Feel Like Makin' Love (Rock and Roll Trilogy #3) (33 page)

“And you retreated.”

“I did, but Shirley made me see some things differently, and I took care of what I needed to do. When I went to Geni to fix things, we talked a lot, about a lot of things – covered a lot of ground, and I know that she’s my future.”

“I knew that.”

“She told me she wouldn’t marry me,” he laughed, “but we are going to be together. I called Kimmy to get a realtor lined up for me, and I’m gonna sell the house.”

“I figured when Geni said ‘we
are looking at a smaller house on the river’ that you would be. It’s a house full of memories, Papa, but it’s just a house. Home will always be wherever you are.”

“About that,” he said, and she noticed a sadness come over him. “I didn’t t
ell you before now, mostly because I didn’t know how I felt about the whole thing.”

Quiet
for a moment, he added, “There’s a developer who wants to buy the cottage in Eleuthera. The point makes it hugely desirable. They want to buy Shirley out too - build a resort. It’ll turn paradise into a play place, I guess. Good for the economy there. Won’t be ginormous or anything. That’d be too much change that the Government won’t allow.”

She listened to the short sentences as he spoke and waited.

“I was torn at first; that place is so beautiful as it is, and then Shirley reminded me of the history of the island. Back in the day it was a play place and then hard times hit.”

He looked up and noticed her watching him. “I’m gonna sell. But not ‘til you are able to go back.”

“I know,” she said.

“Shirley?” he asked, and she nodded.

“She called me when you left for Jacksonville and talked to me for a long time. She loves you, Papa.” Quiet in her
thoughts she finally added, “Let it go. I won’t be able to go with a new baby for a while. It makes me sad, but you need to let it go.”

“Does Shirley want me to sell?”

“She doesn’t care one way or another; she just wants you to move forward, and we all know you can’t with that still behind you.”

Geni walked in with
lunch, and the conversation about the cottage ended.

~ ~ ~

Another week passed, and once again, Andy and Carlee were alone. She was writing a paper, planning for the next day’s test. She and Andy were talking as she typed.

“You seem to be settling into this comfortably,” he said.

“School?”

“Uh huh. I was afraid it’d be hard for you – maybe not the brain work as much as the discipline to get back at it.”

“Desire equals drive, Papa. I want to finish what I started. Done,” she said typing the last word and closing the laptop.

“There’s been some time for things to settle down and process
, and I wanted to ask you, were you and Matthew serious about buying the Davis house?”

“We
’ve talked a lot about it. I’m pretty sure we are, but with the baby and my travel limitations, we’re probably a year away from being able to head back to the states.”

“
Geni and I talked about it, too. You know we can make it happen whenever you want. And Geni and I aren’t going anywhere until you get an all- clear. And now, with a baby on the way, she isn’t going to leave until the little one makes her debut.”

“Her?” Carlee laughed.

“Did I say that?” he laughed.

“You did!”

“Well, maybe my gut knows something,” he smiled.

He’d brought the keyboard with him and
Carlee saw it sitting there. “What are you working on?”

He went to get it and started to play, “Something that came to me a while back. Working on a few
, actually.”

“
I like it. Are you gonna record again?” she asked, excitement in her voice.

“Maybe
; didn’t know I was still good enough until we were on stage for the concert.”

“Good enough?” she roared with laughter.

“I’m serious,” he laughed. “I wasn’t sure the old pipes could handle it. I know as we rehearsed, I struggled with some of the stuff, and we had to bring it down a notch, but I didn’t have any problems with the more mellow stuff. We’ll see; nothing is ready just yet. I sent some stuff to Marco, and he sent some notes back on tweaks and revisions. We’ll see,” he said again as Geni came in. “No touring though, I know that.”

Chapter Twenty

She’d made several trips to the hospital during the week to visit Kyliejo
, and with each visit, she noticed the little girl slipping a little further away. Andy and Geni were with her at the flat having a bite of lunch when Carlee’s phone rang. Seeing it was Hatchet’s number on the display, a sense of dread washed over her. “Hello my friend, what’s up?” she asked.

“She’s not doing so
well, and she’s asking for you.”

“I’ll be there as qu
ickly as I can,” she told Hatchet. Andy and Geni rose to put the remains of their lunch away while Carlee sent a text to Matthew:

Headed to Royal, its Kyliejo meet me there after work

When they reached the hospital, Hatchet met them in the hall. “Her blood pressure is really low, breathing is shallow, oxygen mask on, and she’s very pale, bordering on a gray color to her skin,” Hatchet told her, ticking off what she should expect when she entered. “Get in there and crawl up in that bed and hold her a bit.”

“On my way.” Carlee
entered the room quietly and found Johanna reading.

“She’s asleep, but you know what she wants,” she smiled.

Carlee leaned close and whispered in her ear, “Hey there, Princess. I’m here, crawling in with you, OK?” Kyliejo reached for her hand, and curled closer when Carlee was finally beside her.

Johanna left the room with Geni and Hatchet.
Andy sat back in a chair and watched Carlee with the child.

“She’s declining
,” Johanna told Geni, and Hatchet nodded her agreement.

“Hospice?” Geni asked,
abruptly. “Is there Hospice here in the U.K.?”

Hatchet nodded, “
There is, but it’s not necessary…”

“What do you mean it’s not necessary?” Geni
replied sharply, not understanding.

