Unbreakable (37 page)

Cory, three weeks later…

I answered the front door on a September afternoon, and a woman flew into my arms.

“Cory!”

I stumbled back as Amita Patel threw her arms around me in a cloud of expensive perfume, and kissed me noisily on the cheek. For a moment, the robbery came back to me like a huge slap in the face, but it faded quickly. It was losing its power over Alex and me both.

“What are you doing here?”

Over Amita’s shoulder I saw a plump Indian man in a suit that probably cost more than my truck. Two men flanked him, earpieces in their ears and dark sunglasses, and a black sedan was parked at the curb in front of the bungalow.

“Cory, this is my father, Indra Patel.”

The man stepped forward and extended a bejeweled hand. “Mr. Bishop,” he said, his accent thick, “you are a difficult man to track down.”

“I am? Uh, please, sorry. Come in.” I ushered them inside. “Would you like a drink, or something to eat?”

“No, thank you,” said Mr. Patel, stepping inside. One bodyguard followed him in, the other remained on the porch. “We will not be here long.”

“That’s too bad. Alex is out with my daughter. I’m sure she would have loved to see you, Amita.”

Amita clapped her hands to her mouth. “Alex? From the bank? Oh my God, are you two…?” She squealed and hugged me again. “I can’t believe it. How wonderful! So lovely to know something good came out of something so terrible.”

“Yeah,” I said.
I thought of Alex, at her new job, doing family law in Lilah’s firm, easing the pains of broken families and always being home in time for dinner with us, her family.
It’s more than good,
I wanted to tell Amita.
It’s absolutely extraordinary.

I guided them to the kitchen table where they sat across from me, the bodyguard looming over us.

“I will be short, Mr. Bishop,” Mr. Patel said, lacing his pudgy, ringed fingers together on the table. “When I learned that my youngest daughter was caught in that bank robbery, I flew from Mumbai at once. When it ended and Amita was free, she told me everything that had happened during that ordeal. Needless to say, I immediately sought for a way to reward your heroism and courage.”

“Oh, no,” I said. “Mr. Patel…”

He gave me a look that said he wasn’t used to being interrupted and I fell silent.

“I am very fond of a great many things about your country—the police and the …”

“S.W.A.T. team, Father,” Amita supplied.

“Yes, the S.W.A.T. Very excellent. Not so excellent is your country’s lack of health care services to its citizens in need. I therefore endeavored to erase any medical debt you may have had, only to discover that you had none.”

“Uh, right,” I said. “I’m fine. Really. I don’t need—”

“However,
my
debt to you remains and so I have come here to be relieved of it.”

“Relieved of it?” I asked. “No, no, that’s not necessary…”

Amita made a negating gesture with her hand and then smothered a grin as her father continued.

“You risked your life to protect that of my daughter, and, I have heard, the lives of others. You must tell me how the debt is to be repaid.” Mr. Patel sat back in his chair. “I will wait.”

I blinked and looked helplessly to Amita.

“I told him you’d resist,” she said, smiling. “But he’s serious. So unless you want a houseguest indefinitely…”

I looked back at her father. “Anything?”

Mr. Patel nodded. “Anything you choose. Name it, and it’s yours.”

I want Callie’s pain to disappear.
But that was, apparently, the one thing Mr. Patel couldn’t give me. My eyes strayed to the notice on the refrigerator that said I had passed my GC exam. Callie had stuck it on there with a magnet, the way I did her schoolwork.

“What kind of business are you in, Mr. Patel?”

“All kinds.”

“Investments?”

“Of course.”

I nodded. “I just want to go on record saying that you don’t owe me anything, but there’s no getting around this, is there?”

“No. There is not.”

I nodded again, and heaved a breath. “Okay. Then this is what I want…”

#

The administrator greeted Alex and I at the door to New Horizons, which did more to increase my dread than the phone call that morning.
He’s very far gone, Mr. Bishop.
What did that mean? The nurse wouldn’t explain over the phone. Now the administrator himself, Mr. Carlyle, extended his hand to me, and gave Alex a polite greeting. The man’s face was professionally sympathetic.

“Mr. Bishop, I apologize if we’ve alarmed you, but I’m afraid Nurse Pauline found your father in a rather distressed state this morning, and attempts to bring him to the present time have been unsuccessful.”

I fought to keep the pain that gripped my heart from showing itself on my face. “Can I see him?”

“Of course,” Mr. Carlyle said. “It is the policy of New Horizons to keep our guests’ families abreast of any changes immediately.” The three of us walked to the elevator. “In your father’s case, I’m afraid the changes appear quite significant. It is likely he might not know who you are, but moreover, this sort of rapid slide…Well, to be frank, Mr. Bishop, this sort of hasty decline is typically a final stage in the disease’s progress.”

