Chapter 99

DORIS

Arthur and I exited the elevator of the penthouse and walked across the lobby, arm and arm. We had decided to work from home that morning, and I was happy that we had gotten so much work done.

We were almost to the doors of the lobby when Andrea walked in. She was wearing a big cloak that covered her whole body.

She opens her cloak to reveal a little baby in a sling strapped to her chest. The boy was swaddled in a light blue blanket. He was adorable.

With all that had been going on in our life, I had forgotten that Andrea had probably had her baby by now.

“Congratulations," Arthur said stiffly.

Andrea beamed.

“What are you doing here?“ Arthur asked.

“The baby looks so much like you when you were a baby," Andrea said. "It made me nostalgic for when you were a child. All those times before…“ She let the sentence trail off, and I remembered how Arthur’s father died.

Arthur must’ve been thinking of the same thing because he grimaced.

"It was a magical time,“ Andrea said. "And I wanted the same things for Rick.“ Andrea nodded her chin toward the baby. “I didn’t want him to grow up estranged from his sibling."

Arthur‘s jaw was still set in hard lines.

“So you came to apologize,“ Arthur said.

That was Andrea‘s time to frown. “No, not apologize, but I did wanna mend the rift in our relationship. Maybe I haven’t been the best mother lately…“

“Maybe?“ Arthur asked, his voice going up a lot.

“Arthur, I’m here. Don’t make this more difficult than it has to be. I’m here to make amends. You have a little baby brother.“ Andrea lifted the sling, slightly turning the baby to face us even more. The baby lazily blinked, opened his eyes, and focused on us a little bit before going right back to sleep.

“How are you feeling?“ I asked Andrea. She ignored me.

“All I ever wanted for you, Arthur, was for you to be successful and stable in a way that nobody would be able to hurt you.“

“You hurt me,“ he said.

She went on like she didn’t hear that comment. “So maybe I didn’t support your childhood dreams of being a hockey star. But I did turn you into a financial giant, where you are respected, and nobody would mess with you.“

I didn’t mention how we were messed with by having to deal with a huge arson fire.

“You’re known around the world as a financial billionaire. And I’ve been following the Arctic Avalanches. I am really proud of you.“

Arthur’s eyebrows went up. I don’t think Andrea had ever complimented him in his entire life.

Andrea shifted the sling slightly so her left arm supported the baby, and she reached under her cloak for a pretty silver frame. It was divided in half with two pictures of babies; they were in similar poses. On the left must’ve been a picture of Arthur when he was a baby, about the same age as Rick.

“You look so much alike. It’s incredible how much you look alike. I know I haven't acted like it recently, but I love you. I will always love you. I haven’t been a good grandmother to Mia. But I don’t want that to stop you from getting to know your brother. I just hope he’ll grow up to be as good a man as you are.“

She gave me one last look. Not like she approved me, but not like she hated me either.

Andrea turned around and walked away. She passed through the glass doors, but she turned around and came back for a minute. “Arthur, good luck with the semi-finals with the Arctic Avalanches next week. I hope they win.“

Andrea hustled out to the sidewalk. She held a taxi, and then she was gone.

Arthur looks shell-shocked.

“I don’t believe it either," I said

“This has been some week. Miracles never cease.“

I smiled. Arthur was right.

The next few days were busy. I had a lot of work at Heritage Properties. Nina and Nathan seemed to have a whirlwind romance, and they decided to go to Washington, D.C., and then to Florida for a romantic week.

That meant Arthur picked up some of the slack at AmeriCapital, and I didn’t have Nina to talk to as much about the day-to-day things.

Mia had a field trip at school, and I had promised to be a chaperoned a month ago, so that took up one day.

I had to spend another day in the studio with the band, practicing and recording.

There were decisions to be made about the pharmaceutical company.

And Noah wanted to have a father-daughter lunch with me just to catch up, and of course, I couldn’t deny him. He wanted to tell me how well he was doing in his medical program, so I had to make time for that.

The chief of police had put together a very solid case against Cathy. She was being held in a low-security level jail temporarily pending trial.

Arthur and I got a call in the middle of the night. Cathy was in the hospital in critical condition.

Even though we were still devastated by her betrayal, we rushed to the hospital.

By the time we got there, she was already in emergency surgery. We didn’t have long to wait before the doctor came out to tell us that her condition was stable. But she had miscarried. The baby was gone.

I shouldn’t have been so devastated. We didn’t have time to see the baby's birth or become newly adopted parents. But still, I had never raised a child from day one. The loss was monumental on top of all the ups and downs of the year so far.

As soon as the doctor walked away, I burst into tears.

It was all too much. Arthur took me back to the penthouse and held me all night.

The next week, the Arctic Avalanches won the semi-finals against the top-ranked hockey team in the nation. The newest player we drafted, a young man from Maine with no professional hockey playing before this game, did well under pressure.

The entire team, Arthur and I, went to a sports bar to celebrate our win. Arthur made everybody go home early so that they knew they were still in training for the finals.

Saturday night was my last performance at the Sultan Room. It was the last performance I was contracted for, but also Mr. Owens, the record executive, didn’t want me to play any more performances for the next six months. He wanted me to be a little of a mystery and in demand, until the new record came out.

He had been in the business for over 30 years and had made stars who were national sensations and international superstars. He obviously knew what he was doing, so I took his advice.

I was happy to be playing the Sultan Room one last time but also slightly sad to have my last performance for a while. The Sultan Room had a lot of good memories for me. It’s where I met Lisa, the award-winning actress.

I wore the special Dior dress that felt like the first nice dress I ever had. My voice seemed exceptionally good from the very beginning of the show, and the band seemed better than ever.

Arthur had a mysterious look in his eye, and it made me wonder if he had something unusual planned. Every time Arthur had a plan, it meant something spectacular.

Maybe I was imagining it. Maybe there was something really unusual in store for me.