“Exactly,” Donovan said. “Which is why I’ve reserved us a suite at the Fairmont, and then I called Phillipe.”
Lauren spun in her seat, eyes wide. “Can he seat us? What time?”
“Even better,” Donovan said. “He has, of course, seen the news. When I called, he didn’t hesitate. He told me not to worry about a thing, that he was closing his restaurant tonight. As it turns out, he knows the executive chef at the Fairmont, who in turn has invited Phillipe to be the guest chef cooking for us tonight. We never have to leave our suite.”
“Oh my God, does Phillipe remember what I like? Never mind, it doesn’t matter, I love anything he cooks.”
“He knows,” Donovan said. “You’ll be having the halibut dish you love. There is one detail I’ll need your help with, though. It seems I’ve misplaced my wallet. You’re going to have to buy.”
“I think I can manage that,” Lauren said as she cuddled up even closer. “Have I told you lately how much I love being married to you?”
“Yes, you have, but I always like hearing you say those words. Before we get to the hotel and open the bottle of champagne I ordered, can you tell me how much trouble you caused today?”
“I learned that General Curtis doesn’t like to be flipped off, even if it’s from clear across the country via the link from one of his drones. Beyond that little bit of awkwardness, it’s all fine. Everyone seems happy with the results. That’s enough work-talk. I have to ask again: Where in the world are your shoes?”
“I threw them overboard,” Donovan said without hesitation.
“Why?”
“They made too much noise. So I kicked them off, but I couldn’t leave them on the deck. That would have raised eyebrows, so I tossed them into the ocean. I’ll buy a new pair.”
“I gather there’s a larger explanation coming?”
“Yes, much later,” Donovan said. “Before I forget, Montero put a letter in my briefcase. Can you reach it and hand it to me?”
Lauren passed the envelope to Donovan, who opened it, quickly read the contents, and handed it back to her. Lauren began to read.
Donovan,
I know there is a great deal happening right now but I have news. You both saw Ethan with a one hundred dollar Bellagio chip. There’s a story behind that chip. It has to do with relationships, leaps of faith, or as I told him, the gamble of allowing someone to get close. The chip was a gift for me, it means he’s all in and wants a future together. That said, I’d like to request a partial transfer from Eco-Watch headquarters. For the time being, I’ll be taking care of my duties from California, commuting as needed. I am more than happy to discuss more about this at your convenience.
Sincerely,
Montero
“I think it’s wonderful.” Lauren folded the paper. “Can she do it?”
“Of course.” Donovan shrugged. “This is huge for her. I wouldn’t dream of getting in her way.”
“Let’s text her right now.” Lauren grabbed her phone. “What do you want to say?”
“Tell her to set up whatever works best for her. Tell her we love her, and we wish her the best.”
“Perfect.” Lauren punched in the letters and hit send. She pocketed her phone, took his face in both of her hands, and kissed him. “I’m so happy you’re still alive.”
“Me, too, and I’m married to someone famous now,” Donovan said between kisses. “Your picture is attached to lead stories circulating around the world. You saved California. You could be governor if you wanted. I keep thinking about how lucky I am to be the guy who gets to sleep with you tonight.”
“That’s good, you keep thinking those thoughts. I have a limo waiting for us at the heliport.” She snuggled in next to him. “I think we should go visit Rick tomorrow after we see William. We should probably get a car for the entire day,” Lauren said, relishing being close to Donovan. When he didn’t answer, she glanced over and realized his eyes were shut. He was asleep.
EPILOGUE
“Good morning.” Lauren held the door open so Donovan could limp into the hospital room with his crutches. At the center of several monitors and wires lay William.
“This is a pleasant surprise,” William said with a smile as he set aside his newspaper.
“Have you been awake long?” Donovan asked William. “How do you feel?”
“It’s a hospital. They woke me at five a.m.” William and Donovan hugged, and then William opened his arms for Lauren. “I’m a little beat up, but at least there’s no pain. Considering all that happened, I feel pretty good.”
