by Bella Andre
"I wanted to meet you too. Any woman who can claim my eldest son's heart must be special. Less than five minutes with you and I can see that you are."
"I haven't claimed his heart," she clarified again. "That's just for the press."
He didn't argue with her, but said instead, "He's claimed yours, hasn't he?"
She felt her cheeks go hot. "I'm not good at lying, and something tells me you could see through me even if I were, so I won't try to tell you that he hasn't." But she needed him to know the truth. "We're just going to remain friends. He doesn't want more, and I would never ask him for it."
"You drove five hours to meet with me. So why wouldn't you apply the same determination to winning my son's heart?"
She knew she had to pick her words carefully. It was one thing to admit that she'd fallen for Alec--and that she would give anything to win his heart. But she didn't want to hurt William any more than he already was by telling him that he was the reason Alec didn't believe in happily-ever-afters.
"Some people expect love to be waiting at the end of the rainbow. But for others..." She shook her head, not knowing how to put it any other way. "Others can't see the rainbow, so they don't believe there's a prize waiting for them."
"It's my fault," William said in a grim, guilty voice.
Darn it, this was exactly what she hadn't wanted him to take away from what she'd just said. "I'm not saying that."
"You don't have to. I already know it. I've known it for a long time. After my wife died, it took me far too long to climb out of my grief, my shame, to see how big my kids had grown. That they weren't kids anymore, but adults. And by then, I was so far to the outside of their lives that it seemed impossible to get back in. So I didn't try. Not really. Not the way I should have."
"Grief does strange things to people," she said, wanting to comfort him. "My behavior at Gordon's service attests to that firsthand. I can't imagine how difficult it must have been to lose your wife, the mother of your children."
"I couldn't keep her here," William told her in a voice made raw with emotion. "I couldn't keep her with them. I swear I tried, but no matter what I did or said, no matter how much I pleaded with her, she just kept drifting farther and farther away from us all." From the look on his face, it was as though time had rewound thirty years and he was back with a wife whose sadness pervaded everything. "For three decades, I've tried to wrap my head around what happened. But I still can't."
"I'm so sorry, William. I didn't mean to drag up painful emotions. Forgive me." She stood. "You've been so nice to meet with me. I should go."
"Please, at least stay for lunch." She watched as he worked to shake off his grief. "We don't have to dredge anything else up. But we could still get to know each other better, I hope." He gave her another one of those smiles that reminded her of Alec's.
She was never able to resist Alec when he turned on the charm. It turned out she didn't have much luck resisting his father either. "Okay, that would be nice."
They went inside and made sandwiches, and though they didn't talk about anything serious again, the stories William told her about Alec and his siblings playing on the lake, goofing off at school, and clowning around with their cousins, were enough to tell her everything she needed to know.
William Sullivan wanted the very best for Alec. Happiness. Success.
And, most of all, love.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Alec couldn't believe how slowly the past seven days had dragged by. He'd find himself staring at the clock wondering why everything seemed to be stuck in slow motion.
Seven mornings ago, Cordelia had left his city penthouse. Seven days had passed in which they had barely spoken--as far as he was concerned, a handful of short phone calls and texts didn't count. Seven nights had gone by in which they'd slept apart.
He'd done everything he could to get back to normal, to live his life the same way he had for decades. He'd worked from sunup to sundown, getting his transition team in place at S&W Aviation. In the spare time he had left, his trainer at the gym had put him through some serious paces and he'd gone for long runs. He'd also kept his promise to his siblings and had been looking through recipes for his father's birthday dinner.
But none of his usual tricks was working.
His energy and focus flagging from lack of sleep--and worse, lack of Cordelia--Alec dragged his attention back to his meeting with one of his best customers. Randy had built an organic food company from the ground up in the United States and was now taking it abroad.
"Thanks again for getting me and my VP onto a plane tonight," Randy said. "Making this spur-of-the-moment meeting in Paris could be the difference between getting into the big chains or not."
"I'm glad we could make it work." Alec had to juggle the schedule for a couple of jets later in the week, but that was one of the things S&W Aviation did best. If the customer had a problem, they went out of their way to solve it.
"Any chance I could get you to take these as thanks?"
Alec looked down at the concert tickets Randy had just put on the table--and his chest clenched tight. James Taylor. First row. Tonight at Tanglewood.
"She'll love them." He spoke without thinking. "One of my friends is a huge James Taylor fan," he explained.
"If that's the case, Tanglewood is the venue for her. The concert area is intimate, with only five thousand people under the covered top. And it's just a couple of hours' drive from here. I've also got reservations for tonight at one of the local B&Bs if she doesn't want to make the drive back after the show."
"That's great." Alec stood. He'd need to pick up Cordelia right away if they were going to have any chance of getting to the concert on time. "Have a great flight to Paris."
"I will. And if you can convince your friend to take you along with her, you shouldn't miss JT. His show will blow you away, especially if you know the songs."
Randy had no idea just how well Alec knew the songs. So well that he would never have considered going to a James Taylor show.
Until Cordelia.
