“Good to know,” Janet said with a grin.
“Is she going to kick us out?” the eldest girl asked in a soft voice.
“You helped her friend,” Seth said. “She’ll treat you like heroes.”
Janet gave Seth a long look and took the last stairs up to his house. He ushered the children inside and stopped at the door.
The silent hall spoke to him. He took the first real breath he’d taken since Melinda had called to tell him that Dale had disappeared. Relief washed over him. Seth had assumed the boy had killed himself. If he hadn’t arrived when he did, he was sure that Dale would have. He closed his eyes again and said a silent prayer of thanks. Feeling a hand on his arm, he opened his eyes to see Claire.
“Maresol’s on the phone,” Claire said. “I’m going to get Melissa. These kids are sick, and Dale’s a mess. I stuck him in the tub, but . . . And anyway, she’s home tonight. She’d be mad if we didn’t ask her to take a look at them. You know how she thinks we treat her like a baby.”
Seth nodded but didn’t move.
“Are you all right?” Claire asked.
“I am.”
“Maresol’s still on the phone,” Claire said.
She gave him the cordless phone. Nodding, Seth went inside and Claire left.
“O’Malley,” Seth said.
“Seth!” Maresol said.
The quiet moment had passed and he was back in the noisy, busy stream of his life.
Chapter Four Hundred and Twenty
Sunday Morning
Sunday morning — 5:02 a.m. MDT
Denver, Colorado
Jacob shifted in bed, and Jill reached for him.
“Are you okay?” Jill whispered.
“Just need the bathroom,” he said. Leaning over, he kissed her lips, “And a kiss, of course.”
She smiled and stroked his cheek. He got up and went toward the bathroom. He passed the bed, where Sarah, his Labrador, slept now. The dog stirred but didn’t get up. Smiling to himself, he went into the bathroom. He returned a few minutes later and climbed into bed. He lay on his back, staring at the ceiling. Jill slipped into a light sleep.
“Jill?” Jacob whispered.
Jill mumbled something and rolled onto her side so she faced him.
“Are you awake?” Jacob whispered.
Jill opened her eyes. Jacob winced.
“Sorry,” he said. “You’re exhausted. Go back to sleep.”
Her eyes watched his face for a minute.
“What’s going on?” Jill asked.
“I just wanted to say . . .” Jacob moved so that his face was right in front of hers. “I’m sorry.”
“You’ve said that a bunch,” Jill said. “I don’t really know why.”
“I abandoned you,” Jacob said. “I left you holding the bag on everything while I went to hang out with my dog.”
“Did you do it on purpose?” Jill asked.
“On purpose?” Jacob asked. He rolled onto his back. “I didn’t stop it — that’s for sure.”
“Could you have?” Jill asked.
“I . . .” Jacob shook his head. “I don’t know. I didn’t even try.”
“Sounds like you didn’t know how to fight it.” Jill gave him a soft smile.
“I should have known how,” Jacob said.
“Some things just happen,” Jill said.
“Not to me,” Jacob said.
Jill chuckled and got up. She used the bathroom. When she got back, Sarah had jumped up onto the bed to sleep in the crook of Jacob’s knees. Smiling, Jill got back in bed. She shifted uncomfortably for a moment before falling asleep. She fell into a memory-infused dream.
“Why does Perses travel so much?” Jill asked her mother, Anjelika.
“It is his work,” Anjelika said.
“But what about my recital?” Jill asked.
“I will be there, Jillian.” Anjelika kissed Jill’s cheek. “I would not miss it for the world.”
“But it’s not like he does anything!” Jill said.
“We all do something,” Anjelika said. “Sometimes they are enormous, showy things. Other times, our actions change the very nature of the world and no one is the wiser.”
“But . . .!” Jill started.
“You, your brothers and sisters, and even me — we are the most important thing in this world to your father,” Anjelika said. “If he is away from us, it must be for a very important reason. We can trust your father to be back with us as soon as he possibly can be.”
