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Author's Chapter Notes:
I miss all my awesome reviewers, where'd you ladies go? Come back LOL, don't leave the story. Least let me know you're still reading and I haven't bored you away. And a special shout out to Wishing_On_A_Star and Hazel_85 for sticking with the reviews. Hope everyone enjoys this next chapter!

 

I did indeed travel with my brother back to his penthouse apartment in New York City. He was more than fine with it and warned me I might find myself bored while he worked and Candace was out of town, but he promised we’d take in a few sights whenever he got any free time. I told him to not even worry about it; I was plenty fine with chilling in their Jacuzzi or eating strawberries and watching movies while they were at work.

I called my mom every morning and evening to stay updated on my grandfather’s condition. The doctor’s brought him out of sedation once more, but he didn’t respond well and they thought the hopes of a heart bypass operation were dim. That panged me, but I was trying to keep a stiff upper lip for my mom’s sake. It was a lot harder on her and my grandmother than it was on me. Not that I wasn’t having my own struggles with the losing situation, but I was trying to be the supportive daughter and granddaughter that they needed. Making up for lost time? Maybe.

I talked to Alex once on Monday, twice on Tuesday and then again Wednesday evening. He reported that things seemed to go well with Bernie’s operation and they were able to remove quite a few of the lumps. They hadn’t been successful with every one, but he was also responding well to the medicine, so there was still hope. I felt some of the weight on my shoulders lift after the good news and after we finally hung up, I sent him a bouquet of yellow daises.

Speaking of daisies, my Daisy was doing fine; she missed me, but was still being her happy go lucky self. Dianna and I talked a few times over the days I was in the Big Apple. She reported good things about my chocolate Lab and made sure to reassure me that she was getting plenty of exercise. She and Manuel had even taken her to the dog park once and the beach twice. I retorted that it sounded like they were enjoying the whole taking care of an animal process, then teased her about needing an ankle biter for herself. She snorted.

Unfortunately, I hadn’t seen much of my brother, or Candace after she arrived home Wednesday night. My main purpose for going into the city to visit them completely defeated; Grayson was wrapped up with some huge clients their firm had been hired by. It was too bad really because I did want to reconnect with my brother. But, he had promised that we’d do dinner Thursday night and had even cleared his schedule for it.

It was now nearly nine o’clock and he hadn’t even called.

I could strangle him.

With a frown, I sank down onto the plush, suede couch and smoothed my dress. I had even worn a nice dress. And now I was all dressed up with nowhere to go. And starving.

He could at least call and let me know he had gotten hung up. We were schedule to drive back to Coventry tomorrow morning and this was going to be our last real chance to repair that brother-sister bond.

Tomorrow was Friday.

The anniversary of Hugh’s death.

Friday.

That fateful day two years ago that changed my life forever.

Friday.

That day I would never get back.

Friday.

I squeezed my eyes shut tight to block out the memory. Okay, I needed to get my mind off it or I’d end up wallowing in the bed eating Chunky Monkey ice cream until I made myself sick. But what was there to do in New York City by yourself when you weren’t too familiar with the area?

Suddenly an answer presented itself to me and I could have smacked myself in the head for not thinking about it sooner; much, much sooner.

Andrew.

He was in the city, unless he’d gone on back to Los Angeles for the week. But it couldn’t hurt to call him and find out.

I pulled my phone from the purse and dialed his number, lifting it to my ear and listening to the rings.

He answered on the third one, “Hello?”

“Andrew?” I peeked to the phone.

“Morgan? Hey!” He sounded happy to hear from me. “How are you? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah,” I gave a nod then shook my head, “actually, no.”

“Is it your grandfather?” Alarm could be heard in his voice.

“No.” I shook my head then blinked and shook it more. “No, not that kind of not okay. I just…” I sighed, “I’m actually in New York at my brother’s place and we were supposed to have dinner tonight, but he stood me up and I really don’t want to be alone at the moment. Are… you here? Are you busy? I just…could really use a friend right now.”

