Everlasting

by S. E. Lund

  We'd have to find the right place for him and Elaine to live. Wheelchair accessible with access to a big patio or yard.

  Until then, I'd have to be patient.

  The next day, Karen arrived at six fifteen to sit with Sophie and walked right in, taking her from my arms like a pro. She had Sophie on the sofa playing and reading a book in no time.

  "You two go out," she said, glancing in our direction. "I know my way around your apartment. I'll give her a bottle before she goes down. What time do you want me to put her to bed?"

  "She usually goes down at about eight."

  "Sounds fine. Now, off you go. I have my cell in case you need to stay later or anything. Let me know."

  "Thanks," Drake said and put his arm around my shoulder. "We really appreciate you helping out. We'll be home after nine."

  "Like I said, call me if you need more time. I'm happy to stay."

  We left the apartment and I felt only the slightest twinge of guilt at going out. Sophie seemed quite happy to be with Karen and so I took in a deep breath and tried to stop worrying about Sophie. Karen was a retired nurse. If anyone could look after her, Karen could. She was trained in CPR and knew babies inside and out.

  Drake took my hand and led me to the car outside on the street. We drove to the restaurant Lara had chosen and found a spot in a parking garage a few blocks away. The sun was still high and the air warm. I breathed in, enjoying the Manhattan night.

  The restaurant specialized in modern French food and the décor was upscale and trendy. We entered and Drake gave Lara's name to the hostess who took us back to a booth in the rear of the dining room, next to a bank of windows. Lara greeted us, standing up, dressed in her usual navy pinstripe suit and white blouse, her platinum hair in a tight bun. She looked every inch a defense lawyer you wouldn’t want to mess with. I was glad we had her on our side.

  "Drake, Kate," she said and gave us both a hug and kiss. "Good to see you. Please, sit down. I've been here for fifteen minutes catching up on personal email and drinking vodka martinis. After the day I had, I needed them."

  We sat in the booth, with me between Drake and Lara.

  "Bad day in court?" Drake asked, opening his menu.

  "The worst. Some people just cannot understand what's in their own best interest."

  She proceeded to tell us about a case where she was defending a man charged with involuntary manslaughter.

  "I always tell people to keep it succinct. Less is more. Don't get into any long, convoluted explanations of your behavior. Keep it simple. My client started explaining too much and screwed up his case. I needed a drink or three. Maybe four." She held up her martini glass and winked at me.

  "Speaking of cases, I have it on good authority that you were very good on the stand, Drake. One of my assistants sat in while you were giving your testimony. He said you were cool as a cucumber and that your voice broke at just the right place."

  "And that was?" I asked, curious about Drake breaking down.

  "When he described the phone call he got about you being struck by a car. My assistant said Drake was calm and clear up until that part and his emotion showed through when he described seeing you when you were wheeled into the ER trauma room and they had to force him out. It was classic and it sounded totally genuine so I was very happy to hear Drake did so well."

  I turned to Drake and he bent down and kissed me.

  "It's still hard for me to remember that day or talk about it."

  "I have no memory of it so it's like a story that's been told about me," I said softly. "Nothing more."

  "It's like a bad dream – a nightmare that you want to wake up from but can't," Drake said. "It was the worst day of my life, thinking I might lose you and Sophie."

  We kissed again and then both of us turned back to Lara, who was smiling.

  "I knew she was perfect for you, Drake, when she walked into our meeting that first time. Perfect."

  We ordered and had a lovely dinner. The food was great, the wine flowed freely and the talk ranged from the trial to my studio back in San Francisco and the problems Drake had with the nursing supervisor at UCSF.

  "You did the right thing," Lara said, taking a sip of wine and eyeing Drake over the rim. "It would have been uncomfortable for you knowing that people were warned about you. Honestly, I wish I could have been there to put that woman in her place."

