The Silver Cord: The Lily Lockwood Series: Book Two

by Alison Caiola

  That evening, he did not miss her, nor did The Prisoner even think of her. He floated away from his tiny cell of a room, across the rooftops, above the trees, and straight into the billowing clouds.

  Chapter 10

  David looked past his sleeping mother, her head resting on the small window. He glanced past her to the clouds, which resembled layers of wispy fog as they engulfed the Boeing 747. He touched her shoulder to gently wake her, just as the stewardess’s announcement came over the intercom:

  “Ladies and gentlemen, we have started our descent in preparation for landing. Please make sure your seat backs and tray tables are in their full upright position. Make sure your seat belt is securely fastened and that all carry-on luggage is stowed beneath the seat in front of you or in the overhead bins. Please turn off all electronic devices until we have safely arrived at the gate and the captain gives you the go-ahead to turn them on again. The flight attendants are currently passing around the cabin to pick up any remaining cups and glasses. We will be arriving at terminal 8 our gate is C34. The weather in New York City is a sizzling 91 degrees and local time is 4:40 p.m. On behalf of our pilot, Captain Jose Santiago, and my fellow flight attendants, we thank you for choosing American Airlines.”

  Hannah smiled at her son, and, as instructed, adjusted her seatback and grabbed both ends of her seatbelt and clicked them together.

  “Were you able to sleep at all?”

  “Not a wink.” David threw his plastic cup into the open garbage bag that the flight attendant held out to him.

  Hannah looked at her watch and saw they were ahead of schedule. Since they had not checked their bags, they should be in a cab heading into the city within 45 minutes if there were no delays on the tarmac.

  “We should be on time. Should we check into the hotel first? Curtain time isn’t until 8:00 p.m. But then again, maybe we shouldn’t, because if we get caught in traffic, who knows how long it will take us to get to the theater.”

  David smiled at his mother. During his childhood, he and his brother, Robbie, had called her Nervous Nellie because she fretted over everything. At times, it drove the guys crazy. But she was married to the right man; his father had had the patience of a saint when it came to his wife. He would smile, pat her hand, kiss her cheek, and tell her there was no need to worry. Like a tranquilizer, it would immediately calm her down and she would be relaxed until the next anxious incident. Now that his father was gone, it was up to him to be the one to quell her nerves, which had become a massive undertaking since the day they received the phone call about his brother, Robbie.

  “Do you think we’ll get a chance to speak with Lily tonight?” Hannah asked.

  “All we can do is give someone at the theater a note telling Lily we’re in the audience and that we’d like to see her after the show. The rest is up to her.”

  Hannah sighed. She wanted to make sure Lily understood that they had exhausted every possibility before flying 1400 miles from Dallas to see the actress and ask for her assistance. She looked at her handsome son and smiled because he closed his eyes. It was something David did every flight he had taken since he had been a child. She supposed that it made the landing experience easier for him.

  David kept his eyes closed and thought of the last time he had seen Lily. His stomach did a small flip. He and Robbie, who hadn’t argued since they were kids, got into a knock-down, drag-out brawl at Daisy’s memorial service. Lily was the reason the brothers had fought. They had acted like imbeciles in front of her. Truth was, they were always competitive—ever since they’d been young—but it had always been a friendly competition. Until that night.

  David’s face grew flush with embarrassment when he thought about the events of the evening. How horribly he had reacted and the hurtful things he had said to Lily before they left. Ghastly things—words that can permanently alter a relationship. He wondered if he and Lily could ever get back on track, where they had once been. Would she even be open to speaking to him again?

  David opened his eyes after the four wheels touched the ground. “I think it best if the note comes from you.”

  Hannah had heard bits and pieces of what had happened with her sons and Lily. She figured it must have been worse than either one of her sons had told her. After the incident there was a coldness and separation between her two boys that had never existed before. No matter how many times she’d tried to discuss it, David made it clear that the subject was off-limits.

