“When will we see him?”
I pushed Andrew’s hair out of his face, making a mental note to get him a haircut. “His daddy is sick and he needs to help his family right now.”
“Can I make him a card?”
“Yes, of course. Why don’t we make it tomor
row morning and I’ll try to arrange to get it to him.”
“Okay.”
“Give me a hug, baby. Goodnight.”
Andrew sat up and hugged me. It occurred to me at that moment that he could be upset when he found Devin was his father and I hadn’t told him. Cripes. I really did mess things up. Inwardly I prayed they’d both forgive me.
The next day, Andrew drew a card with an airplane for Devin that said he hoped his dad got better soon. After I dropped him off with my mother, I texted Devin asking if we could meet for lunch or coffee. Whenever it was convenient.
I didn’t hear back until that afternoon. This time he called so I was at least able to hear his voice.
“I’m so sorry Serena. It’s just been crazy…my dad is going to need rehab which my mother is insistent needs to be done at home. But she’s driving every potential PT person to run for the hills. The board is concerned that without my dad guiding me, I’m going to run the business into the ground. I’m pretty sure a tabloid is going to come out any moment with a picture of my sister doing shots off a drag queen’s abs…”
“Oh God, Devin. Is there something I can do to help?”
“I wish there was. Ah fuck…I’m so tired. And I miss you and Andrew. How is he?”
I closed my eyes, wondering why I was so worried about Devin when all he had been was wonderful to me and Andrew. Even now, with his world gone crazy, he was asking about him.
“He misses you. He wants you to hang his airplane over his bed.”
“I’d like to do that for him.”
I heard a commotion on his end and he said something muffled as if he covered the speaking end of his phone.
“Listen, Serena, I’m sorry, but I’ve got to go. How about lunch on Friday? My sister has promised she’d keep my mother occupied. I have to take care of some business, but I should be able to meet you for lunch.” He gave me the name of a restaurant.
“I’ll see you then.”
At work, my team met with Nikita about the St. Patrick's party at the Roarke. I wondered if I needed to tell her now that I was seeing him. Then again, when I told him about Andrew, I might not be seeing him. Even so, he was Andrew’s father, so it seemed likely we’d be involved even if it was just co-parenting. God, why couldn’t anything be easy to figure out what to do?
I decided not to worry about telling Nikita now. Right now, I’d just focus on my lunch with Devin on Friday and dealing with the fallout. From this moment until then, I’d pray that he’d understand and forgive me. I crossed my fingers that my mother was right, and Devin’s mom would accept Andrew because he was part of Devin.
22
Devin
Before Serena, I managed my family and business like a machine. They were all I had in my life, and I was able to deal with everything with a sense of detachment.
But now, I was growing to resent my mother’s histrionic control, my sister’s outrageous behavior, and my father’s secret calls to the board to undermine my work. They all were taking me away from the one thing…no two things, that made me happy. Serena and Andrew. God, what I’d do just to see her. To be able to hold her and have some quiet for a minute. I wanted to hang Andrew’s airplane and have him look at me like I’d given him the world. I didn’t want the adulation as much as I needed appreciation.
I’d guilt-tripped Bri into giving up her Friday shopping spree to deal with Mom and Dad. She and I had put the New York club on the back burner, for now, because I had to exert control over the business to prevent a mutiny. There would be an emergency board meeting on Friday and I was determined to show them that I was more than capable of running Roarke businesses. I was also prepared to run any of them out if they continued to sabotage me.
The only good thing about my life now was it was so crazy hectic that time flew by. Before I knew it, I was standing in the conference room, with the board, and my father being video-conferenced in. My mother, with my sister’s help, had encouraged him to join in. He looked frail and, if you looked closely, you could see the tremors, But he was in a suit, his silver hair slicked back.
One of the longest-standing board members started to speak, but I cut him off, which might have been rude, but my intention was to show my dominance from the get-go. When my father tried to interrupt me, I muted him, and continued on. It was obnoxious, but if I didn’t win this battle, there was no use staying on.
I’d made headway, but as lunch approached, I knew I wouldn’t be able to make my date with Serena. I had to hope she’d understand. I’d call her later, and maybe if all went well tonight, I could take her and Andrew out for dinner. Maybe we’d even go see a movie.
“You’re definitely, Roarke’s son,” one of the board members said at three in the afternoon when I’d finally wrangled the last agreement out of them.