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  “Feel?” Tanesha asked. “Confused.”

  “Confused?”

  “I’m never sure why a woman would brag about something like that,” Tanesha shrugged. “I mean, this man has a problem. Two years ago, he told the world he had a serious sex addiction. And still girls brag about screwing him. I mean, what would the world say to the crack dealer who sold drugs to Robert Downey, Jr.? Broke his sobriety? Would he or she be on the cover of magazines? The topic of so called news programs?”

  “We minimize sex addiction,” the host said.

  “We’re all ‘oooh it’s sex’ like we’re in Junior High,” Tanesha said. “Have some self-respect. I mean seriously. If these girls were with Jer last night, they broke almost six months of sobriety. Plus, he left here saying he didn’t want to be with other women. When we found him, he said he hadn’t been with other women. So, these ladies got together with a guy who was too high to know what he was doing. Nice. I bet your Momma’s proud now.”

  “So you don’t think he just told you one thing and did something else?”

  “I look at people’s intentions,” Tanesha said. “I don’t believe that he intended to get high. I don’t believe that he intended to be with those . . . women, if he even was. In the last year, he’s worked hard to change his life. That means more to me than some grainy cell phone picture from the inside of a limo.”

  Jeraine clicked the remote control to stop the video.

  “What’s wrong with that?” Tanesha asked.

  “A lot of people will say you’re a fool,” Jeraine said. “That I’m a dog who won’t change his ways.”

  “You are a dog,” Tanesha smiled. “But I like dog training. Hey, I wanted to talk to you . . . ”

  “So you’re all right with this?”

  “I don’t care,” Tanesha said. “Do you?”

  “Not really,” Jeraine said.

  “So why don’t we give Schmidty the last right of refusal? He can take out what he wants to take out and we can live our life. I think that’s what you pay him for.”

  Nodding, Jeraine picked up his cell phone and texted Schmidty. He turned to face Tanesha.

  “What did you want to talk to me about?” Jeraine asked.

  “First, I wanted to thank you again for picking me up at school,” Tanesha said. “I was surprised when I saw my Dad’s truck and thrilled when you got out of the driver’s seat. Thanks.”

  “Your Dad let us borrow the truck all week,” he said.

  “For the tear out,” Tanesha said.

  “Right,” he said.

  “I also wanted to thank you for having everyone over tonight,” Tanesha said. “You had dinner ready when we got home and then wham, everyone was here – Jill and Katy, Jacob, Sandy and her tribe, Heather and Mack with Blane, Honey, MJ, Valerie, Mike, and Sam, your parents, and even my Dad and Gran and Delphie. I had a great time.”

  “I wanted to celebrate your big day. Turned out, everyone had a big day,” Jeraine smiled. “Nice people. Well, except for Scully.”

  “I saw you laughing with MJ,” Tanesha said.

  “He’s still a wild man. Did you know he was in Special Forces and now he’s a Marine?” Jeraine shook his head. “And I can’t for the life of me believe he married his ‘sweet little Honeybee.’ He said, ‘You know Honey’ and gestured to her. My jaw dropped.”

  “Jill was . . . uh . . . tentative about them living in the Castle,” Tanesha said. “I guess they were pretty volatile.”

  Jeraine gave a vehement nod and Tanesha laughed.

  “They’re crazy about each other now,” Tanesha said. “Baby on the way and everything.”

  “It was great to see him,” Jeraine said. “We’re going for a run tomorrow morning. I feel like . . . I’m finally home. You know some nice people.”

  “I know,” Tanesha said. “Pretty lucky, eh?”

  Jeraine nodded.

  “The barbecue was fabulous,” Tanesha said. “Did you make the marinade and sauce?”

  “I did,” he said. “Aden mastered the grill though.”

  “You were nice to let him do it,” Tanesha said. “He’s more comfortable when he has a way to participate.”

  “Hey us guys have to stick together,” Jeraine smiled. “Jake and I are close to having our own secret handshake.”

  Tanesha laughed.

  “Hey, I saw you talking to Delphie.” When he didn’t respond, Tanesha let her statement linger.