  She reached for David’s hand. Whatever had happened that night, now had to be put aside. They were family and in times like these, families must stick together.

  Chapter 11

  During the intermission, Jodee put the back of her hand up to her forehead in a dramatic gesture of woe. “So this is it—our final performance—our beautiful swan song.” Lily, seated at her dressing-room mirror, fixed her mascara, and rolled her thickly lashed eyes at her co-star.

  “That might be so, Sarah Bernhardt, except this morning I spoke to Arty T., I mean Arthur Thomas, about you. His casting director should be calling your agent tomorrow to set up an audition. If it goes the way I think it will, you and I will be spending the next two months together in LA, shooting his new movie, Seventh Sister.”

  Jodee rushed over and hugged Lily. “You are the best friend ever! Oh my God, how great would that be? I can see it now, you and me having cocktails in Malibu, on the deck of Moonshadows, after a day of sun and surfing.”

  “First of all, we don’t surf. Second, as I hear it, days off are hard to come by on Arthur Thomas’s movies. So be prepared to work your little butt off.”

  “Oh I will. And that Arty T. is one fine brother. Maybe I’ll become a big Hollywood star and catch me a man.” The friends laughed.

  There was a knock at the door and Lily nodded to Jodee to open it. Timmy, the stage manager’s assistant, was standing on the other side.

  “Sorry to bother you, Miss Lockwood, but I was at the stage door and a man and woman asked me to give you this note.” He held up the folded piece of paper.

  Jodee grabbed it out of his hands. “I’ll take that. Let’s see who your secret admirers are this evening.” Jodee opened the note and read aloud:

  My dearest Lily,

  We are here and would like to see you for a short visit at the end of the play. Please let us know if it’s possible.

  Best wishes

  Hannah Rosen.

  Lily, stunned, stopped in mid-curl and put the mascara wand down. Her heart pounded as she turned to Timmy. “Did you say a man and a woman? Was the man younger than the woman?

  Timmy shook his head. “Yeah, like he could be her son or something.”

  Lily looked into the mirror and even through the heavy layers of stage make-up she could see that she had gone pale. She covered her mouth and took a breath to steady her nerves.

  She turned to Jodee who looked confused. “The note is from Robbie’s mother.”

  With that, the chimes rang three times, indicating that intermission was coming to an end. Lily wondered if Robbie was, at that very moment, in the audience, taking his seat. This was the moment she’d been waiting for since the night of the memorial gala. She wondered how he would look. What would they say to one another? She smiled because she would make sure, before the evening was over, that Robbie knew she was still in love with him. Her heart soared as she and Jodee walked out of the dressing room, down the stairs. The women took their places on stage. The curtain rose, the audience clapped, and the final act began.

  Chapter 12

  Lily looked around. The other passengers in Business Class—all members of her group—were fast asleep. Hours earlier their seats had been converted into long private beds; thick woolen blankets protected them against the chill of the cabin, while down-filled pillows gently cradled their heads.

  Lily turned her overhead light on and quickly looked around to make sure it did not disturb anyone. Once again, she took out the news article, the one she had read and reread over
the last ten days. She stared at his photo. The camera captured his essence—amused expression, twinkling blue eyes, and a slightly lopsided grin. He appeared to be on the verge of revealing a secret, one that he found too entertaining not to share. And in life, if you were the recipient of his stories, his attention, his warmth, his love—that was all the sustenance that a person would ever need.

  Lily took a deep sigh to calm her nerves. She had been crying almost nonstop since that first night, the night they visited her in the theater.

  She had practically run off stage after the last curtain call. It was the final performance of the play’s Broadway run and the audience refused to let them leave. They went ballistic—on their feet, clapping and shouting, demanding the actors take another bow, then another. The curtain ultimately fell for the last time and the reluctant audience left the theater.

