Cascade (13 page)

“
So? I can draw or paint. Plus
who’s going to make your protein shakes?”

Mike set her on the counter then began getting
out the ingredients for her protein drink.

“
What about your showing? Your
first ever art show? Here at the Denver Art Museum?”

“
They’ll have all the pieces by
the end of the year. I can just show up for the event,” Mike said.
“That’s what the movie stars do.”

Valerie laughed.

“
Why should I miss you every
moment of every day for almost a month?” He dumped measured scoops
of chocolate protein powder into the shaker then poured ice water
over it. He was dropping in ice cubes when she said,

“
Shhh!”

“
No, Val,” Mike said. “I’m
serious. I don’t…”

She put her hand over his mouth.

“
Do you hear that? Sounds like
someone’s calling for help.”

Behind her hand, Mike shook his head. His eyes
puzzled. Then he nodded. Valerie jumped down from the cabinet.
Creeping into the Castle living area, she tilted her head to the
side to listen. She walked toward the side door then shook her
head. Mike pointed toward the hallway where Sam and Honey’s rooms
were located. Valerie crept to the door then ran to Honey’s
door.

“
It’s locked!”

Mike kicked the door open.

“
Honey?” Valerie
called.

“
Honey?” Mike’s face concentrated
on hearing the sound. Pushing past Valerie, he walked into Honey’s
living room. Valerie peeked into her bedroom.

“
She’s in the bathroom!” Valerie
said.

Honey lay in a heap on the bathroom floor. She
looked like she’d fallen off the toilet. There was blood underneath
her. Valerie touched Honey’s shoulder and she moaned.

“
I’m losing my baby,” Honey
mumbled.

CHAPTER
SIXTY-THREE

And it keeps on coming

Thursday morning — 7:30
A.M.

MJ ran through the hospital at full speed.
When Jake called their office last night, the entire team began the
journey back to Denver. He was lucky to have an LC that put family
before anything else. He was lucky to even be able to come home. If
he was still a Special Forces medic, he wouldn’t be home for
months, even years.

Still, he cursed himself for not being at home when Honey
needed him. He’d talked to her last night. Honey was ‘fine,’ ‘don’t
worry,’ but the sorrow in her voice ripped a hole through the
center of him. They kept her overnight to make sure she was all
right. She’d have the D&C when he got there. If he
ever
got there.

He picked up the pace. Taking one false step,
the shoe on his prosthesis slid on the polished floors. He was
falling when his teammate, Troy Olivas, grabbed the back of his
shirt. MJ jerked to a halt. Troy set him on his feet
again.

“
Let’s walk. We’ll get there
faster,” Troy said.

Troy patted MJ’s shoulder and pointed to the
elevators. Dazed, MJ nodded. He followed Troy onto the
elevator.

“
What floor?” Troy
asked.

“
Jake said she’s on the tenth
floor. Private room,” MJ said. “I… Yeah, thanks.”

“
No problem,” Troy said. The
elevator doors slid open. “Come on.”

Troy pushed MJ out of the elevator. The nurse
on duty pointed them toward Honey’s room. Troy held the door open
for MJ.

MJ nodded to Honey’s mother, Tiffanie, who was
sitting next to Honey’s bed.

“
She’s asleep,” Tiffanie
said.

Without hesitation, MJ dropped into the bed
with Honey. Honey stirred, sighed and nestled against him. Like two
hearts merging, MJ and Honey seemed to combine into one
unit.

“
Coffee?” Troy asked
Tiffanie.