  Jeraine was silent.

  “And?”

  “That woman,” Jeraine shook his head.

  “She’s a trip,” Tanesha said. “Anything you’d like to share?”

  Jeraine took a deep breath, looked at Tanesha, and let out his breath. He shook his head.

  “Well, I wanted to see . . . ” Tanesha’s eyes scanned his face. “I wondered what you’d think if we stopped talking about the past.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean that talking about the past just brings all of that garbage into today,” Tanesha said. “I get hurt all over again. I’m tired of being hurt by things that are over and done with.

  “I mean, I had this amazing day. Our house remodel started. I walked out of eight hours of med school orientation that I’ve dreamed of all of my life to find you waiting for me. We came home and all of my friends and family were here. I ate great food, laughed, and hung out with my friends and their families, our family. And now I end the day by sitting on the couch with you. I don’t think it gets better.”

  Tanesha beamed and then shook her head.

  “I don’t want to talk about the past,” she said. “Because today is pretty great.”

  “What if something comes up?” he asked.

  “If it’s relevant in the present, then I want to talk about it,” Tanesha said.

  “Ok, I have something,” he said.

  “Go ahead,” Tanesha said.

  “You say that I tricked you into getting married,” Jeraine said. “And, I told you I needed to change my name . . . ”

  “To Jermaine . . . ”

  “I was going to meet you at Jill and scumbag Trevor’s wedding. Right?”

  “You met me at Jill’s wedding,” she said. “And you had the license and asked the Judge to marry us when they were done. They were all excited about being married and stuff I felt manipulated into doing it too.”

  He nodded.

  “So?”

  “Did you want to be married?” he asked.

  “Oh Jer,” Tanesha sighed and rubbed her forehead. “I . . . ”

  “Sorry, I need to know,” he said.

  She gave him a long look. Seeing that he needed an answer, she nodded.

  “I wanted to be married to you,” Tanesha turned away from him and stared at the wall. “But I didn’t know that just eight hours before you’d screwed five girls and five more the day before and whatever other nonsense. I didn’t know you would do that whole ‘let’s enjoy the cheerleaders’ event on the football bus and then leave . . . and then leave . . . forever . . . a week later. I . . . ”

  She clenched her jaw to hold in her heart wrenching pain.

  “I wanted a wedding dress and . . . nice shoes . . . and an engagement ring I could show off for a while,” Tanesha said. “I wanted my Gran to be there. Your parents . . . They’re like parents to me. I wanted flowers . . . and . . . a gospel choir singing Amazing Grace and . . . Well, mostly I wanted you – day in, day out, coming home, waking up to. I wanted you. You were my life, my soul, my every waking thought, my . . . everything.”

  When she looked at him, he was crying.

  “So did I want to marry you? Yes.”

  He put his arms around her to touch the top of his head to her shoulder.

  “I’m so sorry,” he whispered.

  “I know,” she tipped his head up so he was looking at her. “I want to be right here, right now. You?”

  He nodded.

  “Then let’s just be here,” she said.

  “What ab
out all of that? How . . . ” He shook his head as if to say even the words were more than he could make up for.

  “Maybe the past doesn’t need to be made up for,” Tanesha said. “Maybe it just is – not good or bad or whatever. It’s all just stuff that happened.”

  “But how . . . ?”

  “Let it go, Jer,” Tanesha said. “It’s over and done with. There’s nothing we can do to fix it except live right now.”

  “Will you wear your ring?” He held up his left hand to show that he was wearing the gold band she’d bought him when she was sixteen years old.

  “I have been this whole time,” Tanesha pointed to the gold band on her right hand. “I put it on this hand and never took it off.”

  “May I?” he asked.

  She nodded. He tugged the ring off her right hand and slipped it on her left ring finger. She smiled.

  “It looks good there,” she said. “Like it belongs.”

  He smiled. For a moment, they held each other.

  “I love you,” he said in a low tone. “More than you’d ever know.”

  She kissed him and they hugged again. Knowing she had to do something to get them back on track, she took a breath and moved back.

