Jill lifted her shirt to show the developing bruise on her elbow where her boss had grabbed her. Jacob kissed her elbow. She threw her arms around his neck in a tight embrace.
“I’m so sorry,” Jacob whispered. He shifted and she released him to look at his face.
“I should probably get off your lap,” Jill said. “What about the Bronco?”
“I’ll call someone to get it. We have a job a couple blocks from here. They can pick it up and I’ll get it tomorrow.”
“You saved me again. Second time in two days,” Jill said.
Jacob shrugged. “Fixing messes is my specialty.”
“Like me?”
Jacob crushed her mouth with his mouth. He tasted her soft lips and delicate tongue. Jill felt a rush of passion overcome her senses. Pulling back, he took a breath.
“I better stop or this might get a little . . . public.” He nodded to the police cruiser. “Are you all right here?”
“Yeah, thanks.”
“Jill? Don’t say you’re a mess. You’re the very best thing that has ever happened to me. Things are messy. That’s true. But life is like that sometimes. We’ll sort all of this out. Promise.”
Jill nodded and slipped off his lap. Jacob gave her the box of Kleenex. She kissed his cheek and he slid from the car. Jill leaned her head back against the leather seat. Smiling to herself, she closed her eyes.
How did she get so lucky?
~~~~~~~~
Katy opened her eyes. Sitting up, she looked around Jacob’s apartment. Delphie was sitting near the bed knitting.
“Hello, Katherine,” Delphie said.
“I know you,” Katy said.
“Yes, you do,” Delphie said.
“But I don’t know your name,” Katy replied. Her small brow furrowed in concentration. “Did I meet you before?”
“A long, long time ago,” Delphie said.
“Are you a friend of my Jacob?”
“I am a friend of your Jacob. I’m Delphinium. People call me Delphie.”
Delphie set her knitting down and came to the bed to shake Katy’s hand. After shaking hands, Delphie sat next to Katy on the bed.
“I thought your name might start with an ‘R,’” Katy said.
“Yes,” Delphie said. “Your mommy is having a little bit of trouble. Your Jacob went to help her. So we have to carry on without her for a while.”
“Okay,” Katy said. “I’m glad Mommy has someone to help her now.”
“Me too,” Delphie said. “Would you like to go meet your Aunt Valerie?”
Katy nodded. “Will you help me go potty?”
“Of course.”
Delphie helped Katy off the bed and they walked hand in hand toward the bathroom.
“I like you, Delphie.”
“I like you, Katherine.”
~~~~~~~~
“Of course, Mr. Marlowe,” the receptionist said. “I can escort you back.”
“That’s all right. I know the way,” Jacob said. “Thanks for your help.”
Walking through the office, Jacob could feel the tension crackle around him. The women office workers stood in clusters whispering to each other. As he approached the owner’s office, a dirty-dishwater-haired woman darted in front of him.
“Mr. Marlowe! I didn’t realize you were here,” she said in a deep Wisconsin accent. Nervous, she pulled at her light pink sweater set.
“Hi, Darla,” Jacob said. “Mabel’s not here.”
Darla startled and shook her head.
“I need to speak with him. Is he in?”
“You have to forgive us. We’ve had a challenging day.” Darla smiled.
Smiling, Jacob let the silence drag.
“Really, sir. Today’s not a very good day to . . .”
Just then, the owner’s office door opened.
“Jacob! How the hell are you?”
“Great. Do you have a moment?” Jacob asked.
“I was just leaving for a meeting, but I always have time for my best customer.”
“This will only take a second,” Jacob said.
“Please, come in,” the owner said. “Darla, you stupid cow. I’m paying you. Can you work?”
Darla jumped and raced back to her desk.
Jacob followed the owner into his office. Ashforth indicated a chair in front of the desk, but Jacob continued to stand. A glance around the tiny office told Jacob that Ashforth was moving out. Ashforth shut the lid of a toolbox stuffed full of large pipe wrenches with a flip of his foot.
“I’m here to tell you that Lipson Construction will no longer need your services.”
Jacob turned to leave, but the owner said, “It’s because of that stupid, incompetent bitch. You should pay me for keeping her lazy ass here for so long.”
