Chapter NINETEEN
Eizabeth
My last day at the Club had turned out to be the worst day of my life. I hadn’t seen Damon all day, which nearly broke my heart thinking I probably wouldn’t, before I left to go home. Had I known yesterday it would have been our last night together, I would have told him how I felt, asked if he felt the same. But I hadn’t. And now, with his grandmother dying… Well, it just wasn’t the right time. I felt terrible and my heart was paying the price
To make matters worse, Jake, cold-hearted bastard that he was, threatened me on the phone. Again! He said he had pictures, and if I didn’t want them spread all around town, I’d do as he damn well said. Jason assured me he was bluffing, and offered to call in some favors to get rid of him. I wouldn’t let him. It could have made things worse.
Then there was Delilah.
I couldn’t stop crying.
I felt like I was losing my best friend.
Even though I barely knew the sassy spit-fire of a woman, it had been enough. In that time I’d come to love her. Her zest for life. Her openness. Her vibrant tenacity to make every day count. We’d… connected on some level, and in a way I’d not connected with anyone else in my life. She was like no one I’d ever met. A true jewel of a lady, she’d accomplished so much, while raising two children who weren’t even her own. For some reason she felt a connection with me too, because before she died, she’d confided her deepest secret to me. Something no one else knew. Damon and Tabitha were not actually her grandchildren. She didn’t even know their identity. She’d found the two abandoned by some drug addict mother on the steps of a hotel in downtown LA one day while on vacation with husband number two. Damon was three at the time, Tabitha just a baby. With no children of her own, she’d taken then in, forged the necessary documents and gave them the name of her husband at the time, Nathaniel Donovan. I shuddered to think about what would have happened to those poor frightened children had they not been found.
I took out the small folded sketching I’d done two weeks ago and stared at the image, tears flooding my eyes. Delilah Delaney, Queen to the Delaney fortune and owner of the richest most exclusive Businessmen’s Club in all of Washington DC had been rushed by ambulance to the hospital, adding to my misery.
I hated to think of her in that cold sterile room. Delilah hated blandness. She said it covered all the sensory of the world. She said color was what made life worth living. Would she die in that room hooked up by machines hissing into the night? It made my heart ache.
A sense of guilt skittered across my heart, leaving me nauseous and lonely. I wanted to see Delilah, but I was scared. Scared it would be the last time. Scared she would die before my eyes. Just…scared. I didn’t know what to do.
So I ran myself a bubble bath. The last one I’d ever have in this hotel, because our flight left at eight o’clock the next morning. My intention was to finish off the book Damon gave me, throw myself into a spin of unreality with the characters, and then doze off into sleep. I regretted not saying goodbye to Damon, but he’d been at the hospital all day. If Delilah was truly at death’s door, he wouldn’t leave her. Christ, how had I misjudged him in the first place. In the beginning I’d simply written him off as a pretty boy too interested in his own muscles. Maybe it was better I didn’t see him. I wasn’t sure I could keep my emotions under control, and that would just make it worse for both of us.
Right when I was about to change out of my robe and sink into the tub, there was a knock at my door. I wrapped the chenille bathrobe around my naked body and let Jason into the room.
“You’re not dressed, Liz.”
“I’m taking a bath. Why?”
“I’m here to drive us to the hospital.”
“I’m… I’m not going to the hospital.”
“Yes you are. She’s your friend, right? Don’t you want to see her before….you know. Besides, he will be there, won’t he? Don’t you want to say goodbye to him?” He shrugged.
I sighed, willing back the tears. “Listen, Jason…I don’t really give a shit whether Jake buys the Club or not, and as for Damon... It’s over. We’re leaving, so what’s the point?”
“Hmmmph. I would never have bet my sister…the sister who threw her ex-husband out a window was a coward…or… a selfish bitch.”
“Selfish!” Jason had never talked that way to me before. Not ever. “So what are you saying?”
“I’m saying, forget asshole, Jake. Just get dressed. We’re going to see Mrs. Delaney before we leave. At least you won’t feel guilty for the rest of your life. I take it you’re one of the few friends that actually cares about her?”
“Of course I do.”
“So get dressed, girlfriend! I’ll call the limo to pick us up.”
“All right.”
Forty-five minutes later, and after braving terrible traffic that should have taken us ten minutes to drive through, we arrived at George Washington University Hospital. As I looked at the neon sign and all those windows, I started to shake, and my blood ran cold. Not because I was afraid for Delilah. Well, partly because I was afraid, but more because I was going to tell Damon I loved him. I’d always waited for the guy to tell me first, but this time… Well, this time, I we had no time to wait.
“After you,” said Jason opening my door of the limo. He made a sweeping motion. I got out of the car, my legs shaking, and took a few steps. Then I turned when I noticed he wasn’t following me. “Aren’t you coming?”