  “Well, I do know what I want right now,” she said. He looked up at her. “More of that cake. Did you see Sandy and Blane commenting on how good it was? And they’re our pros! Did you really make it yourself?”

  She got up and walked out of the room.

  “You know what would be really good? Some tea,” Tanesha said. “You coming?”

  Smiling, he followed her into the kitchen.

  ~~~~~~~~

  Monday night — 9:57 p.m. MDT

  “How are you feeling?” Mike asked Valerie when she got into bed.

  “Uncomfortable,” Valerie said. She lay down on her back with her hand on her belly. He put a hand on her protruding belly. “But I had a nice time tonight. What a great distraction to go over to Jeraine and Tanesha’s house.”

  “I’m glad you said that because I wasn’t sure if you had a good time.”

  “I thought it was fun,” Valerie said. “The penthouse was really nice. I haven’t been to the Pinnacle before. It was kind of like ‘imagine your life.’”

  “Would you want to live there?”

  “No,” Valerie said. “But it’s fun to look.”

  “Delphie is sure you’ll have the baby this week,” Mike said. “Everyone’s geared up. Do you think it will happen?”

  “I hope so,” Valerie said. “I’ve had a lot of contractions and . . . ”

  “And?”

  “I keep thinking I see Mom,” Valerie said. “That’s what I was doing.”

  “I thought you were cleaning the kitchen floor again,” Mike smiled.

  “No, but that’s a good idea,” Valerie said.

  He chuckled.

  “What were you doing?” Mike asked.

  “I was coming up from the kitchen and I thought I saw Mom,” Valerie said. “I went to where I saw her and . . . nothing. So I started up the stairs again and I swear she was at the top of the landing.”

  “That’s weird,” Mike said.

  “I went to ask Delphie,” Valerie said.

  “And?”

  “She just smiled and put her hand on the baby,” Valerie said. “It’s weird.”

  “Sounds weird,” Mike said.

  “I want Mom to be here so bad,” Valerie said. “I want her to be with me when I have the baby, to be a grandmother, and everything. I miss her so much right now. I wish she’d lived long enough to be here for this. She’d have wanted to be here.”

  “I’m sure she wishes she was here now,” Mike said.

  Valerie made some nondescript sound and pretended to go to sleep. Mike rolled over onto his side. He watched her face for a moment then fell sound asleep. Valerie opened her eyes when she knew he was asleep. She stared at the ceiling for a while.

  “Is that really you, Mom?” Valerie whispered. “Or is it some kind of hormonal insanity? If it’s really you, can you give me some kind of a sign? Something only I would know?”

  She waited for a moment and then looked around room. She hoped beyond hope that something would happen. But nothing moved in the dim, quiet room. Turning over, she told herself she was imagining things and tried to get some sleep. A few hours later, a strong contraction woke her and Valerie opened her eyes. She was lying on her side facing away from Mike.

  She was about to roll onto her back when she noticed a tattered stuffed white bunny with one missing button eye. Mr. Bilfry. She’d slept with the bunny every day of her life until she left for college. And even then, she slept with Mr. Bilfry every night she was home from school. She stroked the super soft pink inside of the bunny’s ear.

  She’d left Mr. Bilfry at home when she’d gone to college. College wasn’t a safe place for such a precious and vital creature. But sadly, Mr. Bilfry disappeared when her mother and Delphie had moved to the Castle. Secretly, Valerie had searched through boxes to see if she could find him. She never did. Until now.

  Mr. Bilfry had appeared right exactly when she needed him the most.

  “Thanks Mom,” Valerie whispered and fell sound asleep.

  Chapter One Hundred and Ninety

  Blue Sky

  Tuesday mid-day — 12:15 p.m.

  Brighton, Colorado

  Standing on the small hill in Brighton, Delphie looked up at the warm late August sky. From where she stood, she could see out over the home construction site to the Rocky Mountains on the horizon. She was standing on the site where Saint Jude had killed his first victim after hanging her in the horrible barn. Soon it would be a gorgeous gem of a park.

  “Excuse me,” A small but beautiful woman touched Delphie’s arm. Her face held the washed out look of extreme grief. She spoke in her native language. “I’m sorry. Were you meditating?”

