Broad Street Goddesses Read online

  “God Jake, You’re so beautiful.” She said wide eyed and unashamed, his warm, firm flesh filling her hands.

  “I wish you could see through my eyes, Paige…” He kissed her neck softly and sweetly, finding all the tenderness he could muster up with the raging need urging him to plunge into her at that very moment and beg forgiveness later.

  “You are amazing.” He kissed her hard on the mouth, her hands were in his hair but she felt him burrowing into her leg, “Let’s go where it’s not so hard and cold.” He took the first step up the sweeping staircase, reached for her hand and she stopped short, “This way… I’m down here.” They made it through the hallway and into the bedroom in a tangled of arms and passionate kisses.

  CHAPTER 13

  San Francisco

  Will’s pride showed in his swagger towards the main door of the CPS office. He knew his son waited for him inside the rundown single story stucco building. Though he’d been here dozens of times before, this time it felt different. With no anger or frustration on the horizon he pushed through the doors. The only emotion was the anticipation of bringing his son home where he belonged. The loving arms of family waited for his little boy and nothing in the world would ever be more precious than that.

  He’d passed the paternity test, the parenting classes and he made a home in the city that wildly exceeded the criteria of the state. His humanity had been questioned, challenged and tested. This was graduation day. The sweet little baby that held his heart was waiting for him now, deserving of the life Will had promised to him with every visit. In preparation for this day, Will told Jon all about Grandmamma Mim, Uncle Jake and Etta. There were pictures of them all and Jon knew them by name. Will did it with faith they would all be together.

  Past the check in desk, he walked down the hallway, two doors to Amanda’s office. He knocked lightly and entered. Quickly, he looked around the room but there was no baby.

  “Where’s Jon?” He asked feeling too chipper to assess the change in the air.

  “There’s been a development.” Amanda said calmly.

  Sheer panic hit him. “WHERE IS JON?” Will placed his hands firmly on the edge of her desk, ready to rip it up by the roots and fling it across the room, he leaning in to get close to her emotionless face.

  “William, please sit down. Jon is in the nursery with our caregiver. He’s fine.” She said, rising to close the door to her tiny office.

  The smell of pine sol accosted him, sucking the air out of the room, it left him feeling light headed. A thousand things crossed his mind but Jon was fine. Jon was fine. He repeated it like a mantra in his mind.

  “We received a call from the San Francisco Police yesterday. It seems that Darla…”

  Will’s heart stopped beating as the institutional green walls closed in on him. Shooting out of his seat he slapped his hands on Amanda’s desk, “She can’t have him now! She’s just out of rehab. She’s not stable! Darla cannot have my son!”

  Nevada City

  “He may have been born in February, but we’ll always celebrate this homecoming day.” Mim’s face flushed with excitement. Dressed in faded jeans, a pale yellow sweater set and petite daisy jewelry, she fussed with every little detail in the room she had created for baby Jon. Pale green, beige and peach created a cocoon of warmth, soft and cuddly for a baby to feel welcome and safe.

  “Auntie Mim, I thought you’d have the whole crew here, Patti, Della and Addy… where are they?” Jake asked.

  “That baby is making big changes. He’s had to adjust to so much. I just wanted it to be us today…” Her open hand reached the side of his face and she flashed him one of her adoring smiles, “Just family.” Then she turned her attention back to the nursery.

  “You know Will never liked the bright colors that most parents were using at the time to ‘stimulate intelligence’ in their infants. So I used the same muted colors in his room. I want our boy to feel safe, he’s been through a lot.” She fluffed a bunny wearing a jean vest clinging to a bundle of carrots.

  “These things were Will’s?” Etta touched the bedding thinking of how he’d left her with sweet kisses and warm promises.

  “I got a few new things, but most of it is Will’s.”

  “I wanted to go with him today. It killed me to watch him leave… again.” Etta commented quietly.

