Free The Denver Cereal by Claudia Hall Christian Page B

children and best friend by her
side.
    April 20, 8
a.m.:
    Valerie and Jake reviewed
their mother’s memorial plans with the mortician. Shaking the
mortician’s hand good-bye, she felt a burning, a ripping, thousands
of times worse than a cramp. Jake took her to the hospital. Her
last connection to Mike was dead.
    April 24, 8
a.m.:
    More than ten thousand
people celebrate the life of Celia Marlowe Lipson.
    April 28:
    Paperwork waited in
Monterey. Mike was officially dead.
    April 29:
    Valerie moved the band
from her wedding set to her right hand, where it remained today.
Hoping the Pacific would cleanse her misfortune, she threw the
diamond solitaire into the ocean.
    April 30:
    Jake helped Valerie pack
the Monterey house.
    May 5:
    Valerie settled into her
new Hollywood Hills home, called her agent, and got an
audition.
    “ Ms. Lipson.” The flight
attendant touched Val’s arm. She gave Valerie a Kleenex to wipe her
dripping eyes. “We’re taxiing right now. I thought you might want
to get your possessions together so you can make a quick exit. Do
you need a ride home?”
    “ I arranged for a car,”
Valerie said.
    “ I called ahead. There are
a lot of photographers waiting for you. We’re going to sneak you
out the back. What company is meeting you?”
    “ Prestige,” Valerie
said.
    “ I’ll call them. They can
send a second car,” the flight attendant said.
    “ Michael Roper usually
drives me. Would you mind asking for him?”
    “ Sure,” the flight
attendant said.
    “ Thanks,” Valerie
said.
    ~~~~~~~~
    “ You have about an hour
before visiting hours are over. They woke up Katy so you could
spend some time with her. They’ll put her to sleep again before you
go,” Dr. Drayson said. “I’d encourage you to enjoy your time with
her and then go home and get some rest. Katy will need you to be
one hundred percent tomorrow.”
    Jill nodded. She had
already called in sick to work tomorrow. She knew Katy would need
her. She dreaded having to desert her at the hospital. Following
Dr. Drayson back through the ICU, she worked to keep the horror
from her face. Her baby was swollen, her skin was bright red, and
she was hooked to a bunch of machines. When Katy opened her eyes,
she was Jill’s girl.
    “ Mommy,” Katy
said.
    Jill’s eyes filled at the
sound of her daughter’s croaking voice. Katy hadn’t been able to
speak the last time she was awake.
    “ Katy-baby.” Jill bent to
kiss her daughter.
    The nurse lowered the
guardrail so Jill could sit on Katy’s bed.
    “ Mommy, I’m sorry. I made
you cry.” Katy’s red swollen finger caught a tear from Jill’s eye.
“I didn’t mean to get sick.”
    “ Oh baby,” Jill said. “I’m
just happy to see you.”
    “ Are you going to ask
Jacob to be my daddy?”
    Jill burst out a laugh at
her daughter’s question.
    “ I think he would be a
good daddy,” Katy said.
    “ We’ll see, Katy-baby.
We’ll see.”
    ~~~~~~~~
    “ Ma’am,” the driver
said.
    He held open the door to
the small limousine and Valerie stepped into the back. The flight
attendant had escorted Valerie to an employee’s garage, where the
limousine was waiting.
    “ Michael usually drives
me,” Valerie said.
    “ I apologize, ma’am. Mr.
Roper was previously engaged. We attempted to shift his assignment
but his client specifically requested him six months
ago.”
    Valerie watched the man
come around the limousine and then step into the driver’s
seat.
    “ Wedding?” Valerie
asked.
    “ Bachelor party.” The
driver started the car. “Better him than me. Where am I taking
you?”
    “ Race and Colfax,” Valerie
said.
    “ So, Val. Are you going to
marry Wes?” The driver looked at Valerie through the rear view
mirror.
    Valerie smiled her movie
star smile.
    “ What’s this about a
husband?” the driver asked as the window to the passenger
compartment closed. Valerie clicked off the microphone.
    Slipping on her
sunglasses, she tried to figure out how to see Mike and not