The elevator door shut. I stood staring straight ahead. “You mean, he’s going to die.”

Alex gave my hand a squeeze and I held on.
I’m too late. One goddamn day too late.

Nurse Pauline met us as the doors opened. She smiled wanly. “I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you, even if he can’t articulate that.”

In room 414, I found my father bedridden, staring at nothing, unmoving, like a puppet with its strings cut. I gripped Alex’s hand tighter as memories rose up to challenge what I was seeing; memories of my father hale and hearty, his muscles strong as he cut wood to make a tree house when I was a kid, or as he carried lumber over his shoulder when we had a business, his face tanned and full.

Not this,
I thought, my chest constricting.
This is not him.

Beneath the covers, he was emaciated—the weight having fallen off his bones so impossibly fast I couldn’t believe this was the same man we’d visited last week. My father. His skin was sallow, his eyes sunken. I pulled a chair by his bedside, and took his hand. It felt cold, light, and dry as paper.

“Hey, Pops. Not feeling so hot today, eh?”

Walter Bishop slowly turned his head toward me. His eyes found me and a spark of recognition flared and then died. He opened his mouth as if to speak, and then let it fall slack.

I cleared my throat. “Can he talk?”

“A word or two,” Nurse Pauline said gently, “but I wouldn’t expect more than that.”

“Does he know who I am?”
God, please. I just need five minutes. Five damn minutes.

I could practically feel the administrator and nurse exchange glances behind me. I swallowed hard and nodded. “Okay. Could I just have a minute?”

Alex bent and kissed my dad’s cheek, whispering something to him I couldn’t hear. Then, with full eyes, she kissed my temple. “I’ll be right out here if you need me.”

“Thanks, babe.”

They all left, Nurse Pauline closing the door behind her.

I tightened my grip on my father’s hand. “Hey Pops, I need to tell you something. It’s really important. Can you hear me?”

His watery eyes found me, held on. “Cory…”

“Yeah, Pops, it’s me.” I sat up and spoke in a rush, to get it all out before he faded again. “Listen, good news. I found a partner. To start up the business again. Our business. Our name. What do you think of that?”

My dad stared hard, his mouth working, and I could see thoughts in his eyes struggling to get out. “Part…part…?”

“Yeah, a partner. Indra Patel. I met him…well, never mind how I met him. The important thing is that he’s going to front the cash. I’m going to do the work. I’ve got a whole team of guys…good guys I’ve known for years. It’s going to be great, Pops. Really great.”

I waited for his response, any response, to show me that he’d heard and understood. My heart leapt to my throat to see the faintest of smiles tug the corners of his mouth. Walter Bishop had never applied for a loan for anything but his house. Did he consider Patel fronting the money a handout?

“Puh…puh…”

“What is it, Pops?” I scooted closer. “Patel? The guy’s name is Patel, yeah…”

He scowled and licked his lips to try again. “Puh…prow…Prow’ve you.”

His hand gave my hand the weakest of squeezes, and then the light in his eye dimmed and he stared at nothing. But his words lingered, echoing around the small room, and in my heart where I knew they’d live forever.

Proud of you.

I rested my forehead on our clutched hands and wept.

Denarua, Fiji, three months later…

Alex

I stood on the patio of my parents’ timeshare and let the sunlight wash over me. The patio gave way to a white sand beach that spilled out onto an ocean that stretched for miles around in every direction in stunning unbroken azure tranquility. It met the sky on some impossible horizon, blue touching blue, without a cloud the sky.

To my right, Callie frolicked in the surf with Talei’s two little girls while Cory and Talei looked on, chatting easily.

Talei, the property manager, lived next door in a small bungalow with her husband and children. She had greeted the three of us three days ago, her sharp, dark eyes taking in the situation almost at once.

“I know you’re just on a vacation but you look like newlyweds. If you need some
real
alone-time, you let me know.” She winked, and her rich dark face broke in a brilliant white smile.

I smiled to think how often we’d taken her up on that. Luckily, Callie and Talei’s girls were best friends instantly.
Lucky for Cory and me. We can’t keep our hands off of each other.
But that wasn’t exactly news. Back home, we couldn’t keep our hands off each other either. We just had to be creative about it.

And we had proven to be
very
creative.

I bit my lip, watching Cory lift the girls who squealed laughter, and pretend to toss them into the surf. He was shirtless and the sight of his glorious body in the sunshine sent shivers of anticipation down my spine. And then he turned his back, and I saw his tattoo. A sweeping rush of love joined the lust, as it always did. He’d added color to the tattoo.

The goddess’ hair was red now.