  "I appreciate your support," Drake said, studying his own glass of wine, swirling the liquid in his glass. "I made a few mistakes and they've followed me ever since. I should never have tried to stop Maureen from leaving that day. I should never have allowed Sunita to videotape our session or take photos."

  "I should have never matched you with her," Lara said morosely. "It's my fault. You trusted me to vet your partners. Sorry, Kate," she said and turned to me. "I'm sure you don’t like to listen to us talk about all this."

  "No, that's all right. I'm familiar with his past and his partners, especially after the investigation. But I already knew it all. Maybe not all the specifics, but I knew how many partners and what he'd done. It was a selling point," I said and turned to Drake. "It made me feel safe."

  "Unfortunately, it was my trusting Derek Richardson's taste in submissives that made you unsafe. You can’t realize how bad I feel about that."

  "It wasn't your fault that she's a sociopath."

  "Yes, Drake," Lara said and leaned forward. "We all run the risk of running into the path of a sociopath and being harmed by them. We're just lucky that you hired a security detail for Kate and he probably saved her life."

  I nodded and reached out to take Drake's hand, squeezing it. "That's right. So you saved my life, probably, because you were worried enough about Lisa to hire security for me."

  Drake exhaled and squeezed my hand back. "I'm glad my paranoia was higher than normal or you and Sophie might not be with me today."

  He leaned over and kissed me tenderly. When the kiss ended, I glanced over at Lara and saw that she was smiling like a proud matchmaker.

  "You two will have to invite me over to your place before you go so I can see that beautiful little girl of yours. Drake showed me some pictures he has of her. She's really grown and she looks like you, Kate. Same soft brown hair. But she has Drake's eyes and fair skin."

  Lara glanced between Drake and me, smiling like she was our parent.

  "I know you don't really care much for Brit Invasion music but Mersey is getting back together for old time's sake for a few gigs," Drake said. "We're playing at O'Riley's on Tuesday night in case you want to come and have a drink."

  "Will you be there, Kate?" Lara asked, turning to me.

  "I will," I said and smiled. "We have our sitter all lined up already."

  "Maybe I'll pop in and listen to a song or two. What's your lineup?"

  Drake shrugged. "We'll wait and see what we're least rusty at, I expect. Can't say yet. Might be The Beatles. Might be The Rolling Stones. I haven’t even picked up a guitar since I left Manhattan so I know I’ll be rusty as hell."

  "You'll be fine," Lara said and waved her hand. "It's like riding a bike or sex. Once you do it, you never forget how."

  "I hope so," Drake said with a laugh. "Wouldn't want to forget how to do any of those." He winked at me and I smiled back.

  When we'd finished our coffees, we said goodbye and promised to get together again for dinner at our place.

  "I'll see you on Tuesday," Lara said to me when she gave me a hug goodbye. Then she turned to Drake. "If you have any questions about the trial, you can always call me." She gave Drake a hug and kiss on the cheek and then we split up, Lara walking north and us south to our car.

  "That was a good night," Drake said, his arm around my shoulder as we walked down the block. "I'm glad we got together with Lara."

  "Me, too," I said and slipped my arm around him. "She feels like a big sister to me."

  "I'd say she felt like one as well, except we had sex, so that would be wrong."

  Drake gave m
e an evil grin and we arrived at the parking garage and waited while the attendant brought our car out.

  I laughed lightly. "She's been a great friend and mentor."

  "She has."

  As we drove through the streets of the city, I felt grateful that despite the terrible thing that happened to me – the attack, the emergency C-section, and the long recovery – I was now surrounded by friends and family who loved me.

  Chapter 22

  DRAKE

  Practice at the O'Riley's bar on Sunday afternoon went well despite the fact I'd been away for months and hadn't picked up an instrument the entire time.

  We started out playing some really old stuff – The Dave Clark Five, early Beatles, and then some Zombies.

  It went well enough considering.

  "I'm a bit rusty," I said, apologizing when I flubbed a few songs, my fingers not quite as nimble on the strings due to lack of practice.