“What’s wrong?”

I suddenly remembered he had no clue about Hugh. Dianna had never told him and neither had I. “Um, I just...I don’t want to be alone.”

“Sure, Babe. Where are you? You want me to come over?”

“No, can we meet somewhere? I can get a cab.”

“Of course.” He rattled off the name of some restaurant and gave me the address.

I agreed to meet him and we hung up. After slipping my phone back into my purse, I gathered my things and made sure to leave a note for Grayson. Then I called down to the doorman and asked for a cab before checking my hair and makeup once more. Deeming myself presentable enough, I gathered the spare key I had been left with and was out the door.

It didn’t take long to get to the cozy little restaurant Andrew had selected and soon we were seated in one of those u-shaped booths, side by side and pouring over the menus. I was ravenous and was able to decide on the Chicken Florentine before too long. Andrew chose the Salmon and we placed the orders, relaxing back in the booth to wait.

“I hope it doesn’t take them long, I’m so hungry I could eat my arm.”

Andrew laughed low and watched me, amusement clearly in his eyes. “You’d eat your own arm?”

“Okay, maybe not, but I could eat a chicken the size of a horse.”

He laughed again. “That’d be a sight to see.”

“What? A chicken the size of a horse?”

“Well yeah, and you trying to eat it.”

I giggled low, smoothing my dress. I was already feeling a bit better just being out of the penthouse and around other people, not to mention someone I knew. “That would be a sight; me, chasing it around with a fork and knife, a napkin tied around my neck.”

His laugh was infectious. “More like, it’d be chasing you around trying to peck you.”

I pushed at his arm, laughing a bit more at the mental that picture produced. “Shh, don’t say that.”

“Sorry,” he apologized with a grin, getting control of himself. “It was just too funny to pass up.”

“Uh huh.” I reached for my water and took a sip.

He cleared his throat and took a drink of his own beverage. “I didn’t realize your brother lived in the city,” he spoke once he had set the glass down and was settled back into the booth again, one arm casually swung up on the back of it.

“Yeah, he and his wife; they live over near Central Park.”

“Ooh, that’s a nice area.”

I gave a nod and tucked my hands beneath my legs. “We were supposed to, kinda, hang out together and catch up, but he’s been swamped with work and I’ve hardly seen him.”

“So, you’ve been all alone each day?”

“Yeah, well except for Consuelo, their housekeeper. But mainly, I have. Though I haven’t really minded that much; they have a really nice place.”

“Didn’t you get lonely?” His fingers moved down and barely brushed my arm.

I didn’t take much notice of it. Instead, I was trying to figure out why I had, for once, felt alright to spend a few days all alone. How come Hugh’s memories hadn’t haunted me, especially being so close to the anniversary? It was very unlike me. “Surprisingly, not really; I watched movies, relaxed in the Jacuzzi, spent some time working out.”

“You should have called me sooner.” His fingers brushed my arm again.

This time I noticed it as a few goosebumps spread where he had touched my skin. “I was okay. Candace is a huge book feign and I got caught up in a few novels.”

“You’ve been keeping busy despite, huh?” His hand rested on my upper arm and he gave it a gentle squeeze.

“Of course.” I was trying to process what his touches meant. Were they friendly ones, or was he trying to do something a little more?

“How’s your grandfather?”

My shoulders slumped some at that. “They don’t think they’ll be able to do surgery. I’m…not sure the details, but I’ll find out tomorrow after we get back into town.”

Andrew’s brows furrowed and he pulled his arm from around me, taking my hand into his and giving it a squeeze. “I’m so sorry, Morgan. That’s really rough.”

“Yeah,” I spoke softly, watching our hands. It was nothing more than a friendly action.

“How about tonight we don’t talk about grandfathers, or surgeries, or brothers who stand their sisters up?”

I had to smile at his sweetness. “That sounds really nice.”

“Great.” He matched my smile with one of his own.

“So, things are going well for you?”

“At the moment. We had a few hold ups earlier in the week with some of the building supplies, but they were straightened out today.”

