by Sandi Lynn
“Ellery. It’s not up for discussion. Do as I ask. Do you understand?”
His tone was stern, something I hadn’t heard in a very long time, but I wasn’t going to argue with him this time. The truth was I wasn’t going shopping with Peyton. I was going to talk to Lucas and hopefully try to make him see things differently. I told Peyton my plan and made sure she stayed scarce while I was gone. Connor had left the file folder sitting on the dresser. While he was in the shower, I carefully opened it and typed Lucas’s address into my phone. Climbing into bed and waiting for Connor to come out from the bathroom, I lay down as I devised my plan of action for tomorrow.
The next morning, I kissed Connor goodbye and told him that I’d be back in time for our flight back to New York. He insisted that he walk me and Peyton out the front doors of the hotel. As much as I loved him, sometimes he drove me nuts. As soon as Peyton and I climbed into the cab, she told the driver to drop her off a couple of blocks away as I rattled off Lucas’s home address and told him to step on it. I didn’t have much time.
Lightly knocking on the white painted door, I waited for a few moments before knocking harder. Suddenly, when I went to knock for the third time, the door flew open and Lucas stood there, staring at me, wearing pajama bottoms and messy hair. He reminded me so much of Connor when he was that age and it looked as though I had just woke him up.
“Can I help you?” he asked with sleepy eyes and a bit of an attitude.
“Actually, you can.” I ducked underneath the arm that was holding the door open.
“Umm. Excuse me. Who do you think you are just barging into my apartment?”
“I’m Ellery Black.” I turned and held out my hand to him and he walked away.
“I thought so. I saw you at the funeral and I’ve seen you in the papers with your husband.”
“Your brother,” I spoke.
“Like I told him before, just because we share the same blood doesn’t make us family. I need some coffee and you need to leave.”
Connor was right; he was angry, but there was a sadness I could see in his soul.
“You look hungover.”
“That would be because I am and I have a killer headache. So if you’ll excuse me, I need to go lie down.”
When I walked into his tiny kitchen and opened the refrigerator, I smiled when I saw a majority of the ingredients I needed to make him the cocktail. He had all but two.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he asked in irritation. “You don’t just go into someone’s refrigerator like that, lady.”
“Which neighbor is nicer? The one across the hall or next door?”
“What?” he asked in confusion.
I sighed. “Sit down. I’ll be back in a second. Don’t think about shutting your door either. Because I can make some pretty good noise and I’m sure you wouldn’t want your neighbors to think you were having an affair with an older married woman.”
He slowly sat down as he watched me prop the door open with a chair. I knocked on the door across the hall and an elderly woman answered. I told her that I was from across the hall and asked her if she had the two ingredients I was missing. She did and handed them over with a smile across her face. When I turned around and stepped back into the apartment, Lucas had his head down on the table.
“You’re crazy. Do you know that?” His tone was muffled.
“Funny, because Connor tells me the same thing. Where’s your blender?”
“Why do you need my blender? What the hell do you think you’re doing? If I wasn’t so hungover right now, I’d kick you right out of here.”
“Then I guess it’s lucky for me that you’re hungover.” I found the blender and put the ingredients in it. “Cover your ears; this is going to be loud.”
Once everything was mixed, I poured it into a glass and sat down across from him, sliding the glass across the table.
“Drink up.”
He picked up the glass, looked at it, and then brought it up to his nose. “What the fuck is this? You’re crazy if you think I’m drinking this.”
“It’s a hangover cocktail and I promise you that you will start to feel better right after you drink it. I make it for Connor and Collin all the time. If you don’t believe me, call him.” I pulled out my phone and held it out to him.
He shot me a look as he brought the glass to his lips and drank the cocktail as fast as he could.
“Fuck! This is nasty stuff.”
“That it may be, but you’ll be thanking me in about fifteen minutes. Now, the reason I came to see you is to talk to you about your family.”
He laid his head back down on the table. “I don’t have a family. I already told your husband that and I just want to be left alone.”
“I’m sure you do because then you can wallow in self-pity about how your father abandoned you. That is what you’re doing, right?”
“You’re wrong, Mrs. Black. You know nothing about me.”
“You can call me Elle. That’s what my friends call me.”
“But we’re not friends.”
A small grin crossed my lips, because at that moment, I had flashbacks of my first dinner with Connor. They were more alike than they both wanted to admit.
“Let me tell you a little something about me. My mom passed away when I was a little girl. I was diagnosed with cancer at the age of sixteen and I tried to commit suicide. Hence the tattoos on my wrists to cover up the scars.” I held out my wrists to him. “Then, when I was twenty three, I was diagnosed with cancer for a second time.”
Lucas stared at me intently. “Two times at such a young age was too much to handle. There was no way I was going through chemo again, so I opted to let myself die. It was obvious to me that I wasn’t meant to live a long life, so I decided to enjoy what little time I had left. My boyfriend of four years broke up with me over it and walked out of my life. Then I met Connor. I saw him getting thrown out of a club because he was too drunk. I put him in a cab and I helped him home. He’s the reason I’m here today. Despite me keeping that I had cancer from him, he never once turned his back on me. No matter how pissed off and angry he was, and believe me, I thought he was going to kill me, he stood by my side. Even when I was so bitter and angry and did everything I could to push him away, he refused to leave.”
