Cimarron, Denver Cereal Volume 4 Read online

  Cimarron

  Denver Cereal, Volume Four

  Claudia Hall Christian

  Copyright © Claudia Hall Christian

  Cook Street Publishing

  Denver, CO

  Also by

  Claudia Hall Christian

  THE DENVER CEREAL SERIAL FICTION:

  The Denver Cereal

  Celia’s Puppies

  Cascade

  Cimarron

  Black Forest (1/2012)

  ALEX THE FEY THRILLER SERIES:

  The Fey

  Learning to Stand

  Who I am

  Lean on Me (2/2012)

  THE QUEEN OF COOL (4/2012)

  Originally published at DenverCereal.com :

  February 2010—October 2010;

  copyright © Claudia Hall Christian

  Licensed under the Creative Commons License:

  Attribution–NonCommercial–Share Alike 3.0

  Smashwords Edition Licensing Notes:

  Thank you for purchasing this ebook and welcome to Denver Cereal! You are welcome to share it with your friends. This book may be reproduced, copied and distributed for non-commercial purposes, provided the book remains in its complete original form. If you enjoyed this book, please return to mashwords.com to discover other works by this author. Thank you for your support.

  ISBN (13 digits) : 978-0-9826417-8-

  Library of Congress: 2011963229 (print edition)

  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.

  First edition © December 2011

  Cook Street Publishing

  PO Box 18217

  Denver, CO 80218

  For anyone who wakes up to their challenges,

  and, even though they want to hide under the covers,

  they put on smile, pull on their clothing,

  and do their best for themselves and their family.

  Don’t give up, brave soul.

  You are my hero.

  Author’s note

  I love Denver Cereal. Everyone involved in this project loves it. I think that’s what makes it happen year after year, post after post. We love these characters (who are the characters? Check the glossary at the end of the book) and want to share them with the world.

  I’m delighted you found Denver Cereal. More than anything, I hope the trials and tribulations of these characters help give you hope to conquer your own challenges.

  Thank you for reading and caring. Without you, Denver Cereal would never exist.

  December, 2011

  What’s happened so far?

  The Denver Cereal:

  In the Denver Cereal, we meet Jillian Roper when she pulls on her thigh high leather boots and crashes her abusive ex-husband Trevor’s engagement party. At the party, she meets the man of her dreams, Jacob Marlowe. Together, Jill and Jacob begin a crash course through grave injury and illness, to find love. Along the way, we meet Jacob’s movie star sister, Valerie, and learn of her struggles to have her own dreams and share a life with her husband Mike. Jill’s best friends, Sandy, Heather, and Tanesha, begin new courses in their life that take them to confront their greatest fears and deepest longings.

  Celia’s Puppies, Denver Cereal, Volume 2

  Jacob and Valerie’s mother, Celia, had a habit of helping lost people, called Celia’s Puppies. In this second Volume of the Denver Cereal, Celia’s puppies come to the forefront. We meet Jacob’s noble step-sister Honey, we learn more about Jacob’s ‘cousin’ Blane, and, via Oprah Winfrey, Valerie learns of Mike’s terrifying time away from her. In the middle, Trevor and his fiancé attempt to kidnap Jill’s daughter Katy and her best friend Paddie at a holiday party. The fiancé all but kills Honey. She is saved by her childhood sweetheart and Special Forces medic MJ and they reorient their lives and love. Jill and Jacob dance around getting married and, in the very end, they marry in an incredibly beautiful ceremony which includes every member of the Denver Cereal family. Of course, Sandy, Heather and Tanesha support, love and take steps forward toward their own happily ever afters.

