Part 9
“Well, this is a first. Me bailing you out.” Paul laughed at me while walking me to his car. He was right. It was a first.
“Well, I figured that since I had to bail you out four times, I’d let you return the favor.”
He laughed again. “Do you want me to take you to your car so that Pablo doesn’t have to know?”
I shook my head. “No, just to The Elskede. I’ll tell him the truth. I punched Kirk and it felt good.” I looked at my bruised hand. I just did it wrong, because my hand still hurt. “Where are the kids?”
“I didn’t think you’d want them to see your perp walk. Rafe is at his friend’s … Kenzo?”
I nodded. “Kenzo’s parents work at The Elskede. And Etta?”
“She asked me to drop her off at Den Kage. She said it’s a cake and cupcake bakery.”
It was Avianna’s cake shop. “That’s fine. She’ll be okay there. I know the owner.”
“In this small town, that doesn’t surprise me.”
I ignored his comment. “Did you go in? Was Avianna working?”
“I don’t know who Avianna is. I walked her in and it was just a guy behind the counter. I forget his name but Etta knew him and she helped herself to a cupcake.”
We stopped at his car. I opened the door to get in and stopped. “I think I’d like to walk.”
Paul shrugged. “In this town, it can’t be far. Can I leave my car here and walk with you?”
I nodded, closing the door. “It will be okay here.”
I led the way down Mission and he followed. I noticed when he stopped., so I did, too
He pointed to his left. “That way is the Mission, right?”
I nodded. “Across the street.” I pointed it out to him.
“And also that way is the National Forest, right?”
“Los Padres.” I nodded again.
He smiled and we continued down Mission.
I fell into step beside him. We turned down Alisal and finished our walk talking about how the nice the weather was in October.
Once we were on The Elskede’s parking lot, I was surprised to see my car and Gus Hobbs. I told Paul I’d meet him inside and stopped to talk to Gus Hobbs.
“You offer car delivery now?”
He laughed. “I can walk home from here.”
“You don’t live with…”
He shook his head. “No. Our relationship is strictly business.”
I nodded. Whenever I’d heard someone emphasizing a strictly business relationship, that usually indicated that one of them wanted more. “How will you get to work tomorrow? Do you need me to give you a ride?”
He laughed. “That won’t be necessary Felicia.”
I caught that he addressed me as Felicia instead of as Ms. Michaels. I knew there had to be significance to that.
Gus Hobbs handed me my key.
“Thank you.”
“I also have these for you.” He handed me an envelope and half a dozen yellow roses.
I took them. “Thank you?”
After watching him walk away, I opened the envelope and pulled out a letter from Pearl Tarkey. I read it twice, surprised by the words.
Dear Ms. Michaels,
I appreciate the trouble you went to in the effort to stop the removal of my trees. You’ve shown me a part of the world that I did not believe existed. There are people who truly care about what is right.
I always knew it was the FBI who wanted to tear down my trees. They only wanted to remove Howard’s last efforts. And you bravely stood up to them. They were able to remove three before they were stopped.
I had told you that I would consider forgiving Mr. Cooper’s debt if you were able to stop the removal of my trees. You were partially successful. But I don’t think he will learn if I forgive the debt. However, because you have shown me your heart, I am willing to extend the deadline one more time.
Because you have shown me what it is to care about something so passionately, Miss Aliana Cooper’s tuition has been taken care of for the rest of her freshman year. I consider it an investment in the future of this country. You did say she wished to fix the world. We need more young people like her, who want to fix this broken country we live in.
I think someone with a heart like yours would be a friend to anyone who accepted her. I’d like to believe that I have found someone who I can call friend. Thank you for your efforts, Felicia. I hope when next we meet, it is on better circumstances.
Pearl
Shaking my head, I stuffed the letter back into the envelope and headed into The Elskede. Victor waved from behind the reception desk. Paul and Pablo were standing in the lobby waiting for me.
“Who are the flowers from?”
Paul shook his head. “Another boyfriend?”
“Pearl Tarkey.”
Pablo shook his head, pulling me into his arms. “What happened?”
“I’ll tell you in a minute.” I turned to my brother. “Paul, I need another favor.”