*
Cordelia's first shock had been seeing Alec Sullivan walk into her nursery, commanding and gorgeous in jeans and a dark T-shirt. Her second had been when he told her he had a special surprise for her tonight.
"You want me to put Brian in charge, pack an overnight bag, and then get in your car with you--but you won't tell me where we're going?"
"I promise, Cordelia--you're going to love it."
After a week of short and somewhat stilted phone conversations, maybe she shouldn't still trust him. But she did. And she couldn't help wanting to be with him. Even if it was just for a few hours.
Besides, he wasn't the only one who hadn't called or texted much this week. She hadn't either. Partly because she felt guilty about going to see his father behind his back. But also because she was still trying to figure everything out.
Despite meeting William, she hadn't yet hit on a brilliant idea to help Alec and his father reconnect. She hoped the surprise birthday dinner would be a step in the right direction, but the only thing she was sure of at this point was that she wanted to be Alec's friend. And friends did things like cutting out of work early for spur-of-the-moment road trips, didn't they?
"Okay, you're on." She loved seeing his smile. "Let me throw some things into a bag and we can go."
"I'll nose around the garden while you get ready," he said. "I've been looking at recipes for the birthday dinner, and I should make sure we'll have enough of what I need."
She gave him a huge smile of her own, glad that he was still one hundred percent on board--with that, at least. Fifteen minutes later, they were on the road. The weather was clear and sunny...and they were in a cherry-red 1953 Buick Skylark convertible.
"This is such a beautiful car," she said. "Do you collect cars as well as planes?"
"If you want to see an amazing car collection, you need to visit my cousin Zach in San Francisco. I don't have many, but this one is my favorite.
I rarely get a chance to drive it, but it seemed perfect for our trip today."
"Perfect because we're headed to...?"
"You'll know in a couple of hours." She tried to think of every possible destination within a two-hour radius of Westchester County. "I can feel your brain hurting from here," he teased.
She tried to relax into her seat. "I'm such a planner. I don't do spontaneous things like this very often. You're the only one who ever succeeds at convincing me to blow things off and be a little crazy."
"Is that good or bad?"
She was surprised that he looked nervous about her answer. "It's great." She reached over, put her hand on his for a brief moment. "Really great."
*
"Tanglewood?" Cordelia saw the sign at the side of the road and turned to Alec in surprise. "I've always wanted to come here and see a show. And I always meant to visit Fire Island too. It's like you're reading my bucket list."
Her enthusiasm made him grin. "If you've actually got a bucket list, I want to see it."
"No way," she said with a shake of her head. "Some of the things on it are really embarrassing."
"Like what?"
"I started making the list when I was pretty young--it was my parents' idea, so we all did it together. Needless to say, some of the things I dreamed of doing when I was ten don't hold up all that well over time."
"Like..."
"I really wanted to go to a candy store and buy one of everything."
"So the fruit and veg girl has a sweet tooth, huh?" She flushed and he thought, for the millionth time, how beautiful she was. "What else did ten-year-old Cordelia Langley want to do?"
"Have you heard of American Girl dolls? From what I know of Suzanne, I'm guessing your sister might not have been much of a doll person."
"She wasn't, but plenty of our customers have daughters. S&W Aviation spends a great deal of money in the American Girl doll store every Christmas."
"I always dreamed of getting to spend the afternoon in the flagship New York City store picking out the full set--the doll, her home, her clothes, all that." Even now, she looked pretty dreamy about it. "But the dolls are so expensive that I would never have actually asked my parents to take me there. They would have felt compelled to buy me one, and I would have felt guilty about them spending so much money."
While Alec wished Cordelia could have had the dolls she'd longed for, he was glad that candy and dolls were the things she'd wanted most. It was further proof that she'd had a good childhood. Gordon would have been very happy to know it.
"How come I can pester you for two hours about where we're going and you stay locked up like a vault?" she asked as they were directed into the parking lot. "Whereas you work on me for thirty seconds and I'm spilling all my secrets?"
"Because of my Sullivan charm?"
"No kidding. And now I know exactly where you got it."
He parked and turned off the ignition. "What do you mean, you know where I got it?"
Her eyes grew big. And, if he wasn't mistaken, guilty. "I was going to tell you soon. I meant to tell you before now, but it never felt right over the phone this week."
His gut tightened. She never usually looked nervous. And she'd never kept anything from him either, partly because she was honest to the core, but also because she wasn't afraid of him. Which meant that whatever she'd kept from him this week, he wasn't going to like it.
"I spoke to your father." Her words came out barely above a whisper. "Actually, I went to see him. At Summer Lake."
"When?" Alec's voice boomed out so loudly that several people walking past his convertible in the parking lot turned to see what the problem was.
"The day after we talked in your kitchen."
"We did a hell of a lot more than talk."
Her skin flushed again. "I know. But then that morning when you told me more about your mother and father--"
"That was a mistake. I shouldn't have laid any of that on you."
"I'm your friend," she said passionately. "You can lay anything on me."
