The Denver Cereal (29 page)

“
You don’t,” Jessie said.
“You’ll look better on television and in photos. The hair presses
your clothing off your skin.”

“
Oh,” Mike said. He lay
back on the table.

“
We’ll get rid of this
hair too.” Jessie touched his pubic hair.

“
What?” Mike sat up again.
“Why?”

“
You’ll see,” Alex said.
“Go ahead, Jessie. Do what you think is best.”

Mike sat up and rotated
his legs to the edge of the table.

“
You know Val has never
complained. It’s not like we’ve EVER had
any . . .”

Alex pointed her gun at
Mike again. He dropped back to the table.

“
I’m just saying,” Mike
added in his defense.

Jessie laughed.

~~~~~~~~

Jill pulled the Lexus SUV
up to Megan’s house. Before she could fully stop the car, Katy flew
out of the front door. She hopped up and down until Jill got out of
the SUV.

“
MOMMY!!”

And Jill knew she was
right where she belonged.

~~~~~~~~

“
Hi,” Valerie said. She
ruffled Mike’s hair. “I wondered what happened to you.”

After Jessie, Mike
received his first professional haircut from George at Luxe Salon.
George clipped, trimmed, and shaved until Mike’s hair hung in curls
just below his chin. Alex then took him back to her house, where he
stood on the deck and had his remaining body hair trimmed. Alex
dropped him at the workshop to shower.

“
No, I mean it,” Valerie
threaded her hands around his neck. Her finger slipped under his
shirt. She sighed into him. “What happened to you?”

“
I asked some friends for
help,” Mike said.

Valerie pulled off his
shirt. Her fingers played with his trimmed chest hair. He had to
grab her hands to stop her from taking his pants off in the middle
of the main Castle kitchen.

“
We’re supposed to meet
with some designer.”

“
Ramon already picked out
three dresses for me. I don’t need another dress.”

“
It’s for me,” Mike said.
Breaking off from a kiss, he said, “Mostly. They
want . . .”

Valerie kissed him. He
stepped back.

“
Oh,” Valerie said. “Ramon
already picked out something for you too. Who’s the
designer?”

“
Um . . . Sorry,
Alex told me, but I forgot. She wants to ask you if you’d like to
be a spokesmodel for some clothing thing they have coming out. She
hoped to talk to you while they were in town. They live in
Paris.”

Valerie shrugged and then
kissed Mike.

“
You’ll talk to her,” Mike
said.

“
I like meeting new
people,” Valerie said. “When are we meeting them?”

“
Tomorrow morning,
early.”

Valerie dropped his
pants.

“
Oh
Mike . . .”