Feeling hot breath on her face, Jill opened her eyes to see Sarah’s eyes watching her. Jill rubbed Sarah’s soft face, and Sarah’s long, pink tongue licked Jill’s face.
“I know,” Jill said softly to the dog.
“You know?” Jacob’s voice came from the other side of the dog. He leaned up to look at her.
“I know that you wouldn’t have been gone if it wasn’t necessary, mandatory even,” Jill said.
“If you know that, can you explain it to me?” Jacob asked.
Jill’s eyebrows furrowed with concern.
“What is it?” Jill asked.
“I feel awful for leaving you, alone, here, in the middle of our chaotic, overwhelming life,” Jacob said. Jill took a breath to speak, but Jacob cut her off. “I know what you’re going to say : ‘It was only a few days,’”
“It was!” Jill said.
“You and I both know that I left a long time before that,” Jacob said.
Jill silently watched him. When he didn’t say anything else, she took a breath to speak.
“What was it like?” Jill asked. “Not in the cabin. We’ve talked about that. It sounds fabulous. I mean while you were here and gone at the same time.”
“Good question,” Jacob said. He rolled onto his back. “It was like . . .”
He sighed.
“When I was a kid, I caught this horny toad,” Jacob said. His eyes flicked to her. “They’re actually horned toads or more accurately short-horned lizards, and . . . Dad was with me — when I caught it, I mean. We set up this awesome aquarium — everything a horny toad needed: Warm light, great rocks, a cool piece of wood. I fed him live crickets. I even gave him ants that came from the big ant hill out back. He seemed really happy for a while. Then, Delphie came over.”
“Uh-oh. I don’t know if I like the sound of that!” Jill said suppressing a chuckle.
“Exactly,” Jacob said. “She told me that my horny toad was lonely. Lonely! Can you imagine such a thing?”
“How did you take that?” Jill asked with a grin.
“Not well, I’ll tell you,” Jacob said.
“The toad had you!” Jill said. “What more could he want?”
“That’s exactly right,” Jacob said. Smiling, he continued, “But Delphie was insistent. ‘The small-horned lizard is lonely,’ she said no less than a million times.”
Jacob sighed.
“I was being cruel to make him live alone,” Jacob said. “Even though, I’ll tell you, I wouldn’t have minded living alone around about then.”
Jill laughed out loud.
“She’s always right, so, after I pouted for a while, I caught another horny toad,” Jacob said. “You know the first thing Melville did? Melville — that was the name of the original horny toad.”
“What else could it be?” Jill asked.
“Exactly,” Jacob said. “I knew there was a reason I married you.”
He leaned over Sarah and kissed Jill.
“And the new horny toad?” Jill asked.
“Josephine,” Jacob said.
“Did you know she was a girl?” Jill asked.
“Of course not,” Jacob said. “I just thought that there was me and Valerie, mom and dad.”
Jacob nodded.
“Melville needed a girl,” Jill said.
“That’s exactly right,” Jacob said. “Well, you know what Melville did?”
“Laid eggs?” Jill asked.
“Don’t be disgusting,” J
acob said in a mock twelve-year-old voice. “Take it back.”
“I take it back,” Jill said. “But . . .”
“What did Melville do?” Jacob asked.
“Exactly,” Jill said.
“He took one look at Josephine and burrowed into the sand,” Jacob said.
“Wow,” Jill said.
“He just sat there, with only his eyes out,” Jacob said.
“Watching,” Jill said.
“Exactly,” Jacob said. “That’s what it was like for me. I was buried, unable to move. I could only watch life pass me by. It was torture, or what I imagine torture might be like.”
“Oh, Jake,” Jill said. “That sounds really horrible.”
“It was,” Jacob nodded. “I wanted to be anywhere else, but I had to be there. And then when I was back in the Sea of Amber. Thank God for Blane. I was ready to give up.”
“Thank God for Blane,” Jill said. “It’s amazing what they did — Sam, Valerie, and Blane.”
“They are amazing,” Jacob said. “The world is in their debt.”
“If the world ever knew,” Jill said with a grin.