"Is that what you've been telling yourself? That it's okay to butt into my life, into my father's life, because you and I are friends?"
Her eyes were glassy with tears about to fall at any second. And then one did, sliding down her cheek. Proving that he was a Grade-A jerk.
"Damn it." He reached out and wiped it away. "I didn't bring you here to make you cry."
"I know." But another tear fell. "And I didn't want to make you angry by butting into your personal life, but I needed to meet him, Alec. After everything you've told me, I couldn't just let him be this shadowy figure inside my head."
"And now that you have?"
"Promise you won't get upset?"
He gritted his teeth. "I won't get upset."
"You will." She paused, then hit him with, "I think you and your father share a lot of similarities."
"I'm nothing like him!" Passersby turned to look at them again to see why he was yelling. Alec worked to modulate his tone as he added, "I'm not angry, I just don't agree with you." He ran a hand through his hair. "Look, can we not talk about my father and just head in and enjoy the show?"
She looked torn, and he knew there was more she wanted to say. Probably a list of all the ways she believed that he and his father were similar. Which was the last thing he wanted to hear.
Fortunately, she simply nodded. "Of course we can."
They got out of the car and were walking toward the venue when she noted, "I can't believe so many people have on James Taylor concert shirts. I heard he lives in the Berkshires, so he must be really popular around here."
"That's who we're seeing."
She stopped dead. "Wait...you've brought me here to see James Taylor play?"
"And you're going to love every second of it!" a stranger who had overheard the last part of their conversation called out.
"You told me he's one of your favorite musicians. So I'm assuming you must want to see him play live."
"Of course I do. It's right at the top of my bucket list. But...how are you going to sit there and listen to his songs?"
"I'll be fine." He had to give her this, had to give her something in return for all the unexpected joy she'd brought into his life--and also to make up for being such a grouch a minute ago. He refused to let a few old folk songs scare him.
"That's why you didn't tell me where we were going," she said softly. "Because I wouldn't have let us come if I knew what you were going to put yourself through."
"Cordelia." He made her stop walking and turn to look at him. "All I care about tonight is that one of your wishes is coming true. And it's all I want you to care about too."
"But--"
"Promise me." She'd asked him for a promise earlier. Now it was his turn. "Promise me you'll relax and enjoy the show."
She didn't answer for several moments as she tried to read his expression, which he kept carefully neutral. Finally, she said, "Okay, I promise."
He reached for her hand and held it as they walked into the venue. The lawns all around the covered concert building they called the Shed were packed with couples and families having picnics on blankets.
"I can't believe I'm here," she exclaimed with excitement. "Did you know Tanglewood concerts began in 1937 and that the Shed was once a horse arena? I read a really fascinating article about it recently."
He'd taken other women to concerts, but no one that he enjoyed being with the way he enjoyed Cordelia's company. She was happy to share a beer and a hot dog in the onsite beer garden, was fascinated by the old concert programs and historic documents in the museum, and wanted to explore every inch of the gardens and vistas on the vast Berkshire property. A couple of hours later, the sun sank and the lights flashed, letting everyone know it was time to find their seats.
Alec showed their tickets to the usher. "Wow, these are great seats! Do you need help finding them?"
"Thanks, we've got it covered." Alec put his hand on the small of Cordelia's back
and guided her toward the stage.
"We're going to be really close to him, aren't we?" she said when they were still about twenty rows back.
"We are." Way closer than he'd ever thought he'd come to James Taylor, that was for sure. "That's us." He pointed to the two open seats in the middle of the front row.
"No way."
Cordelia wasn't into clothes. She didn't care about jewelry. And though she'd enjoyed being in a top-of-the-line private jet, it hadn't rocked her world. At last, he'd found something to make her truly happy.
And it was worth any price he had to pay for her to have it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Cordelia felt as though she'd walked into a dream. Not only had she gotten to spend an entire afternoon and evening with Alec, but any second now James Taylor was going to walk out on stage and start singing her favorite songs. From only five feet away!
She was bouncing with excitement in her seat as the lights inside the Shed went down and the stage lights came up. Everyone jumped to their feet, and then there he was. Her favorite musician, playing the first chords to "Carolina in My Mind."
Tears sprang to her eyes, she was so overwhelmed, so grateful that Alec had done this for her. She threw her arms around him, laughing as she hugged him. "It's like he's sitting in my living room playing just for me." She was so relieved to see him smile back. Maybe he really would be okay with this. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." He nodded up toward the stage. "Now enjoy the show, just like you promised."
And, oh, did she ever enjoy it. She'd seen JT's PBS special, of course, and watched snippets of his other shows online. But actually getting to listen to him live as he sang "Sweet Baby James" and "Country Road" and "Shower the People"...
It was the most wonderful gift anyone had ever given her.
She felt full to the brim, as happy as she could ever remember being. And then, the lights dimmed even further and the band left the stage, leaving James alone to sing one of his biggest hits of all. "Fire and Rain." The song William Sullivan had played on repeat when his wife died.
Cordelia turned away from the stage, needing to make sure Alec was okay.