Jacob spun in place and moved toward the owner. Catching himself, he stopped walking. He backed to the door.
“You don’t want to make this personal,” Jacob said.
“Why should I listen to a little twerp like you?” the owner sneered. “Did you ask your daddy first?”
“I am Lipson Construction, you stupid fuck. DO NOT MAKE THIS PERSONAL OR YOU WILL UNLEASH A SHIT STORM YOU ARE NOT PREPARED FOR.”
Jacob stalked to the door. He felt the owner follow him but he refused to turn around. In his mind, he longed for the owner to touch him so he could let loose his rage and indignation at this pathetic excuse of a man.
But the owner never laid a finger on him.
“You make sure your last invoice is on my desk by the end of the week,” Jacob said. “You will hear from my lawyers.”
Yanking the door open, Jacob saw the office employees clustered around the door. He pulled a stack of cards from his pocket and gave them to the women.
“Give me a call when you need a job,” Jacob said. “Now, can someone show me the kitchen?”
“I’ll take you,” Darla said.
“Thanks. I hate to ask, but would someone mind boxing up Jill’s desk? She didn’t get a chance to do it.”
“Mr. Marlowe, I was doing that when you came in. I was going to drop it by her place tonight,” said a clerk. She shrugged. “She sits next to me.”
“Thanks.” Jacob smiled, nodded to the women, then followed Darla to the kitchen.
“Did you just terminate your contract?” Darla asked. She bent into the refrigerator to retrieve Katy’s medication.
“Yes,” he said. “We were unaware of the ownership change.”
“That was intentional. We wanted to keep every customer for when Mabel comes back. I’m sorry.” Darla gave a weak smile. “Guess I should get my resume together.”
“That’s probably a good idea,” he said. “Keep me in the loop, Darla. We can always use good people at Lipson.”
“I heard you had another business. Molly does your books?”
Jacob nodded. “Send me your resume.”
He shook Darla’s hand and took the medication from her. Walking through the office, he picked up a box of Jill’s possessions from the other women. He waved and went out into the bright day.
Seeing Jill in the car, he smiled. Some messes were easy to clean up.
~~~~~~~~
“What’s happened?” Mike asked Delphie.
“As far as I can tell? Nothing,” Delphie said. “Maybe Jake was wrong.”
“He’s never been wrong before,” Valerie said. “He’s better than Mom was. Between the two of you . . .”
Valerie jumped from her armchair to pace the Castle living room. Mike held his arms out in case she wanted a hug, but she shook her head. She was too anxious for comfort. For the billionth time, she wished she had even a twinge of her mother or brother’s skill.
“Go over again what he told you,” Valerie said.
“He said Jill was going to get fired and the owner was going to attack him.”
“What about the blood?” Mike asked.
“He saw a lot of blood. Lots of blood,” Delphie said. “That’s what he said
.”
“What do you see?” Valerie and Jacob’s father walked into the room from the kitchen.
“Lots of blood,” Delphie said. “Just lots of blood.”
~~~~~~~~
Jill remembered what happened like this:
She was spacing out, listening to jazz and enjoying the cool air on her skin. If she thought of anything, it was that she had never been in such a nice car. With the air conditioning on and the music playing, she couldn’t hear the street noises. She felt enclosed in a cozy bubble. She even slipped off her shoes and her torn nylons. Holding the Kleenex box in one hand, her fingers played with the torn nylons in the other hand.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Jacob come out of the office. He winked at her. He held up Katy’s medication and a box as if to say, “That was easy.” Their eyes caught and he smiled.
Mostly, she remembered his beautiful smile. His teeth were so white against his sun-kissed skin. Yes, his smile was something she would always remember.
A second later, his face flashed in horror and then went slack. He fell forward toward the cement. As he fell, his right shoulder seemed to disintegrate. Blood sprayed from his neck. Jacob’s fall to the ground revealed Ashforth behind him. Ashforth jerked the head of a twenty-pound straight pipe wrench from Jacob’s shoulder.
Jill screamed, “NO!”
