The Denver Cereal (11 page)

“
Okay,” Jacob said. “Would
you like to come to my house?”

Jill bristled, then
nodded. She knew what was expected of her. Jacob started the car
and moved toward Seventeenth Avenue.

“
How did you know?” Jill
asked.

“
What do you mean?” Jacob
asked.

“
The emergency room doctor
told me that if you hadn’t given Katy the Primatene Mist, she would
have died. Katy’s only alive because of you. How did you know she
would need it?”

“
Delphie said Katy was
allergic to bees. She said Katy would die if I didn’t get her to
the hospital,” Jacob said. “I went to Walgreens on the way to your
house. That’s why I was late.”

“
Oh,” Jill
said.

“
The pharmacist must be
the same guy who helped you before. He remembered Katy and told me
what to do. One shot every minute until she breathes clearly. I
only needed one.”

“
And you believed Delphie?
Delphie, the crazy tarot-card reader? I thought you said she was a
joke?”

“
She’s very dramatic,”
Jacob said. “I mean, her spirit guide’s name is
‘Naomi.’”

“
Naomi?”

“
Like from the Bible,”
Jacob said.

“
So she’s
Ruth?”

“
Something like that,”
Jacob said. “You can see what I mean. Drama. Anyway, I’ve never
known Delphie to be wrong. I mean, sometimes she mixes up the signs
or misinterprets things. Like she told Mom that she would meet
someone significant. They decided Mom was going to meet a new man.
But they met you. Even so . . . I’ve never known
Delphie to be . . . just wrong.”

“
So Trevor will betray me
again,” Jill said.

“
He already has,” Jacob
said.

Jacob pulled the car into
the driveway of the Castle. He pressed a button and the iron gate
opened to allow him access to the open backyard. When the iron gate
opened, Sarah and another dog came barking and running toward the
car.

“
Scooter,” Jill said under
her breath. “Why do you have Scooter?”

“
Trevor took Scooter to
the Dumb Friends League. He told them he found Scooter on the
street,” Jacob said. “Delphie knew he would be jealous of Scooter.
She wasn’t sure what Trevor would do. So Mom had an identification
chip put in Scooter with Delphie’s address and phone number. The
Dumb Friend’s League ran the chip and called Delphie. That was
right before I came back to Denver.”

“
Trevor said Scooter was
dead. That stupid bastard. I can’t believe . . . Oh
God, Scooter . . .”

Jill jumped from the SUV
to greet her old friend. Standing near the back of the truck, Jacob
watched Scooter give Jill kisses on her mouth in delighted reunion.
When Sarah nudged his leg, he rubbed her ears and threw the ball
she had dropped in front of him.

Looking up, Jacob saw
Valerie come down the back steps and into the garden. When Valerie
smiled at Jacob, he knew she was finally “just Val” again. He ran
across the lawn to hug her.

In the dimming light of
the summer night, Delphie stood on the back porch of Celia’s
Castle. Watching the reunion of Jill and Scooter, and Jacob and
Valerie, Delphie said, “Just like we thought, Naomi. They’re
finally all together. Now the fun begins.”

What did you say?

“
Jill! Is Katy okay?”
Sandy yelled into her cell phone.

“
Katy’s okay. They’re
keeping her overnight,” Jill said. “Where are you?”

“
Funky Buddha. You wanna
join us? I’m here with Tanesha and Heather. We’re hoping to find
some fun.”

“
No . . .”

“
Jilly, what’s wrong?”
Sandy asked. “Wait, hang on. I’m going to go the sidewalk so I can
hear you.”

Jill paced Jacob’s
apartment. After playing with the dogs, Jacob brought white wine
and cheese to the deck. They drank wine, ate fancy cheese and those
little crackers she had only seen on TV. Jacob’s sister, Val, and
Delphie kept her laughing with funny stories about each other. She
was all but asleep when he suggested she come upstairs to take a
shower. He took her up to his gorgeous apartment, set out a towel
and a bathrobe for her, then disappeared into the house.

Jill knew what was
expected of her. After all, why would he have brought her to his
house? She showered with his lavish soap and shampoo and then
wrapped herself in his plush bathrobe.

Looking at his
comfortable, queen-sized bed, she panicked. She couldn’t go through
with it. She couldn’t sleep with some guy just because she thought
he was cute . . . or because he paid for the
hospital . . . or because she liked his
house . . . or because she loved his
mother . . . or . . . Vexed with
herself, Jill called her best friend Sandy.

“
Okay, sorry, I couldn’t
hear you,” Sandy said. “What’s wrong?”

“
Jacob took me back to his
apartment.”

“
You mean after he paid
for the hospital, he took you back to his place? What’s it
like?”

“
It’s gorgeous. I mean,
the furniture needs replacing, maybe some colors on the walls, and
there’s a lot of electronic equipment. Typical guy’s place, you
know. But it’s all wood floors, cut-glass leaded windows,
and . . . The house is amazing. He calls it the
‘Castle.’ You’ll just die when you see it.”

“
So what’s the
problem?”

“
I don’t think I
can . . .”

Jill heard Heather ask for
an update and Sandy explained what was wrong with Jill.

“
Listen. There is only one
reason a man brings you back to his place,” Sandy said. “Is there a
bedside table?”

“
Um . . .
yeah,” Jill said.

“
Open the drawer,” Sandy
said.

“
Okay,” Jill said. She
slid open drawer in the antique table drawer.

“
Condoms?” Sandy
said.

Jill dug through the
drawer. A reading light. Kleenex. Earplugs. A pair of glasses. A
dog treat. A bag of throat lozenges. She gasped when she saw them.
Jacob had condoms in this drawer!

“
That man is ready to
play,” Sandy said. “Good for you.”

