Cimarron, Denver Cereal Volume 4 Read Free

that,” Jacob said. “Totally out of our scope and
place. Val and I had to go see it to vote against it. That’s how I
got to California.”
    “ We should go back,” Jill
said.
    “ We should,” Jacob
said.
    Standing from the tub, he grabbed a towel
from the rack.
    “ Where are you going?” she
asked.
    “ I only have a half hour
more…” he said. Still damp, he pulled the sheets back on the bed
and wagged his eyebrows at her. “You promised to heal
me.”
    Laughing, she hopped from the bath to follow
him to the bed.
    ~~~~~~~~
    Saturday afternoon — 3:45 P.M.
     
    “ Are you all right?” Mike
asked.
    They were walking down Eighteenth Street.
Delphie was still unconscious. Jacob was sitting with her while Sam
went home to shower. Mike had been bugging Valerie to eat for
hours. After Jacob promised to call if anything changed, she
finally agreed to leave the hospital for food.
    “ I’d rather have dessert,”
Valerie said. “If I have to eat, I’d rather have
dessert.”
    Valerie felt as if the roots of her very
existence had been ripped from the ground. Delphie was her anchor,
her long roots into the soil allowed Valerie to take risks and life
her movie star life. They turned down Humboldt Street toward
Seventeenth Street.
    “ There’s a place here,”
Mike said. “Next to Strings. D Bar. Oh crap.”
    A car screeched to a halt beside them. Four
paparazzi photographers jumped from the car. The cameras whirred
and the flash popped. Mike put his arm around Valerie to protect
her.
    “ Where you going
Val?”
    “ What’s going on
Val?”
    “ How are the babies,
Val?”
    “ Hey Mike, is she wearing
your pants? They’re pretty big.”
    "Show us your baby bump, Val!"
    “ Why are you in Denver,
Val?”
    The questions flew as fast as the flash from
the cameras. She smiled and waved.
    Turning on left on Seventeenth, they scooted
into the D Bar.
    “ Are they for you?” the
waitress asked about the photographers.
    Valerie nodded.
    “ Do you want them
in?”
    Valerie shook her head.
    “ Easy.”
    The waitress went to get owner. The owner
informed the photographers that they should leave. As if to
accentuate her point, a Denver police cruiser pulled up in
front.
    “ Thanks.” Mike slipped the
waitress a twenty dollar bill.
    They took a seat at a square four person
table near the back. Mike held Valerie’s seat and came around to
sit across from her.
    “ Sit next to me,” Valerie
said. “Please.”
    Mike moved over. She held his hand.
    “ I’m so sorry about the
baby, Mike. I wanted to give you babies… a boy to play hockey with
and… I….”
    Her large hazel eyes filled with tears. Mike
put his arm around her. He kissed her cheek. Retrieving a clean
handkerchief from his pocket, he wiped her eyes. She took the
handkerchief from him.
    “ Where did you get this?”
she asked. “I made a mess of your other one.”
    “ Jake brought me two clean
handkerchiefs,” Mike said. “Just figured I’d need them.”
    Valerie gave a soft smile for her brother’s
lie about his psychic abilities.
    “ I’m sorry about our baby
too,” Mike said. “Feel caught between gratitude for the miracle
that you’re alive, the joy that we still have a baby girl to look
forward to meeting and very real heartbreak over losing our boy,
our son.”
    “ Feels crazy,” Valerie
said.
    “ Feels crazy,” Mike
said.
    “ I called the producers.
They are giving me next week off to be with Delphie and get checked
and stuff. They want me back but are being nice about it. My agent
said they are really happy with my work.”
    Mike’s big rough hand cupped her soft cheek.
He smiled into her face.
    “ We need to sleep, recover.
We’ll see our doctor on Monday,” Mike said. “I say we celebrate the
short life of our son, our daughter on the way, and your precious
life.”
    “ I need to grieve, Mike,”
Valerie said. “And eat some chocolate.”
    Mike signaled the waitress.
    “ Please bring us every
chocolate dessert you have