Wish Upon a Star (12 page)

Samantha was silent.

I took the opportunity to calm down a little.

When she finally spoke, her voice was quiet. "E.J., I'm sorry. I
need to remember this is all new to you. In the past, when Cassandra
and I needed things done, well—"

"Don't even go there. Do not compare me to that—"

"Oh God, that's not what I meant. I would never compare
you to Kyrstie. This is about me, not you. I need to remember that
while you've done an admirable job for us, this isn't your profession.
I've just thrown you into the deep end without so much as a lifeline
and expected you to swim. That's my mistake. Let me do this. I have
a few things I need to take care of today and tomorrow. I'll fly into
Indianapolis the day after. That will give us a week to work together
to get things ready for the party."

"On one condition. If Annie asks why you're coming to Indy
so early, you tell her you wanted to visit before the party. She doesn't
need any extra stress."

"I can live with that. How is she?"

"Hopefully, she'll be up and around tomorrow. The
cumulative effect of the chemo's showing up. She's lost ten pounds
and she tires easily. But she's still fighting." I wrapped up the call and
went inside to check on Annie.

The lights were off, but she was sitting up. The meditation
technique of closed eyes and deep, regular breathing she was
employing helped her relax, which in turn lowered her pain. I
watched her chest rise and fall in clockwork fashion, saw her thumbs
and pinkie fingers touching at the tips. Even in this state, she was
absolutely stunning to me. The lack of hair didn't matter, nor did the
dark circles under her eyes or the tattered Joan Jett and The
Blackhearts t-shirt she was wearing.

She was my North Star, the most precious thing in the world.
And I'd crawl to the end of that world and back on my hands and
knees if it would help her get better. The tumors were shrinking, but
there was still a lot we didn't know.

"Checking up on me, eh?" Annie had just released Samantha
from a long embrace at our front door. I hadn't warned Annie about
Samantha's visit, hoping her appearance would buoy Annie's
sometimes wavering spirit.

"I've got more experience than your fiancé at keeping you
out of jail, so I thought I'd come and hang for a few days to help out
with your party."

Annie led Samantha to the dining room table while I mixed
drinks.

"Quaint little place you have here, E.J."

Quaint?
It was actually one of the largest condos in
the area. "Yeah well, I'll admit it's nothing like the Villa, but its
home."

Annie immediately came to my defense. "And a fabulous
home it is. You wouldn't believe the convenience. I'm only fifteen or
twenty minutes from everything—the hospital, shopping, dining. The
neighbors aren't nosy. I feel safe here."

I served the drinks and headed for the garage to work on my
road bike. I slowed when I heard Samantha ask Annie if she still
wanted to sell her house.

"Stop it, Sam. I've made my decision. Put the Malibu
property on the market. The Villa's plenty for me to deal with."

That brought me to a stop. Annie hadn't mentioned word
one about selling her Southern California property. Not that I had
any stake in it, but she might have mentioned something about it to
me. I gave the bike more attention than it really needed while I
nursed my wounded ego. She'd forgotten more about business and
finance than I'd ever know, and she sure as hell didn't need my
approval for anything she did.

But still. In my book, selling a house was a pretty big
decision and to not even mention it...

I was halfway through tuning up Annie's bike when the door
opened. "May I join you?"

"Sure. Samantha have to go already?"

"She had to go, but I'm not sure about the already part.
You've been out here three hours."

After a couple of blinks in surprise, I glanced at the clock. It
was almost six.

She pulled up a work stool by me. "I thought you might want
to visit with us, but you never came back. Are you upset with
me?"

"Of course not. I figured the two of you had a lot of catching
up to do, so I'd leave you to it. Besides, I've been behind on the bike
maintenance."

She raised a penciled-in eyebrow. "
Non
. Out with it.
What's bothering you? It's the Malibu house, isn't it? I heard you stop
when we were discussing it. You think I should have consulted you,
yes?"

With a flick of a quick release lever, I had Annie's front tire
off to check the spokes. "No, that's not it at all."