“There’s that,” Jacob said.
“And now?” Jill asked. “How do you feel?”
“I feel like I can breathe, for the first time in a long time,” Jacob said. “No more Lipson. No more state of Colorado bullshit. No lying inspectors and pencil pushing permit pukes. No more anything. Just you, Katy, Bladen, Tanner, and carpentry — work I truly love.”
Jacob beamed, and the room lit up.
“Um,” Jill said.
He turned his head to look at JIll.
“Honey was hoping you could help them,” Jill said.
“Sure,” Jacob said. “What does Honey need?”
“Well . . .” Jill started. “She was hoping you might help them with the pencil-pushing permit pukes.”
Jacob laughed out loud.
“They’re stuck,” Jill said. “They keep going back and forth between the hospital permitting and the residential permit department. It’s crazy.”
“Sounds like something I can do,” Jacob said. “But not today, right? Today is Sunday.”
“What about fishing? Mountain bike riding?” Jill asked with a grin. “Or . . .”
“Hockey,” they said together and laughed.
“If it’s all right with you, I think I’d rather spend the day with you and the kids,” Jacob said.
Jill grinned in response.
“How about you?” Jacob asked. “What can I do for you?”
“I wouldn’t mind some more of what you did for me last night.” Jill gave him a lecherous grin.
Without hesitation, Jacob shooed Sarah off the bed and moved over to her. He’d just leaned in to kiss Jill when Katy said, “Mommy?” Hearing Katy’s voice, the twins began to scream. Jill and Jacob started moving at the same time.
“I’ll take the boys,” he said. Hopping up, he pulled on a pair of light pajama bottoms.
“They need to be breast fed,” Jill said. “Everything’s been so crazy that I haven’t pumped.”
“Good point,” Jacob said. “You take the boys, and I’ll get Katy.”
He touched her nose, brushed his lips with hers, and ran to get Katy. She smiled after him and went to the twins’ room.
~~~~~~~~
Sunday morning — 7:02 a.m. EDT
New York City, New York
Carrying his shoes, Seth carefully pulled closed the door to his and Ava’s bedroom and stood on the edge of the living room. Three of Janet’s four grandchildren were sound asleep, scattered around the living-room floor. Malik was sleeping with his arm not quite around Janet. Janet’s daughter sat with the baby on her lap and her back against the couch. Melissa, Claire’s daughter, was asleep in the armchair. Seth glanced at the door to their bedroom. Ava was asleep in the bed, and they’d settled Dale in the other bedroom, where Charlie, Seth’s best friend Mitch’s son, was keeping watch.
Everyone safe. Everyone accounted for.
He slipped silently across the wood floors to the kitchen. Once there, he soundlessly made coffee. When he was in Denver, Maresol and Ava insisted on grinding their own whole-bean coffee. When Seth was alone, he drank coffee in the way God had intended it — from the can. He opened the plastic lid of the generic coffee tin and measured out a full pot of coffee. As quietly as possible, he filled the pot and started it.
He knew that Claire had made his breakfast before she’d gone home to pass out. He stuck his head deep into the large refrigerator and came out with a plate of paper-towel-wrapped-egg-and-bacon burritos and a bag of Claire’s amazing breakfast cookies. He turned and ran right into Janet. Soundlessly, she grabbed the plate of burritos before it fell. Seth grinned his thanks.
“Are you off?” Janet whispered.
“I have to work,” Seth said.
“Work?” Janet asked. “I thought you were just rich.”
Seth shook his head and grinned. He pointed to the counter and she set down the plate of burritos. Her confused look compelled him to answer.
“I write music,” Seth said. “The mother of my eldest daughter died recently . . .”
“I’m so sorry,” Janet said.
Seth nodded and continued.
“She wrote a series of truly amazing long concertos that are just short of being symphonies,” Seth said. “They were sold to a movie company, who wants to use them as the theme for a series of movies. I’m working with a group of musicians who are attempting to make this a reality.”
“Sounds hard,” Janet said.
