
happiness.
Trevor had bought these
boots at the Mile High Flea Market. They were three hundred dollars
cash, more money than they had seen in six months, and so worth it.
They’d had a good time in these boots. Trevor used to tell people
that Katy was conceived with these boots. They were lucky boots.
She used to tease him that they were his “get lucky”
boots.
Of course, she had been
wearing these boots, languishing in post-coital bliss, when he’d
told her. Pressing the divorce papers across the crumpled covers,
he had asked her to sign. He had met a rich girl. She was going to
pay for law school at Denver University. He was doing it for Katy.
Certainly Jill would understand.
But Jill never
understood.
Oh, she had signed the
papers, and then scrubbed the remnants of him from her body, her
apartment, and her life. When he returned, his things were waiting
for him in the hall and the locks had been changed. With Jill
sobbing on the other side, he screamed, “I don’t love the rich
girl,” and pounded on the cheap, hollow-core apartment door for an
hour. Trevor only left because the apartment manager said he would
call the police.
"Now, how's that gonna
look to the rich girl, Trevor?" the apartment manager
sneered.
Tonight, Trevor was to be
officially engaged to the rich girl at a black-tie
affair.
Returning to the mirror,
Jill saw that Megan was right. The boots looked great.
“
Let me get the tie.”
Megan tied a black bow tie around Jill’s neck. “You have the jacket
with tails?”
“
Mike’s bringing it when
he picks me up in the limo,” Jill said.
“
Do you want me to come?”
Megan asked.
“
I can do this, Meg,” Jill
said. “Steve’s working security. If I need to get out fast, he’ll
be there.”
“
Mike and Steve are both
in on this? What about Candy?”
“
She’s working the bar.
I’m sorry, sis. They didn’t tell you because they thought you would
be mad.”
Megan shook her head. Of
course, their brothers and sister were in on this. No one but Megan
saw that Jill was making a fool of herself. But Jill always made a
fool of herself over Trevor.
“
He’s my soul mate,” Jill
had pleaded when she’d needed Megan’s signature on their marriage
license. Sixteen years old and in love. Now twenty-five years old
and heart-crushed.
The apartment door opened,
and their brother Mike came in. Megan smiled at the worry on his
face. At least she wasn’t the only one who was worried. Mike’s face
shifted to a smile for Jill.
“
Here you go, Jilly,” Mike
said. “I brought three.”
One at a time, Jill tried
on the black tux jackets with peak lapels and tails. She selected
the one Mike thought made her look the sexiest.
Jill gave herself an “I
can do this” nod in the mirror.
She clutched Megan in a
hug. With tears in her eyes, Megan released Jill.
“
Love you, sis,” Megan
said, and then closed the apartment door.
Mike escorted Jill through
the crowd of neighbors. Everyone wanted to cheer Jill on today. One
last, “Make us proud,” and Mike closed the door to the front seat
of the limo. Slipping behind the wheel, Mike told her that Steve,
their middle brother, said the guests had all arrived.