Celia's Puppies Read online

  “Daddy,” Jacob said.

  Blane beamed like the Cheshire Cat. He had been after Jacob about Katy since Trevor abandoned them. He knew what it was like to be abandoned. And he didn’t want anything bad to happen to sweet Katy.

  “I’m helping your Daddy get better.”

  “My Daddy needs help,” Katy said.

  “Yes, he does,” Jacob said.

  Jacob held his left arm out and Jill set Katy in his lap. Katy gently hugged him. She kissed his cheek.

  “I have to go to school,” Katy said.

  “See you this afternoon,” Jacob said.

  Holding Jill’s hand, Katy was almost to the door when she ran back. She climbed onto Jacob’s lap then whispered in his ear. Jacob flushed, held her close then kissed her cheek. She jumped off his lap and ran to Jill. Jill picked her up. Katy waved ‘good-bye’ before Jill closed the door behind them.

  “What was that?” Blane asked. He returned to putting needles into Jacob.

  “She said she loved me.” Jacob’s eyes filled. “It’s like a dream.”

  “I told you. She’s a great kid,” Blane said. “Ok, one more. That should...”

  Jacob felt a whoosh of relief. His pain had all but vanished.

  “Wow.”

  “They’re both great girls,” Blane said. “You’re a lucky son of a bitch.”

  “I know. I keep thinking I’ll wake up and…,” Jacob said. “God, Blane, that’s great.”

  “We’ll keep them in for twenty minutes or so,” Blane said. “Then we’ll do it again this afternoon. When we can, we’ll start some of the salves on those scars.”

  “Thanks, Blane. Really.”

  “Well, shit, Jacob,” Blane said. “You’ve paid for my school, taken care of me when I’m sick... This is the least I can do.”

  “You’re family,” Jacob said.

  “Speaking of family,” Blane said, “your step-sister is waiting to see you. Sorry, I told her it would be a while. Then I forgot her.”

  “Which step-sister?”

  “Honey. The awful one is in Thailand. I made sure she and that tool got on the plane myself,” Blane said. His face flushed bright red with rage. “Bitch. Can you believe...”

  “Getting angry only makes you sick.” Jacob put his hand on Blane’s forearm. “Did Dad give you the divorce papers?”

  “No, I have them,” Aden said coming back into the room. “No anger, Blane.”

  Blane nodded. He walked to the window to calm down. The Hepatitis C virus had injured his liver so that every time he got enraged, he got very sick.

  “Promise me that’s going to happen for me,” Blane said. “What you have with Jill… what Aden has with Sandy… that’s going to happen for me.”

  “Celia said when you were better, you would find love,” Jacob said.

  “And you?”

  “What would I know?” Jacob shrugged as if he didn’t know what Blane was talking about.

  “Fuck you Jacob Marlowe,” Blane said. “You have this gift and you won’t share it?”

  “Sorry, force of habit,” Jacob said. “I don’t know how to describe what I see. I see you with a family that is your family. Children, love, and very happy. But I also see you not sick. No HIV. No Hep C. Nothing.”

  “So it will happen?” Blane said.

  Aden put his hand on Blane’s shoulder. Blane turned to look at him.

  “He’s saying you will find love and more,” Aden said. “But first, we have to get you well. No anger.”

  Blane nodded his head.

  “Family problem number one? Honey Lipson. Or family problem number two? Your father’s ridiculous divorce papers,” Blane asked.

  “Is Dad still here?” Jacob asked.

  “I’ll get him,” Blane said. “Should I get Honey?”

  “Let’s talk to her when Dad’s here,” Jacob said. “Is she...”

  “She’s been crying,” Blane said. “She seems very upset.”

  “Family problem number one.” Jacob nodded.