  Cascade, Denver Cereal, Volume 3

  Peace comes to Denver Cereal, but demons from the past refuse to stay in the past. We learn of Sandy’s horrific childhood and her boyfriend Aden responds with violence. His violent act ends with Sandy getting shot by her pedophile father and Aden lands in jail. Jill, her mother, and father tell the story that was to never ever be told and her family begins to heal. With the help of Heather, now his wife, Blane confronts his past loves and battles Hepatitis C. Beloved Delphie must confront a demon from her past. When he arrives to kill her and everyone else, he meets what he could never expect. Delphie’s family battles for her. In the end, Jill bashes him with a hockey stick and Delphie survives a life threatening stroke.

  Cimarron finds Sandy on her way home from Delphie’s hospital bedside.

  Confused? You can download the Denver Cereal, Volume 1 from Smashwords or from our store at : CookStreetStore.com. You’ll find Denver Cereal in every electronic format and paperback at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, and your local independent bookseller.

  CHAPTER NINETY

  Gratitude and Grief

  Saturday morning — 1:20 A.M.

  Sandy opened the door to her condo apartment and took a deep breath. She’d always loved the smell of her very own home. Her home smelled safe. That’s how she had felt the first time she’d stepped into the condo – safe and at peace. She sighed. She needed safety and peace this morning.

  Tomorrow, her Godfather’s daughter would move into the condo for the summer. Seth hadn’t asked. Instead, his daughter Elizabethe - not Lizzie like she used to be called - had telephoned and begged her for a room in her condo. Now twenty-one years old, Seth’s first daughter from his first marriage wanted to see if she could forge a relationship with her father the summer before she started college. Sandy had agreed to let her stay for three hundred dollars a month. Of course, Sandy had set the terms when she thought she had access to Aden’s money to help cover their expenses.

  She didn’t. Now, she, his children, and the child in she carried were dependent on what she could earn as a hairdresser. Luckily, she liked to work.

  But today was not a day for working. She’d cancelled her client appointments last night at the hospital. Today, she would sleep until two, maybe three.

  Sandy checked the guest bedroom where Lizzie, no Elizabethe, would stay. She put fresh sheets on the bed and made sure all of the kids’ stuff was out of the closets and cabinets.

  Delphie had been to the condo when Sandy was in the hospital after her father had shot her. Delphie had packed up Sandy’s clothing, cleared out the refrigerator, and got the flat ready for Sandy’s stay at the Castle. She’d even arranged for Rosa and her team to clean the condo top to bottom. Looking around her home, Sandy saw tokens of Delphie’s usual love and care.

  Delphie. Beloved Delphie.

  Sandy felt too tired, too raw, to continue thinking about the woman. Instead, she checked the refrigerator out of habit. She took a box of Girl Scout cookies from the freezer and sat down on her couch. She was already late to see the kids. They would have to wait another fifteen minutes while Sandy ate a few frozen Tagalogs in peace.

  At this moment, Sandy missed her old carefree life. A year ago, she was single, able to do what she whatever she wanted. She hadn’t met Noelle or Nash, the children who now thought of her as their mother. She hadn’t been on even one date with Aden, her baby’s father, current resident of the Colorado Department of Corrections hospital ward. She wasn’t a business
owner and she had plenty of spare money. Last year, she was free.

  On a night like tonight, Sandy might have gone clubbing or spent the evening with a handsome man for dinner, drinks, and an uncomplicated romp. She might have had a girl’s night of drinks, make up, and laughter with Jill, Heather and Tanesha. Or she just as easily could have spent the entire night trying to perfect the flaky crust of a delicate French pastry.

  But this morning, she was pregnant, exhausted, and late to get her boyfriend’s children from her best friend’s mother. Sandy put her sore feet on the table and leaned into the couch’s comforting embrace.

  She’d spent the last two nights at a hospital. Two nights ago, she was at Aden’s bedside; last night, she waited for news about Delphie. Tonight, Aden was still in a medically induced coma. He and Pete would be moved to Canon City hospital ward in the morning.

  And Delphie…

  Sandy’s eyes welled with tears.