The truth of it was, I didn't know what exactly was
bothering me, so I went for what constantly weighed on me. "I just
worry about you. About your health. And sometimes I get scared.
Then when I hear something like you want to sell one of your homes,
I can't help it, I start thinking about Dad, and Mom, and Evan."

I slipped the tire into the truing stand and spun it until I
located a spoke that needed tightening. "I just... Sometimes it's hard.
Out of the blue, something will set me off. And the best place to turn
is right here." I swept my arm across my work area.

After attending to the offending spoke, I gave the wheel
another spin. Satisfied with my handiwork, I returned the wheel to
the front fork and clamped it into position.

"You can turn to me." She said it so softly, I barely heard
her.

"You've got enough on your plate. You don't need to hear
about my dumb complaints." A shop rag had fallen to the concrete
floor. I bent over to grab it and when I straightened up, Annie took
me in her arms. Her touch was a soothing tonic for my chronically
frazzled nerves.

"Your complaints are not dumb. You do so much for me and
you never give me any grief. Except for the whole car thing, but that's
a separate issue." She chuckled and spun the back tire. "You've let me
forget about everything else to focus on me. That's meant so much. I
can never repay you for that."

She took my hand, kissed it and dropped my keys in it.
"Samantha told me you've done an amazing job planning the party. If
I buy you dinner, you'll tell me about it, yes?"

We spent dinner over some traditional Irish fare at Dooley
Flynn's while I updated Annie on the plans for her party. She beamed
when I told her that Staci was bringing a handful of friends. She
frowned when I mentioned that a limited number of the press would
be there, too. A sigh and roll of the eyes confirmed that she thought
five hundred people was excessive. She about choked on her
sparkling water when I told her one of the weekly entertainment
mags had offered Samantha twenty-five thousand dollars for
exclusive photo rights.

"Oh my God, what did she say?"

"She accepted. The money's being directed to the Cassandra
Lawrence Foundation, which will send half to a charity of Staci's
choosing and half to a charity of your choosing."

Annie lifted her drink in salute. "That's not bad. Who came
up with that idea?"

"It was part of the Grand Bargain Samantha and I agreed
to."

She leaned forward. "I'm intrigued. Do tell."

"I didn't want the press of any sort, but Samantha insisted.
After a fair amount of back and forth, Samantha got the press, and
the associated donation. In exchange, I got my choice of official party
favor."

"Wow, must be some pretty great party favors. You'll tell me
what they are, yes?"

"Promise you won't throw a dinner roll at me." I kept still
until she agreed.

"I wanted it to be light-hearted, but to carry a message, too.
So the favors to your birthday party are fake bald heads for people to
wear."

Annie stared at me for what had to be a full minute,
immobile. "You didn't."

My cheeks started burning. "I just—" Before I could say
more, a roll bounced off my forehead and into my soup.

Annie clapped her hands and burst out laughing. "Oh my
lord. It's perfect."

I heaved a sigh of relief and cut up the roll. Through the rest
of dinner and the drive home, Annie filled me in on what she wanted
to do at the party.

Once we got home, she rang Samantha to brainstorm ideas
to raise additional funds. In the end, they decided to hire someone to
take pictures of guests wearing their bald heads with Annie and Staci
in exchange for a donation. Annie would also sign a few of the
novelties and auction them off to the highest bidder. Lastly, since the
band was going to there, Annie would play a set with them—with
everyone wearing their bald caps. They'd include a song that would
be chosen by the highest bidder.

"Will the band go for that?" I said.

Annie winked at me. "They will after you talk them into
it."

With Samantha in town, the to-do list grew shorter by the
hour. It got to the point I spent about as much time the last few days
before the party responding to texts from Staci as anything else.

The change in Annie's young friend from the last time I'd
seen her had been amazing. Her energy level was up. Annie informed
me that she'd eaten well when they'd finished shopping for
coordinating guest of honor outfits. To top it all off, her tutor was
pleased with her school efforts. She truly seemed to be getting
better. I hoped that was the case.