“
I don’t think I can do
it. I mean, I know the accounting lady said I was going to have to,
but I can’t just
sleep
with someone.”

“
Honey, I don’t think he
brought you to his apartment so you could sleep.”

“
I
know . . . What do I do?”

“
She wants to know what to
do,” Sandy said to Tanesha and Heather.

Jill heard her friends
laugh. Tanesha grabbed the phone from Sandy.

“
Jill, it’s Tanesha. I
think you should enjoy that gorgeous man. You might just figure out
why people actually like sex.”

“
But Tanesha, I barely
know this guy.”

“
You know him enough for
him to pay off your hospital bill. With the emergency room, what’s
that gonna be? 20k? 30k?”

“
I don’t know,” Jill
mumbled.

“
Honey, have some fun. You
deserve it. That’s all I wanted to say,” Tanesha said. “She’s all
yours.”

“
I couldn’t have said it
better,” Sandy said.

Jill heard Heather in the
background. “Tell her we want every detail!”

“
Yeah, make sure we get
all the details. You know what I would do if I were in your
situation.”

“
I know. But how do
I . . .?”

“
Just take off your
clothes. He’ll take care of the rest.”

“
Okay.” Jill heard a door
close downstairs. “I think he’s coming.”

“
Have fun! We love you!”
her friends yelled into the phone and hung up.

Jill slipped off the soft
terry robe and stood in the middle of the room.

~~~~~~~~

Figuring Jill needed some
time to herself, Jacob checked on Val, talked to Delphie, and
answered some calls. Jill had been almost asleep on the deck, so he
assumed she would have crawled into bed by now. Tiptoeing up the
last few steps, he nudged the door open. Sarah bounded into the
apartment.

And there was Jill. Naked.
Standing in the middle of the room. In one glance, his eyes took in
her round hips, taut belly, and perky breasts. His entire being
rose to attention.

“
Whoa,” he said. He spun
around to face the door. “What’s going on, Jill?”

“
The hospital lady said
you told her I’d have to work off the hospital bill,” she said. “I
figured . . .”

Jacob collapsed into
himself.

“
I’m sorry. I don’t know
what I said to that woman,” Jacob said. “She was just a nasty
clerk.”

“
You mean you DON’T want
to . . .”

Jacob turned to Jill.
Forcing his eyes to stay on her face, he walked across the room.
While his eyes caressed her face, he collected her hands with his
hands.

“
Nothing would make me
happier than to make love to you. Not. One. Thing. But only when we
want to . . . when you want to . . .
when it’s right. Not as payment of some stupid debt.”

“
Why did you bring me
here?”

“
I don’t know,” Jacob
said. “You didn’t want to be at home without Katy. At my house,
Scooter’s here to cheer you up. And I have cereal.”

Jill started crying. She
didn’t resist when he pulled her into his arms.

“
God, Jill. You’re not a
whore or a prostitute or whatever else. Don’t shortchange yourself.
You’re wonderful.”

“
What did you mean, then?”
Jill said into his shoulder.

“
I don’t think I said
that. After that horrible woman found out who I was, she was
hitting on me. She even wanted me to sign her
5280
. She probably said that to you
so you’d be mad at me.”

“
I’m not mad at you,” Jill
said.

“
Good.” Jacob pulled back
to look into Jill’s eyes. “What will ease your mind about the
hospital bill?”

“
Nothing,” Jill said. “I
hate being poor. I promise you, I will pay off the bill even if it
takes forever.”

“
If that makes you feel
better, all right.” Jacob held his hand out to her and they shook
on her promise.

He walked to his closet
and picked out a clean white T-shirt for Jill to sleep in. She
pulled the T-shirt over her head and then wandered across the floor
to find her panties.

“
You have so much that
money can’t buy.” In order to keep from jumping Jill, Jacob started
talking. “You have family who will drop everything to support each
other. You have Katy. You have love and laughter in your life every
single day. You have . . .”

He stopped talking when
she bent over to pull on the beautiful panties. Taken aback by her
full hips and muscular legs, all thought escaped his head. As she
turned back toward him, Jacob adjusted his face, and himself.
Noticing his motion, she gave him a wry smile.

“
Money makes the world
work,” Jill said.

“
Not really,” Jacob said.
“Come on. I promised no hanky-panky on our non-date. You need to
rest. Tomorrow is going to be another long day. Let’s just rest for
a while. I can take the couch . . .”

“
I don’t mind if we share
a bed,” Jill said.

Jacob nodded.
“Bathroom?”

Jill shook her head. He
took her hand and held the covers for her. He went into his closet
to change into another white T-shirt and slipped into the bed next
Jill. When he held his arm out to her, she snuggled against
him.

“
I guess I made a fool of
myself,” Jill said.

“
Welcome to the club.”
Jacob chuckled.

“
How did you get so much
money if you don’t care about it at all?”

“
Oh, Jill, that’s a long,
complicated answer and you’re exhausted. Let’s save some excitement
for our second non-date.”

Jill stretched up to kiss
him.

Snuggled together, their
lips began a gentle exploration of each other’s mouth and tongue.
When Jacob moved to kiss her face, he found her cheeks wet with
tears. Pulling back to look at her, he saw that she was
crying.

“
What is it?” he
whispered.

“
I just feel really sad,”
Jill said. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Jacob pulled her tighter
into his arms. Tucked against his chest, Jill began to sob. He
stroked her back and head until her emotional storm
abated.

“
Your shirt is drenched,”
she said.

“
Easy remedy,” Jacob
said.

He gave her a tissue for
her nose and pulled off his shirt. She tucked herself against him
and fell sound asleep.

“
I love you, Jill,” he
whispered.

She stirred with his
words, opened and shut her eyes. He smiled. Closing his eyes, he
fell into a blissful sleep.