“That’s great news,” Lauren said.
“I’ll admit, when I was lying on the golf course after the tsunami, I was thinking it was the end.” William shook his head as if casting aside the dark thoughts.
“Do you have everything you need?” Lauren asked. “Can we bring you anything?”
“I’m all set, thank you. You know I was just reading about you in the newspaper. You’re famous. Besides the military, it seems Cal Fire and the Forest Service are also giving you credit for helping stop the fire. How does it feel?”
“It’ll last until the next news cycle,” Lauren said with a shrug. “Though the hotel staff were very sweet, as was the limo driver, and everyone else we’ve met this morning. I’ll take my fifteen minutes, and then I plan to go back to my regular life.”
“Have you had your leg looked at yet?” William asked Donovan.
“Yes, we got here early, and Donovan had an MRI,” Lauren said. “The doctor explained that there are broken pieces of cartilage in his knee, and he’ll need surgery to clean it all out. The good news is it’ll wait until we’re back in Virginia, so Donovan can recover at home. The procedure is minimally invasive, and we’re told he’ll be back to normal in six weeks.”
“That’s good news. How is everyone else doing?” William asked. “I only remember bits and pieces. Shannon?”
“Everyone is fine. Michael has a nick on his ear. Rick is recovering from his surgery and expected to make a full recovery,” Donovan said. “Shannon is fine, physically, though she endured a great deal of stress. She’s tough, and I think she’ll be good. At least we’ll be able to keep an eye on her—I hired her.”
“I do like her.” William nodded his head in approval. “Nice move.”
“I need to ask you something.” Donovan lowered his voice. “When we were in Pebble Beach, we’d just given you morphine, and you said some things. Do you remember anything?”
“Oh no.” William’s eyes darted from Lauren to Donovan. “Not a thing. What did I say?”
“Everything has been handled. You were swimming in morphine and you happened to mention Robert Huntington in front of Shannon. Now, before you get all concerned, Shannon is one of us now, and she’s fine with what she knows. Because she’s the new therapist on staff, which was her idea by the way, she can’t reveal anything she’s been told in confidence. It’s a win-win.”
“Everything is good,” Lauren said. “We’re just a little worried about you.”
“You said some other things. Again, it could have been the morphine talking, but I need to ask. You said you felt like you ruined my life by helping me end Robert Huntington. That you conspired to help me leave a winnable fight, which in turn robbed me of my life.”
William closed his eyes and his body sagged at the words.
“I hope you’ve never consciously felt that way,” Donovan continued. “I’ve never regretted what we did. I have Lauren, Abigail, Michael, you, and Eco-Watch. I have a wealth that Robert was never going to attain. I have you to thank for all of those things. I wasn’t robbed. You gave me the gift of life, as any father would.”
“I’ve always loved you like a son, and I know exactly where my words came from. All day, while I was playing golf, I was reminded of our past together. Pebble Beach brought up so many memories of the two of us, as well as your mother and father. I found myself thinking of your father, who was without a doubt, my closest friend ev
er. I was remembering the business battles he and I engaged in and won. He was an exceptional man, a fighter, and a brilliant businessman. After the tsunami, I’m sure I was in shock, feeling I was about to die. I knew my only chance at survival was you. If you humanly could, you’d be coming for me. You’re a fighter, too, even more so than your father. It was then I began to feel like I’d helped cheat the world out of Robert Huntington the III, who, in the tradition of his father, and his grandfather, is a remarkable individual. I felt as though I’d altered history, altered you—that my actions shortchanged the Huntington legacy.”
“We did change a few things, in the best way possible, and I’ll always love you for that.” Donovan leaned down and kissed William on the forehead. “The truth of the matter is that, one day, Abigail will fully understand her family tree, and she’ll evolve into the matriarch of the Huntington family. She’ll be free to do with it as she pleases, and if you ask me, she may exceed the accomplishments of all the Huntingtons who’ve come before.”