“Nope. She’s not my friend. In fact, I’ve never met the woman. Driver, take me back to the Delaney Club.” And he got in the back seat. He rolled the window down. “Just call us to pick you up when you’re ready. And Liz...”
“Huh?”
“Don’t be a coward.”
I just stood there. In shock. Heart racing. Staring at the shiny black car as it zoomed out of sight. What the hell was Jason thinking? Didn’t he know how hard this was for me? What kind of a brother does that?
I took a deep breath, pushed through the circular revolving doors, and into the hospital. I was not a coward. Whether Damon loved me or not, I’d tell him and be done with it. I wouldn’t rush it though. Maybe I’d wait until the last possible minute. I needed to be there for Delilah. Or so I told myself.
After getting hopelessly lost and then asking for directions, I found Delilah’s room. Or the waiting room outside it, to be precise. I wasn’t the only one who’d come to see her. Five different men and a few couples were milling around outside her bedroom door of the Intensive Care Unit.
A nurse in green scrubs with shamrocks all over it, approached. “I’m sorry, but no one can see Mrs. Delaney right now.”
“Oh my god. She isn’t…” Tears that had been harboring in the corners of my eyes spilled down my cheeks. I wiped them away with the back of my hand.
“No, no. I’m sorry. I should have been more specific. I can only allow one or two of you in the room at a time, and right now her granddaughter is with her.”
I glanced toward the half open door and saw Tabitha seated beside the bed, her head buried in Delilah’s hand.
“Oh,” I choked out. “I understand. Of course.”
“If you would just have a seat over there with the others?” She was tall and thin, looking like a ghost in her bright white uniform.
I stood there, staring at the walls and a wreck, wondering if I should leave, use the excuse she had plenty of visitors anyway. Something told me to stay though. A niggling sense of doubt? Or was it something else? “I’ll wait,” I finally said and I took a seat.
The place was packed an wit only one seat not taken by men in business suits, one Indian woman in traditional dress, and several casually dressed men. It reminded me of a damn airport with flat uncomfortable seats, each one attached the seat beside it. Swallowing, I plopped myself down in one, smiling for no reason but just to do something other than cry
Someone opened a candy wrapper, and my stomach growled. I remembered I hadn’t eaten. I debated about going to the coffee shop to grab coffee and a danish, but I didn’t want to miss my last opportunity to talk with Delilah? I didn’t know how much time she had. Since I had nothing to lose, I’d decided I would mention my father’s bid for the club. No matter how ridiculous it was that a recovering drug addict should purchase it, I didn’t see how there was any harm. Besides, I fully expected a rejection. Once we were home, I planned on hiring someone to discover how Jake found us. If I was going to start a new life, I needed those files sealed. At least where Jake was concerned.
I walked over to the vending machine, placed one hand on the glass, and viewed the assortment of snacks. The ticking clock sounded throughout the room, a reminder I didn’t have time.
I dug in my purse for some change, threw it in the vending machine and pushed what I thought were the right buttons to get a Hershey’s chocolate bar. What I got was a granola bar instead.
“Fucking figures,” I muttered as I reached down to grab the offending snack. Even in the most mundane of situations, Damon’s face popped into my brain.
Damon and his no-sugar, no-alcohol, no-anything unhealthy rules, whispering in that sultry male voice of his, do you really want that kind of crap in your system, Liz?
How was it that when he was lecturing me about food, what I actually I heard was, I want you, Liz. I want you naked and healthy. You are mine.
I ripped off the paper and took a huge bite. I hated being told what to do. I hated that I couldn’t stop thinking about those piercing blue eyes. The crooked smile that melted my heart. The way his touch kindled flames.
I jumped to my feet. It seemed I waited a lifetime before Tabitha exited Delilah’s room.
When she saw me, she glared. I was taken aback when she looked at me with an expression of pure animosity. Where the hell did that come from?
Tabitha flipped her blonde bangs out of her face. I didn’t exactly know what to say to her and we’d never talked. Ever. “What the hell are you doing here?” She was staring at me like I was the devil incarnated. Heels clipping along the hard tiled floor, she finally stood before me with her hands on her hips. “This is your doing, isn’t it?”
I stared back. Mouth open. Unable to speak.
“Well, you better be the right one for him, because if you’re not, I swear I’ll hunt you down. You got that?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said.
“Yeah, right,” she said with a flippant tone of voice. Then she turned on her heel, leaned against the painted cement wall, and took out her phone. She made no attempt to hide her conversation. “Get me a flight out of this godforsaken town asap, Jonathan. No. No, I’m not staying until she…What the hell difference does that make?” A pause. “That’s the very soonest you can get…? All right. Fucking conference! Book the damn thing.”
