I talked to my realtor and asked her to start work on finding a rental for a few months in Monterey. I even checked out a few properties myself, bookmarking them, even printing off the specs for a couple so Kate could see what we might be able to find.
I was excited, humming to myself as I worked away in the office while Sophie and Kate took a nap. Karen was coming by in a few hours to cook supper so Kate and I could go out and do some shopping. I planned to have a whole presentation ready for her so I could make my case.
I was sure she’d say yes. There was nothing keeping us in Manhattan any longer, with Ethan moving and my withdrawal from the Fellowship and my other business and charitable pursuits on hold.
Monterey…
As I sat and examined the dozen hospitals in San Francisco, I felt a sense of elation about the future that I hadn’t felt for a while – at least since I first realized that Lisa was going to be a problem. I hoped Kate shared my enthusiasm.
Something told me she’d be as happy as me with the idea of starting a new life together in a place where the sun always shines.
Chapter 24 : Kate
The day I’d been dreading came all too soon for me – the day I had to say goodbye to my father and Elaine.
I knew it was for the best that he moved to California and live. He needed the warmth and the sunshine and the fresh air. Monterey would be exactly that. As a child, we had spent a few winters there, living in a house perched on a cliff overlooking the ocean. I loved playing on the beach, collecting shells, and watching the sea birds fly.
It made me nostalgic for the time when my mother was still alive and Heath and I were closer, playing together because we were the only friends we knew.
Now, my father would be moving away and leaving Drake and me – and Sophie – alone. Health and his family were always off doing missionary work in Haiti, and so I rarely saw them. Dawn and I were no longer friends.
There was nothing left here but Columbia and my thesis. Plus, showing my works at the Ballantine Gallery, but that would be short-lived.
I woke early that morning and laid in bed listening to the sounds of the apartment. The hot water radiators clicked and hissed. While it was getting warmer every day now that spring had arrived, the apartment was cold and we still needed heat on.
Light crept under the curtains at the window and fell across the bed. I turned and snuggled closer to Drake, who was sleeping with his back to me. He stirred and then went back to sleep, having stayed up much later than me to work on some mysterious project that kept him busy for hours on end. I wanted to press him about it, but didn’t because he wanted it to be a surprise – whatever it was.
Finally, after about a quarter of an hour lying in bed awake, listening for any sound on the monitor that Sophie had awoken, I got up and had a quick shower, brushed my teeth and pulled on my robe. I’d get dressed later, after we had breakfast and I dried my hair.
I padded into Sophie’s room to find her awake and on her back, her pacifier in her mouth and her toy in her hand.
“Hi, baby girl,” I said and smiled at her. She smiled back, around her pacifier, and shook her toy excitedly. “Time to get up?” I felt both my breasts, which were hard as rock. “Time to eat, I think.”
I picked her up and carried her to the change table and put a new diaper on her, put her in a clean onesie, then took her downstairs, deciding to watch the early news while I fed her. She was wide awake so she wouldn’t be going down for a nap for a few hours.
Before I could sit down, I saw something on the kitchen island – a card standing upright. With Sophie on my hip, I walked over, curious to see whether this was the surprise Drake had been working on for the past couple of days. He’d been so secretive.
It was a card showing the UCSF campus in San Francisco.
I opened it and read the inscription.
Drake, we’d be happy to have you as a visiting neurosurgeon. You can consult on cases in the ER, if you would be willing, since we’re always short on specialists who want to be on call. That’s all I can offer now, but we’d be glad to have you on board.
Cheers,
Vince Markham, Head, Pediatric Neurosurgery
University of California, San Francisco
I covered my mouth and put down the card. Beneath it were plane tickets for two adults and a child in First Class, flying from JFK to San Francisco in two weeks.
Beside the tickets, there was a sheet of paper with a real estate listing. A bi-level house with a huge deck and yard overlooking the ocean in Monterey. There was even a horizon pool that seemed to blend into the ocean and sky. It had been rented for three months starting April 15th.
Sophie fussed, her hand on my breast. She was hungry so I took the sheet of paper over to the sofa and sat down, putting it on the coffee table in front of me while I got Sophie ready to nurse.
Once I had her nicely settled on the breast, I picked up the listing again and examined it. Three bedrooms up, with two bathrooms, and a great room with combined kitchen, living room and dining room plus another full bathroom on the main level.