Not like these, I thought.
She stood up. “Take a good shower to wake up fully. That usually works for me. Oh, I called my great-aunt Amelia and explained that you had slept here. I stressed, in a guest room,” she added. “She only would have asked. She’s a Sagittarius, you know. She’ll ask or say anything she wants.”
“I think I know that by now,” I muttered.
“I bet you do.
“Try to be down within a half hour. You don’t want to be hit with one of Mrs. Wakefield’s disapproving expressions this early. It could ruin your day. That woman could stop a charging bull with one of her glares.”
I smiled. If she had seen one of Mrs. Fennel’s disapproving expressions, she would think Mrs. Wakefield was a pushover. I rose quickly and did get downstairs in a little more than twenty minutes. The boys had just entered the dining room. Everyone was moaning and groaning, which seemed to please Mrs. Wakefield, who gave us a short lecture about how young people pay later on in life for how they abused their bodies.
“And you two in medicine should know that better than I do,” she told Clifford and Julia, both smiling weakly. When she left, they looked at each other and laughed.
“If she only knew how poorly some doctors live, smoking, drinking, and keeping late hours. It’s the old ‘Do as I say, not as I do’ thing,” Julia said.
“Why do I feel like I’m five years old whenever I’m in that woman’s presence?” Clifford asked.
“In her eyes, you probably are,” Julia teased.
Everyone turned to me.
“Your ankle seems a lot better,” Liam said.
I glanced at Julia, who covered her face with her right hand for a moment to hide her smile.
“Yes. The ice, I guess. Thank you, Liam.”
“And don’t forget my brilliant examination,” Clifford followed. “I think I examined it. It’s all a bit out of focus this morning.”
“Well, here they are, the frolicking late-night revelers,” Ken Dolan said, poking his head in the doorway. Our good mornings to him were more like grunts. “Do I detect a little too much of a good time was had by all?”
“I cannot tell a lie,” Clifford said. “Julia made me do it.”
She slapped him playfully.
“Well, lesson learned, and I’m sure to be forgotten in the future,” Ken said. “What are your plans for the day besides recuperation?”
“Lorelei and I have some last-minute shopping to do for the wedding,” Julia replied. “These two can nurse themselves, I’m sure.”
“Absolutely not,” Liam said. “We’ll go along to be sure you two can navigate the department stores all right, right, Clifford?”
The look on Clifford’s face confirmed that they wouldn’t. We all laughed.
“I’m on my way to the office to catch up on some work
for a few hours, and then Kelly and I are off to Boston to see a show. Don’t do anything else to irritate Mrs. Wakefield,” he warned with a playful smile. He kissed Julia on the cheek, messed Liam’s hair, winked at me, and left.
“Why is everyone so happy when they confront someone with headaches and squinting eyes in the morning?” Liam complained. “Especially fathers?”
“I think he’s just happy about what he’s doing. Sounds like he’s going camping in Boston,” Clifford quipped.
I looked at Julia and Liam to see how they were reacting to their father’s more than budding romance. From what Liam and Julia had told me, he’d had fleeting affairs with women over the years but nothing that seemed to last as long as this one. They both liked Kelly Burnett very much. All three of them were now into relationships. Both Julia and Liam realized that, too. As soon as we heard Ken leave the house, Julia declared the Dolan mansion to be a “house of love.”
“Don’t tell Mrs. Wakefield,” Clifford said. “She might not like that description. It sounds too New Orleans or something.”
That brought more smiles and laughter. We were all revived. The joy and familial companionship I felt embracing all of us around that dining room table during our brunch held back the horrifying and dramatic meeting I’d had with Ava and Daddy the night before. For now, at least, I could put aside the deal with the devil that I had made and enjoy my new family.
Julia and I spent the remainder of the day together, and then Liam and Clifford met us for an early dinner. We all agreed that it was best to make it an early night. We were returning to work in the morning. The whole time, I did feel a difference in the air. I no longer had a sense of being followed, watched. Shadows were just shadows.