Celia's Puppies Read Online Free Page B

tell us?”
    “ He’s painted
others.”
    ~~~~~~~~
    Monday morning — 10 A.M.
     
    Jacob leaned forward to look at Jill. She
was sitting against the back of the couch holding her cup of
coffee. She hadn’t said much since coming to get him for his ten
o’clock break. He wondered if she was irritated that he wasn’t
sleeping as the doctor ordered. She didn’t look irritated. Mostly
she looked lost in thought.
    But how would he know if she looked
irritated or not? To him, her every expression was beautiful.
    “ We weren’t always
wealthy,” Jacob said.
    “ What?”
    “ You asked me why I had so
much money if I don’t care about it at all.” He paused. “Listen, I
can imagine how strange it must be for you. Everything is different
for you, for Katy and for me.”
    “ But not bad,” Jill said.
“I’m not moving back to the apartment because I’m unhappy or
anything’s bad. I just feel... I don’t know… like I should. I mean,
you said it last night, we don’t really know each
other.”
    Jacob nodded.
    “ I’d like you to stay,” he
said. “Not as my nursemaid. I like your company. I like being in
the same room with you, under the same roof. I think everyone does.
How can I get to know you better if you’re somewhere
else?”
    Jill opened her mouth to respond then closed
it.
    “ You started to tell me
about making the money.”
    “ Right.” He noticed her
diversion but didn’t want to fight it. “We lived in a little
apartment until I was about five years old. Two bedrooms. Val and I
shared a room. My parents worked. A lot. Val and I spent all our
time either at school or with Delphie. I didn’t know we were poor.
I guess we had each other.”
    “ What happened?” Jill
asked.
    “ A bunch of stuff,” Jacob
said. “In building DIA, priority bidding was given to women owned
businesses. My mother owned a majority share of Lipson Construction
because she put up the Marlowe mine as equity to start the company.
Lipson got the work. They did such a good job at DIA that when they
closed Lowry Air Force base, we got that work too. Then they closed
the old airport... Just before she died, my Mom reformulated the
company by creating the board of directors, and we got to work on
the T-Rex project. By the time she died, the company was worth a
lot of money.”
    “ But didn’t you live in a
big house in Crestmoor before...”
    “ My Dad had an inheritance
from his Dad and his brother. It was hung up in litigation... I
don’t remember why. Something stupid. He got the money when I was
four. He bought the house. He wanted the best for my Mom and he
thought Crestmoor was the best. She hated that house, but never
told him until last year of her life. That’s how they were — kind
to a fault to each other. Always doing what they thought the other
wanted regardless.”
    Jill nodded.
    “ Anyway, my point is that
all of a sudden, I had all this money. I didn’t know what to do
with it,” Jacob said. “In fact, I planned to give it all away and
only spend what I earned myself. Then my Dad came to Maine and...
Well, here I am. Outside of this place, I don’t really spend the
money.”
    Tucking her leg under her, Jill turned to
look at him.
    “ We weren’t always poor,”
Jill said. “Only after our parents died. I don’t know what they
were thinking. I have more life insurance than they did and they
had five kids. I guess they thought they’d live
forever.”
    “ It must have been a hard
transition,” Jacob said.
    “ I think Megan and Mike
really suffered. They gave up their dreams for us,” Jill said. “If
you don’t spend any money, how’d you get the car?”
    “ I bought you the car that
Jennifer Garner drives. Or Mike said Jennifer Garner drives that
car.” Jacob shrugged. “It seemed perfect for you and
Katy.”
    “ It is perfect,” Jill
said. “I love it. So does Katy. But I don’t mean that
car.”
    “ Which car?”
    “ The Aston
Martin.”
    “ Oh, isn’t that funny?
It’s