I could tell he was feeling better because he no longer put his head on the table and he was sitting straight up. “So you ended up getting chemo?”
“I flew out to California and participated in a trial study for an extremely aggressive treatment and it worked and I’ve been in remission ever since. That was over twenty years ago.”
“Congratulations, but I don’t understand what your point is.”
“My point is that things could have been a lot worse for you. I understand your feelings and I’m sorry my father in-law was such an asshole. But just because he was, doesn’t mean that the rest of his family is. We Blacks help people no matter what and no matter the cost. You’re a lot like Connor. I can tell and I also can tell that you’re a good man. You’re broken like he was when I first met him, and buried deep below that cocky piss-poor attitude and self-pity is a kind heart.”
He got up from the table and took his glass to the kitchen. “I’m nothing like him. So stop thinking I am because it’s really annoying.”
“But you are, and if you would just get to know him, you’d see for yourself. I’m welcoming you to the family, Lucas, whether you like it or not. We are a very close knit family and we’d like for you to be a part of that.”
“What’s wrong with your kid?” he turned around and asked.
“Connor didn’t tell you?”
“No. He just said she was sick.”
“Julia and her husband were in a serious car accident a few months ago. The doctor had to remove one of her kidneys because it was severely damaged and her other kidney is failing.”
“Wait a minute,” he said as he pointed at me with his finger. “Are you asking me to give your kid one of my ki
dneys?”
“Yes. Yes I am.”
“You’re fucking crazy, lady. Oh my God,” he said as he rubbed the back of his neck. “I can’t believe the nerve of you people. And how do you know that I would even be a match?”
“What’s your blood type?” I asked.
“Type O.”
“So is Julia’s.”
He placed his hands on the kitchen counter and pushed back, straightening his arms. “You already knew that, didn’t you?” he asked with a furrowed brow.
“Are you going to get pissed and start yelling if I tell you the truth?”
“Damn it!” He pushed off the counter. “I suppose Connor had me all checked out. Found out everything about me, including my fucking blood type. That’s the only reason he came here. He wants something. My mother said that’s what my father used to do before I was born. He’d disappear for a while but always came back when he wanted or needed something. He was a son of a bitch and your husband is no better!” he yelled as he slammed his fist on the counter.
I bolted up from the table and pointed my finger as I made my way over to him. “Don’t you ever talk about my husband that way again! You don’t even know him. He’s nothing like his father and neither is anyone else in my family. Tell me something, Lucas. When you first found out about your father’s other family, how did you feel?” I waited for his response as he looked down in anger. He didn’t respond. “Tell me!” I demanded.
“I was pissed! I hated him for choosing them over me. I hated that I had to grow up an only child,” he yelled as I could see the tears spring to his eyes. “I had a brother and a sister and I wasn’t allowed to get to know them!”
“Exactly! And that’s how Connor feels right now. He’s pissed. Not at you but at his father. He needs time. You had years. He’s only had a few months. You were in his position once. You felt what he’s feeling now. The anger, the rage, and the hate that consumes you because of one person’s actions. I’m here because you don’t have to be alone anymore. You have a family that wants to meet you and get to know you.”
He looked away. “You need to leave.”
“I’m leaving, Lucas, and I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything you went through and I’m sorry for us coming to Vegas. It was wrong and we never should have. Julia is our daughter and she’s our world. We can’t stand to see her suffer anymore. It’s tearing Connor apart. Imagine if she was your daughter. I know you would stop at nothing to help her get better.”
I grabbed my purse from the table and walked to the door. I placed my hand on the knob and turned around. “I hope you find what you’re looking for, Lucas. You deserve closure and happiness.”
Chapter 40
Collin
A couple of weeks had passed since my dad got back from Vegas and he was still acting weird. He told me it was because a business deal went sour, but I didn’t believe him. I knew every business deal Black Enterprises was in negotiations with and from what I could find, not one of them had gone bad. I knew he was up to something and I was sure it involved Julia.
“Dad, can I come in?” I asked as I slowly opened his office door.
“Sure, son. Have a seat.”
I walked over and took a seat, not caring what was about to come out of my mouth.
“What’s up, Collin?”
“You’ve been a real asshole lately, Dad. I’m sorry, but I want to know what the hell is going on with you. I know you made up that story about the bad business deal and I want to know what’s going on. Did you find a donor for Julia?”
His eyes diverted up at me as he threw his pen across the desk and leaned back in his chair.
“I thought I did, but he won’t do it.”
“Who?”
“Lucas. He’s the same blood type as your sister.”
“You talked to him?” I asked in shock.
“Yes. He lives in Las Vegas. He flat out said no and then called me a few choice words.”
“Do you blame him, Dad? I mean, come on. You don’t know him. He doesn’t know you or Julia and you just show up one day and ask him for a kidney. To be honest, I’m surprised he didn’t punch you.”
He arched his brow. “Thanks a lot, son. Don’t you dare tell your sister about this. Do you understand me?” His tone was authoritative.