“If it weren’t so late, I’d tell you to take me to the site for the building so I could see all your hard work.”

He chuckled and smoothed his shirt and tie. “We could swing by after this. It’s not that far from here actually.”

“Really?” I lifted a brow and pulled my drink closer, taking a sip.

“Yeah.”

The smile on his face made me feel warm inside and I had to return it. “Maybe.”

“And then,” his fingers began to smooth along the palm of my hand, “maybe we could go back to my place.”

I wet my bottom lip, feeling the need to speak up, “Andrew, you know that we’re just friends.”

“I know,” he gave a nod, his eyes trained on our hands, “but I also know that I’m still very interested in you, for more than a friend.”

“Andrew…” I trailed off, not quite sure what to say.

He sighed and squeezed my hand before releasing it. “I know. I know you aren’t ready for a relationship and I respect that. I don’t want to pressure you,” his clear eyes watched me intently, “but I’ve wanted to be more than just friends since the night we met.”

Oh boy.

I sighed and tucked my hands into my lap. I didn’t know what to say, or how to take that. Maybe I was a bit naïve. I hadn’t even considered that he might harbor deeper feelings for me, and not be completely satisfied with remaining on a ‘friends only’ level. I guess I had just assumed that the decision we had made was it and he wouldn’t continue to feel anything else. Man, talk about being an idiot.

“Maybe we could go on one date.”

“Andrew…”

“I…don’t know what’s going on in your life and the reasons why you aren’t ready to date someone, but we could take things slow.” He wet his bottom lip and gave a dry chuckle. “Hell, I’m not even in town much these days. Things could go slower than molasses.”

It was at that very moment that I realized I had dug a rather deep hole for myself and was soon going to be buried in it. Andrew thought I didn’t want to date anyone and when I was, he’d be the obvious choice. Had I led him to believe that? I tried to think back over the conversations we’d had about it, but so much had gone on between now and then that it was difficult to remember everything. Maybe I hadn’t been clear enough that I wasn’t interested in being anything but his friend. And now the situation was even messier because Alex was involved.

What was a girl to do? Was I supposed to tell him about Alex? I didn’t know if that’d piss him off or freak him out, but I had a feeling he wouldn’t take it well. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings, but I couldn’t lie to him. Could I get away without saying anything? Was that considered deceitful? I know it wasn’t being completely honest, but was it any of his business with what was going on between Alex and me? Besides, it wasn’t like I had been looking to date anyone. I had been telling the truth when I told Andrew I wasn’t ready to be in a relationship or to even get my feet wet. But sometimes things just happened, no matter how hard you tried to fight it.

“Morgan?”

His voice yanked me from my thoughts and I blinked, meeting his gaze. “Hm?”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” I tucked some hair behind my ear and looked over as the server arrived with our food. Thank God. Not only was I starving, but I really needed the distraction.

We busied ourselves with getting our plates situated and started in on the piping hot meals, a silence falling over the table. For the moment, he seemed to have forgotten about the conversation; or at the very least, let it drop. I was grateful and concentrated on my Chicken Florentine.

We ate for a few moments in reticence, enjoying the delicious food and cozy environment and then Andrew began to tell me some tale about work and an order that got all misconstrued. It turned out to be pretty humorous and in turn I drudged up some of my own stories from the real estate office.

No one brought up the whole dating situation again and I was more than relieved. I could tell that Andrew sensed I didn't want to go there and I appreciated that he was respecting it. Though once we were both back in the safety of LA I wasn't sure what to expect. I wasn't keen on having to tell him about Alex and I really didn't want to hurt his feelings, but I saw Andrew as nothing more than a friend.

After our plates were cleared away and we were sipping on some nice house wine and enjoying the soft tunes the piano player strummed up, I relaxed back in the booth. It was getting late, but I wasn't ready to head back. I think a part of me was hoping that by delaying my return to the penthouse in some way I'd be inadvertently delaying the coming of the next day.

"What's on your mind?" Andrew's crystal clear eyes watched me like he knew I was hiding some kind of secret.