  Somehow, Delphie had survived the horror of yesterday. Dr. John Drayson came to tell them that her surgery had gone well. There was extensive bleeding but somehow there was only minor brain damage. He gave Jacob a lingering look and then shrugged. Dr. Drayson knew there was some funny business going on but he was too polite, too British, to ask. He went on to explain that the doctors had filled the aneurism with platinum coils. The coils protected the area from breaking or leaking. Delphie would need follow up care for the rest of her life but she was healthy overall and should recover with minimal lingering effects.

  Only Delphie’s immediate family, Jacob, Valerie and Sam, were allowed in the ICU. They were each given five minutes before they were escorted back to the waiting room. There was nothing anyone could do for Delphie now.

  Or Aden for that matter.

  Except wait.

  And pray.

  Jill and Sandy promised each other that they would go to the Cathedral today to light candles for Delphie and Aden. Maybe the Holy Mother would save them. Sandy never felt all that confident in the Holy Mother’s abilities. Still, she felt better when she asked Mary to help her. Maybe Mary would help Delphie and Aden if Sandy got Jill to ask.

  Sandy sighed again.

  She needed to get to the Castle. Noelle and Nash were waiting for her. She was supposed to follow Jill home when she took this detour. She had needed a moment to herself in her wonderful home.

  And some Tagalogs.

  Sandy looked inside the box hoping there were twenty hidden cookies inside. She shook the empty box and set it down.

  “Mother Mary,” Sandy said out loud. “Please help the ones I love to recover.”

  The peaceful silence of her beloved condo echoed back to her. She almost expected Cleo, her black and white cat, to jump up on her lap.

  But Cleo and the children were at the Castle, where Sandy should be. She was grateful for a moment of peace.

  “Mother Mary, thank you for sparing Delphie and Valerie and Aden and Pete. Thank you for helping me survive to see these busy days.”

  Sandy felt a little better. She was grateful that Delphie, Valerie, Aden and Pete survived. She was grateful she survived everything. She just wished she had a few more cookies. Her cell phone rang with the latest Miley Cyrus ringtone courtesy of Noelle. Shaking her head at the ringtone, Sandy answered.

  “Hey Jill,” she said. “I wanted to change the sheets before Lizzie comes tomorrow. I know when I sleep, I’ll sleep all day. She’s supposed to be here in the morning.”

  “Elizabethe,” Jill exaggerated the ‘beeth’ and laughed.

  “Yeah,” Sandy said. “Her.”

  Standing from the couch, she gave her condo one last look. She shoved the empty box of cookies into her purse and moved toward the door.

  “The girls are here,” Jill said. “Heather brought the lovely Mack. He’s sound asleep. Can you believe it? He didn’t wake up in the ride over. Remember how Katy was when she was this age?”

  “She didn’t sleep more than an hour until she was almost two,” Sandy laughed at her own memory of Katy’s infancy. “Didn’t want to miss anything. That’s Katy.”

  “Heather says that after the evening run, he sleeps until 3 A.M.”

  “Wow,” Sandy said. “Maybe I’ll get lucky like that.”

  “What?” Jill said to the voices in the background.

  “We’re wondering if you will make us some…”

  Jill put her hand over the phone. Sandy heard her ask, “What do we want?” She heard Heather and Tanesha say something. Jill laughed in response.

  “Mostly we just want you to come home,” Jill said. “We’re in the loft. Noelle and Nash are crashed out in the guest bedroom. Cleo’s looking for you.”

  “I’ll be right there,” Sandy said.