Fumbling with the locks, she somehow managed to get the door open. Jacob’s body bounced on the sidewalk until he landed on his left side. Blood began to mist into the warm day. With both arms, Ashforth swung the pipe wrench over his head to bash in Jacob’s head.
“NO!” Channeling Megan, Jill screamed in her bossiest voice. “DON’T YOU DARE.”
Hearing Jill, Ashforth lowered the pipe wrench to step over Jacob’s body. He spit on Jacob before moving his rotund body across the sidewalk toward Jill. Jill ran forward toward Jacob. They met in the middle of the sidewalk.
Ashforth hefted the pipe wrench over his head.
“LOWER THE WEAPON.”
Ashford swung at Jill. Jill avoided the arcing pipe wrench as if she were playing champion dodge ball.
“THIS IS THE DENVER POLICE. LOWER YOUR WEAPON.”
Time shifted into slow motion.
Ashforth’s pipe wrench bashed into the open passenger door, catching on the roof of the Aston Martin. The window shattered in tiny pieces. Amidst the mist of Jacob’s blood, the tiny pieces of glass floated through the air to the sidewalk.
As Ashforth lifted the pipe wrench over his head for another swing, the police officers stopped running and lifted their handguns. Ducking the pipe wrench, she continued toward Jacob. The glass tore at her feet. She felt, more than saw, bullets pass over her.
Ripping apart the cardboard Kleenex box, she slid on her knees next to him. She jammed a wad of tissue into the river of Jacob’s blood coming from where his collarbone had been. The spray of blood stopped. Using her torn nylons, she tied the tissue in a neat pressure dressing. Yanking off her cotton work shirt, she pressed the fabric into his oozing, destroyed shoulder. Hoping to slow his bleeding, she pressed her weight into his shoulder.
Jacob opened his eyes.
“I love you, Jill.”
He jerked and went slack.
Time returned to a normal pace.
She felt Ashforth lumber toward her and then fall to the sidewalk.
One Denver Police officer ran past her to her ex-boss. Another police officer, a Hispanic woman, came to Jill.
“I have a weak pulse,” the policewoman screamed into the microphone at her shoulder, “We need an ambulance NOW.”
~~~~~~~~
“He’s still alive?” Valerie whispered.
“For now,” Delphie said.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
I wanted so much life
“Mom,” Jacob whispered.
He felt his mother near. Gradually, her face came into view. Not her cancer-ravaged face, but the face she wore when he was a very small boy. Like a thirsty man, Jacob drank in her image.
“Mommy.”
“My baby boy,” Celia said.
“I’m dead?”
“Not quite.” He felt her hand touch his face. “I love you.”
“I love you, Mom.”
“I am so proud of the man you’ve become. You’re kind and loving to everyone who knows you. Honorable. You are a wonderful person.”
“Mommy.”
Jacob stretched out his hand to touch her face.
In an instant, they were walking along a familiar shore. The day was bright and warm. There was a slight wind from the west that blew wisps of clouds through a bright blue sky. Their footprints in the tan-colored sand were washed away by a slow white-capped tide. They were alone on the shore. This youthful version of his mother slipped her arm into his elbow. They walked in silence for a while.
“I’ve missed you,” Jacob said.
“I’ve missed you. I’ve been around. It’s you who refuses . . .”
“To call you Naomi?” Jacob laughed. “Don’t you think that’s a bit . . . much?”
“The truth is always a bit much,” Celia said.
“Are you . . . all right?”
“I was in pain for such a very, very long time. It’s nice to not be in pain. But I long for Ruth and you children. I miss Sam like a hole in my soul.”
“He’s lost without you.”
“You’ve been a tremendous relief for him. I don’t think he realized how much he needed you.”
“It’s hard for me to imagine Dad needing anyone . . . Except you.”
“Poor Sam. I really messed up his life . . . and yours.”
“With the new wife, Tiffanie?” Jacob asked.
“Yes. I thought that . . .
“With loving support and resources, they’d blossom,” they said together.
Celia stopped walking to gawk at her son.
“You used to say that any time someone was . . . hurtful.”
“I was wrong.”
“Yes, but that’s part of your beauty. Your belief in people.” Jacob smiled. “Are you all right with Dad and Delphie?”