He laughed. “Now what?”
“I’m going to give you a list of people and you’re going to get them together and assemble them in this lobby at the end of the hour. Okay?”
He nodded. “I won’t know who any of these people are.”
Victor joined him. “I can help.” He turned to Paul. “I’m Victor Overbye. I’m a big fan of yours.”
Paul shook his hand. “It’s always nice to meet a fan.”
“I need Chef, Isabel, Tania, Avianna, Jorge, and Bo.” I paused. “No. I’ll call Jorge. I have a question for him. Just Chef, Isabel, Tania, and Avianna. And Victor, I think you’ll want to hear this, too.”
Pablo smiled at me. “Now…”
“Give me a minute to call Jorge.” Then, I whispered in his ear, “and then meet me in the closet.”
“Okay.”
Five minutes later, I was in the closet with Pablo. I told him the whole story while we had the closet sex he had missed so much. But when we were done, he pulled me into his office for a better look at my hand.
“I think you might have broken it.”
“Maybe I’ll try to see a doctor on Wednesday. Tomorrow I wanted to…”
“Do you want me to come with you?”
I shook my head. “Maybe I’ll see if my brother wants to come with me to visit mom and dad.”
“And what about his sudden I think I could live here…”
I shrugged. “It's been nice having him around the last few days.”
“Someone to bail you out of jail?” He laughed.
I shook my head, grabbing his hand with my good one. “Come on, Paul should have everyone assembled by now.”
In the lobby, everyone was there. I told the story of Chef’s disappearance, my search for him, my quest to save the trees, and Pearl Tarkey’s letter.
“So, I still owe her the money?”
Tania slapped Chef. “You should be more grateful.”
Avianna shook her head at him. He tried to slip his arm around her, but she stepped out of his reach.
As the crowd dispursed, Chef returned to the kitchen to get ready for the dinner crowd. Tania followed Victor over to the reception desk, where he picked up his things to head home. Watching them together, I knew she was the girlfriend he had talked about.
Pablo slipped an arm around me. “What are you looking at?”
I shook my head. “Nothing.”
“Nothing? Or the two who don’t think anyone knows they’re dating?”
I smiled. “Okay, so you do know.”
He laughed. “Of course I know. I’m here all the time.”
Jorge approached me. “Felicia?”
“Right. Pablo, do you mind if we borrow your office for a few minutes?”
“Why?”
“I’ll show you later.” I led Jorge to Pablo’s office. “Do you know what a valley oak tree looks like?”
“Kind of. Why?”
“I want a tattoo of three of them. Right here.” I patted my lower back on my left side.
He shook his head. “I told you I wasn’t bringing anything with me. If you want a tattoo, you’re going to have to come into Tatovere Ink.”
“Maybe Ashton would…”
“Ashton was the one who insisted I wasn’t taking anything out of the store. You’ll just have to come in to get it.”
“How late are you open tonight?”
He laughed. “Until you leave. How does that work for you?”
“Thank you.” I gave him a hug. “Can I call you friend?”
“Yes, you can call me friend.” He accepted the hug and hugged me back. “Now, I expect to see you this evening.”
I exited Pablo’s office to find him waiting on me. “I’m heading to Lompoc for a little bit. Can you start dinner?”
“Why are you heading to Lompoc?”
“I want a tattoo.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“I might take Paul with me.”
“And leave him there?”
I shook my head. “I might be warming up to the idea of him staying.”
Ten minutes later, Paul and I were getting in his car. “Where are we going?”
“Tatovere Ink. It’s in Lompoc.”
“And why are we going there?”
“I want another tattoo.”
“Another tattoo? How many do you have?”
“Just one. But soon, it will be two.”
He shook his head. “I don’t think I know you anymore.”
“Well, there is a way to fix that.” I closed the car door and buckled my seat belt.
He buckled his and started the car.
“Tomorrow, after I get the kids to school, I was going to head down to Los Angeles and visit mom and dad’s gravesite.”
“Can I come with you?”
“I was hoping you would.” I smiled. “And I think you should stay.”
“In Los Angeles?” He looked at me, probably trying to guess what I was thinking.