  “Bless your heart, Etta, I had no idea what was happening between you two. I can’t think of a woman I’d rather have with my son, or my grandson.” Mim reached out and took her hand, “Really, I’m so happy. Can you imagine what a precious package he’s bringing home? Come on out here and help me get the party ready. Keeping your hands busy will help.”

  A knot of fear turned in Etta’s stomach, not a good sign for a psychic woman. But she rationalized it as being overwhelmed. Mim’s enthusiasm was contagious. Etta brushed away her feelings of impending doom and concentrated on the preparations. She forced a smile as Mim tied a yellow balloon to a brown bear with a peach colored ribbon. The table outside was set with linens, bears and balloons. It was a tea party setting with all the trimmings, enchanting even to someone not accustom to such things.

  “Mim,” Etta said, her voice breaking, “Something’s not right.” Etta’s hands grasped the table for balance and she melted into the nearest chair.

  “What is it Honey?” Mim was at her side immediately.

  “I have a sick feeling in my stomach.” Etta could hardly breathe, “My heart hurts.”

  “Shit. I hate it when this happens.” Mim held her hand and sat right next to her, she was used to Etta’s ways. She trusted her instincts totally, “What can we do?”

  “Well I don’t think Will’s safety is the issue. I can see Will and he’s fine. The baby is ok. Something’s wrong though, I feel it.”

  “Let’s not worry until we have something to worry about.” Mim was patting her hand, “come on, and let’s get you something to eat.”

  Jake appeared with a crystal goblet of water. Paige sat down next to her and put a hand on her arm. They waited for Will’s return with the baby in a brood, full of expectation and now worry.

  Mim checked the time again, “That damn clocks’ moving like molasses in January.”

  Her hair swung wildly as they heard a car come into the drive. Excitement sparked as Will’s Cherokee pulled into the drive. Will walked around to the back door and opened it up. Reaching inside he brought out a munchkin, wearing overalls, flannel shirt and a baseball cap slightly crooked from the road trip. Etta was too frozen to move, Paige and Jake were standing behind Mim who had placed her hands over her heart, looking wide eyed at the face of her grand baby, “OH My,” the tears rolled, “Jon Jon.” She spoke softly to not scare him.

  Jon blinked his dark brown eyes, wiping them with chubby fists, he looked at his grandmamma and smiled, “Ma.” Then he reached for her.

  Mims arms were full of happy baby boy and she rocked instinctively side to side holding him close, nuzzling into Jon’s neck like a mother bear programming the scent to memory. Then she held him away from her for just a moment and said, “Welcome home.” There wasn’t a dry eye in the driveway as they headed for the back yard party.

  Etta put her arm around Will and said, “God, I’m so happy to see you. I had the worst feeling while you were gone. I’m glad you’re okay.”

  Will pulled her close with an urgency that alerted her, “It’s not over, Etta.”

  Her eyes burrowed into his, “What’s happened?” The sick feeling washed over her again.

  “We’ll talk about it later. I think things will be fine. Come and meet Jon Jon…”

  “Could he look any more like Will?” Paige was watching the baby run through the lawn in Mim’s back yard. He was chasing balloons, laughing and playing. He tripped in a gopher hole and landed on a balloon that popped. A startled round of crying began. Etta was the first one to him. He threw his arms around her neck and put his head on her shoulder.

  “I think its nap time for this little d
ude.” Etta whispered to Will.

  “I’ll help.” The three of them went into the house and put the sleepy baby into the crib.

  “He’s so easy.” Etta whispered as she covered him up.

  “He’s easy to love. It’s not always this smooth.” Will whispered back.

  “Well honey,” Will said, squeezing Etta’s hand, “Here we go…. I only want to tell this story one time… so let’s get out there.”

  The five of them huddled for conversation on the patio. Mim refused to set the baby monitor down and clipped it to her jeans waistband.

  “When I picked up Jon this morning, I got some bad news.” Will said cutting straight to the point, “I probably didn’t do Darla any favors by helping her out financially.”

  “Damn it Will, You gave her the Alpha, you sent her to rehab. What more does she want from you?” Jake said.