  Ever since intermission, when Lily had received Hannah’s note, the end of the play couldn’t come fast enough. By tradition, actors savor every moment of their final show, knowing they will never again deliver those lines or interact with the other actors in the same way. Lily had only one thing on her mind— seeing Robbie. She raced up the stairs and waited.

  Finally there was a knock and her heart felt as if it was going to catapult out of her chest. When she opened the door, it took all her skills as a seasoned actress to hide her naked disappointment. It was not Robbie on the other side, but his brother David.

  “David, come on in. What a wonderful surprise.” David entered and looked genuinely happy to see her. The moment was awkward, as neither one of them knew what the appropriate greeting should be. The last time they had been together, David’s remarks to her were brutal, even devastating.

  She initiated a hug. She looked into his eyes—eyes that were so like her mother’s—and she saw his relief. Lily offered him a seat.

  “Would you like a glass of champagne? The cast was celebrating earlier. I’m sure there’s some left.” She walked over to the table in the sitting area of the room.

  “No don’t bother, Lily, I’ve been sober now for 21 months and 3 days.”

  “Good for you.” Lily said and truly meant it. “David, where’s your mother?”

  “She’s waiting in the coffee shop, around the corner. I told her I wanted to talk to you first. If you have time, can you walk over with me and see her?”

  “You know I normally would, but the cast is meeting tonight at a restaurant uptown to celebrate. You know, end of the play and all.”

  He looked disappointed, which made Lily feel guilty. “But I can always get there a little late. I have to get out of my wardrobe. So why don’t you go down, keep Hannah company, and I’ll meet you both in ten minutes.

  David stood up. “Uh, before I leave, I want to apologize. The things I said to you were unforgiveable. I was drunk. I didn’t mean any of it. I’ve missed you, I really have.”

  Lily kissed him on the cheek, “No worries, it’s in the past. And I’ve missed you too.”

  After he left, Lily collapsed on the couch, sighed, and thought about the last time she, Robbie, and David had been together, at Daisy’s Memorial Fundraiser. By then, she and Robbie had become involved romantically but had decided to wait to tell David until after the event. Hadn’t he gone through enough already? He had just been released that day from the hospital. He was recovering from the injuries he had sustained in the car crash and from the kidney transplant he had received. The kidney that he had gotten because the woman he had been searching for his entire life, Daisy—his biological mother—had lost her life. But through the gift of her kidney, she’d been able to save his.

  Still reeling from Daisy’s death, David had consumed far too much alcohol that night.

  “Hey, slow down there, cowboy,” Robbie had said, pointing to the newest martini that the waitress just slammed down in front of his brother.

  “I’m fine, you worry about yourself,” David downed his drink and stumbled against a chair.

  Robbie lowered his voice. “Bro, you can’t drink with the Cyclosporine A you’re taking. It’ll potentiate the side effects into high gear. You don’t want to mess up that brand- new kidney, do you?”

  David glared at his brother. “Take care of your own business, bro. You’re off duty and I’m not your damn patient. It’s my fucking kidney now and I’ll do whatever I want with it.”

  Robbie’s face turned deep red. Lily excused herself—she needed to get some fresh air and clear her head. She walked down the hill and sat by the edge of the water.

  A few minutes later, she jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned and smiled at Robbie. He sat and put his arm around her. “How are you doing, kiddo?”

  “Better now.”

  He tenderly kissed her cheek and forehead, then pulled back a little so that he could look into her eyes. He softly kissed the tip of her nose and her lips as Lily put her arms around him and pulled him closer. Their tongues found one another.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” They both jumped and turned.

  Standing there was an inebriated David looking down on them. “Again! You’re doing this to me again!”

  Robbie jumped up and put his hand on David’s arm. Lily was frozen.

  “Slow down, David, chill out—”

  “Get your hands off me.” He pushed Robbie back. “You never surprise me. Ever since high school, you’ve broken me down bit by bit, so I’m always less than you. You always get everything. Every girl I tried to date ended up with my brother; every friend I had, you took away. Hell, Mom and Dad always had to love you just a little bit more than their fake son.”