#

Later in the afternoon, Talei called her girls home, and Cory and I strolled the beach while Callie roamed ahead, hunting for shells.

“I have to say, as far as Christmas presents go, your parents could do a whole lot worse,” Cory said, turning his face to the sun.

He looked sun-kissed and ruggedly beautiful in a light cotton shirt and loose pants. His tanned skin had already darkened, while I had to be careful, keeping under umbrellas and floppy hats. Cory tweaked the one I was wearing now.

“Though I don’t know why they’d threaten your gorgeous skin with this sun.”

I grinned and took the hat off, taking in the view of palm trees leaning over the white sand beaches, and more of that endless blue ocean. “My father knows I love this sort of tropical paradise. It was all his idea, I’m sure.”

“It would have to be. Your mother still hates me.”

I laughed only because there was no malice in his words. “She does not. She’s just disappointed she didn’t get to be the mother of the bride in a big, showy wedding. To be honest, I think she was a little bit in love with Drew herself.”

“How is he?”

“You sure you want to talk about him. Here?”

Cory grinned. “Is there a reason not to?”

“Not one.” I stood on tiptoe on my bare feet to kiss him softly. “Mmm, there are few things sexier than a man secure in his masculinity.”

“There are few things sexier than you, period.” Cory kissed me again, his tongue sliding over mine gently, before pulling away. “You taste like pineapple.”

“You have to stop talking like that or I’m going to cause a scene right here.” I let out a breath and fanned myself with my hat. “I hope Talei’s offer is good for this afternoon.”

“This afternoon and all night.”

God, he’s too sexy for words.

“
Anyway
,” I said pointedly. “Drew is dating a woman. Kimberly. He met her online, and that tells me everything I need to know. I’m happy for him.”

“That’s good to hear.”

He watched Callie play in the surf. I watched him watch her, saw his easy smile slip, saw the dark clouds of worry pass over his eyes. I slipped my hand into his. “She’s doing great. She really is.”

He smiled faintly. “I know. She loves her school. That helps. You help. You make her life better, every day.” He held my fingers to his lips. “You make
my
life better every day.” His right hand joined his left in holding mine, and I felt something small and round pressed into my palm. “Every day, Alex…I don’t want it to end.”

I realized I had stopped breathing, and gasped as Cory released my hand. Lying in my palm was a silver ring rimmed thickly in gold. On the silver was etched a series of perfectly rendered Celtic knots, alternating with Celtic shields. The craftsmanship was stunning and I laid my hand over my heart, astounded by its beauty.

“An
an ri
ring,” I breathed. I turned it around and around, admiring the intricate detail. I gasped again. “That’s the O’Byrne shield. My family’s…I just…I can’t believe it.”

We had stopped walking and Cory shifted nervously. “I know it’s not diamonds but…well, I thought…Do you like it?”

I glanced up at him, my heart ready to burst. “Like it? I’m blinded by how beautiful this is. Where are on earth did you find it?”

Cory rubbed the back of his neck. “I…well, I made it.”

My jaw dropped. “What…? No. You
made
this? How…? I mean, since when do you
make jewelry
?”

“I had help. I drew up the design and my buddy Rob sort of walked me through it.”

“Oh, Cory…”

I sank back on my heels, staring at him with wide eyes, watching him search for the next words.

Here it comes,
I thought, blinking back tears.
The most amazing, perfect moment of my life is coming…

Cory’s caught my gaze with his, his eyes so rich and full of love, I had never seen anything more beautiful, not even the ring he now took out of my hand and held up to the glorious Fijian sunlight.

“There’s an engraving.”

I looked and found the word. One word.
Dobhriste.
I nodded, fighting to hold back the tears.

“That’s how I feel when I’m with you. And that’s what we are.”

“I feel it too,” I whispered.

Cory kissed my hand and slipped the ring on my finger. “Marry me, Alexandra. Will you?”

“Oh yes, Cory. Yes.” I laced my hands around his neck, feeling the ring on my left finger, where it belonged, and kissed him. I wished I could capture that moment and hold it forever, as I didn’t think there would be another so perfect in my life.

Cory gently broke our kiss. “That was more nerve-wracking than I thought.”

“As if it were even possible I’d say no,” I breathed, admiring my ring. My heart was still racing and my mind was filled with a future with Cory.
With Cory and Callie and…

“I want to have a baby,” I said. “Not now. Not this year, or maybe even the next, but someday. I do.”

Cory’s face lit up with joy. “You do? Really? But why? What changed your mind?”

“I don’t know if I changed it. I think maybe it was always there and I never looked at it. But I think I would love to have a little boy. I think a little boy who had you for a father would grow up to be the most amazing man.”

