Chapter 28
Hello, sweet little flowers my cute little Grands picked for me!
Hidden Secrets
Leona Palmer Haag
Chapter 28
Jenn didn't bother opening her eyes when Katie slid
out of bed. Or when she heard her new purse thump onto the floor at the foot of
the bed. Or when she heard Katie going through it. Or when Katie started
playing with the window curtains. Or when Katie began climbing on and jumping
off the loveseat by the window. She only opened them when Katie began whining
to get out.
"Hungry?" Jenn asked as she watched Katie
wander around the bedroom in the dim morning light.
"Juice," Katie said.
"That's probably all there is. Mr. Curtis, or
shall we call him Kevin? Uncle Kevin has a nice ring to it. Uncle Kevin said the
cupboards are stocked but the fridge is bare. Shall we go on a treasure
hunt?"
"Treasure hunt," Katie happily repeated,
knowing what always happened in the end—some treat was discovered.
Jenn slid out of bed and straightened the jacket that
had wrapped around her sometime during the night at an odd angle. She glanced
at it in the dresser mirror as she passed, and decided it wasn't meant to be a
pajama top and the wrinkles might never come out. "So what," Jenn
said to Katie as she scooped her daughter into her arms. "Uncle Kevin said
I could buy whatever we need. Shall we buy an iron or a new jacket?"
"Iron," Katie mimicked.
Jenn laughed. "Wrong, baby doll. Try jacket. This
is vacationland, not a work…"
"Wow," Jenn slowly gasped as she saw the
kitchen in the morning light. "This is more than vacationland. This
is…" She had no idea what to call the kind of house she couldn't have
dreamed up no matter how hard she tried. "It's opulence. Maybe obscene.
Definitely over the top," she said in awe.
Katie wiggled from her arms and began toddling around.
Jenn walked across the marble tile floor and pulled open one of the fridge
doors. It was empty. So was the freezer. She opened a cupboard and found
crystal goblets. She turned a dizzy circle and finally spotted what might be a
pantry. "Jackpot!" Jenn whispered.
Katie joined her a second later and reached up for a
box of Twinkies. "Let's start with this," Jenn said, pulling out a
bottle of apple juice and a box of granola bars. Jenn grabbed a box of Kashi
and examined the label. "And this. Want some high-end health store Kashi
for breakfast?"
"I wan' cash, I wan' cash," Katie said,
reaching for the box.
Jenn handed it over with a laugh. "Me too. Let's
tell Uncle Kevin we came here only for the cash. After breakfast we'll go get
some, stuff our purses full, and then spend it! Want to go shopping with
me?"
Katie nodded as she began working on the box top.
The desire to shop and the actual willingness to leave
the locked house were two different things. Jenn took a long slow shower and
spent extra time drying off. She found a blow dryer in a bathroom drawer and a
curling iron. There was a jar filled with new toothbrushes and toothpaste, and
with hers in her suitcase in the car, she decided she'd use one. She popped one
open and then handed Katie one to open for herself.
Once she was dressed and Katie was bathed and running
around in a diaper, Jenn decided it was time to look around. She opened the
blind over the kitchen sink and stared at the sunrise breaking over a low rise.
"This is incredible," she whispered as rays of orange shot over the
desert, lighting the landscape.
Jenn pulled Katie to her hip as she opened more
blinds. Finally she unlocked the back door and stepped out onto the deck. The
air was cool and crisp and the sun was almost fully up. They watched it break
loose and rise like a ball of fire. "Wow," Jenn reverently sighed.
"Wow," Katie echoed.
Then Jenn focused on the yard. Huge boulders as red
and orange and gold as the desert were surrounded by graduating rocks in tones
of red, ochre and gray. Shrubs with long spiny leaves were framed by flowing
rivers of varying shades of gravel in different sizes. In the center of a giant
patio made of stamped concrete in tones of yellow, gold and silver lay a
swimming pool as blue as the morning sky. Half of it was beneath a slatted
arbor where purple flowers on deep green vines climbed.
"Don't pinch me," Jenn whispered.
Katie giggled and writhed to get out of her arms, but Jenn
clung tighter. The arbor turned the corner of the pool and a sunscreen was
secured to one side. It was currently rolled up and let morning light through.
Stepping stones in the river of rocks surrounding the patio led to a bench in
one corner. Urns of varying heights and sizes overflowed with flowers.
"This is beautiful—and without a blade of grass," Jenn said.
"Swim," Katie begged. "Swim."