As I got up from the chair, I sighed. “Yeah. I understand. I have a meeting to get to.” Before walking out, I looked at him with sympathy. “You can’t save the world, Dad. Some things just are the way they are. You can’t fight every one’s battle.” He turned around and faced the window as I walked out of his office.
I was already running late for my meeting downtown, and Ralph was being occupied by my mom, so I hailed a cab. I climbed in and looked at my watch.
“Sorry, buddy, but you need to step on it. I can’t be late for this meeting.”
He nodded his head and gave me a small smile through his rearview mirror. I sat back and checked my phone as he moved in and out of traffic with finesse. He didn’t drive like the normal cab drivers of New York City. He drove with precision and seemed to glide on the streets of New York like a swan glides gracefully across the water.
“How long have you been driving?”
“About ten years now. I just moved here last month from L.A.”
“So you’re used to this kind of traffic.” I smiled.
“Yeah. I am. The family I used to drive for back in L.A. split up. He went to prison for embezzlement and the IRS took everything they had. Needless to say, they didn’t need a driver anymore.”
Now he had really caught my attention. “What’s your name?”
“Tommy. Tommy Johnson.”
“Nice to meet you, Tommy. I’m Collin Black.”
He looked at me through his rearview mirror. “I know who you are, Mr. Black, and it’s nice to meet you.”
He pulled up to the curb of the Waldorf where the meeting I was attending was being held in one of the conference rooms. I pulled some cash from my pocket and paid the fare, then looked at my watch.
“You got me here with five minutes to spare. Thank you, Tommy. How would you like to work for me as my personal driver?”
“Seriously, Mr. Black?”
“Yes. I’ve been looking for one for a long time and no one seemed right. But for some reason, you do. Here’s my business card. Come by my office tomorrow morning around ten o’clock and we can discuss the details of your employment. That is, if you’re interested?”
“Why, yes. Of course I’m interested.”
“Great. I’ll see you tomorrow.” I smiled as I shut the door and strutted into the Waldorf. Jackpot! I finally found myself a driver and I couldn’t wait to tell Amelia.
Chapter 41
Connor
I took Julia to her dialysis appointment and spent a couple of hours with her before I had to attend a meeting at work. Jake was at the office and, as soon as I got back, he was going to spend the rest of the day with Julia. I took hold of her hand and brought it up to my lips.
“How are you doing, princess?”
“I’m okay, Dad. Listen, you don’t need to be here. You’re so busy at work and I’m fine.”
“Collin can handle the company. The way I look at it is, this is some good father/daughter bonding time. We really don’t get to spend any time alone together.”
“I talked to the doctor and I’m thinking about doing dialysis at home. Jake and I talked about it and we think it would be better and more manageable.”
My heart sank at the thought. It would be more manageable for her, but it would also seem more permanent, and it saddened me that there was nothing I could do. Actually, there was something I could do, but I made a promise to Julia that I wouldn’t get involved and I’d never broken a promise to my daughter.
After a couple of hours had passed, Jake walked into the room. I gave Julia a kiss on her forehead and headed to the office.
“Good bye, princess.” I winked.
“Bye, Dad.” She smile
d.
****
Julia
I kissed Jake goodbye before he left for work and took Brayden back to bed with me. I took the next couple of days off because the exhaustion was overwhelming. In a few days, I would start in-home dialysis and I was thrilled. Not thrilled about the dialysis part, but thrilled that I could do it in the comfort of my own home. After Brayden and I slept for a couple of hours, I decided to take him to Central Park since it was a beautiful day. He loved it there because he loved to be outside. I didn’t tell anyone in my family that I was going because I just wanted to spend some time alone with my son. I packed the diaper bag, put Brayden in his stroller, and headed to Central Park.
I found a spot in the plush grass, spread out a blanket, and took Brayden from his stroller, setting him down amongst some of the toys I brought. The sky was clear and the sun was shining brightly. It was a warmer than usual day for this time of the year and, for the first time in a long time, it felt peaceful. As Brayden was playing with his toys, I pulled my ringing phone from my purse.
“Hey, Collin.”
“Hey, sis. What are you doing?”
Shit. If I told him where I was, he’d want to come.
“I just put Brayden down for a nap and I’m going to lie down for a while.”
“Oh. I was going to see if you wanted to grab some lunch.”
“Maybe another time, Collin.”
“Are you feeling okay, sis?”
“I’m fine. Just a little tired.”
“Okay. Get some rest. I’ll talk to you later.”
I felt bad for lying to him, but I just wanted to be alone in the park with my son. If I would have told him I was here, he would have told my dad, who would have called my mom, and the three of them would have shown up. As much as I loved my family to death, I just needed some time alone. An hour passed, and as I fed Brayden his bottle, he fell asleep. I adjusted his stroller seat and laid him down so he could sleep comfortably. Bringing my knees up to my chest, I looked around the park at all the people who were there relaxing, sunbathing, exercising, and just enjoying the beautiful day. I noticed a man jogging by and suddenly, he collapsed to the ground, falling to his knees. I got up and ran over to him, taking hold of his arm.