I could see the compliment touched him deeply, but before he could speak a thought occurred to me.

“Cory, you want more kids. You’ve always wanted more kids. But you asked me to marry you thinking I never would.”

He held my face in his hands. “I love you, here and now. Not some future version of you.” He kissed me gently, then harder, laughing. I could feel his joy radiating off him like a sun. “But I’m really damn happy to hear you want to have a baby. I see how you are with Callie and it just…takes my breath away.”

Callie came bounding up to us. “Did you ask her? Did you ask her?”

He caught her mid-stride and lifted her up. “I did, honey.”

“And what did you say?” she demanded of me sternly.

“I said, yes,” I laughed.
The only answer I could ever give.

“Yay!” Callie clapped her hands together. “That means we get to have a wedding.”

“True,” Cory said, setting her down. “But weddings take time to plan and…”

I closed my eyes and turned my face to the sun.
I love you here and now,
he’d said. My love for him was so boundless, my own bliss so deep, that I’d never felt so content in my life, here and now. In that moment.
Yes,
I thought.
Here and now.

“Let’s get married here. Today.”

Cory and Callie stared at me, and then Callie burst out, “Yes! Now I say, yes!”

Cory looked at me, marveling. “You want to?”

“I can’t think of anything I want more.”

“But what about your parents? Your
mother?
Jesus, she’ll murder me in my sleep if we get married without her.”

“We can have a big party when we get back. We’ll probably have to do something official at city hall, anyway.”

“You don’t want a big fancy wedding?”

I laughed. Just saying the words brought a sour expression to his face. “No,” I said, leaning close. “I don’t want a wedding. I want to be your wife.”

Cory shook his head. “You amaze the hell out of me.”

I kissed him, laughing, then knelt to hug Callie. She threw her arms around my neck, and I could feel her tears. Callie cried very easily these days but this time, at least, it was for joy.

“I’m so happy you love my daddy so much,” she whispered.

“I do. I love him so much. And I love you too, baby. So much.”

#

Cory and I were married standing ankle deep in the surf at sunset, with a cruise ship captain serving as our officiate. A young Fijian man, just starting out his wedding photo business, snapped pictures.

Talei served as both witness and maid of honor, while her two little girls and Callie threw plumeria flower petals into the clear blue water. I wore a wreath of the same white, star-shaped flower in my hair, and Cory’s neck was draped with them in a kind of lei. Onlookers strolling the beach gathered to watch and when the captain pronounced us man and wife, a chorus of cheers went up.

I kissed my new husband for the first time, overcome. Cory’s eyes shone but it was my tears that escaped, and he held my face, not brushing them away, but letting them fall.

“You never cry,” he whispered.

I smiled through my tears. “I’ve never been so happy.”

The End

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Here’s a sneak peek at

RUSH

City Lights Book III: New York

Coming June, 2015

Noah

I race down the Grand Couloir, in Courchevel, France. The icy wind slaps my cheeks as I slalom between jagged rocks, kicking up sprays of snow, faster and faster, down and down, until I’m nearly vertical. My heart pounds, my breath in my mask bellows like a charging boar. Adrenaline pumps in my veins instead of blood.

The slope angles up. A cliff. I don’t turn, I hunch down and then there’s nothing beneath my skis and I’m flying…

…I’m flying, gliding, the nylon flaps above me and I grip the bar with white-knuckles. The air is warm and the sky is gold and blue—twilight has fallen over Kahului. My glider dips and soars, and I feel the wind’s changes. I move with it, flying higher and higher, until the islands are puddles of sand wreathed in green.

I swoop low, curve up, nearly flip. I let loose a cry of triumph, and ride the edge of the current, higher still, until I can almost touch the sun, like Icarus, only I don’t burn. Not me. I soar.

And when I’m high enough, I drop the glider down into a nosedive, my harness straining until it breaks apart, the nylon tearing away, and it’s just me playing chicken with the ocean, and I will not blink first. I streak down, hands ready to cut the water like a knife. I’m diving…

…I’m diving off La Quebrada, Acapulco, one hundred and thirty-six feet high with five seconds of safe depth before the waves recede again. A three second journey, and I crow my triumph even as my heart plummets with me. My nerves are electric fear—that perfect sizzle that is nearly orgasmic, nearly unbearable.

The water rushes to meet me and I cut it perfectly, an arrow into the cool green-blue, down, down, where gold motes dance in the viridian infusion. I don’t stop, I don’t even slow. I can’t. Down deeper, and I begin to choke on my victory. My lungs constrict, my eardrums explode, and still I go down. The water is now dark green, now dark, now black. So deep. I can’t breathe. I can’t see. My head strikes the jagged teeth of the sea and all I know is pain…