Feel Like Makin' Love (Rock and Roll Trilogy #3) (23 page)

She didn’t eat a lot but she seemed to enjoy what she did. He’d made enough
for leftovers for another meal. Afterward, Carlee declared the macaroni and cheese ‘the best ever!’

~ ~ ~

Thursday, Carlee was in the middle of the third week of treatment, and Geni was taking her. She let Andy sleep in; leaving him a note, she grabbed her tablet and her purse and went up to get Carlee. Matthew met her at the door.

“She’s having a rough morning
; give her a minute,” he said as he kissed his mom’s cheek. “Thanks for doing this.”

The last t
wo days had been rough. In the car, curled into a ball in her seat, Carlee told Geni, “I can’t even imagine if I wasn’t taking the medicine. Thank goodness it’s not far.”

They entered the building
, and Geni helped Carlee to the restroom. She was throwing up when Seth came looking for them. He heard them and knocked on the door.

“Dr. Isaacs is here, hang tight,” he said.

She knocked on the door
, and Geni opened it to let her in. Carlee was on her knees, throwing up; Geni stepped out to allow Tamara room.

“
I’m so sorry, Carlee. You are an unfortunate case with this nausea, and I’m sorry,” she said again. “We’ll double up the dose on the nausea medicine, but I’m going to give you a shot for now.”

Tamara took the
m to the back and had Carlee lie on a bed. She gave her the shot and told her, “Rest a bit. I’ll be back.” Geni sat in a chair in the room with her to wait while she rested. She sent Andy a text:

Gonna be a while, she’s having a bad time, had to have a shot of medicine for nausea. Will call later.

~ ~ ~

Carlee dozed about an hour. When she woke, they took her for the CT scan, and Geni went back to the waiting area. She was finishing the book when Carlee finally came back out.

“This was a rough morning,” she said and took a seat. “I
missed Kyliejo didn’t I?”

“She said to tell you she loves you and she’ll see you tomorrow
,” Geni smiled.

“I am
dreading the car ride.” She looked at Geni and noticed that she had tears in her eyes.

“I finished the book.”

Carlee sat quietly a moment and finally said, “My Papa, is a lucky man.”

~ ~ ~

When they turned onto Palmer Road, Carlee felt a wave of nausea coming. The car’s movement was making it worse.

“Please stop.”
As soon as Geni pulled over, Carlee threw the car door open, and Geni got out and came around to her side while she threw up yet again.

“Take your time
; we are in no hurry to go anywhere,” Geni said.

Finally, they arrived at the flat.
Carlee was having a hard time even thinking about getting out of the car, so they sat there a while. Andy looked out and saw them just sitting there. He walked out to see what was going on.

Geni opened the car door.
“She’s just having a really bad time of it this morning,” she said. “She doesn’t know if she can handle the lift.”

“We’ll take her in here, then.”

“I’ll send Matthew a message.”

Andy walked to the other side and helped Carlee out of the car.
He lifted her into his arms, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, tucking her head into the curve of his neck. He placed her on the sofa while Geni got a blanket and pillow, and then called Matthew.

“The
meds are on the kitchen counter,” he told her. “I’ll be there as quickly as I can.”

Geni ran to their flat to
get the medications and grabbed the leftover macaroni and cheese from the fridge.

Andy sat beside
Carlee, rubbing her back as he’d done when she was young. “Love you, Papa,” she whispered and a flood of memories rushed like a fast-speed movie.
Where had the time gone, and how had it gone by so fast?
he wondered.

~ ~ ~

Finally, Andy had to run out to pay the deposits on the rehearsal space he’d located. The guys would be coming in a week. As Carlee slept, Geni prepared their meal for later.

She sent Matthew a text to
let him know Carlee was asleep and received one back from him a moment later:

Esquire’s office just called – need to run by there real quick.

She sat down to skim through the book once more, highlighting the pages that she wanted to know more about, or had questions on. Carlee woke around two, and Geni heated up some of the macaroni and cheese for her and joined her on the sofa.

“Do you
want to head up to your place or are you comfortable here?”

“I’m good right here,” she replied.

“How are you feeling?” Geni asked.

“Like I had a good nap and some yummy mac and cheese,” she said with a smile. “Geni, thank you for being here. Thank
for everything you’ve given up to do that. I know you are probably missing Megs and Percy like crazy.”

“Carlee, right now, at this moment in my life
, I can’t imagine being anywhere else in the world,” Geni replied.

Carlee pulled her knees to her chest and sunk a little deeper into the corner of the sofa. Pulling the blanket around her a little tighter she said one word, “Papa.”

Geni turned to look at her and nodded. “I went to college for a degree in fine arts, but while I was there I found a husband. Tom Davis was a handsome man when he was young.”

“Like Matthew,” Carlee smiled. “I saw the resemblance right away.”

Geni grinned, thinking the same thing and continued. “He was an instructor for a semester, teaching us about the film industry. I cared nothing about all of that; I went to school to learn about Renoir, Picasso, Dali, Monet, oh, I could go on and on. Tom was talking about all the behind-the-camera things that take place, and then the production – what they do to turn the clips of film into the full, finished project. But one day, I looked up at something he said and his eyes…”

“Steel-blue, sometimes
gray and smoky,” Carlee smiled. “I’ve seen those eyes before.”

