Forever After (Unrestrained 5)

“That’s awfully big of you, but you enjoyed your work with them. It meant something to you. Now, what will you do?”

He shook his head and reached out, took my hand. “I have you. I have Sophie. We have our place here. That’s all I need. The rest is window dressing.”

I nodded and turned back to the stove, flipping the bacon again and stirring the beans. I cracked two eggs and watched them bubble in the pan beside the bacon.

“You never told me how it went last night," I said and watched him from the stove. "You kind of stumbled into bed after you and Lara had a late dinner. What did the police want to talk about?"

Drake made a face. "Sorry about missing dinner with you, but it was a difficult meeting. Lara took me out for a drink and it turned into five and she fed me so I wouldn't absorb all that alcohol."

"It's fine," I said and smiled. "Why was the meeting so bad?"

Drake sighed. "They had a paperweight of mine. Apparently, they found it at Derek's cabin."

"What?" I said and put down the fork. "How did it get out there? No, wait," I said and leaned against the counter. "Let me guess. Lisa took it from you and planted it there. Was it the one from Africa that your father gave you?" I said, remembering seeing it in Drake's office when I had visited.

"Unfortunately, yes," Drake said and frowned. "What was she thinking? Did she take it as some kind of weird memento? Or did she actually plant it at the cabin to implicate me?"

I shook my head and turned back to the stove. "Who can say? She's crazy."

"She is." Drake got up and went to the coffee maker, pouring my decaf into a carafe and making a pot of caffeinated coffee for himself.

“So, to completely change the topic, what are your plans for your art? The gallery said it wanted to see more of your work. What’s next?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know yet,” I said. “I’m busy with Sophie and the house. Honestly, it takes all my energy to look after her.”

He nodded and watched me as I plated out his meal. “Pretty soon, you’ll have more time. When she stops nursing, you can get me to give her half her bottles.”

I put his plate down on the island in front of him. “I don’t want to stop nursing yet,” I said. “I have to carve out some time to myself. If she slept through the night, it would be easier. I’d feel more awake during the day.”

Drake cut up his eggs and dug into his meal. “You have to do what works for you,” he said. “Whatever you decide. I’ll support you.”

I nodded. “Thank you,” I said. “Sophie’s still too young to stop nursing. The doctors all said six months at least. Since she was premature, that means eight months for Sophie since she was premature. I have some time to go. I’d like to nurse her for a full year, if I can.”

Drake dragged his toast through his eggs. “Like I say, I’ll support whatever you decide.”

“Thank you,” I said again. In all honesty, I wasn’t ready to go back to painting. I’d been preoccupied with the trial and how my father was doing. While he’d been recovering nicely from his stroke, he was still frail and was at risk for small strokes, called TIAs. I wanted to spend as much time with him and Elaine as we could. Almost losing him like I did made me realize how much a part of my life he was and I wanted to keep it that way.

“I was going to go to dad’s today, but if Sophie’s sick, I don’t think I should.”

“No,” Drake said. “Go if you want. I’ll stay home with her.”

I shook my head. “I’d be too worried,” I said and fixed my own plate.

“Hey,” Drake said when I sat beside him. He put his hand on my shoulder and leaned in to kiss my cheek. “In case you forgot, I’m a pediatric neurosurgeon, or would have been one already if it weren’t for Lisa Monroe.”

We kissed and I forced a smile. “I know. Maybe I’ll go over later if Sophie’s okay.”

“Up to you.”

After we finished our breakfast, I went into Sophie’s room, deciding to wake her up and feed her so she wouldn’t sleep too long. She groused a bit when I picked her up, snuffling, her tiny fists beside her head as she stretched. Her pacifier was still clamped in her mouth when she smiled at me.

“I guess you’re not feeling too bad,” I said and kissed her rosy cheek. I brought her downstairs to the living room where Drake was sitting, having dressed in his bath robe, a cup of coffee in his hand. He was watching CNN and reading the newspaper.

“There’s my girl,” he said when I sat beside him on the sofa and adjusted Sophie in my arms so she could nurse. “Time to wake up, sleepy head.”

Drake leaned down and kissed her forehead and then watched while I got her latched on.

“You do that like a pro,” he said and smiled.