  “Well, I did it to get Jon away from that lifestyle. She was very clear that she didn’t want the baby. Your right Jake, I gave her the car. She pawned it for drug money.”

  “Oh my God,” Mim whispered, “what a life.”

  “Then she asked me for more money. I told her the only way I would help her was if she got straight. I didn’t send her to rehab once or twice, I sent her three times in the last year. Every time she came out she seemed better. Darla never wavered on wanting the baby, she didn’t want him. Her dream was to dance again and I offered to help her get on her feet. It became a sickening cycle. Every time my phone rang I wanted to throw it out the window, but I knew I had to deal with her. So, the last time I sent her to rehab, I set up an account for her. When she got out I told her I didn’t want to talk to her again, I got the Alpha out of hock and left it at her apartment. I knew I was bringing Jon Jon back here. I wanted to be done with her. I wanted to know I’d done everything I could to help her.”

  “Well, I think you went above and beyond with her, Bro.” Jake said.

  Will cleared his throat and looked at Jake, “She got out of rehab on Tuesday and on Thursday morning the cops found her OD’d in the Alpha right in front of her apartment.”

  “Over dosed?” Etta processed the words, “She’s dead?”

  “Yes.” Will said softly, “I’ll be living with that for the rest of my life. But there’s more.” He stood and started pacing the patio, “When the next of kin, who is her dad was contacted, the state let him know he had a grandson and that Jon was being placed into the custody of his father…” a gasp went through the group.

  “Darla’s Father, Miles Callahan, wants to see his grandson.”

  “And that could lead to all new court battles…” Mim said quietly as she stood and placed her hands on the arm of her son.

  “Yes,” Will answered flatly.

  The hush that hung over them was broken by Mim, “I don’t blame him for wanting to see his Grandson. He’s lost his daughter and…” Mim’s face was wet with tears and pinched with painful emotion… she sniffed and shook her head, “Well, that beautiful gift from God is here now. We’re gonna’ love him like he’s the only baby on the planet. I for one am not going to let this cloud hang over my head. God would simply not be that cruel. I’ve missed my son for a year. I’ve missed the first year of my grandson’s life. I won’t be robbed of another minute.” Mim raised her head defiantly, “Now, let’s eat.

  CHAPTER 14

  Dressed in overalls, Paige danced to a Dave Mathews tune while she painted the largest upstairs bedroom peaceful sea foam. Everything got easy the minute she let Jake into her life. She blushed remembering how brazen she was with him. He stayed most nights with her, she couldn’t help herself and he couldn’t refuse. Working around the antique furniture piled into the middle of the room, covered in a drop cloth, she hummed and painted. Jake crept in the doorway watching her wiggle and hum, a grin spread from ear to ear. In his hands were the unmistakable boxes of Mr. Chan’s Chinese food.

  “Hey!” she said happy to see him and going in for a kiss.

  He wore a silk ‘all business’ suite and stopped short, “You’ve been working hard!” He kissed the end of her nose to avoid the paint on almost every part of her.

  “OH wow, how did you know I was starving?”

  “Anytime you get into a creative whirl, you don’t eat. So here I am to feed your starving body.” He handed her the bags and looked around for something to set dinner on. He lifted up the edge of the tarp and saw an antique canopy bed, an armoire and an old trunk he recognized from their local flea market. “You’re a tornado!”

  “Yep, and you thought I was giving all my time to you…” she giggled at him. It was an exhilarating high when she found the perfect piece for one of the theme rooms. Her flare for decorating had taken on a life of its own and was now an obsession.

  “This is quite a talent you have. You were made to do this, Paige.”

  “I’ll tell you what I was made for…” she said slyly, taking a piece of General chicken with her painted fingers and popping it into her mouth, “Fortune cookie nookie!”

  “You’re a monster!” He laughed, “I’ll be right back. I have something to tell you.”

  She laid out the boxes and paper plates and dug in before he was back in the room with his briefcase in hand.