  Robbie tried to calm him. “Slow down. No one’s out to take anything away from you, David. You’re drunk; you don’t know what you’re saying.”

  “Oh, I don’t? Every opportunity you get, you take out your fucking scalpel, and like the quote unquote brilliant surgeon you claim to be, you keep cutting me until you’ve dissected everything and there’s nothing left. And you….” He pointed his finger at Lily. “you’re the only blood relative I have in the world. There aren’t enough guys around? You have to screw my brother? My fuckin’ brother! Shit, this is priceless.” He moved closer to Lily. Robbie stood protectively in front of her.

  David shouted, “You had Daisy all to yourself, your whole life. She kept you instead of putting you up for adoption. Daisy didn’t throw you away like a piece of shit garbage. You were worth keeping. And look at you, you turned out to be a spoiled brat and a slut.”

  Robbie held on to his brother’s shoulders and looked into his eyes and through clenched teeth said, “I’m warning you, that’s enough,”

  “You’re warning me? Who the hell do you think you are? Get your fucking hands off me.” David took a swing, and his fist connected with his younger brother’s face. Robbie instinctively punched him back; his right hook sent David to the ground. Lily screamed and ran over to him. David was out cold.

  When he finally came to, he tried to stand up but his legs could not support him. He looked green and said “I’m gonna be sick.”

  Robbie helped him up, walked him inside the house and into the guest room, so he could rest. A little while later, there was a knock at Lily’s bedroom door and Robbie walked in. He looked pale.

  “How is David?” Lily motioned for Robbie to sit next to her on the bed.

  “Not too good. I should have stopped him from drinking so much.”

  “What were you supposed to do, cut him off?”

  “Yeah, that’s exactly what I should have done. I’m a doctor. I should have known better.” Robbie shook his head. “I punched him, Lil. After all he’s been through, I knocked him out.”

  He stood up, walked over to the window, turned his back on Lily, and looked outside. A few minutes later, Robbie turned and looked into Lily’s eyes. “I almost lost my brother a couple of weeks ago in the accident, and now, because I’m being selfish, I’m pushing him away and I’m going to lose him for real. I never thought he
would take it like this. He’s got this thing, I don’t know why. He feels that I’m better than him. Has since we were kids. I’ve told him over and over again that it’s bullshit. Maybe it’s cause he was adopted, I don’t know. I never play into it. I’m careful. But this, you and me—I can’t do this to him, it’s not fair. I’m sorry.”

  So now what? We end it? That’s it?”

  “For now, yeah. I’m sorry, I really am. I care about you, Lil, I do—really. But it’s all way too much.” Robbie hugged her tightly, “I wish…”

  Lily brushed her tears from her eyes and kissed him. In less than twelve hours he boarded a plane headed to Africa.

  Thirty minutes later, Lily walked into the coffee shop, looked around, and saw David and Hannah. She waved to them.

  On the way over to the table Lily was stopped by three young women who asked her to sign their Playbills. She spoke to them briefly, then sat down at the table with Hannah and David.

  Hannah gave her a heartfelt hug and Lily was once again struck by the warmth of her smile. She was a beautiful woman whose dark, wavy hair that had softly fallen upon her shoulders the last time Lily saw her was now cut very short. Lily noticed there were dark circles under her eyes that had not been there a couple of years before.

  “It is so wonderful to see you both.”

  “Darlin’ we have missed you terribly.” Her Southern drawl was charming and made Lily smile.

  For the next ten minutes the three chatted up a storm, though Lily actually did most of the talking. She filled them in on what was happening in her life and made them feel welcome as her guests, even if it was in a side-street luncheonette and not backstage at the theater. They congratulated her on winning the Tony Award. Lily was pleased when they told her they’d been glued to the television the night of the awards show.