On a limb with Claudia

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CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED and ELEVEN

Monday Evening – 7:30 P.M. PDT

“Did you see that?” Jill asked.

“The bright flashes of light?” Jacob asked.

“Like a million sparklers going off all a once,” she said.

“Yes, I saw them.”

“Wow,” Jill said.

She nestled her head in his arms. He kissed her bare neck and shoulders. They were entwined in the back corner of the hotel elevator.

“Are we off the ground?” Jill asked.

“A couple feet,” he said. “Sorry.”

They lowered to the ground. He shifted to disengage and buttoned his jeans. She kissed his lips. For a moment, they were lost in the passion that had levitated them. Jill sighed and he stroked the sheer back of her skimpy dress.

“Did that happen last time?” Jill asked.

“Yes,” he said.

[...]

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Previous Chapters
Recap of the Beginning and character summary
Looking for the beginning? Chapter One

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED and TEN

One week later
Monday mid-day — 11:30 A.M.

“So you know who I am,” Nash said.

He sat down next to Charlie’s bed at Denver Health.

“You’ve got to be the gym guy’s son,” Charlie said. “You look just like him.”

“The gym guy?”

Nash wrinkled his face. He’d spent the entire bike ride to Denver Health pumping himself up for this conversation. He wasn’t going to take any crap from this Charlie guy. Teddy stood near the door to back him up.

“I don’t know his name,” Charlie shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t think Sandy ever told me his name.”

“Aden Norsen,” Nash said. “I’m Nash.”

Nash held out his hand and Charlie shook it.

“My Mom and Dad were talking about you coming to live with us,” Nash said. “Sandy… I mean Mom really wants you to live with us. Dad will do anything for Mom, so…”

“I don’t know anything about it, bro,” Charlie said. “I’m supposed to get out of here today or tomorrow. Seth said I could live with him but Sandy wants me to go to rehab. That’s what I know.”

Nash opened his mouth to say something.

“Wow, you look like the pilot,” Charlie said to Teddy. “Who are you?”

“Ted Jakkman,” Teddy said.

“Yea, Jakkman,” Charlie said. “Sergeant Jakkman. I bet he’s your Dad.”

“My Dad’s a Captain,” Teddy said. “He’s the best pilot in the US Air Force.”

“You must be very proud,” Charlie said with dripping sarcasm.

Defensive, Teddy moved forward to hit Charlie. Nash held him back. The boys shared a long look. Teddy went back to the door and Nash sat down again.

[...]

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Previous Chapters
Recap of the Beginning and character summary
Looking for the beginning? Chapter One

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED and NINE

Monday evening — 6:45 P.M.

“You’re his…” the Emergency Room resident said.

Sandy, Jill and Jill’s mother, Anjelika, were sitting in a family waiting area at Denver Health when the resident approached. He was looking for Charlie’s mother. Sandy jumped to her feet to speak with the resident, but he recognized her from the newspaper stories about her father. The resident didn’t want anything to do with her. Sandy wrapped her arms around herself for comfort.

“Sister,” Sandy said.

“Where is his mother?” the resident asked.

“She’s out of the picture,” Sandy said. “I’m all he has.”

“I don’t think I can give you an update. I…” the resident started.

“Listen,” Anjelika smiled her beautiful smile. “The mother doesn’t want her children. And we are paying your bill. In order to pay that bill, we need information to make decisions.”

Taken back by Angelika’s beauty and elegance, the resident stumbled over words.

“Uh… We could get in real trouble. We’re only supposed to release information to legal guardians or…”

“I see,” Anjelika smiled again. “May I speak with your supervisor? We were told that we needed to make decisions right away. That is, of course, after my daughter guaranteed payment.”

“He’s sixteen,” Seth’s deep voice came from the door. “You don’t need a guardian to make his medical decisions. Since I assume he’s unconscious, his next of kin will have to decide for him.”

“Seth!” Sandy said.

Seth hugged her.

“How is Charlie?” he asked.

“We don’t know,” Sandy said. “This… doctor won’t tell us.”

[...]

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Previous Chapters
Recap of the Beginning and character summary
Looking for the beginning? Chapter One

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED and EIGHT

Monday early morning — 5:25 A.M.

Jill woke with a start. She wasn’t sure what had startled her, but Jacob wasn’t in bed. She lay there for a moment before remembering that he wasn’t working at Lipson Construction anymore.

“Jacob?”

