The Denver Cereal Read Online Free

snowboards, wrapped in each other. “I love Jill”
was written in the snow, and Trevor was kissing her face. They
looked so blissfully happy. The images cycled through a family
Christmas, pausing at a New Year’s Eve party. Taken at midnight,
the picture showed Trevor and Jill making out in the corner. The
back of Jill’s gold T-shirt read “Trevor’s wish,” while a large
“J,” the rest unseen from the angle of the picture, was visible on
the back of Trevor’s matching T-shirt.
    When the next image came
up on the screen, the crowd gasped.
    “ These are our divorce
papers. As you can see, Trevor divorced me two days later, and that
means . . .”
    “ You’re still married,” a
man’s voice yelled from the back of the room. “Lawyer,
sorry.”
    The crowd
laughed.
    “ Until tomorrow,” Jill
said. She took a step toward Trevor who was shaking his head. “I
wanted to give you a few things to help you in your new
life.”
    The band began to play “I
will survive.”
    “ First, here’s my wedding
ring. While I see you managed to get her a diamond, my little
thirty-dollar ring was good for nine years. You should keep
it.”
    She pulled the ring off
her left ring finger and placed it in Trevor’s hand.
    “ And I think you should
have these.”
    There was a whistle from
the back of the room as Jill unzipped the beautiful boots. She gave
the boots to the rich girl.
    “ He calls these his ‘get
lucky’ boots. They’re probably a little big for you, but you can
stuff some tissues in the toes. Just put them on, honey, and you’ll
have a good time,” Jill said.
    Megan touched Jill’s arm
and helped her step into the black pumps. “Thanks,” Jill said to
Megan. She looked up to see every eye was on her.
    “ I guess that’s it,” Jill
said.
    “ No, it’s not.” Steve
yelled from the back of the room.
    “ Oh.” Jill
nodded.
    In her heart of hearts,
Jill had hoped Trevor would see their happy pictures and change his
mind. She let out a breath. He wasn’t going to change his
mind.
    Megan was right, as
always.
    Trevor only saw dollar
signs.
    Lowering her head to cover
her last hope exploding in her heart, she unbuttoned her shirt.
Reaching into her shirt, she retrieved a folded piece of paper.
Candy gave her the long-stemmed, white rose.
    “ This is our wedding
present to you, Trevor.” Her eyes full of tears, Jill’s voice
caught on the words. “We terminated your parental rights. You’re
not Katy’s daddy anymore.”
    “ No, Jill. No.” Trevor
shook his head back and forth as his voice rose in desperation.
“No, you can’t do that.”
    “ You haven’t even seen her
in six months!”
    “ I . . .”
    “ It’s done,” Jill said.
“You signed the papers when Mike had you sign the financial
papers.”
    “ Then it’s legal,” the
lawyer in the back of the room yelled.
    “ We’re leaving, which
means you high-class people don’t have low people to serve your
dinner or your drinks or even play in your band. Pete said if you
bring your invitation to the Pete’s Kitchen on Colfax, he’ll feed
you dinner as a freedom present to me.”
    “ Good luck, Trevor,” Jill
said.
    She gave Trevor the rose,
and she couldn’t resist the magnetic draw of him. She kissed his
lips. He moved to draw her deeper, his lips pulling at hers, but
she shifted away from him.
    “ I’m not yours to kiss
anymore. No matter how much I love you . . .” Her
voice, barely above a whisper, caught and tears dropped. “You chose
someone else. I had nine wonderful years with my soul mate. That’s
more than most people have in a lifetime. I have no right to
complain.”
    She put her hand on his
chest and she nodded.
    “ Good night.”
    As she embarked on a hip
swinging trip across the floor, someone clapped. She looked over to
see Jacob, then his father clapping. The rich people began to cheer
for Jill. She blushed and left the room.
    “ That’s the girl, isn’t
it?” Jacob’s dad asked.
    Jacob