“The doctors are all keeping her comfortable
at their expense. None of them are charging for her care; that way the father’s insurance pays the hospital bill without hitting any kind of cap.”

“T
he Cancer Foundation is helping with our personal bills; I can thank you and Andy for that. We’re fine. She just needs love,” Johanna said in a soft voice.

~ ~ ~

Matthew finally arrived, and they stayed until dinnertime. Carlee stayed in the bed with Kyliejo until Matthew drug her away.

“I don’t want to leave,” she cried.

“You need to rest. You have a test tomorrow morning.”

“
I’ll pick you up after the test and bring you here. How’s that?” Andy asked.

Hatchet wrapped her in a hug.
“You’re less than a quarter of an hour away – I’ll be right here, and I’ll call you if anything changes. You can call me too, anytime, you know that.”

Reluctantly, the
group left and headed to Palmer Road. Carlee was quiet. “I can’t imagine what Johanna is feeling, because this is tearing me up. How can you become so in love with someone in such a short time?” she cried.

“I know the answer to this one,” Matthew said
, slipping his hand to the back of her neck to massage as he drove. “You encounter someone with soul, and heart, and a personality with a spark, and they get in your head.” He turned to her and added, “and then they fill your heart, and you can’t imagine a day without them. It happened to me once.”

Carlee smil
ed his way, “I love you so much, Matthew.”

~ ~ ~

She called twice in the night, and the next morning Carlee was ready to go get the test over with so that she could go to the hospital. When Andy picked her up, she was proud as a peacock. “Aced it!” she told him.

When they arrived at London Royal, Carlee
had her laptop with her so that she could do school work. Hatchet told her Kyliejo was sleeping a lot. She slipped into the room and whispered to Johanna, “Hatchet made arrangements for a room for you to get a shower and nap. Go. I’ll be right here.”

She sat in the chair beside Kyliejo’s bed working on a paper for her class; half an hour passed
, and the little girl stirred. “Good morning sleepy beauty,” Carlee said as she leaned closer, stroking her hair. “That’s what Papa always called me.”

Carlee got water and helped her have a sip. “How are you feeling?”

“OK. Mum?” she asked.

“She’s taking a nap, so you’
re stuck with me,” Carlee teased. “I have something to show you; do you feel like looking?” Kyliejo nodded, and Carlee scooted closer with her laptop.

“No, here,” Kyliejo
, said motioning to the bed, and Carlee crawled in beside her.

She brought up a
news site to show her. “I found this when I was looking for something for my paper for class. You’re a superstar! Look how many people love you!”

Someone had created a social networking page with clips from the concert
, and there were over a million messages to her. The page had clips of music from the concert and pictures of Kyliejo from the event. She smiled as Carlee read some of the messages aloud and the music played in the background. Andy was getting ready to enter the room and saw the two of them. He stood at the corner of the door for a minute and finally turned toward the solarium.

“Where are you going?” Hatchet asked sarcastically.

“To a quiet place to gather my thoughts. Go away,” he laughed.

“She is a special one.”

“I hate that she’s so young going through this,” he replied.

“I was referring to Carlee,” Hatchet said with a tender smile.

“She’s surely been a blessing to me.”

“Don’t tell her I told ya so, but me too.” Danni Matchett joined Andy in the solarium. “I used to get up, come to work, put in my time, and go home. Now I
make a point to smile when I get up, appreciate my job when I get here, and see if there’s a way I can provide comfort, aside from what is required of me, and when I go home, I feel good about the day. That’s the blessing she gave me. She talks to me a lot, you know, and I hear passion in everything she talks about. I see her with Kyliejo and it touches me in amazing ways.”

“Me
too,” Andy said.

“And you will be a great Papa to the little one.”

Andy smiled. “She told you?”

“No, you just did,” she laughed. “When she was here the other day she said she was feeling some queasiness
, and it scared the bejesus out of me. I watched her like a hawk and noticed her pull some saltine crackers and a bottle of water from her bag. Started thinking and suspected. And then I did what any nosey nurse would do, I asked Dr. Isaacs!”

~ ~ ~

Later that evening, they were all gathered at Andy and Geni’s dining room table. They talked of the day as they enjoyed the meal Geni had prepared when Carlee’s phone rang; she had it with her in case Hatchet or Johanna called. Not recognizing the number, she excused herself.

“Carlee Oliver Stevens, please.”

“What can I help you with?” she asked.

“Devin Marshall, here. My father, Franklin spoke with you some time ago,” he told her.

“Yes, I remember. It’s Carlee Davis now.”

“May I call you
Carlee?”

“I reckon; it’s my name,” she laughed.

“I’d like to revisit the conversation about a movie for the book, “Rock and Roll Never Forgets.””

She looked up
, and they were all watching her. “I’m in the middle of dinner right now, may I call you back later?”

“Sure
, just real quick first, I’m in town for a few days and would like to meet with you.”

“
Sure, I’ll call you later.”

She returned to the table and picked up her fork. “F
ranklin Marshall’s son, Devin, wants to talk about a movie,” she said and continued eating.

“That’s it?” Matthew asked.

“That’s all, he wants to talk. I’m going to finish my dinner.”

“But you said you would call him back,” Andy added.

“I said later.”

“Because you don’t want to talk about a movie?” Geni asked.

“I’ll talk to him. Right now, I’m going to finish my dinner,” she laughed.

~ ~ ~