  “Coming up,” Blane said.

  ~~~~~~~~

  Coming back from dropping Katy off, Jill pressed open the side door. The Castle buzzed with activity and various Lipson employees. She looked longingly at the apartment door, but turned into the Castle living room. She was supposed to...

  She stopped walking. She had no idea what she was supposed to do. Time for a mental list.

  Laundry first. Move out? She grimaced. She and Jacob had argued about it last night and this morning. She thought she should return to her apartment. Jacob begged her to stay.

  Jill sighed.

  Groceries? No, they have groceries delivered. Val asked her to... God, rich people live in some foreign land. Who knew that groceries could be delivered?

  List of groceries! That’s right! Val asked her to make a grocery list.

  She was meeting Sandy at her condo in… Jill glanced at her watch. She was meeting Sandy in three hours for a girl’s day of hair styling and...

  “Excuse me,” a woman wearing inexpensive but professional dress said. “Are you Jill? Jillian Roper?”

  “I am,” Jill said.

  Lawyer? No, Jacob’s lawyers were expensive. They’d wear better shoes.

  “Oh great. Mr. Marlowe said you were coming back...”

  “Here I am,” Jill said. Jill smiled at the woman.

  The woman’s voice was professional but a little rude. Maybe she was a lawyer.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I’m Patti,” the woman said. “I work in Human Resources at Lipson Construction? Mr. Marlowe has some papers for you to sign.”

  “Papers?”

  “Insurance papers? For you and Katherine?”

  “Insurance?”

  The woman blinked, blushed, and then said, “You have no idea what I’m talking about or who I am.”

  Jill shook her head.

  Patti laughed. She put her hand on Jill’s arm.

  “We had this idea... Mr. Marlowe’s never even dated anyone,” Patti said. “Then all of a sudden, there’s a girl and child and well... When Blane told us to get this together, well, we thought...”

  “Gold digger?” Jill asked.

  “Please don’t tell him. He’ll be furious,” Patti said. “Is he really adopting your daughter?”

  “He wants to,” Jill said.

  “He’s great with kids. He’s like an uncle to all the Lipson kids. He stops by the school to read to them at least once a week. Will Katy go to the school?”

  “What school?”

  “Let’s start by getting these papers signed.”

  “Insurance?”

  “Health, dental, life, extended care,” Patti said. “For you and Katherine.”

  Patti looked at Jill’s confused face then smiled.

  “Do you have a cell phone?”

  “A cell phone?”

  “Mr. Marlowe has a new phone for you,” Patti said. “Come on. I’ll explain everything.”

  ~~~~~~~~

  Monday morning — 9 A.M.

  “You wanted to see me?” Jacob asked.

  In an attempt to look like he was working, he sat behind a desk. The acupuncture needles had zonked him out. Aden sat in a chair next to him and Blane stood behind him. Sam Lipson stood to the side of the desk. If Jacob fell over, he was pretty sure one of them would catch him.

  “You have NO RIGHT! NO RIGHT at all,” Honey said. She stood in front of the desk. “I… I...”

  Honey dropped back into a chair to cry. Even though she looked like her mother and older sister, Honey Lipson was a totally different creature. There was no air or pretense about her. She wore blue jeans, work boots and a button down blue shirt with ‘Lipson Construction’ stitched on the pocket. Her white blond hair was pulled back in a simple pony tail.

  “What happened?” Sam put his hand on her shoulder. “Honey, we don’t have any idea what’s going on. Can you tell us?”

  “Mom told us last night… the whole thing… about the trusts, I mean
.” She popped to her feet and loomed over the desk. “And I don’t give a CRAP about any trust. I don’t want your money. And just because my father is in prison and my mother is an idiot and my sister is a jerk. None of that has anything to do with me. You can’t FIRE ME because of them!”

  “Fire you?” Jacob asked. “Who fired you?”

  “YOU DID,” Honey screamed. “And it’s so UNFAIR. I’ve worked really hard and I’m really good on the roads. Everyone likes me. AND I’M NOT GIVING THE NAME BACK.”

  She crossed her arms and plopped back down in the chair.

  “Dad?” Jacob asked. Sam shook his head.

  “Aden?” Jacob asked.

  Aden shrugged. Jacob knew Aden was against hiring Honey when she graduated from high school. But Honey had proved to be a great employee. She worked hard, never complained and had become integral part of a road team. Jacob squinted his eyes at Aden to ask if Aden had fired her while Jacob was in the hospital. Aden shook his head.

  “Blane?”