She dragged him into the
sitting room.

~~~~~~~~
Saturday night — 9
p.m.

Sandy leaned her head
against the rolled towel Aden slipped behind her head. In the warm
safety of the hot tub, he rubbed her feet one at a time. If she
weren’t so full, she would be completely limp.

Over the course of the
day, her resistance to dating Aden had waned. Of course, a dozen
white roses waiting on her doorstep, a large bouquet of spring
flowers waiting for her at her station, AND her favorite lunch
delivered from Pasquini’s — Caesar salad with chicken and no
dressing — helped. He picked her up from work in a Saab sedan,
which led to the “Is this your car?” conversation that made him
laugh. And after all of that, he made her favorite dinner —
cheeseburgers with homemade French fries.

Turns out, Aden had paid
attention all those years at the gym.

But for Sandy, the flowers
and food wouldn’t have mattered if he hadn’t been so attentive. He
listened to her stories about clients and laughed at her jokes. He
charmed her by talking about his worries about taking over Lipson
Construction.

And he’d wanted to go out
with her almost as long as she had wanted to go out with him. All
those years that she thought he wasn’t interested, he was just
going to school and raising his kids. In fact, he thought
she
wasn’t
interested.

Just the thought made her
smile.

Outside of a little
kissing, he hadn’t mauled her or expected some payback for his
attention. At least he didn’t act like he wanted payback. He had
been a complete gentleman. He even insisted they wear T-shirts and
shorts in the hot tub.

When he brought up birth
control, they had the most mature conversation Sandy had ever had
about birth control. Condoms? He had “no problem” wearing them.
Even after he learned she was on the Depo shot! It was up to
her.

Only Jill would be crazy
enough to think about love. Love was something that happened to
people whose hearts weren’t permanently broken. Love didn’t happen
to people like Sandy.

Still.

Watching the summer stars,
Sandy felt a definite . . . like for Aden. She
nodded at the stars. She definitely liked Aden. When he sat next to
her, she rested her head on his shoulder.

“
I spend every Saturday
night right here,” he said. “The kids go to a sports camp on
Saturdays so they’re in bed early. I sit right here. Just me and
the stars.”

“
What a great way to end
the day,” Sandy said.

“
I’m glad you’re here,” he
said.

“
Me too,” Sandy said. “Do
you know the names of the stars?”

“
Names? Yes, Sandy, we’re
on first name basis. See that star?”

He pointed to the star
right above his head.

“
Uh-huh.”

“
That’s Frank. He thinks
you’re the most beautiful creature he’s ever laid eyes
on.”

“
Frank’s a little
forward.”

“
He’s trying to get in
your pants,” Aden said.

Sandy giggled.

“
You can never trust a
star. Take Fred here.”

“
Which one’s Fred?” Sandy
asked.

“
Right over there. He’s a
shy guy. Much more discreet than Frank. Still, his
girl . . .”

“
Francine?”

“
How did you know?!” Aden
said. “Francine says Fred’s a bit of a swinger. Likes the boys and
the girls.
Lots
of boys and
lots
of girls. Even Frank says . . .”

“
Excuse me.”

Two Denver Police officers
came in the gate to Aden’s backyard. Aden popped to his
feet.

“
Are you Aden
Norsen?”

The familiar dance

“
Yes.”

“
Would you mind stepping
out of the hot tub, sir?”

Sandy stood when Aden
hopped out of the hot tub. She watched the police say something to
Aden. His mouth dropped open and his face blanched white. He shook
his head back and forth.

Before they could tell her
not to, Sandy got out of the hot tub to call Jill. Jill’s cell
phone rang once . . . and ADEN WAS IN
HANDCUFFS!!

Rang
twice . . . and Jill pushed opened the glass sliding
door from the house. In two steps, Jill encircled her best friend
in a hug.

“
You can hang up,” Jill
said.

Terrified and humiliated,
Sandy clung to Jill.

“
I don’t know what
happened. He was just telling me funny stories . . .
How did you get here so fast?”

“
I live with a psychic who
has Aden’s house key,” Jill said. “Let’s go inside.”

Dripping wet, Sandy
shivered. Jill led her to the nearest bathroom. Jill wrapped her in
a warm towel.

“
Stay here,” Jill said.
She took another towel and left.

Sandy stood in the
bathroom shivering from the shock. Just like every other experience
in Sandy’s life, her moment of blissful happiness was shattered by
something awful.

She wanted to
cry.

She wanted to
scream.

Instead, she felt the
familiar sinking numbness. The image of Aden in handcuffs bounced
around her brain. Once again, life confirmed that she did not
deserve to be happy.

“
They want to search the
house,” Jill said. “Did you guys drink tonight?”

“
No, he can’t drink. He’s
an alcoholic.”

“
Great,” Jill said. “Why
don’t we make some hot chocolate? Aden’s in the backyard. I gave
him a towel but I bet he’s cold.”

“
He’s not
arrested?”

“
Not yet,” Jill said.
“They’re checking the house for drugs.”

“
Drugs?”

“
They want us to stay in
one area of the house. I told them we’d be in the
kitchen.”

Jill helped Sandy dress.
Taking Sandy’s arm, she led her into the kitchen.

“
Now what do I do?” Jill
asked.

Sandy shook her head at
Jill, and Jill stepped aside.

The kitchen was a place of
comfort for Sandy. Ever since they were kids, Sandy had made hot
chocolate for Jill when they were upset. While the police worked
their way through the house with dogs, Sandy’s mind turned to the
step-by-step process of cooking. Her anxiety unwound and her
confidence returned in the normalcy of making hot chocolate for
Jill. She even whipped up a pan of brownies. The police were still
working when Jill and Sandy went to the backyard with mugs of hot
chocolate and a plate of fresh brownies.

Jill opened the sliding
door to the back yard for Sandy to go through. Aden’s back was to
the door while he talked to Sam. Feeling their movement, Aden
turned. He was so delighted to see Sandy that he rushed to her.
Sandy blushed at his unrestrained delight. Jill took the brownies
from Sandy. Aden lifted her off the ground in a hug.

“
Hi, I’m Sam Lipson,” Sam
said to Sandy after Aden released her. “I love brownies. Do you
mind? Delphie made some today. They disappeared with Katy before I
could have even one.”

Sandy nodded her head. Sam
took a brownie off the plate.

“
What happened?” Sandy
asked.

“
They raided Nuala’s
house,” Aden said. “I guess there was some drug
something . . . making drugs . . .
something . . . I don’t know. They found Noelle and
Nash locked in a closet. Nuala said I was her drug supplier. Well,
they ran my record and . . . I’m so sorry this
happened to you. I . . . I’m sorry.”

“
They were just going to
arrest you?”

“
That’s what happens,”
Aden said. “I have a record of drug dealing and violent behavior.
They restrain first, ask questions later. Luckily, Big Sam came
by.”

“
Aden left his phone at a
site. I picked it up on my way to the rehearsal dinner,” Sam Lipson
said. “I thought I would drop it by on my way home.”

Sandy would have believed
Mr. Lipson’s story if Jill hadn’t laughed when he said
it.

“
Is that what you told
them?” Jill asked.

“
Uh-huh, you were supposed
to meet me here,” Sam said.

Jill shook her head at him
and he smiled.

“
You wanted a full update
from the rehearsal dinner.”

“
Trevor’s rehearsal
dinner?”

“
You were at the
engagement party.” Sam nodded and Jill laughed.

“
How did Mr. Lipson help?”
Sandy asked Aden.

“
Please call me
Sam.”

“
They do drug testing at
Lipson,” Aden said. “My last arrest was twelve years
ago . . . the year I started working at Lipson. When
Jake took over, he insisted on hair-follicle-testing every
employee. We have a zero-drug-tolerance policy. Everyone knows that
about Lipson. Big Sam offered to provide all those
records.”

“
We’ll probably have to,
but . . .” Sam’s voice trailed off when a
policewoman came through the sliding glass door.

A little boy pressed
passed the policewoman followed by a little girl. They threw
themselves at Aden. Aden held them both in a tight
embrace.

Watching Aden with his
kids, Sandy felt a strange pang in her heart. The children were
crying and talking at the same time. These people, the two children
and their father, seemed like three pieces of one whole. They just
fit together.

The police stopped to
speak to Aden and Big Sam before leaving. They didn’t find drugs.
Yes, Aden would be available for questioning. No, he wasn’t going
anywhere. His children hung on him the entire time. When the police
cleared out, Aden took Noelle and Nash to their rooms.

Jill and Sandy set to
work. The Park Hill bungalow had been turned upside down by the
Denver Police. Together, the women righted the furniture,
straightened what was amiss, and swept up what was broken. By the
time Sam came for Jill, the house was in order.