She dropped the phone into a large Gucci purse and stared in my direction. “Looks like I’m here until tomorrow morning.”
“Listen, I don’t know what you’re problem is with me but this isn’t doing anybody any good.” She was beginning to piss me off.
Her pouty pink lips flexed and her face seemed to soften a bit. “I just hope you’re worth it,” she spat.
The hair on the back of my neck stood out. I could feel my temper escalating, my body going rigid, and all I could think of was the word, Bitch. How dare she talk that way to me! When she strolled out of the room and I didn’t see her again, I thanked the gods in heaven.
It took me a long time to calm down. I spent that time pacing the hallways. That was getting me nowhere, I decided.
To occupy my brain, I thought of all the thing I wanted to do. Plans for an art show with all the paintings I’d hidden in Jason’s attic.
Jason is going to be thrilled, I thought excitedly. He’d always told me how good I was, but I hadn’t believed it myself. I still didn’t, but I would fake it until I made it. And if I didn’t, who the fuck cared? At least, I tried.
I a started thinking of myself as an artist. I could do this. I’d never had my own showing, but I’d never swam before either. Now, I swam like a fish. A dead fish, but still a fish. My heart squeezed when I thought of my lessons with Damon. Maybe I would call him once we reached New York. I wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to do, but for the time being, it made me feel better about not telling him goodbye.
As I walked along the corridors of the hospital, my mind blocked out the surroundings.
Fresh thoughts developed in my head. I didn’t think I had enough paintings for a show, so I would welcome some of my favorite artists to show their works beside my own. I knew exactly where I’d have it too. The Loft at 600 F! The exposed brick and wrought iron accents were perfect, and I loved the feel of the place. Maybe too many windows, but we could always add heavy block out shades and set everything on easels or pedestals. I planned on serving wine, and those tiny little canapés with shrimp. Admission would be free and soft music could play in the background. Not loud though. Nothing to take away from the calm whispering atmosphere that accompanied such events.
I turned a corner, letting my thoughts take root. When I saw an billboard for a heart-health-event, it got me thinking.
I quickened my steps. How would I advertise about the art show? How would I get people there? I thought of who to approach for publicity and a new thought struck me. I’d offer a free cocktail for the first fifty people who arrived.
Adrenaline tweaked my pulse.
This would be the biggest thing I’d ever done in my life, a celebration and break from my not so flattering past. Goose bumps poke on the back of my arms as ideas flooded my brain. I was so much in my head, I didn’t hear the nurse. “Elizabeth?” she said, touching my arm.
“What?”
“Elizabeth Doyle?”
“That’s me.”
“She wants to see you now.”
“Oh. Oh, wonderful. Thank you.” And just like that my mood deflated.
***
As I made my way back to the waiting room, I came upon Damon holding a cup of coffee. “Oh, hey.”
“Hey, yourself.”
He looked sleep-deprived, his blue eyes lacking their usual luster, and his hair needed washing. “I thought I’d miss you. I’m glad I didn’t. We need to talk.”
My heart did a little happy dance. “We do, but first….well, let’s take a rain-check on that for now, okay? Your grandmother wants to see me.”
“As you wish,” he said mockingly. He reached for my hand and kissed it, his blue eyes looking up. “You remember that movie, The Princess Bride?”
“Oh yes!” How did he know? Those three little words had been ingrained on my adolescent brain.
Chuckling, he leapt back, brandishing a make-believe sword. He lowered his eyes and spoke with a deep pitched voice. “My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.” I couldn’t help giggling even after his arms wrapped around me. And after his voice changed. “Liz,” he breathed. “I wish you weren’t leaving me.”
My heart nearly broke. “That’s what I want to talk to you about. But later. Okay?”
“Sure.”
I glanced toward Delilah’s room. “Are they sure about…?”
“Afraid so. Yes.”
“Dammit.” My eyes misted over. I wondered if it was such a good thing that I’d come to the hospital. I wasn’t used to being around people who were dying. Actually, this was my first. And what did one say to so someone who was at death’s door? Hey, how are you? See you later? I wish it was me and not you? The whole idea of walking into that hospital room made me more uncomfortable than I could have imagined.
“Hey,” Damon said taking me by the hand while he wiped a tear from my eye with his other. “It will be all right?”
“Yeah, I’m just dreading going in there.”
“Want me to go with you?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
“Then let’s go in before we change our minds.”
With Damon’s strong arm slung around my shoulder for support, I walked into Delilah’s hospital room. My eyes grew wide as I took in the flowers, the sweet scented air, and a large stuffed teddy bear holding lavender and pink helium balloons. Beside the bear were several photographs in gold and rhinestone frames of what I assumed were pictures of Tabitha and Damon as children. I’d be willing to bet no two children could have had a better mother. I envied them that one.