  Jacob turned to see Blane looking at Honey as if she was insane. Blane had such bad experiences with the step-whore that he refused to speak to Honey.

  “Honey, we don’t have any idea what’s going on,” Jacob said. “This is my first day back. Can you slow down and tell us what’s going on?”

  “Oh,” Honey said. “You don’t?”

  The men shook their heads at her.

  “Oh,” Honey said again. “I’m still not giving the name back. Sam’s the only Dad I ever had.”

  “Ok, we have that in common,” Jacob said. “He’s the only Dad I’ve ever had too.”

  Honey gave Jacob a watery smile.

  “What happened today, Honey?” Sam asked. “You started to tell us. Your Mom told you about the trusts last night. And...”

  “I was asked to report to Human Resources. I figured I was getting fired, so I just came here.” The young woman stuck her chin out in stubborn defiance. “You want to fire me, you have to do it to my face.”

  “OH SHIT!” Blane exclaimed. Flipping through stack of paper, he pulled out a paper clipped set from the stack. He set the packet in front of Jacob. “Sorry Jake. It’s in the stack of papers to sign.”

  “We haven’t figured out how to sign the papers yet.” Blane gave Honey a weak smile. “He can’t hold a pen and...”

  Jacob looked at the papers.

  “You’ve been approved for the scholarship program, Honey.” Jacob flipped through the papers. “Wow, your high school grades are excellent. I had no idea you did so well.”

  “Your mom said, ‘Every day, we must work hard, take every opportunity and suck the marrow out of life’,” Honey said. “I do that. Every day. Suck the marrow. But I don’t actually suck marrow out of bones. I tried that? And it was kind of gross.”

  “Yeah, it’s gross.” Jacob wrinkled his nose. Aden and Blane nodded as if they also had tried marrow sucking. “You know how this works?”

  Honey shook her head.

  “I just want to go to college. And I want to pay for it myself. I mean, Mom said Dad would pay for it, but I want to do it myself. But I can’t afford it, so I applied for the scholarship. That’s like doing it yourself, isn’t it?”

  “Very much so,” Aden said. “You have to work full time and go to school. I mean, it’s a lot but that’s how I paid for college and my MBA.”

  “Me too,” Blane said. “Only Jake had the free ride.”

  “You have to pay for the first semester.” Jacob kept talking as a way of ignoring Blane’s comment as the ride never felt very free. “You can take whatever classes you want. If your grades are good, like over a B, we reimburse you.”

  “Oh,” Honey said. “I can’t pay for the first semester. I had to replace my car and my apartment...”

  “I’ll give you the money,” Sam said.

  “If you give me money, then, you’ll have to give money to...”

  “I’ll do it,” Valerie said. She was standing in the doorway. “I’ll give you the money. And I’m okay if you keep the name.”

  Honey jumped to her feet. Valerie had never spoken to her. In fact, she hadn’t ever been in the same room as her famous actress step-sister.

  “And he’s the only Dad I’ve ever had too.” Val nodded. Walking forward, she held her hand out. “I’m Valerie Lipson.”

  Honey shook Valerie’s hand.

  “Thanks,” Honey said.

  “You’re a part of the Lipson family,” Val said. “I… I’m glad to meet you...”

  Honey beamed at Valerie.

  “Finally,” Sam said.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  A huge find

  Monday morning — 9:20 A.M.

  In her own bed, Sandy rolled onto her back and stretched. Aden had brought her home before he went to work at five that morning. Sandy climbed the stairs, then crawled into bed with Cleo curled up next to her. She slept like a log until her alarm went off.

  Time to get up.

  She wandered through her condo apartment to the kitchen. After the last passion filled nights, coffee was definitely in order. She started brewing a pot.

  On her way to the bathroom, Sandy pressed the play button on her blinking answering machine. Hearing her mother’s voice, she decided to shower. She was meeting Aden at the gym at 10:30 after he dropped his kids off at their therapy appointment. Sandy washed, moisturized, and blew dry her hair. She was slipping on her bathrobe when her mother’s voice stopped talking on the answering machine. Sandy flipped the machine off on her way back to the kitchen.