  She closed the door to her home and went down the hall.

  ~~~~~~~~

  Saturday early morning — 3:45 A.M.

  Jacob crept across the open loft space. Jill and her friends were asleep in the sitting area near the fireplace. The empty wine bottle and pan of brownies indicated that they’d had a girls’ night. Jill and Sandy were so grim when they left the hospital; he hoped the wine, brownies, and company helped.

  He smiled. Sound asleep, the women were draped around each other like some romantic oil painting. Jill was sitting near the end of the couch with Sandy’s head on her lap. As he approached, Sandy’s eyes opened. When Sandy shifted off Jill’s lap, Jill opened her eyes. She turned to look at Sandy and Sandy pointed to Jacob.

  Jill stood to hug Jacob. Sandy gave them a wave and lay back on the couch.

  “Come to bed,” Jacob whispered in Jill’s ear.

  Jill nodded. He took her hand and led her across the loft. He closed their bedroom door.

  “Bath or bed?” he asked.

  “Bath,” she said. “How’s Delphie?”

  He gave her a soft smile. He led her through their bedroom to their master bathroom where he filled the tub. He gave her the bath salts and went out. When he returned, she was waiting for him in the tub. He plucked off his clothing and stepped in across from her. His knees pressed against the tub and hers rested against his knees. He smiled. For that moment, sitting in the warm scented water with his love, everything in his world was right. He kissed the palm of her right hand in thanks.

  “What’s going on?” she asked.

  “Dad and Valerie are staying at the hospital,” he said. “I’m home to close Lipson for the day. I have about an hour before I have to work.”

  Jill reached back to get a washcloth.

  “I’d like to spend the time with you,” he said. “If that’s all right. I know your friends are here but…”

  “I’d like that.”

  Jill smiled one of her beautiful smiles. A flush ran all the way through him. She giggled at his reaction.

  “How… I mean, when…?” he asked.

  “The healing thing?” Jill asked.

  Nodding, his eyes tracked the washcloth moving across Jill’s skin.

  “I’ve been able to do it all my life. Everyone in my family has some healing in them. I’m the strongest or at least stronger than Mama. Mike’s not as strong as Mama, but he was able to keep those soldiers alive when they were hostages.”

  “Mike?” He took the wash cloth from her. He indicated for her to twirl around. She slid between his legs. “That’s just weird. When did Mike get any healing power?”

  “Ever notice how Mike never really gets hurt?” Jill asked. “He plays hockey hard but he’s never injured. He even has all his front teeth. How many hockey goalies have all their teeth?”

  “He has those scars on his head and face,” Jacob said.

  Jill nodded.

  “Oh, you mean, the injuries must have been very severe for him to have those scars,” Jacob said.

  Jill nodded.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” Jacob said. “Why didn’t you heal me?”

  “When you were injured?” Jill asked. “I did. I mean, I did what I could for you. Remember the compre
ssion dressing?”

  “The doctors said it saved my life.”

  “It was kind of an accident with you, Honey and Katy. Today… no yesterday was the first time I’ve done it intentionally since my Dad died.” Not wanting to talk about her father, she rushed on, “It’s some genetic thing. It’s why my grandfather rose so fast in the Russian Mob. He’s supposed to be gifted. Mama thinks I’m stronger than he is but I’ve never met him. We used to do it as kids. When my Dad went… crazy, we’d heal the bruises, broken bones and stuff. On Mama too. Sometimes I think he allowed himself to get so crazy because he knew we could heal it.”

  “And the little prayer?” Jacob caressed her with the washcloth.

  “Take in this healing with love, for the best use of your soul and body,” Jill said. “It’s something we said as kids. We did it yesterday out of habit, mostly.”

  She tipped her head back and he kissed her lips.

  “You’ve said that your powers are stronger when I’m around,” Jill said. “It’s probably this thing. Or that’s what Katy said when we were in the Chapel.”

  “Katy,” Jacob said. “How is Katy?”

  “Asleep but happy. She and Paddie ate all kinds of cookies and cupcakes and chocolate. Mama said they kept everyone entertained by running in circles and giggling. They’re very happy right now.”

  “So am I,” Jacob said.

  For a brief moment, his heart filled with the joy of Jill. Reality dropped in a moment later. He sighed.

  “Tell me about Delphie,” Jill said. “It was awful to come home and not have her here. The downstairs is a wreck. I… Tell me about Delphie.”