  “All business!” She said around a mouth full of chow mien, “I waited for you… like one pig waits for another. Sorry, I was hungry!”

  “I’m not. I’m here for the nookie fest...” He crouched down behind her and nuzzled her neck, “You make me crazy!” he whispered against her ear until a twinge of need prickled deep inside. “Paint covered…” He kissed her shoulder, “hair all wild,” he kissed the top of her head, “dancing and working,” he nibbled her ear, “You are the sexiest woman in the world.”

  Paige turned and kissed his lips quickly, then pecked him again and again and again.

  “You should stop that Paige,”

  “Never! I’m going to kiss you forever.” She said sweetly, without thinking.

  “That’s it!” He said, “Now you’ve done it.” She pulled away and pouted a puzzling frown at him.

  “Now I have to… and I was waiting…” He said it quick, like pulling off a band aid “I love you.”

  Then he pulled her close. Paige was stiff as a board and stunned silent. She felt it too, but love came with so many, many ideas and plans and then she realized that she had waited to long to respond. She was paralyzed by a fear so deep she couldn’t feel the end of it.

  “I’ve got a meeting at the office tonight.” He mumbled into her hair, “Sweet dreams Beautiful, I’ll see you tomorrow.” He was gone before Paige had a moment to take a breath and respond.

  “You didn’t even eat dinner,” She called down the stairs to him.

  “Not hungry.” And he was gone.

  ~

  She’d been alone in her own world since the day Jake dropped the ‘love you’ bomb on her. She did love him. She just didn’t know what love meant to him. They hadn’t talked about Betty. Had Jake broken up with her? The last thing in the world she wanted to talk about when they were alone together was another woman. After three days of no contact with him, the conclusion was, she did not know a thing about love. Maybe he’d been with Betty. A cold chill ran through her with that thought and then she started imagining all kinds of things. Not even Georgia made a sound as Paige’s misery and uncertainty about love swirled around the edges of her focus. Even Wally avoided her, walking around the edges of the rooms and slinking outdoors when she approached.

  Falling prey to her old failures and misgivings about how her new life was taking shape, Paige dug out the blue velvet jewelry box the size of a paperback book from the back of the closet. Inside the velvet exterior with a tuft of cat fur stuck to it were years of broken dreams. Hers or theirs, it went both ways. No wonder she couldn’t say the words to Jake, she was scared stupid. In her life love had only led to undeniable disaster. She ran her fingers over the latch and popped it open. Seven. There were seven rings in the box.
Shame washed over her as she picked up the most humble, the most heartfelt of the rings. A gift on her 21st birthday when she got her first marriage proposal from a sweet handsome young man she didn’t love. Diamonds so tiny they were almost undetectable with filigree hearts and flowers on a gold band. She held it in her hand and felt the gold warm with her memories of Tony. His face, excited and expectant as he opened the peach colored box and fell to his knee, Paige set it down quickly before the guilt made her cry, again. Blinking away the tears of young love, she reached for the sapphire surrounded by diamonds in a platinum setting. Gregory had placed the ostentatious gems in a glass of Champaign grandstanding in front of his friends on a yacht off the coast of Florence. She’d been thirty two. The relationship ended when Paige caught him in the sack with a twenty year old version of herself just days after his proposal.

  Each ring had a story Paige wasn’t proud to remember. They laid in the velvet mocking her every attempt at creating a long lasting relationship. Sorry that she started the exorcise in self pity, the box sat open and Paige ran her finger over the jewels she would never wear.

  “A guilty past is a miserable companion, especially in times of uncertainty” Georgia said breaking her week long silence.

  “There are a lot of heartbreaks in this box.”

  “What can you do about it now?”

  “Not a damn thing.”

  “Exactly! Now, tell me, why do you hang on to them?”

  “What else am I going to do with them?”

  “Liberate your sorrow.” Georgia shouted excitedly.

  Paige smiled for the first time that day. What a character Georgia was. How in the hell was she going to liberate her sorrow?