  "You're slipping, Doctor Morgan," Ken joked while I played the riff a few more times to get it down.

  "Hey, old man," I countered. "This is a battle you don't want to fight. You'd lose."

  "Oh, yeah?" Ken said, laughing. "Wanna have a go at it?"

  Of course, the two of us couldn't resist a play off and so we did a battle of the guitars, him on lead and me on bass. It was all in fun, and of course, a lead guitar will beat a bass guitar any day.

  When we were finished, we both laughed and slapped each other on the back. I was considerably more warmed up as a result and the rest of the practice went smoothly.

  Kate would join us for dinner and so when we felt we'd gone over our repertoire enough, and had crossed songs off our playlist, we put our instruments back in the basement below the restaurant and went upstairs to the dining room to wait for family to arrive.

  "I've got to finish inventory," Ken said and waved me off. "I'll join you in fifteen. Go say hi to Mom. I know she's eager to see you."

  "I will."

  I passed through the kitchen on my way to the office to talk to Mrs. O, enjoying the scent of the meal preparation. As usual, the cooks were busy, finishing meal service for the restaurant and preparing the family meal on top of it. Once everyone arrived, we'd go to the special private room off to the rear of the main dining room for our meal.

  I found my way through the back of the restaurant to the office and Mrs. O's desk. She turned when she saw me and stood, giving me a huge hug and kiss.

  "Drake," she said and smiled. "When are you two moving back? We miss you terribly and Ken has been morose ever since the band broke up. They can't replace you, you know."

  "I'm irreplaceable," I said with a laugh and sat beside her at the desk. "We actually may be moving back sooner than we thought."

  "Really?" Her eyes brightened. "How come?"

  I shrugged. "There's some drama on the family front with Liam and Maureen."

  She frowned and peered at me over the top of her reading glasses. "That's too bad. Is she giving you a hard time about seeing him? He's your son!"

  I shook my head. "She wants to go to Indonesia with her husband, but can't take Liam until he's clear for five years after the transplant. It's why they split the first time. I guess he was unhappy back in California and wants to go back to his job in Indonesia. More money and seniority or something. That means that Liam has to move back to Manhattan to stay with his grandmother. Unless I can get joint custody and he stays with me. But, I've had some issues at the hospital in San Francisco and quit. So..."

  "Oh, Drake, that's terrible. I feel selfish wanting you back but under happier circumstances."

  "Kate wants to move back but doesn't want to be too far away from her father, given his health. I don't want to be too far away from Liam. We're going to work on Ethan and see if we can get him to come back for the fall but maybe finding a better place to live where he can get out more than his penthouse on Park Avenue allows. He's wheelchair bound now."

  She nodded. "He needs a house with a garden. Maybe a townhouse somewhere nice."

  "Kate's really torn. She wants to move back but can't imagine leaving her father. I don’t want to miss being in Liam's life and Maureen will fight me if I try for custody."

  Mrs. O sighed heavily. "You have to try, right?" She took my hand and squeezed. "If you need anything, let us know. You're like a son to me, Drake and a brother to the kids."

  "I know," I said and leaned over and gave her a kiss. Then, I told her all about my new family in California.

  "That's amazing," she said, her eyes wide. "I'm sorry your mom is so sick, but to find your brothers and a sister? That's priceless."

  "It is. So, you can understand how torn I am between staying in California and coming back to Manhattan."

  "What a decision. I don’t envy you but at the same time, how exciting to discover your new family and your mother..."

  I thought about how confused my mother was and how there was no recognition in her eyes when she saw me. "She doesn't recognize me but I like my brother and sister. But Liam and Ethan are the priorities."

  "Family is always the priority. Everything should be viewed through that lens. In the end, your business and your accomplishments will mean little if you're alone."

  "I know. I learned that lesson when my father died. We didn't spend enough time together and then he was dead. I think Kate feels that really acutely and is afraid to be away from her father for too long."