“It’s just work,” Seth said. “Don’t get me wrong. I love my work, but some of it is simply work.”
“My work is like that,” Janet said with a nod.
“Are you working today?” Seth asked.
“At three,” Janet said. “Listen, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”
Seth glanced at Janet and took a plate out of the cabinet.
“Would you like one?” Seth asked.
“Sure,” she said.
Seth took another plate out and put a burrito on each of them. He glanced at Janet again, and she still didn’t say anything. He put the burritos into the microwave.
“Are you going to talk?” Seth asked.
“Oh, sorry,” Janet grinned at him. “I was waiting for you to sit down or something.”
Seth lifted a shoulder, which made Janet laugh.
“I guess I’ve only talked to white people who were behind desks,” Janet said.
“Or in hospital beds,” Seth said with a grin.
“That’s the truth,” Janet said.
“If you have something to say to Seth, you should spit it out, Janet,” Claire said from the door to the kitchen.
Surprised, Janet and Seth’s heads jerked in her direction. The microwave bell rang, and Seth retrieved his hot burrito.
“I wanted to say ‘Thanks,’” Janet said. “We’ll head out as soon as my daughter’s awake.”
“To sit in your hot apartment?” Seth asked.
Janet flushed.
“Listen, I’m going to be gone all day,” Seth said. “Ava and Charlie are taking Dale to the doctor to get checked out. You’re welcome to stay here. Think of it as payment for helping us out last night.”
“But you paid me, and . . . ” Janet said.
“I’ll be here by myself all day,” Claire said. “We can change those beds lickety-split and you can get some real rest.”
“I couldn’t,” Janet said.
“You couldn’t what?” Malik asked as came into the kitchen.
He nodded hello to Claire and put his hand on Janet’s shoulder before looking at Seth. Seth nodded and drank down a cup of coffee. He poured a second cup into a travel mug. He balanced a breakfast cookie on top of the second cup.
“Stay here,” Janet said. She blushed at Malik’s attention. “They’ve offered to let us stay here today.”
“I have to get going,” Malik said.
“I smelled coffee.”
“Help yourself,” Seth said. Pointing to a cabinet, he added, “Cups in there.”
“Going?” Janet asked.
Malik’s back was turned as he made his coffee. Janet looked genuinely surprised and sad. Seth grinned over her head at Claire.
“I teach high school English and lead drum corps during the year,” Malik said, while still facing the cabinet. “The drum corps did so well this year that we were invited to a couple of competitions this summer. We practice all day Sunday.”
Malik looked at Janet and shook his head.
“Did you think I was only a drummer in a band?” Malik asked with a grin.
“I . . . well . . .” Janet said.
“I like to eat,” Malik said with a laugh.
“Stay here and rest,” Claire said. “Seth doesn’t work late. He’ll be home around five, and Ava’s going to be at the doctor’s with Dale and Charlie. So it’s just me most of the day. I’d enjoy the company. When the kids wake up, they can play games and at least stay out of the heat.”
“We can’t do this every day!” Janet said.
Seth shrugged. Taking his burrito, the cookies, and coffee, he gave Claire a peck on the cheek and left the kitchen. In the hallway, he heard Claire say, “I don’t know why not” to Janet.
Grinning, he left the apartment. On the bottom step, he put on his shoes and headed into the warm morning.
~~~~~~~~
Sunday morning — 8:02 a.m. MDT
Denver, Colorado
While Blane cooked something exquisite, Heather fed Wyn a bottle of breast milk at the kitchen counter.
“What are you making?” Heather asked.
“Hungry?” Blane asked.
Heather chuckled.
“It smells so good,” Heather said. “I was wondering how much I could eat before we bring it to Yvonne’s.”
“I made extra,” Blane said. He set an empty plate in front of her. “When you’re ready.”
“What is it?” Heather asked.
“What does it smell like?” Blane asked. “You know a cook’s best organ is his . . .”
“Penis,” Jeraine said as he walked into the kitchen.
“Gross! I can hear you!” Tink yelled from the couch, where she was playing with Mack.
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