I lowered my wine glass and met his gaze. "Just the whole situation with my grandfather." Not a total lie, but not the complete truth. For some reason I didn't feel comfortable opening up my vulnerable side to him and telling him about my husband.

"We're not supposed to talk about that," he reminded me with a knowing smile.

"I know," my fingers smoothed along the stem of the glass, "but I just can't get it out of my mind."

He reached and took my hand into his again. "I know it's hard. Three years ago I lost my grandmother to Alzheimer's."

I blinked. "I thought your grandparents lived up in wine country?"

"Those are my dad's parents. This was my mom's mom."

"Oh," a pause, "I'm so sorry. That had to be rough."

"It was, but each day gets just a little bit better. It's never going to go away, but with time it does ease up."

"Yeah." My head gave a small nod. I did not want to be talking about this conversation anymore. Clearing my throat, I looked his way once more. "So, were you going to show me this new building of yours or are we going to sit here all night until they kick us out?"

A large grin formed on his face and he set his glass down. "Right, let's get moving then." He paid the check then, together, we headed for the doors.

We had just exited into the cool New York night air when my phone rang.

"Oh, hold up." I paused and dug it from my purse, seeing Grayson's name on the screen. "It's my brother." I glanced over to Andrew then answered the call, "Hello?"

"Morgan? Where are you?"

"Um..." I glanced around my surroundings, "I'm at Alta Voce with a friend I know from back in LA that's out here in New York this week. Are you still at work?"

"No, I'm on my way home."

The way he said that made a chill run right down my spine. "What's wrong?"

"You need to meet me there." He brushed my question aside.

I could feel the fear rapidly growing in my stomach. "Grayson, what's going on?"

There was a pause. "It's Poppy."

"Oh no." I felt my knees growing weak and reached a hand out for a light post. "What happened? Did he have another heart attack? Did he have a stroke?"

Grayson gave a sigh and I knew he was dreading his next words.

"What...what is it?" The words came out choked and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up straight.

"He...um...he's gone, Morgan..."

Inside, my heart was breaking. "No...no.." I shook my head vehemently as a sob rose in my throat. Poppy couldn't be dead. He was supposed to get better and go home. He was supposed to live until he was at least 100. He was supposed to come out to California and see a Pacific sunset.

"He is. Mom...called me a few ago and she wants us to get out there as soon as we can."

I pressed the back of my hand to my mouth, the tears rolling down my cheeks.

"I'm almost home and I'm gonna get a bag together. Can you meet me there?"

I gave a sobbed response and nodded my head, wiping at my cheeks. This could not be happening. It had to be some dream gone terribly wrong.

"Okay, I"ll see you in a few." He added his goodbyes and then hung up.

As I lowered my phone and slipped it back into my purse I became acutely aware of Andrew beside me smoothing his hand along my back. I hadn't even noticed when he'd come up next to me. "Andrew..." I choked out in a strained tone.

"I know..." He pulled me against his chest, both arms wrapping around my slender body and holding me close.

I didn't want to cry there in his embrace, but the tears wouldn't stop. I could feel a tightening in my chest and I closed my eyes tight, pressing my face against his shirt.

He held me for a few moments, smoothing my back and whispering soft 'it's going to be okay's' into my ear.

I finally couldn't take anymore and pulled away. I wanted to scream at him to shut up, that he didn't know if it was going to be okay, that it might never be okay again, but I didn't. Instead, I asked if he'd take me back to my brother's.

He agreed and hailed us a cab.

Once inside, I dug some tissue from my purse and wiped my eyes. This next week was going to be a repeat of two years ago; the visitations, the funeral, the dinners, the family and friends. An emotional roller coaster ride that I didn't know if I could handle again. But I had to try. If not for my mom then definitely for my mimi. I had to be there for them because Lord knows they were there for me. After all we were family, and that's what families did.

 

Chapter End Notes:

I know ya'll are missing AJ...I miss him too. But keep the faith...he'll be back!