Cascade (14 page)

“
And what bill would that
be?”

“
You know…”

“
Vapid orphan actress?” Valerie
asked. “Because the issue here is that I’m stalked by the paparazzi
while my family has problems.”

“
Val, listen…”

“
I’m listening.”

“
He called your agent. Your agent
told him the same thing,” Jen said. “But the producer wants a
meeting. He’s willing to fly out to Colorado to meet with
you.”

“
When will he be here?”

“
He’s flying into Aspen,” Jen
said. “Can you get up there tonight? He wants to talk to you
tonight. He’s thinking you’ll ski tomorrow so he can see how fit
you are.”

“
I’ll talk to Mike,” Valerie
said.

“
Oh, I don’t think he wants your
husband there,” Jen said. “Val, you know his reputation. This is a
…”

“
Booty call,” Valerie said. “I’ve
never done that.”

“
This is a major motion picture,
the big time,” Jen said.

“
Would you do something for me,
Jen?”

“
Anything,” Jen said.

“
Can you call him and tell him to
fuck off?” Valerie said. “I’ve worked too hard and for too long to
be treated like some skanky whore.”

“
What’s going on?” Mike
asked.

Mike shifted her off his shoulder so he could
look at her face. Shaking her head, she pulled him back. She
pressed her forehead into his shoulder again.

“
Are you sure?” Jen said. “You’re
giving up your first chance at a big budget movie.”

“
You know, Jen, I never used to
look at myself in the mirror,” Valerie said. “I didn’t like what I
saw. In the last six months, I’ve been able to look myself in the
mirror. And I like what I see.”

“
What is it?” Delphie came in from
the kitchen.

Mike shrugged to Delphie.

“
Will you call your agent or do
you want me to?”

“
I’ll call. Thanks for the heads
up, Jen.”

“
How’s Honey doing?” Jen
asked.

“
She’s asleep. MJ’s with her. They
had the D & C today. They are both crushed. We’re having a
family dinner tonight.”

“
Would you like me to clarify with
TMZ?” Jen asked. “They’ve called a couple of times.”

“
Sure, if you want. Can you think
of some way to say it?”

“
That’s what you pay me for,” Jen
said.

“
I’m going to go now. After months
of starving for this movie, there’s some ice cream and brownies in
my immediate future.”

“
I’ll let you know what happens,”
Jen said.

“
Thanks.”

Valerie closed her phone. She didn’t want to
move. She didn’t want to breathe. In Mike’s tight embrace, she felt
the walls of her dreams crumble around them. Feeling a hand on her
back, she looked into Delphie’s kind eyes.

“
You did the right thing,” Delphie
said.

“
Why does it feel so wrong?”
Valerie said.

“
Because you’re standing up for
yourself, your authentic life and your dreams,” Delphie said.
“Shall I make you some of your own brownies? Or would you like a
cheesecake to celebrate?”

“
Can I have both?”

“
I’ll get started.” Delphie kissed
her cheek.

Valerie returned her forehead to Mike’s
shoulder.

“
What happened?”

“
I lost the movie role,” Valerie
said. “There’s a picture of me in the driveway last night. They’re
saying Honey tried to kill herself.”

Mike kissed the top of her head and held her
closer. Valerie felt tears come then fade. In the cocoon of Mike’s
arms, making movies didn’t matter very much. She sighed.

“
What can I do?” Mike
asked.

“
Remind me why I need to move from
this spot.”

“
You don’t,” he said.

“
What about hockey? At some point,
you’re going to want to play hockey.”

Mike laughed.

~~~~~~~~

One day later

Friday afternoon — 1: 30
P.M.

“
¿Qué haces esta noche?” Tres
asked.

“
Nada.” Enrique responded. “Por
que?”

Stretching the cord on his office phone, Tres
closed his office door.

“
Jake and Blane were talking about
going to the Zoolights tonight,” Tres continued in Spanish.
“Heather and Blane are bringing Aden’s kids. Jake’s going with Katy
and her friend, Paddie. Jill’s sister’s bringing her
kids.”

“
That’s a lot of children,”
Enrique responded in Spanish.

“
You like children.”

“
I do.” Enrique
responded.

The brothers were silent.

“
It’s just…” Enrique said at the
same time Tres said, “What’s the…”

They laughed.

“
You first,” Tres said.

“
I’ve been going to the clinic to
quit smoking. I see him every week. He’s very professional, but
nothing else. I don’t think he’d want to see me.”

“
Did you quit smoking?” Tres
asked.

“
I haven’t smoked in a week,”
Enrique said.

“
Wow,” Tres said. “Why not
celebrate with some Zoolights?”

Enrique laughed.

“
We have a chance, brother. We
should take the chance to be around them,” Tres said. “What have we
got to lose?”

“
Our self respect?”

“
You lost yours a long time ago,”
Tres said. “I seem to remember a photo of you with fuchsia hair and
daisy duke shorts on the cover of Out Front.”

“
I’m protecting
your
self respect,”
Enrique said. “As your older brother, I have this
obligation.”

Tres laughed.

~~~~~~~~

Friday Afternoon — 4:45
P.M.

“
What do you think?”

Aden held the ring out for Noelle and Nash to
see. Nash’s bruises were beginning to yellow but his smile was
bright. Noelle took the ring from him.

“
It’s beautiful Daddy,” Noelle squealed. “Is it big? I read
in Cosmo that girls like
big
diamonds. Is it
old? It looks old but new too. I think she’s going to love it. I
would love it! I do love it!”

“
It’s new and old,” Aden said.
“It’s an antique setting but a new diamond. The original diamond
was small. I thought she’d like something a little bigger. Do you
like it?”