“No. Here in my little town.”
gagengirl entertainment
Solvang 2
Part 9
“Well, this is a first. Me bailing you out.” Paul laughed at me while walking me to his car. He was right. It was a first.
“Well, I figured that since I had to bail you out four times, I’d let you return the favor.”
He laughed again. “Do you want me to take you to your car so that Pablo doesn’t have to know?”
I shook my head. “No, just to The Elskede. I’ll tell him the truth. I punched Kirk and it felt good.” I looked at my bruised hand. I just did it wrong, because my hand still hurt. “Where are the kids?”
“I didn’t think you’d want them to see your perp walk. Rafe is at his friend’s … Kenzo?”
I nodded. “Kenzo’s parents work at The Elskede. And Etta?”
“She asked me to drop her off at Den Kage. She said it’s a cake and cupcake bakery.”
It was Avianna’s cake shop. “That’s fine. She’ll be okay there. I know the owner.”
“In this small town, that doesn’t surprise me.”
I ignored his comment. “Did you go in? Was Avianna working?”
“I don’t know who Avianna is. I walked her in and it was just a guy behind the counter. I forget his name but Etta knew him and she helped herself to a cupcake.”
We stopped at his car. I opened the door to get in and stopped. “I think I’d like to walk.”
Paul shrugged. “In this town, it can’t be far. Can I leave my car here and walk with you?”
I nodded, closing the door. “It will be okay here.”
I led the way down Mission and he followed. I noticed when he stopped., so I did, too
He pointed to his left. “That way is the Mission, right?”
I nodded. “Across the street.” I pointed it out to him.
“And also that way is the National Forest, right?”
“Los Padres.” I nodded again.
He smiled and we continued down Mission.
I fell into step beside him. We turned down Alisal and finished our walk talking about how the nice the weather was in October.
Once we were on The Elskede’s parking lot, I was surprised to see my car and Gus Hobbs. I told Paul I’d meet him inside and stopped to talk to Gus Hobbs.
“You offer car delivery now?”
He laughed. “I can walk home from here.”
“You don’t live with…”
He shook his head. “No. Our relationship is strictly business.”
I nodded. Whenever I’d heard someone emphasizing a strictly business relationship, that usually indicated that one of them wanted more. “How will you get to work tomorrow? Do you need me to give you a ride?”
He laughed. “That won’t be necessary Felicia.”
I caught that he addressed me as Felicia instead of as Ms. Michaels. I knew there had to be significance to that.
Gus Hobbs handed me my key.
“Thank you.”
“I also have these for you.” He handed me an envelope and half a dozen yellow roses.
I took them. “Thank you?”
After watching him walk away, I opened the envelope and pulled out a letter from Pearl Tarkey. I read it twice, surprised by the words.
Dear Ms. Michaels,
I appreciate the trouble you went to in the effort to stop the removal of my trees. You’ve shown me a part of the world that I did not believe existed. There are people who truly care about what is right.
I always knew it was the FBI who wanted to tear down my trees. They only wanted to remove Howard’s last efforts. And you bravely stood up to them. They were able to remove three before they were stopped.
I had told you that I would consider forgiving Mr. Cooper’s debt if you were able to stop the removal of my trees. You were partially successful. But I don’t think he will learn if I forgive the debt. However, because you have shown me your heart, I am willing to extend the deadline one more time.
Because you have shown me what it is to care about something so passionately, Miss Aliana Cooper’s tuition has been taken care of for the rest of her freshman year. I consider it an investment in the future of this country. You did say she wished to fix the world. We need more young people like her, who want to fix this broken country we live in.
I think someone with a heart like yours would be a friend to anyone who accepted her. I’d like to believe that I have found someone who I can call friend. Thank you for your efforts, Felicia. I hope when next we meet, it is on better circumstances.
Pearl
Shaking my head, I stuffed the letter back into the envelope and headed into The Elskede. Victor waved from behind the reception desk. Paul and Pablo were standing in the lobby waiting for me.
“Who are the flowers from?”
Paul shook his head. “Another boyfriend?”
“Pearl Tarkey.”
Pablo shook his head, pulling me into his arms. “What happened?”
“I’ll tell you in a minute.” I turned to my brother. “Paul, I need another favor.”