“We both love you so much. No regrets, ever,” Lauren said. “In fact, one of the best things to happen over the course of the last two days we owe to you. It turns out that Michael has known about Donovan’s secret for years. On the ship, he overheard Shannon and understood that she’d found out Donovan’s past. Worried, because you and I were ashore, Michael took it upon himself to warn Donovan.”
“You gave me my closest friend, Michael, who I now never have to lie to again. Thank you,” Donovan said. “Look, we’ll both have time to discuss this at length as we convalesce. Did the doctor give you any idea how long you’ll be in here?”
“I haven’t seen him yet today, but that’s one of the questions on my list.”
“Ask him if you can be discharged tomorrow morning. You’ll be flying home on a chartered jet with your friends and family. Tell him he can come if he wants. The jet will be turning around, and he’ll fly straight back here. In fact, why don’t you plan to come home with Lauren and me, let us look after you until you feel better.”
“I think that’s a marvelous idea,” Lauren said. “In fact, that’s what’s going to happen. I won’t allow you to say no.”
“Just think, Abigail will have her father and grandfather to spoil her around the clock.”
“Oh, please, God, anything but that.” Lauren laughed.
“Knock knock.” The door opened partially, and Michael’s voice called out. “Feel like more company?”
“Michael, come in, please,” William said.
“Hey, guys,” Michael said as he walked into the room holding a shopping bag.
Lauren was closest, and she leaned in and wrapped her arms around Michael and squeezed hard, followed by a kiss on the cheek. Donovan adjusted his crutches with difficulty, reached out, grabbed Michael, and the two friends hugged.
“Michael, we can’t tell you how happy we are with how everything turned out,” Lauren said.
“Me, too,” Michael said and then turned to William. “I’ve got to say, you look far better than when we plucked you out of the ocean.”
“I don’t know if I properly thanked you for that,” William said. “Thank you.”
“Glad to help.” Michael reached into the bag and slid out a brand-new electronic tablet. “I borrowed this from the ship. I know for a fact, you didn’t check in with very many possessions. I don’t know about you, but I’d go crazy if television was the only news outlet I had.”
“I refused to even turn it on this morning,” William said. “Thank you, Michael. This is perfect.”
“I do need to warn you. All that’s on the news right now is endless footage of a cool ship and a very smart woman, who seems to have saved the world,” Michael said. “The footage of the Buckley barging into Monterey Bay and wrecking the pier is almost topped by the low-flying 747 appearing out of the clouds and putting out the fire. We’re all famous now, and I think it should be a movie. Matter of fact, we should all be in the movie.”
“Not that Eco-Watch needed the press, but I think we did some good things out there this weekend,” Lauren said. “A nonprofit can always use more donors.”
“Montero, Janie, and Shannon are right behind me,” Michael said. “We weren’t sure how many visitors you could have, so I came up first while they stopped at the gift shop.”
“Really, you guys are amazing,” Donovan said as he stood and positioned his crutches to move out of the way to make more room near William. “Wait, you docked the ship in Oakland, spent the night there, and then drove over here this morning?”
“Uh, not exactly.” Michael’s eyes darted back and forth between Lauren and Donovan. “Lauren sent me a text yesterday saying that we all had rooms at the Fairmont, and dinner was on the house. Lauren’s helicopter—that’s what we sort of started calling it—landed on the Buckley just after we docked and we flew to downtown San Francisco. Thank you so much. We had an incredible dinner, followed by a few drinks at the bar afterwards. Maybe more than a few, but you’ll see the rest of that story on my expense account.”
“I picked up that tab,” Lauren said before Donovan could even open his mouth. “It was an impressive bill. As a group, you do know how to celebrate.”
“We’re here,” Montero said as she swung open the door, flowers in hand, leading Janie and Shannon into the room. “I don’t know how long we can stay. The nurses looked at us funny as we walked past their station.”
Janie stepped over to where Donovan stood. “I was hoping I’d see you today. I wanted to explain to you in person about the damaged helicopter.”