  Taking a long drink of coffee, Sandy leaned against the kitchen counter to wait for her mother to call on her ten o’clock break.

  “Hi Mom.” Sandy answered the call on the first ring.

  “Sandy!” Her mother exclaimed as if they hadn’t spoken in years. “How are you?”

  “I’m good, Mom. How are you?”

  “Worried, dear. About you,” her mother said. “I tried to call you this weekend...”

  “I just got your messages,” Sandy said.

  “Clogged up your machine again,” her mother chuckled.

  Sandy let the silence lag. Her mother only called for specific reasons. If she waited, her mother would get around to what she wanted.

  “Elsa called.” Her mother’s voice was breezy, but the phone line echoed a chorus of ‘Sandy screwed up.’ “She said she saw you with a man at the Avenue Grill on Friday night. Do you have a new boyfriend?”

  “Yep.”

  “Well, Elsa said he was older than you and seemed to have a lot of money – nice watch, fancy car, paid cash. She said she walked by your table three times. She wanted to meet the man but you never even looked up.”

  “I don’t remember her.”

  Sandy took a drink of coffee. Elsa was her mother’s oldest and nosiest friend. Who knows if Elsa actually saw Sandy or if she heard it from someone else who heard it from someone who...

  “Elsa said he was holding your hand. Even through dinner! Holding your hand. She thought you were already… intimate with that man. You know, Sandy, a man like that only dates young girls for one thing.”

  “What’s that, Mom?”

  “You haven’t let him… touch you already have you?”

  Sandy didn’t respond.

  “Oh Sandy.” Her mother’s voice dripped with disappointment. “A man like that... You have to string him along. You don’t want to end up like Jill do you?”

  “Jill’s a wonderful person. I wouldn’t mind being exactly like Jill.”

  “You know what I mean.” Her mother’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Alone with a child.”

  “Oh. You mean like you?”

  “Sandra. You are no match for a wealthy older man. He’s going to use you and dump you.”

  “Maybe I’ll use him, Mom. I was thinking of spending all his money then dumping him.”

  “You are not very funny, young lady. What does he do?”

  “He helps run a company,” Sandy said
.

  “That man is way out of your league.” Her mother’s voice was conclusive. “Men like that don’t marry girls like you.”

  “Maybe I don’t want to get married.”

  “Oh Sandy.” Her mother’s sorrow came through the phone lines. “How will you ever have children?”

  “The usual way, I suppose. Sorry, Mom, I’ve got to go.”

  “I saw your father last week.”

  “My father’s dead, Mom.”

  “Your real father, Sandra.”

  “Why do you interact with him at all, Mother?”

  “I can’t help that he banks at my branch. Although he doesn’t have much money.” Her mother sighed.

  “How do you know that, Mom?”

  “He waited to come up to my teller window. He told me that you won’t even speak to him. He said he saw you at King Soopers and you walked the other way.”

  “And?”

  “Sandy… honey, you can’t blame a man for being an alcoholic.” Her mother gave another exaggerated sigh. “Gosh, your father hurt me more than you and I’ve moved on. I’ve forgiven him. You need to...”

  “Sorry Mom. I’m going to be late. See you Friday for a color?”

  “Yes, honey. I get so worried about you. And with this new man...”

  “Remember, I have that party on Friday,” Sandy said. “You have to come before work.”

  “The party at Jacob Marlowe’s house. Is Jill still dating that gay boy?”

  “Jill is dating Jacob,” Sandy said.

  “Poor Jill. I guess a girl’s got to do what a girl’s got to do to feed her child,” Sandy’s mother said. “I just don’t want you to be in that position, Sandy.”

  “Okay Mom. Love you. See you Friday morning.”

  “Oh, love you, Sandy.”

  Sandy hung up the phone. In years past, she might have been angry about the conversation. Today, she just felt sad. Not for herself. No. Outside of the surprised assault of gripping pain, Sandy never felt much of anything for herself. She felt sorry for her mother.

  Grateful too.

  Her mother taught her independence, gave her siblings to love and more than anything married her step-dad, her only real parent. He loved her, understood her, and protected her from awful, unspeakable things. Before he died, he even bought this condo for her.