He laughed. “Now what?”
“I’m going to give you a list of people and you’re going to get them together and assemble them in this lobby at the end of the hour. Okay?”
He nodded. “I won’t know who any of these people are.”
Victor joined him. “I can help.” He turned to Paul. “I’m Victor Overbye. I’m a big fan of yours.”
Paul shook his hand. “It’s always nice to meet a fan.”
“I need Chef, Isabel, Tania, Avianna, Jorge, and Bo.” I paused. “No. I’ll call Jorge. I have a question for him. Just Chef, Isabel, Tania, and Avianna. And Victor, I think you’ll want to hear this, too.”
Pablo smiled at me. “Now…”
“Give me a minute to call Jorge.” Then, I whispered in his ear, “and then meet me in the closet.”
“Okay.”
Five minutes later, I was in the closet with Pablo. I told him the whole story while we had the closet sex he had missed so much. But when we were done, he pulled me into his office for a better look at my hand.
“I think you might have broken it.”
“Maybe I’ll try to see a doctor on Wednesday. Tomorrow I wanted to…”
“Do you want me to come with you?”
I shook my head. “Maybe I’ll see if my brother wants to come with me to visit mom and dad.”
“And what about his sudden I think I could live here…”
I shrugged. “It's been nice having him around the last few days.”
“Someone to bail you out of jail?” He laughed.
I shook my head, grabbing his hand with my good one. “Come on, Paul should have everyone assembled by now.”
In the lobby, everyone was there. I told the story of Chef’s disappearance, my search for him, my quest to save the trees, and Pearl Tarkey’s letter.
“So, I still owe her the money?”
Tania slapped Chef. “You should be more grateful.”
Avianna shook her head at him. He tried to slip his arm around her, but she stepped out of his reach.
As the crowd dispursed, Chef returned to the kitchen to get ready for the dinner crowd. Tania followed Victor over to the reception desk, where he picked up his things to head home. Watching them together, I knew she was the girlfriend he had talked about.
Pablo slipped an arm around me. “What are you looking at?”
I shook my head. “Nothing.”
“Nothing? Or the two who don’t think anyone knows they’re dating?”
I smiled. “Okay, so you do know.”
He laughed. “Of course I know. I’m here all the time.”
Jorge approached me. “Felicia?”
“Right. Pablo, do you mind if we borrow your office for a few minutes?”
“Why?”
“I’ll show you later.” I led Jorge to Pablo’s office. “Do you know what a valley oak tree looks like?”
“Kind of. Why?”
“I want a tattoo of three of them. Right here.” I patted my lower back on my left side.
He shook his head. “I told you I wasn’t bringing anything with me. If you want a tattoo, you’re going to have to come into Tatovere Ink.”
“Maybe Ashton would…”
“Ashton was the one who insisted I wasn’t taking anything out of the store. You’ll just have to come in to get it.”
“How late are you open tonight?”
He laughed. “Until you leave. How does that work for you?”
“Thank you.” I gave him a hug. “Can I call you friend?”
“Yes, you can call me friend.” He accepted the hug and hugged me back. “Now, I expect to see you this evening.”
I exited Pablo’s office to find him waiting on me. “I’m heading to Lompoc for a little bit. Can you start dinner?”
“Why are you heading to Lompoc?”
“I want a tattoo.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“I might take Paul with me.”
“And leave him there?”
I shook my head. “I might be warming up to the idea of him staying.”
Ten minutes later, Paul and I were getting in his car. “Where are we going?”
“Tatovere Ink. It’s in Lompoc.”
“And why are we going there?”
“I want another tattoo.”
“Another tattoo? How many do you have?”
“Just one. But soon, it will be two.”
He shook his head. “I don’t think I know you anymore.”
“Well, there is a way to fix that.” I closed the car door and buckled my seat belt.
He buckled his and started the car.
“Tomorrow, after I get the kids to school, I was going to head down to Los Angeles and visit mom and dad’s gravesite.”
“Can I come with you?”
“I was hoping you would.” I smiled. “And I think you should stay.”
“In Los Angeles?” He looked at me, probably trying to guess what I was thinking.
“No. Here in my little town.”
gagengirl entertainment
Solvang 2