“I’ve already heard all about it from Lauren,” Donovan said with a smile. “She used words like extraordinary and remarkable. Without you, I’m not sure the three of us in the Gulfstream would still be alive. As far as I’m concerned, you’re a legend.”
“I got lucky,” Janie said.
“Whoa.” Montero slid into the conversation. “You got lucky?”
“By getting everyone back on the ship in that messed-up chopper.”
“That’s not luck,” Montero said. “That’s you, girl. You’re the best helicopter pilot who ever lived.”
“A legend,” Donovan said.
“Exactly,” Montero said.
“Janie,” Michael called out. “When you get a moment, come tell William how you repaired the helicopter.”
“Thank you for the text yesterday,” Montero said as Janie walked away. “I wasn’t sure how you’d respond to my request, or when I was going to see you again.”
“Lauren and I are both thrilled. Ethan is a good guy. You know, I remember back to when you and I first met. You were one of the angriest people I’d ever met, with good reason. We’ve both come a long way since then, and I’m so happy you’ve found someone.”
“Any advice?”
“We’ve both lost people we loved. If you’re all in—live it the best you can, each and every day. Never take a single moment for granted.”
Montero put her arms around Donovan, gave him a quick hug, and whispered, “Thank you.”
Donovan smiled as Montero slid past Michael and found Lauren. Donovan adjusted his crutches, centered his weight, and decided he already hated the things. When he looked up, Shannon was standing in front of him.
“How’s the leg?” Shannon asked.
“Nothing a little surgery can’t fix,” Donovan said. “How do you feel today?”
“It’s still all a little surreal. Considering everything we went through, it’ll take a little while for me to process everything, but I’ll be fine. To be honest, I feel like a different person, that the fog I’ve been living in is gone. The world seems bright again. Anyway, enough about me, how are you doing?”
“If I had it to do over, I might have skipped being adrift in the ocean. Then again, I had you to help me past the worst part. Buck would have been proud of you. I know I am.”
“Thank you for everything. I owe you my life, like five times over.”
“We don’t keep trac
k of those things around here,” Donovan said. “Any regrets about decisions you made yesterday?”
“None. Well, maybe one,” Shannon whispered to Donovan. “I may have had a little too much to drink last night. I’ve been out drinking with Navy SEALs, so Michael, even Montero, I could keep up with, but Janie is another story.”
“Oh, no, you can’t keep up with her,” Donovan said. “No one can. The Australians are just built different. Trust me. I know.”
“Before all that insanity began last night, I did make something for you.” Shannon handed Donovan a small scroll wrapped in a pink ribbon. “I thought you could share it with your daughter, you know, from Buck. You can open it later.”
“Alright people!” The nurse opened the door, her voice easily filling the room. “Mr. VanGelder is recovering from surgery. We restrict visitors to family only; everyone else needs to leave.”
“We’re all family,” Donovan said.
“He’s right,” Lauren added. “We all belong here.”
“You’ve got five minutes, and then visitors will be limited to two at a time.” The nurse shook her head and left the room.
“I have some quick announcements before they split us up,” Donovan said. “I spoke with Rick this morning, and he, like William, is feeling a bit wrung out, but is doing well and expected to make a full recovery. Lauren and I are headed over to see him next. I’ve arranged for Eco-Watch to fly under a special waiver. We’re going home tomorrow via a chartered Gulfstream. The flight leaves San Francisco at noon. Michael, Shannon, Lauren and I, and hopefully William will be on board. Montero will not. She is staying in the Bay Area to help oversee the repairs to the Buckley, as well as work with our friends at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I also want to announce that Shannon is the newest member of Eco-Watch. It’s long overdue that we have a mental health professional in house.”
“Finally,” Michael said amidst the laughter.
“Okay, last night was a practice run. There will be an encore outing this evening that includes my very famous wife, and her very grateful husband. Everyone meet at the hotel bar at six p.m., so we can celebrate all our good fortunes, this evening, together. Montero, please bring Ethan. We really are all family, and let’s never do it any other way.”
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