“
It’s pretty, Dad,” Nash said.
“Really pretty. You’re going to give it to her tonight?”

Aden nodded.

“
Are you getting dressed up?”
Noelle asked. “You should shower.”

“
You guys seem nervous. Are you
nervous about going to the Zoolights? Are you worried the bullies
will be there?”

Noelle and Nash shook their heads.

“
Then what?”

“
We don’t want you to …” Noelle
looked at Nash.

“
Screw it up,” Nash
said.

“
Screw what up?” Aden
asked.

“
We want Sandy to be our Mom,”
Noelle’s eyes filled with tears. “We need a Mom and we love
Sandy.”

Aden hugged them to him.

“
She’s funny and nice and pretty
and nice and makes great cookies and cakes and muffins…” Noelle
started.

“
And brownies.” Nash
added.

“
And brownies,” Noelle said. “We
think she should be our Mom.”

“
I’ll do my best,” Aden
said.

“
Go shower!” Noelle said. “You’re
almost out of time.”

“
Yes, ma’am.”

Laughing, Aden went to shower. As the warm
water pounded down on him, he realized he was nervous. He’d never
wanted anything as badly as he wanted to spend his life with Sandy.
Tonight was a chance to make that dream come true. He only hoped he
didn’t screw it up.

~~~~~~~~

Friday evening — 5:20
P.M.

“
You know Aden thinks he’s going
on a date with Sandy,” Jacob said to Jill.

Jill shrugged. She gave him a thermos filled
with hot chocolate. He put it into the backpack he was packing for
the Zoolights.

“
It’s not very fair to spring the
girlfriend tribunal on him,” Jacob said.

“
You survived it.” Jill wrinkled
her nose at him.

“
Just barely. I have a scar right
here.” He pointed to a spot on his ribs. “Tanesha stabbed
me.”

Jill laughed. He kissed her nose.

“
Tanesha is going to the Zoolights
with Heather. Blane has to finish something at the clinic. He’s
going to meet them later.”

“
Well, be nice,” Jacob said. “You
and Sandy are scary enough on your own!”

“
Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!” Katy ran
toward Jill. “My tights are stuck!”

Katy’s tights were twisted around from going
to the bathroom on her own. Jill straightened Katy’s tights then
pulled a sweater over her head.

“
Daddy has your gloves and hat,”
Jill said to Katy.

Katy threw herself at Jill.

“
I’ll miss you, Mommy,” Katy said.
“Can just us go sometime?”

“
I don’t see why not,” Jill
said.

Jacob helped Katy with her coat. Katy ran
across the loft to the door. Jill helped her with the door and
turned to kiss Jacob good-bye.

“
Be gentle, okay?” Jacob asked.
“Aden’s a good guy and he adores Sandy. He’s really
her…”

“
What do you think is going to
happen?”

“
Girlfriend tribunal,” Jacob
said.

“
Some psychic.”

Jill kissed him. She squealed when she felt
him psychically stroke her behind. They kissed again then he
followed Katy out the door.

Leaning against the door, Jill let out a
breath. Tonight was going to be… hard.

CHAPTER
SIXTY-FOUR

Some moments are more
important

Friday evening — 6:00
P.M.

“
Gorgeous flowers,” Valerie said
when Aden walked into the Castle kitchen.

Wearing a Claire Martins gown, Valerie was
checking on Honey and MJ when she saw Aden. Aden kissed her cheek
in greeting.

“
Shall I put them in water?”
Valerie asked.

“
Oh, sure,” Aden said.

Pulling a vase from the top shelf, she began
snipping the ends of the flowers and putting them in
water.

“
What’s wrong?” Mike
asked.

Mike came into the kitchen wearing a tux.
Valerie looked up at Aden with the same question on her
face.

“
Oh…” Aden leaned against the
counter. “I thought I had a date with Sandy and it turns out she
wants to ‘talk’ to me.”

“
The old talk thing,” Mike said.
“Sorry man, that sucks.”

Valerie looked from Mike to Aden.

“
Do you know what she wants to
talk to you about?” Valerie asked. She began tying Mike’s bow
tie.

“
Afraid to ask.” Aden shook his
head. “I keep hearing your Mom in my head.”

“
What does Mom say?” Valerie
kissed Mike’s lips when she was done with the tie.

“
She says that some moments
are…”

“
More important than others,”
Valerie said with Aden. “Why do you think you’re hearing that
today?”

“
I thought it was because I was
going to ask Sandy to marry me,” Aden said. “Again. I’ve got the
ring this time.”

“
Maybe you have to do something
more important than that,” Valerie said.

“
Like what?”

“
It’s hard for guys, but women
like to be understood,” Valerie said.

“…
need to be understood,” Mike
added.

“
Right,” Valerie said.

“
I’m an active guy,” Mike stated
the obvious. “I like doing things, creating things, making things
happen. But sometimes you’ve got to sit back and listen. It’s
hard.”

Valerie smiled at him. Mike kissed her
nose.

“
But very worth it,” Mike
said.

Aden sighed.

“
You’re over thinking this,”
Valerie said. “I saw Sandy when she came in. She’s not mad or
upset. If anything, she’s anxious, nervous. I bet you’ll have your
talk and your date.”

“
I hope so,” Aden said. “Wow,
don’t you look nice.”

Honey wheeled into the kitchen wearing a
gorgeous green gown. MJ followed her wearing his full dress
uniform. His Green Beret was folded under the shoulder mark of his
jacket. They were going with Valerie and Mike to a Christmas Ball.
Sam and Delphie were planning to meet them at the party.