Hearing an odd sound, she got out of bed to find him.

“Jacob?”

Jill checked Katy’s room. Sometimes when Katy had a vision, Jacob would stay with her until she was settled.

No Jacob.

Wandering out into the main loft area, she turned off a light in the kitchen. Jacob wasn’t in any of their living areas. She turned to look at the rooms. He’d been so excited to have another child. Maybe he was planning a nursery. She stuck her head in the empty room.

No Jacob.

She heard the sound again. Thump, thump, thump.

The door to her office was closed. She always closed her office when she was done with work or school work. Standing at the door, she paused.

What if he was doing something she didn’t want to know about? She’d heard all kinds of stories about men who went to chat rooms or played games on the Internet or maybe he was downloading porn.

She heard the sound again and smiled. The sound was Sarah, Jacob’s Labrador’s tail hitting the floor when she wagged. Thump, thump, thump. Jill opened the door.

Jacob was working on her computer with Sarah under his feet.

[...]

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Previous Chapters
Recap of the Beginning and character summary
Looking for the beginning? Chapter One

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED and SEVEN

Sunday morning — 6:25 A.M.

“You don’t mind?” Aden asked.

They were riding the Hotel Teatro elevator down to the lobby.

“No, I’ll get the car,” Sandy said. “You have to be there by eight, right?”

“Sorry about that,” he said.

“I’m not,” Sandy said. “Last night was…”

Unable to find the right word, Sandy sighed.

“Yeah,” he said. “Totally worth today’s bullshit.”

The elevator stopped at the Lobby. Taking her hand, they walked to the front desk.

“I’ll be right there,” Aden said.

Nodding, Sandy walked through the lobby. She gave their valet ticket to the doorman. Because Aden was on house arrest, he needed to check in and check out of every location. He would check out of the hotel and check in with the Department of Corrections. He would then be given an hour of travel time. He had to get Sandy home and get back to the Department of Corrections by eight. If he was late, even one minute, they could arrest him and he’d go back to prison. Neither Aden nor Sandy wanted to take that risk. Sandy gave him a little wave and stepped out onto the sidewalk.

The morning was cool but not cold. The air was moist with spring expectation. The street was deserted and quiet. A cab slowed by in front of her to see if she needed a ride. Sandy blushed. Did she look like a prostitute after a long night? She pulled her overcoat close and turned away from the street.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a group of teenage boys moving in her direction. Tracking their motion, Sandy turned to her face them. The boys were laughing and weaving down the street. They looked as if they’d been out all night. One boy pointed, said something then laughed.

Sandy blushed. This had happened before. Strangers knew exactly who she was from all the press about her father and Aden. She was about to go back into the hotel when she heard a boy call her name. Turning toward the sound, she saw the boys push at each other. While the one boy slowed, the group of jeering boys walked by.

“Sandy!” the boy said.

Taking a martial arts stance, Sandy turned toward the sound.

[...]

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Previous Chapters
Recap of the Beginning and character summary
Looking for the beginning? Chapter One

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED and SIX
Saturday evening — 5:45 P.M.

“There you are,” Sam said to Delphie.

She had just entered the door to their second floor Castle apartment. Still wet from a post-work shower, he had a towel wrapped around his hips. He helped her with her coat and kissed her hello.

“I was getting worried,” he said. He walked back to the bathroom.

“Worried?” Delphie asked.

Delphie went into the small galley kitchen and opened a bottle of red wine. She’d just poured two glassed when Sam came out wearing jeans and a T-shirt. He took the glasses and wine from her.

“All of this.” Sam carried the wine to their sitting area. “I worry that it’s too much.”

Sam waited for her to sit down, and then he gave her a glass of wine.

“I’m having a great time,” Delphie said. “I mean, not a great time… People are dead and their loved ones… But I like feeling useful.”

“Yes, I know,” Sam said.

“What are you worried about?” Delphie asked.

“So much death,” Sam said. “There are… How many bodies?”

“Twenty-one bodies so far,” Delphie said. “They span the last three decades.”

“That’s a lot of death,” Sam said.

Sam looked away from Delphie. They sat in silence for a moment.

“You can just say what you need to say,” Delphie said. “I’m not reading your mind.”

Sam smiled. She had to work extra hard to stay out of his head. She only did it because he asked.

“You’ve been happier, more active, involved with everyone, since this whole thing happened,” Sam said. “Like marrying Aden and Sandy. I don’t think you would have done that before. You would have left it up to the Goddess or waited until someone asked you.”