“
Sure,” Tiffanie said.

~~~~~~~~

Thursday afternoon — 1:20
P.M.

When Jill started working Pete’s night shifts
again, she and Jacob fell into an easy rhythm. Except for hockey
nights, Jacob took care of Katy. Leaving Katy’s baby monitor with
Delphie, he’d pick Jill up from work and they would walk home.
They’d share a laugh, dance, make love or hang out. He went to work
around 4:30 A.M. Jill took care of Katy in the morning then slept
until around one.

In the weeks and months of Jill’s work
schedule, Jacob developed the habit of coming home mid-day for
lunch. With Katy at school, he had Jill’s undivided attention. At
lunch, they could talk. They took baths together, went for walks,
read poetry to each other, lounged by the fire, baked bread, made
snowmen in the backyard and made love. He’d return to work a couple
of hours later refreshed for another long stint at work.

These precious hours together were the best
part of his day.

Entering the loft, he smiled. He could smell
the ‘fancy’ bubble bath he bought her. Jill was in the bath. He
stripped off his clothing on his way through their
bedroom.

“
Hi honey, I’m home,” he said at
the bathroom door.

Only Jill eye’s peaked over the bubbles. Her
eyes flicked towards him and she emerged from the water. Her face
lit up.

“
I hoped you’d be home soon,” Jill
said.

“
May I join you?”

“
Of course.” She sat up so he
could step in.

“
How’s Honey?”

“
She and MJ got home about an hour
ago,” Jill said. “They’re both very sad. Poor Honey. She’s lost so
much this year. I was hoping a baby would… I don’t know… make up
for it, I guess.”

Jacob smiled at Jill’s sweet thought. He
stepped into the tub across from her. She shifted so his knees
could go outside hers. She held his feet with her hands.

“
Her Lipson team has been here off
and on,” Jill said. “She’s well loved.”

“
Honey?” Jacob leaned forward to
kiss her. “She’s a major cog in her team’s wheel. Everyone loves
her.”

“
They’ve postponed the trial until
after the first of the year,” Jill said.

“
Thank God.”

“
Hey! You were going to tell me
why you don’t want to be a psychic,” Jill said. “I remembered that
just before you came home.”

Jacob began caressing her legs with a bath
sponge.

“
I won’t forget,” Jill said. “You
promised you’d tell me. A wedding day promise, even.”

“
Notice anything?” Jacob
said.

“
No. Why?”

“
Look down.”

Jill gasped. The bathtub was three feet below
her. The bathtub shaped warm water, bubbles and their naked bodies
floated in the air.

“
How…?”

“
I can move objects,” Jacob said.
“I can do a bunch of things – know the long term future, stuff like
that - but moving objects is… special.”

Jill nodded. When she looked down again, they
were in the bathtub. She wrapped her hands around the edge of the
porcelain claw foot tub for reassurance.

“
Marlowe men have the capacity to
move objects. Telekinesis is what it’s called.”

“
Can you move anything?” Jill
asked.

“
Yep.”

Jill’s hair brush floated across the room to
her. She caught it in the air.

“
How long have you been…?” She set
the brush down on the floor and returned to clutching the
tub.

“
Since before I was born. Remember
how Dad said Mom almost didn’t survive having me?” Jacob said.
“Babies want out of the womb. Marlowe male babies can get out, but
usually kill their mothers. At least the last hundred years or so.
Delphie was able to connect with me. She was able to get me to stop
trying to get out.”

“
Why don’t you want
this?”

“
I want to be normal. Like my
father,” Jacob said. “If people know I can do this, then they’ll
think I cheat at sports or life or… I want a normal life. Big Sam
played football, basketball, ran track and…”

“
Do you cheat at
sports?”

“
Never,” Jacob said. “I mean, I
did once when I was a kid. I didn’t even know I was doing it. Dad
was there. He knew I cheated. I felt awful… like a complete
freak.”

“
If Katy had been a
boy?”

“
You might have had trouble,”
Jacob said. “Not every Marlowe male has this…”

“
Gift?”

“
I was going to say curse.” Jacob
grimaced. “If we have a boy, this will always be a risk. Valerie’s
baby was a boy. That’s probably why she miscarried.”

“
But I’m not a psychic,” Jill
said. “Mike’s not a psychic.”

“
No one really knows how it
works,” Jacob said. “My grandfather only had girls, so they thought
this curse was over. Then I came along. After Valerie’s baby, we
figure all male Marlowes might have this problem. Historically,
there are male Marlowes who don’t have this curse. Recently, it’s
been me and my Grandfather.”

“
What’s so great about being
normal?”

Jacob startled then laughed.

“
What?”

“
Oh, Mom said to me recently,”
Jacob said. “I don’t know what’s great about being normal. Normal
feels safer, easier, and definitely less work. If people know I can
do this, they expect things from me that… I’d rather be simple
Jacob. You know how my Grandfather Delbert died?”

Jill shook her head.

“
He was killed by Levi Johansen,”
Jacob said.

“
How awful!” Jill
exclaimed.

“
My grandfather was protecting
Delphie,” Jacob said. “Using telekinesis, Levi squeezed Delbert’s
heart until it exploded. Dad and Mom were there. Delbert and Levi
had been fighting. My grandfather took a lot of abuse before Levi
was able to weaken his defenses enough to do this thing. Levi was
found guilty of manslaughter and a few other things. It wasn’t his
first offense. He was sentenced to life.”

“
He’s out now,” Jill
said.

“
Unfortunately,” Jacob said. “The
good news is they gave him a med in prison that blocked his psychic
ability. He’s a little rusty.”

“
I hate him,” Jill shook her
head.

Jacob smiled.

“
What?”

“
One thing I haven’t tried?” Jacob
asked.

“
Yes?”

“
Sex,” he said.

“
I remember trying sex with you
once or twice.”

“
You know, without touching,” he
said. “Interested?”

“
I’m interested in anything that
involves you.”

Jacob beamed.

“
What?” She asked.

“
I don’t think I can do it,” he
said. “I want to be involved.”

Jill stepped out of the tub. Grabbing a fluffy
bathrobe, she turned to wink at him and went into their bedroom.
Laughing, he rose from the tub to join her.

~~~~~~~~

Thursday afternoon — 3: 30
P.M.

“
Val, honey, it’s Jen.”

“
Hey Jen.”

Entering the Castle, Val pulled off her
stocking cap. Sarah bound into the kitchen in front of Valerie. She
and the yellow Labrador had been out for a run that snowy afternoon
when her publicist called. Not wanting to stop, Val asked her
publicist to call her in twenty minutes.

“
Have you seen the
media?”

“
What media?” Walking through the
main living area, Valerie continued stripping off her outdoor
clothing. “I was running. Did someone take a photo of me
running?”

“
No, it’s from last night,” Jen
said. “Photos from last night.”

“
Last night? What do you mean last
night?”

“
There’s a photo of you with blood
on your hands and a smear on your face. You’re standing next to the
ambulance. They’re saying your sister attempted suicide and you
tried to stop her.”

“
What?” Valerie’s enraged voice
brought Mike to her.

“
Did you think about wearing
clothing?” Jen continued. “You’re basically naked. Tiny panties, no
bra, UGG boots. That’s big news.”

“
My sister had a miscarriage last
night,” Valerie said. “Was I supposed to say to her, ‘Gee, Honey,
let me get dressed before I help you off the floor?’ You remember
she’s paralyzed?”

“
Your producer called,” Jen said.
“He wants to know if you’re serious about the movie.”

Valerie didn’t respond. Seeing her distress,
Mike wrapped her in his arms. Valerie pressed her forehead against
his shoulder.

“
You still there?” Jen
asked.

“
I’m here.”

“
I told him you were serious about
the movie. That you’ve been working out and training in martial
arts from some Army guy,” Jen said. “He said he’d seen you on road
working machinery and now this. He thinks you don’t fit the bill
for their movie.”