  "You guys will find a way to balance things. Kate, Sophia and Liam – they're your priorities. Then us old fogies."

  "Old fogies," I said and kissed her cheek.

  For the next half hour, while we waited for the last diners to finish their meal and the wait staff and bus staff to finish their shifts, I helped out in the private dining room getting it set up for our family dinner. Every Sunday it was the same – serve the guests supper from five until seven, and then have a late supper prepared by the cooks. We would sit down after and eat.

  I was finishing setting the table when Kate arrived. Of course, there was a huge fuss made over her, with everyone crowding around. I went over and kissed Kate. Once everyone said hello, we all went into the dining room and sat at our places. Mrs. O had the table set up so that Kate and I were the center of attention, and we sat and had a drink and waited for the first course to arrive.

  The meal was fantastic – high end but still family food. Two different roasts – beef and chicken plus all the trimmings. The wine flowed, the plates were passed and passed again, and everyone was smiling and laughing. I sat beside Mrs. O and watched her family talking and enjoying themselves. This – this is what I wanted for myself and for my family. Big family meals around a table like this one, with great food and conversation. Everyone felt comfortable with each other and truly liked one another. I had been denied a family like this one growing up but I was determined to make a family like this for myself – and become a part of every other family I could, whether that was with Ethan and his family, the O'Rileys, or my new family in California.

  One day, if we were lucky, Kate and I could host a big family dinner like this one in our house. I imagined the day and all the preparations, choosing the menu and wine, buying the food and preparing it and then welcoming everyone into my home. Our home.

  One day...

  When we finished dessert and had our coffees, we talked about the future and what was on the agenda.

  "Drake, we hope you move back and take back up with the band but I realize that things are up in the air right now," Mrs. O said.

  "They are. We'll figure it out. We'll probably come back for the temperate weather and maybe visit Ethan and Elaine in San Francisco during the holidays. If Liam does live with me, he'll be going to school and we can't be going back and forth between the two locations. His school would come first.

  One thing I did appreciate was that no one asked me about the trial. They all knew it was a sore spot with me and a personal embarrassment. Luckily, I didn't have to think of any answers.

  They as
ked Kate how she was doing with her art, and she was pleased to talk about her studio and the pieces she was working on.

  "We saw that you had an exhibition at the Ballantine Gallery before you went to San Francisco. Will you do more?"

  "I hope so," Kate said. "I'm going to finish this series of paintings from Africa and then I might finish my MA. I'll play it by ear. It depends on so much – what my father decides, what happens with Liam."

  "Whatever you decide will be great, my dear," Mrs. O said, always the supporter.

  It was getting late so we said our goodbyes and left the O'Rileys after ten, driving through the streets of Manhattan to our place on 8th Avenue.

  "That was fun," Kate said and took my hand, squeezing it. "There's so much love for you in that family, Drake. You're lucky to have had them."

  "I know," I said and kissed her knuckles. "I survived and thrived because of them and my friendship with Ken and the boys. Mersey really helped me make it through the years after my father died."

  "Speaking of which, I can't wait to come and listen to you play on Tuesday night."

  "I'll love to have you there, watching us play."

  She smiled. "I always get a little giddy when I see you up on the stage."

  "You do, do you, Mrs. Morgan? Giddy?"

  She narrowed her eyes. "Like I'm a groupie and you're my rock star crush. I'd do anything you wanted when I see you standing on the stage with the guitar strapped around your shoulder."

  "Anything?"

  "Anything," she replied with a knowing grin.

  "This sounds like a role-playing scenario I'd love to play out. How about if I wear that white shirt you like so much and my leather pants. You show up dressed in that little black dress I really like – the one that's really sexy and shows a lot of cleavage? I'll pick you up and we can get it on in a limo then I can bring you home and tie you up and torture you with pleasure."

  I wagged my eyebrows at her suggestively and she laughed.