Drake Forever (Unrestrained 7)

"Shoot. You know I'm always here to listen."

"I do know and I appreciate it."

Then, I went over the offer Michael had made to me to head up the robotic surgery unit at the Children's Hospital. I told Ethan I hadn't spoken to Kate yet.

He nodded, pursing his lips like he was considering. "Sounds perfect for you. I gather you're worried about Kate not wanting to move again so soon. And because of me."

"Exactly. I know how hard it would be for her to say yes and I know she'd feel obligated to do so for my sake."

He stared off into the distance for a moment. "I don't want to see you two go, but given what you've said about the publicity around the trial, what happened with the foundation, and your fellowship at NYU, it might be a way to escape Manhattan's gossip mill for a while and then, when you're ready, and when all this has died down you could come back. With that position under your belt, you'd be able to write your own ticket pretty much anywhere in the world."

"Anywhere except Manhattan," I said sourly. "As long as the current crop of people are in the administration, I doubt they'll want me here. Bad for fundraising."

"Probably."

We sat in silence for a moment and he sighed. "Well, of course it's up to you and Kate to decide. I give you my blessing to go and wish you well with it. It's a great opportunity. Kate is young and will adapt wherever you two go."

"Thanks, Dad. I'll talk to Kate tonight and see what she thinks."

"How soon would you start?"

"The new year."

Ethan nodded and rubbed his chin. "That would give us Christmas at least." He sighed and pointed to his wheelchair. "We'll come and visit of course. The south of England is a lot nicer than Manhattan in winter."

"That would make it easier for Kate. She worries about you."

"I know she does. I don't want her making decisions about your plans because of me. She has to focus entirely on you, Sophie and herself. I only want the three of you happy."

"I know."

We sat in silence for a moment. Ethan turned to me. "You won't mind if I listen to the news?"

"Be my guest," I replied. I understood he would be curious. "I'm only interested in the verdict and sentence. And I instructed my lawyer to send me both in an email. I'm ignoring the news and papers for the next month."

"Good plan," Ethan said. "It's out of your hands anyway. Focus on what you can change."

Elaine popped her head in the door. "Lunch is ready."

"Let's eat," Ethan said and wheeled the chair out from behind the desk.

Sophie squealed in delight.

* * *

We had a nice lunch, and I stayed at their place for another two hours so they could get their fill of Sophie. I told Elaine about my job offer and she responded just as Ethan had. Sad to see us go, but understanding that it was too big an opportunity to miss.

"Kate won't be as excited about it as I will be, but I hope she's fine."

"I'm sure she will be, when she thinks about it."

"We should go," I said, gathering up Sophie's toys and her diaper bag after changing her. While Sophie was happy and enjoying herself in Elaine and Ethan's company, she would need to go back home so she could have a nap. "She has to go down for a nap soon."

"Oh, can't you stay longer?" Elaine said, sounding really sad to see us go. "We already have a crib set up in the spare bedroom. Call Kate and get her to come for supper. It's so nice to have you kids here. We get lonely."

Given the news about my job offer, I figured that both Elaine and Ethan would be sad, and so I figured it would be good to stay for dinner.

"I'll text her."