“Hello Elizabeth,” she said weakly. “Damon, you can go now.”
“Grandmother? I just…” He looked to me, and then back to Delilah, a puzzled expression on his handsome face.
“I said you can go,” she repeated. “Don’t make me…” She started coughing, and tried to pull herself upright. She fell back hard against the pillow.
A look of horror swept Damon’s face and he nodded. “I’ll be right outside,” he mouthed.
I was just as confused as he was, and couldn’t think of a single reason Delilah would have to talk to me alone unless…
“My poor boy,” Delilah apologized. “It takes a lot out of me to project my voice, but I do love him so.” She took a deep breath. Two bags of fluids hung by her head. One with blood, the other clear. Three tubes were attached to one arm, a nasal cannula inside her nose, and an oxygen tank wheezed and hissed nearby. “Now, come here, Elizabeth.”
She surprised me by pulling herself up in the bed until she was upright wearing lipstick and long dangling earrings. A tight smile spread over her pale face.
“Grab a chair, sweetness,” she said. “I don’t have much time, and I need to see your eyes when I tell you want I have to say.”
I took the chair beside Delilah’s bed.
“How have you been?” she asked.
“What?” How have I been? The woman was dying and she asks me how I’ve been!
“Fine,” I said. “And you?” Oh my god. I did not just say that. I blushed scarlet red.
She patted my hand and it was the kindest most thoughtful gesture I’d ever witnessed. “You’re young,” she said. “You aren’t used to people dying on you. It’s okay. Nothing to be afraid of. Everyone does it sooner or later.”
I nodded, tight lipped, still not sure what was the right thing to say. “Are you in pain?”
“No.” She smiled brightly. “Actually, I’m kinda high right now.” She glanced up toward the pole with a little box and some sort of gage attached to it. “The drugs they give me here are pretty spectacular. You should try them.”
I giggled but my heart wasn’t in it.
She squeezed my hand. “You know, I think if we had met years ago, we would have been very good friends throughout our lives.” She grinned. “On second thought, if I were twenty years younger, we may have been rivals too.” She tried to laugh but it came out strangled. “I mean with men.”
Sitting as close to her as I was, I saw the weariness in her eyes. It was then that I realized how important it was to Delilah that no one see her at her lowest. Hence, the lipstick and earrings. It didn’t matter so much that she was dying, just that people remembered her as she was. It wasn’t vanity. Not at all. She was a proud lady. A good woman.
“Elizabeth…”
Her voice had lowered to a whisper so I leaned closer. “Your father came to see me.”
My heart dropped into the pit of my stomach.
“I hope I’m not offending you but…he’s a miserable old bastard isn’t he? Hard to believe you came from such a man.”
“He’s my step father actually.”
“Oh thank god. That certainly puts my mind at ease.”
My skin crawled with unease. Had Jake told her all about my past, how he’d prostituted me at the age of twelve? About my failed romances? That I’d tried to commit suicide?”
She squeezed my hand again and I knew it took every ounce of strength in that frail tiny body. “He did tell me a lot about you, dear, but so what. It doesn’t matter, Elizabeth. None of that matters.”
I sighed with relief, searching her face but all I saw was sincerity and love.
“What does matter is I see how you look at my grandson. At…Damon. I haven’t seen him this happy in a very long time. And I want that for him. I want him to be with a woman who adores him. A woman with not only brains but the enthusiasm for sex to keep him in line.” She winked at me this time. “You know what I mean by keep him in line?”
“I do, yes,” I said, feeling my face heat up.
“That’s why I’ve decided to sign the Club over to you, my dear.”
“I…What!?”
“I’m signing the Club over to you.”
Holy shit! This was not what I expected her to say. Or do. Or… Holy shit!
“But…but you can’t. It’s Damon’s. Why would you? I…I don’t know anything about running a business. I don’t know a thing!” The discomfort in my belly turned to sharp anxious fear. How would Damon accept this? And why would Delilah do such a thing? She must be delirious. She must think we’re married or something.
I tried to explain that it made no sense. “Delilah, I don’t even live here in Washington. I was only visiting. Remember? I’m leaving this evening to go back home. I have a plane booked and everything. To go back to New York. Where I live. Where I…”
A little fire lit up her eyes. “Don’t talk to me like I’m demented! I know you don’t live here!”
“Oh.”
I looked at her, incredulous. Not only did I have absolutely no knowledge of how to run a business, but did she actually think I could do it from New York?
“You’ll be back,” she said.
I took a deep breath. “I can’t accept this, Delilah. I’m sorry, but it should go to one of your grandchildren. Damon or Tabitha. I don’t even want it. I’m flattered you think so much of me but…”
“It’s already in the hands of the lawyers, my dear. It’s done.”
“Done?”
“Yes. As in… I can’t change it back.”
Oh God.