  Delphie smiled at Ava’s best friend’s mother.

  “You must speak English,” Beth’s father said in the same language.

  “It’s all right,” Delphie smiled. “My mother spoke Slavic when I was a child. Was that Croatian? It’s similar.”

  “Yes,” the man said. “You may speak English. She understands much but refuses to speak.”

  “I was taking in the day,” Delphie said in English. “Oh look, it’s Amelie.”

  Delphie waved to Amelie and Dale getting out of a car nearby. They jogged up the slope toward the group of people gathering on the small hill.

  “What happened to the . . . ?” The woman gestured toward the fenced off dirt area.

  “Jacob took the terrible pole barn down by hand,” Delphie said. “Have you met Jacob?”

  “Yes,” Beth’s father said. “He has been very kind. Everyone . . . ”

  He gestured to the people gathering around them. The families of Saint Jude’s victims were joining Delphie today to celebrate the lives of their loved ones and the end of Saint Jude.

  “But these people?” Beth’s mother gestured to the men and woman standing near where the pole barn had been. Ava hugged Beth’s father and then her mother. Her mother hugged Dale and her father shook his hand.

  “They’re from the Museum of Nature and Science,” Delphie said.

  “They’re scientists,” Ava said. “They’re going to dig up the barn to see if they can determine what happened here. Seth said they may be here for more than ten years working on everything that’s here.”

  “Like they have done in Bosnia,” Beth’s father said. “Find the crimes. Find the criminals. That is very good.”

  “Won’t they find the . . . ” Beth’s mother looked at her husband.

  “Zmaj,” Beth’s father visibly shook.

  “No, he and his mate are gone,” Delphie smiled. “The women and children in my family destroyed them with their light.”

  “And her babies,” Ava said.

  Beth’s mother began to weep. Dale hugged her.

  “He is our son now,” Beth’s f
ather said. “We are glad to have him. Please forgive us. We miss our Beth so very much.”

  “Don’t be sorry,” Delphie said. “I wanted everyone to get together here to see that they don’t suffer alone.”

  “That Saint Jude was an evil man,” Beth’s father said.

  “Without Beth, we never would have caught him,” Ava said.

  “Yes,” Beth’s father said. He took a breath at his pain and then changed the topic. “We were told this is going to be a park?”

  “Did you see the design?” Delphie took them to a 3-D model of the future park. “One of Jill’s teachers at the Art Institute came up with the design. The construction company is going to create it.”

  “How did you get them to . . . ?” Dale asked.

  “After he got out of the hospital, he just wanted to do it,” Delphie shrugged.

  “Delphie told him about a big blockage,” Ava whispered and gestured to her heart. Her eye’s spoke to the size of the block. “Widow maker.”

  “He’s very generous,” Delphie said with a twinkle in her eye.

  They laughed.

  “What’s going to happen to the house?” Dale asked. “It’s really lovely. Huge.”

  “I don’t remember,” Delphie said. “I mean, there’s a sold sign and I think someone told me, but I was making sure the park happened and . . . ”

  “She ignored me,” Sam up his arm over Delphie’s shoulder. “Sam Lipson.”

  Beth’s parents shook his hand and introduced themselves.

  “The house will be moved. I remember that,” Delphie smiled at Sam. “And the land will be the first part of the park. The City is deciding whether to build a rec center on a part of it. But Sam bought all that land and this land so it would be a really nice park.”

  “Don’t let her fool you,” Sam said. “She made this happen. Did she tell you about the people who lived in the mansion?”

  Beth’s father shook his head.

  “Why don’t you show them?” Sam said. “I’ll call the kids and see where they are.”

  Delphie nodded and led Beth’s parents to the row of old graves.

  “The original owners of the house died in the flu epidemic of 1918,” Delphie said. “One child got sick and by morning almost everyone was dead. It was a terrible tragedy. They were buried and forgotten here. I found them when we were here and Sam promised me he would take care of them. He bought those lovely grave markers and Jake set up the metal fence. The heirs even came up with a photo.”