"We're going shopping for swimming suits in about
three minutes," Jenn giggled.
Back in the house, Jenn decided to finish exploring.
She found two master suites on the main floor, the second one tucked behind the
garage and huge, but not as big as the one she'd used.
The wide curving stairway upward beckoned, so Jenn
hesitantly ventured up. She and Katie found it ended in a giant loft where they
looked down on the kitchen and family room. "Just like Montana," Jenn
giggled.
"Montana," Katie said.
"Oh, let's stop saying that. It makes me
shiver," Jenn said, tickling Katie under the chin.
"Montana," Katie laughed. "Montana!
Montana!"
"I've created a monster," Jenn teased.
"Montana!"
Jenn set Katie down and looked in two huge bedrooms
that opened from the loft. Both had private baths attached. "Pure
opulence," Jenn said.
A ten-foot wide hallway ended with double doors. Jenn
pushed them open. The third bedroom stretched from the front of the house where
a sitting area looked over Honeysuckle Pie Drive and the front yard. Jenn
peered out and discovered the barren front yard was actually landscaped to
rival the back yard. In the light, it was breathtaking. The back of the bedroom
contained a wall of windows and a wide French door leading to a balcony
overlooking the swimming pool. "We have just discovered the real master suite,"
Jenn said as she led Katie onto the deck to look at the luxury spread out below
them. Katie preferred the chaise lounge and used it as a trampoline until Jenn
took her back inside and shut and locked the door.
A moment later they inspected the master bathroom
where a gas fireplace could be enjoyed while soaking in the huge jetted tub.
"Shall we move up in the world tonight?"
"Move up!" Katie gleefully said as she
climbed into and out of the tub a few times.
Jenn opened the linen closet and pulled out a huge
cream-colored towel with a purple silk ribbon band on one end. She pulled it
over her shoulders like a cape. "This is fit for a king!"
"King!" Katie exclaimed.
"So I must be a queen and you must be a
princess!"
"Yey!" Katie cheered.
Although Jenn had fun exploring every inch of the
castle, as she dubbed the safe house, she hated it too. It wasn't home. She'd
never lived with a theater in the basement with seating for twelve. Or an
exercise room with every kind of equipment imaginable. She'd never had a home
with so many laundry rooms—one on each level and a spare in the fitness room
bathroom. Six bedrooms and nine bathrooms were beyond her wildest dream. And
who needed a jetted tub in each bathroom attached to a bedroom? It was insane!
With several framed photographs in the house of Katie, her, Matt and a
combination of them all together as if they’d actually posed, it felt less like
home. It was a façade. A reminder that nothing around her was real.
It took courage to leave the castle. That and no milk,
eggs, cheese, bananas or swimming suits.
Jenn buckled Katie into her car seat and said,
"What's first? Kid's DVD's, toys, clothes or food?"
"Food!" Katie said, kicking her feet.
"Nanas!"
"Okay, let's start with the essentials—swimming
suits!"
Four stores later and after spending several hundred
dollars, Jenn hitched Katie higher on her hip as she signed Claudia Morgan for
another credit card purchase. This time for several stuffed animals—something the
palace lacked. She handed back the ink pen, closed her purse and grabbed the
three bulging bags and turned to go.
"Claudia! Claudia Morgan!" Jenn heard as she
pushed against the exit door. Jenn's heart stopped when someone grabbed her
arm. She almost dropped the bags. "Your card. You forgot your card."
The cashier gave her a funny look. "You are Claudia Morgan, aren't
you?"
Jenn nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I am. Thanks."
She followed the cashier back to the counter as she
said, "You didn't seem to hear me. It's Claudia, right?"
"Only when my mother calls and I'm in
trouble," Jenn joked. "I go by Dia. I haven't heard the Claud part
since—for ages! And the Morgan part I picked up when I got married…" She
glanced at Katie. "Well, I finally married Katrina's daddy. It was a spur
of the moment thing. Recently. Just…a…Christmas present. Just last…last
month."
"Oh, congratulations. That's sweet."
"Daddy," Katie said with a winning smile.
Jenn pocketed the card and left, forcing herself to
not look back, not run, not scream. Not collapse in fright.
It felt odd that overnight she’d seemed to lose all
the knowledge and confidence she’d gained in Baltimore. It had drained out of
some unseen leak in her heart and soul. She sucked in a deep breath, whispered,
“we’re okay, perfectly okay, little Katie bear,” as she made her way to the new
car.
End Chapter 28
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