* * * *

"You really want me to wear this?" Annie had taken the
liberty to lay my outfit for the birthday party on the bed. The black
dress pants weren't a problem. The black Italian loafers were a
stretch, especially since there were no socks in sight, but she'd
promised me they were comfortable. The shirt was the problem. The
long sleeved, collared garment was a shiny, old gold color that
conjured up visions of my alma mater's nemesis.

"That's a silk shirt I ordered specifically for you to wear
tonight. It goes with both my red dress and Staci's light blue
outfit."

"But I'll look like I belong in a picture for Purdue
University."

Annie took a break from applying her eyeliner to glare at
me. "From what I know of it, Purdue's a fine school. Now stop
whining like a six-year-old and get dressed. I feel pretty good today,
so if you behave yourself, I might have something special for you
later."

I was struggling with the monogrammed cufflinks she'd
given me when Samantha arrived. Her dark hair was swept back in a
fancy up-do and her linen suit was a shocking pink. She got the
cufflinks into position within thirty seconds and stepped back to
inspect me.

"How'd I do?" Annie asked from behind me. I turned and my
heart stopped. Annie was breathtaking in a dark red, sleeveless
dress. She'd used a makeup pencil to give her some eyebrows and
replaced her glasses with contact lenses. Her eyes were
sparkling.

"Wow," I breathed. "You look amazing."

"Of course I do." She patted me on the cheek. "I was asking
Samantha how I'd done dressing you."

"You can obviously dress him up." Samantha batted her
eyelashes at me.

"Stop it. He's taken, and besides, he's got the wrong
chromosome to be your type."

Samantha let out a light laugh and tossed her tiny purse on
the kitchen counter. "Yes, there is that. The driver will be here in
thirty minutes. We have a limo picking up Staci, her mom and her
friends. We should arrive shortly after they do."

Annie nodded. "Beth and the girls?"

"Thanks to E.J.'s good work, they're all here. They'll be at the
party when we arrive."

Annie and Samantha went over the evening's schedule while
we waited for our driver. On the way to the party, Samantha gave me
instructions on everything from where to stand—either at Annie's
side or slightly behind her, but never in front of her—to what to say
to people I didn't know—keep the focus upbeat and always on
Annie—to what to do with my hands—folded either in front or behind me,
but never in my pockets.

When we pulled up in front of the Grand Hall at Union
Station, a valet had our door open the moment we stopped moving. I
exited first, and then assisted Annie out of the car. A few camera
flashes went off when she took my arm. The star of the show, Annie
was absolutely beaming as we strolled up the red carpet that had
been laid out.

I smiled when she took in a breath as we entered the Grand
Hall. Built in the nineteenth century, the area had once been a train
station entrance hall. Now it served as a banquet and reception
facility. A rainbow of colors filtered through a massive stained glass
window. A bandstand had been erected at one end for Annie's
performance with the Downtowners.

A squeal of delight diverted my attention from the
architecture to Staci. Annie held her hands out to her young friend,
who practically jumped into them. She whispered something in
Annie's ear and they immediately started giggling. They drifted off to
a table where a number of starry-eyed young ladies were
sitting.

Samantha tapped me on the elbow. "You and Cassandra will
need to do some formal greetings later, but for now, get a drink and
enjoy yourself."

I'd just ordered a beer when Dave joined me at the bar.
"Dude, linen tablecloths and assigned seating. Kind of highbrow for
you, isn't it?"

We clinked glasses. "Totally. I haven't seen Annie smile this
much in a long while, though. Makes it all worthwhile."

I followed Dave to a table in the middle of the room and
visited with Gloria and Paul for a few minutes. Most of my evening
would be spent at Annie's side, so it was good to hang with my
buddies for a while. Before I knew it though, Samantha was giving
me the high sign to join Annie.

We visited with a few record label big shots and buttered up
a film company potentially interested in showing the concert
documentary in a few movie theaters. After that, we took our spots
at the head table. Staci and her mom joined us, along with Miranda
and Ryan. Once everyone was seated, Annie turned a wireless
microphone on and handed it to me.