Geni smiled and continued,
“After the lecture was over, I was gathering my things to leave, and he approached me, asked to go for a cup of coffee. By the end of that hour with him, I was smitten. A year later we were married, and eleven months after that Thomas was born. I loved Tom, and when he died I was lonely, but I had you to fill my time, planning a wedding. And after that, Thomas made sure that he and Brian were around often, and the girls made me happy because they kept me busy, and you
know
they are two busy little girls,” she laughed.

“I know we talked about Andy
and I, but I’d like to talk a little more.” Carlee nodded and Geni went on. “I told you that I finished reading the book.”

“You did,
” Carlee asked, and Geni saw her eyes get misty.

“Reading the book
for me was like reading fiction. I don’t know
that
Andy Stevens. The story of their ups and downs tore me up inside; it ran me through emotions that physically made me hurt. And then, I realized that the man I know today hurt so badly, for so long, that he was lost. He wasn’t a man who wore his heart on his sleeve; he relieved his pain through his love for you. I know that what he and I share will never be like what he shared with your mama. You only have love like that once in your life – and even if he
thought
he could feel that deeply again, he would feel as though he were betraying the commitment he finally did make to Beth. I know that a love that deep would make me feel as though I was betraying Tom.” She stopped to look at Carlee and added, “But I love what we are sharing.”

“Me too,”
Carlee leaned to hug her just as her phone rang. “It’s Matthew!” 

“Hey love, on
my way home. Can you celebrate? Are you feeling up to it?”

“Do I need a cock
tail dress, or will sweats work?” she laughed.

“I love you Carlee, I’ll see you in about half an hour.”

“You aren’t going to tell me?”

“Nope!”

“Not even a hint?”

“Nuh unh.”

“Devil! You are the devil,” she laughed and then added, “Handsome, but a devil none the less!”

Geni smiled as she watched Carlee.
It seemed she felt much better than she had earlier in the day. She was sure some of that was the residual from the shot she’d gotten that morning and the medications she’d taken along with the nap she’d had. She loved the glee in her voice, the smile on her face, but right now, she just loved that she was feeling good. When she finally hung up, Geni told her. “I am blessed that you are in my life.”

“And I, because of you. I want to tell you something before
Matthew arrives back here for whatever celebration we are about to have. It’s important to me to say this - Papa waited a long time to move on. I’ve read that book many, many times… It’s a link to her, my mama. I saw the man he was from her words, his stories that he shared with me, but I
know
the man he is.”

Geni’s phone rang and she saw it was Andy, but before she answered, she told Carlee, “And I love that man.”

“Hey,” she said.

“
I’m on my way back. How are my girls?” he asked.

“Both of us are wonderful,” she said and Carlee smiled.

~ ~ ~

Half an hour later, Matthew entered Andy an
d Geni’s flat with a bottle of sparkling water and two bundles of daisies. One of the bundles was bright colors and one traditional white, and Carlee smiled. Andy entered a moment later with a big bag.

“Matt called to tell me we were celebrating, so I brought some of the party with me!”

Carlee saw the business logo on the bag and said in a happy voice, “Six! What’s in the bag? I’m starving!”

Matthew smiled and said, “My two favorite words!
Cook prepared something that he thought your tummy could handle, but still be special - lobster alfredo.”

“Matthew Davis, are you ever gonna tell me what the heck we are celebrating?”

“Not yet,” Matthew said with a devious grin. “Soon, but not yet...”

~ ~ ~

They ate the meal, and Matthew was happy to see that she actually ate; she didn’t just move it around with her fork. Finally, Andy invited everyone to gather in the living room. He poured the sparking water in their glasses.

Matthew was fidgeting, grinning from ear to ear
, and finally, with a big laugh, Carlee shouted, “Will you just come on? I can’t stand it any more!”

He pulled something from his briefcase
and held it in his hand fiddling with it. He watched Carlee and couldn’t have been happier –
this was a good night!

At last, Matthew placed the paper on the table. “It’s the actual print ad! It will
debut on the inside cover of March’s issue of Allure!”

“It’s gorgeous!” Carlee said.

“Stunning,” Geni added.

Matthew
also had small sample bottles for them to smell. Carlee passed for now; she was more sensitive to smells as a side effect from the radiation.

Geni opened the cap and inhaled the fragrance. “Wow, Carlee, it’s lovely. I smell vanilla and lemon I think.”

They talked with excitement over Matthew’s newest success until finally he saw Carlee looking tired. She had another treatment in the morning, and he decided they should call it a night.

“Do you need help?” Andy asked
when Carlee rose from the sofa.

“
I feel good, just tired,” Carlee replied.

Matthew grabbed his briefcase and Carlee’s bag to leave.
Carlee bundled up, and as Geni hugged her, she put a bouquet of daisies in her hand. “Thank you for taking care of me today,” she smiled.

Andy wrapped his arms around her and whispered in her ear, “I love you
, sweet girl.”

“I love you, right back.”

~ ~ ~

It was
a long day and she was tired. “Can we shower in the morning? I don’t think I have that much energy tonight.”

“Whatever you need,” he said as she slipped her pajamas on and slid into the bed. Once she was in and settled, Matthew climbed on the bed
, straddling her. He eased down, like a push up, his hands on both sides of her tiny frame; she’d lost a lot of weight. He placed a kiss on her lips and said, “Now why didn’t I think of this before?” He pushed up and then eased back down for another kiss.