“Ruth?”
“Dad and Ruth.”
“Of course,” she said. “My best friend and my soul’s love.”
“They miss you and love you so much . . .”
Celia stopped walking and hugged her son.
“You don’t have to explain it. I’m not jealous. We belong to each other — Ruth, Sam and I. And with you and Jillian, Jillian and Michael, Michael and Valerie.”
Jacob kissed his mother’s cheek. “You’re very sweet.”
She smiled. They walked along the unending shore in silence. A river of palpable love flowed back and forth between them.
“I wanted so much life . . . Love . . . laughter . . . babies . . . I wanted to grow old . . . with Jill . . . Twenty-six years isn’t a very long time to live. After years of thinking . . . hoping, I only . . . one chance . . . very fast . . . with Jill. I wanted to live . . . I liked living.”
“Yes,” Celia said. “Why haven’t you stepped into your wisdom?”
“Why didn’t you?”
“I never pretended I didn’t know things. Never. I never told people . . . What is it that you say?”
“I just figured it would happen,” Jacob said. “What am I supposed to do? I’m not going to read tarot cards.”
“You know tarot cards can be quite a mess. You might enjoy fixing that kind of mess.”
They laughed.
“I did like sorting out messes,” Jacob said.
“Then it’s time to sort out the mess you’re in.”
Jacob gasped.
He felt tremendous ripping pain on his entire right side. A blinding white light filled his eyes. He would have thought he was “following the light” except his ears were filled with the sound of yelling people and screeching machines.
“He’s back,” the nurse said.
&
nbsp; “Welcome back, Jacob.”
Dr. John Drayson’s lack of wings and his British accent confirmed Jacob’s non-descent to heaven. His gloved right hand, coated in Jacob’s blood, held a scalpel. He leaned into the light so Jacob could see his mask-covered face. His cobalt blue eyes seemed huge through his magnifying glasses.
“We’re hoping to keep you with us for a while. Nurse?”
Amidst the blazing light in his eyes and the agony in his right shoulder, Jacob felt the sharp stab of what felt like a four-inch diameter needle. A whoosh of pain relieving medication moved into his system.
“You need to hang around, Jacob,” Dr. Drayson laughed. “Alex has her heart set on the leaded glass tulips transom windows you showed her. I was hoping you could get them in by our anniversary. What do you think?”
Jacob tried to laugh but the machines screamed.
Everything went dark.
~~~~~~~~
Jacob opened his eyes. The room was dark and he was lying in a hospital bed. Looking to see who was holding his hand, he felt a stabbing pain in his right shoulder.
The monitors blared.
Everything went dark.
~~~~~~~~
Hearing voices, Jacob tried to open his eyes. The effort was too much for him.
“We’ve been able to clean up a lot. He still has quite a bit of internal bleeding. If we continue to work, we will only do him a disservice.” Dr. Drayson’s staccato words broke through the darkness. “The trauma team removed a portion of his upper lung, ribs . . . His collar bone is crushed. His scapula shattered. His right shoulder girdle is all but destroyed. There’s a break in two of his cervical vertebrae. We’re hoping to get him stable, stronger, then go back in . . . maybe tomorrow morning. I only do veins and arteries. If he’s ready, the orthopedic surgery team will start tomorrow morning.”
“Thank you, doctor,” said Jacob’s father, Sam.
“John,” Dr. Drayson said. “We’re lucky. He’s in great shape, healthy and strong.”
“I heard you’re the best in the business . . . The nurse said you weren’t working today. I . . . just thanks. He’s . . .”
Jacob heard his father weep.
“We love Jacob, Mr. Lipson. I’ll do everything I can.”
“Thank you, John.”
~~~~~~~~
“He’s awake.”
He opened his eyes to Valerie’s red, puffy eyes about an inch from his face. Her nose was bright red and swollen. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the blur of someone moving away from the bed.
“Your mascara’s running,” he whispered.
“You stupid jerk,” Valerie said. She didn’t bother to stem the flow the tears that dropped from her eyes and nose. “This was supposed to be my drama, my crisis. My life is in crisis buddy, not yours.”