“I wouldn’t have married them like that before,” Delphie said. “I’m glad I did though.”

[...]

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Denver Cereal enters it’s third year today. I cannot believe that one chapter at a time, one hundred and six to date, and the years have passed.

What started with a brave girl in her thigh high boots continues on…

Thank you for your support, kindness, reviews, and purchases of books.

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Previous Chapters
Recap of the Beginning and character summary
Looking for the beginning? Chapter One

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED and FIVE
Saturday – 5:15 A.M.

“Shh,” Sandy laughed. “You’ll wake the kids.”

“I don’t care,” Aden said.

Aden gave her a hard insistent kiss. She pushed at his chest.

“You will when Noelle doesn’t get enough sleep.”

Sandy pushed him through the hall and into the living room.

“You’re not supposed to even sleep here,” she said. “We could lose the kids all together.”

“We’ll talk to Social Services on Monday,” Aden said.

“We’ll talk to our lawyer,” Sandy said. “And we’ll tell the kids tonight. But first, you have to get to work.”

“Already bossing me around?” he asked.

Sandy shook her head at him.

“I can’t help it,” he said. “I feel like I’m going to explode I’m so happy. You’ve made me the happiest I’ve ever felt. It’s like a drug. I’m addicted!”

Shaking her head at his antics, she giggled.

“Marry me again,” Aden said. His deep voice echoed through the apartment.

“Shhh,” she said. “Go. To. Work.”

Laughing, he kissed her again and left the apartment. Sandy went into the kitchen to get a glass of cold water. This pregnancy made her so hot. She refilled the glass from the bottle in the refrigerator then padded her way back to her bedroom.

No matter how stern she was with Aden, nothing could wipe the grin off her face. Sandy felt like she was in the middle of a fairy tale.

She looked down at her finger. He’d given her the band to her wedding set last night. The thin band of tiny pave diamonds sparkled on her hand. Spinning in place, she set her water glass on her bedside table and climbed into bed.

[...]

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Previous Chapters
Recap of the Beginning and character summary
Looking for the beginning? Chapter One

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED and FOUR

Friday afternoon — 3:15 P.M.

No matter what Seth said, this lady coroner thought Delphie was a nut. Not that Delphie blamed her. Delphie thought of herself as little nutty. She smiled at her own joke. So far, the coroner wanted her to stay out of the way in a small corner of the autopsy room.

“Miss.. uh…” the coroner started.

“Please call me, Delphie. Short for Delphinium.”

“How did you get that name?” the coroner asked.

“My best friend gave it to me when my birth name felt foreign and my use name was toxic,” Delphie said.

“Your birth name?” The coroner lifted the heart from inside the body in front of her. She set the heart on a scale.

“Chastity Bell,” Delphie said.

“Your use name was?” The coroner made a note of the weight and returned to the body.

“The Oracle Taber,” Delphie said.

“I see what you mean,” the coroner smiled at Delphie.

At least she was trying to be nice.

“Is it helpful to know more about me? I live on Race Street. I grew up in Leadville. My boyfriend is Sam Lipson. I’ve known him since childhood. He was my best friend’s husband. My best friend is Celia Marlowe. She died almost ten years ago. I haven’t worked as much since I had a stroke a couple weeks ago. And yes, Valerie Lipson lives with me when she’s in town. And yes, you’d like her. She’s coming home for the weekend tonight.”

The coroner blushed.

“Or maybe you want to know a little about you?” Delphie asked. “Your cat, Princess Fifi the incredible, was taken by your ex-husband,” Delphie said. “He shaves her hair down and calls her Morris so you won’t realize it’s Fifi.”

[...]

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Previous Chapters
Recap of the Beginning and character summary
Looking for the beginning? Chapter One

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED and THREE

Friday morning — 4:00 A.M.

As the light began to invade the early dark of morning, Jacob woke with a start. It was time to get his day started. Slipping out of bed, he wandered across the loft. He opened the white shutters Jill had used to cover the East facing windows and sat down in an armchair.

In the still quiet of the morning, he could hear the people below him starting their day. Aden’s low rumble was followed by Sandy’s effervescent laugh. The water turned on for his shower. His father’s usual tuneless whistle moved through the first floor. Jacob even thought he heard Honey and MJ roll to the gym two floors below.

They were getting ready for a day at Lipson Construction.

[...]

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