Something About Lorelei (15 page)

Jack

I had Tony drive us back to Lorelei’s apartment. As soon as I unlocked the door, I told Hope to go and pack a bag.

“Where am I going?” she asked.

“You’re coming home with me for a few days since your grandparents and Stella are out of town.”

She went to her bedroom and I stood in the living room wondering if I had made the right decision. I had no choice, but I knew absolutely nothing about kids. I took in a deep breath. I couldn’t let Lorelei down. I cared about her and she needed my help regardless if she wanted it or not. I dialed Madeline.

“Hello.”

“Madeline, make sure the guest room is ready. We’re going to have a visitor for a few days.”

“Sure thing, Jack. I’ll see to it now.”

“Thank you. We’ll be arriving shortly.”
Click
.

“I’m all packed,” Hope said as she emerged from her room holding her pink bag and a rag doll.

I grabbed her bag and we went down to the limo. As we were on our way to my penthouse, I looked at Hope’s doll.

“What’s her name?” I asked.

“Luna. I’ve had her since I was a baby. My mommy said it was a gift from my daddy and that he’ll always be with me.”

“She’s a special doll.” I smiled and she hugged her.

When we arrived at the penthouse, Hope’s eye widened as soon as we stepped off the elevator. Madeline walked into the foyer and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Hope.

“Hope, this is my maid, Madeline. Madeline, this is our house guest, Hope. She’s Lorelei’s daughter.”

“It’s very nice to meet you, Hope.”

“It’s nice to meet you too.” She giggled.

“Why don’t you show Hope to her room?”

They walked up the stairs and I poured myself a drink. Hope would be okay here with Madeline. She knew a thing or two about kids, so she’d be the perfect babysitter for her. As I walked into the kitchen, Madeline followed me in.

“She’s adorable. But I’m really confused, Jack.”

“Lorelei is in the hospital with pneumonia. She’ll be there for a few days, so I need you to look after Hope for me.”

“Umm. Have you forgotten that I’m leaving tomorrow morning to go visit my sister in New Orleans? I’ve had this vacation planned for two months, Jack.”

“For fuck sake. I did forget. Can’t you change it? Please, Madeline. I need you.”

“Sorry, but no. You know she’s not doing well. We talked about this and you said it was okay for me to go.”

“What the hell is with everyone not feeling well? I’m sorry, Madeline. You’re right. You go visit your sister. I’ll call Coco to help out.”

She laughed. “I’m not sure she’ll be any better than you. Listen, Jack, it’s instincts. You can do this. It’s not like she’s a baby. Hell, that little girl could probably take better care of you.”

“Very funny. Could you at least look after her while I go into the office for a couple of hours?”

“Of course.” She smiled.

Hope came into the kitchen and I knelt down in front of her.

“I have to go to work for a while, but Madeline is going to look after you.”

“Okay. Will you be back later?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.” She smiled.

Just as I was about to walk out of the kitchen, Hope called my name.

“Mr. Sutton?”

“Yes.” I turned and looked at her.

“I don’t think you’re mean at all.”

I gave her a small smile and left for the office.

****

I walked into Coco’s office and shut the door.

“Hey, how’s Lorelei?” she asked with concern.

“She has pneumonia. She’s going to be in the hospital for a few days.”

“She’s going to be okay, right?”

“Yeah. They’re taking good care of her. Listen, I need to talk to you about Bradley.”

“Has he been found?”

“No. Not yet. But Ron has a lead. Bradley wasn’t the one who was stealing the money from the company.”

She looked at me in confusion as she tilted her head to the side.

“He was putting it in offshore accounts for our mother.”

“What? That’s absurd.”

“I saw the accounts, Coco. They’re in her name.”

“Why would she have him do that?”

“I think she’s running this company into the ground for some reason.”

“Have you confronted her about this yet?”

“No. I’m waiting until Ron finds Bradley and we talk to him. I want you with me when I confront her.”

“This doesn’t make any sense.”

“I know. But we’ll get to the bottom of it. On another matter, I have Lorelei’s daughter, Hope, staying with me while she’s in the hospital.”

Coco busted into laughter. “Yeah, right. You and a kid? I find that hard to believe.”

“I had no choice. Both of Lorelei’s parents and best friend are out of the state. There was nobody else to take care of her.”

“You don’t know how to take care of a kid, Jack. Shit. You hate kids.”

“I guess I’m going to have to wing it the next few days. Would you like to come over and help?” I grinned.

“Umm. No. I’m leaving for LA tomorrow. Did you forget?”

“Damn it. I did. What the hell is with everyone leaving town but me?”

She laughed again. “You can do it. How old is she again?”

“Seven.”

“She’s self-sufficient. You just need to keep an eye on her. She can keep herself entertained. We did it as kids.”

I sighed as I got up from my chair. “Have fun in LA. I’ll see you when you get back.”

“Oh, I will. Have fun playing daddy!” She smiled.

“That’s not even funny!” I pointed at her as I walked out the door.

After spending a couple of hours doing some work, I called the hospital to check on Lorelei. The nurse said she had been sleeping all day and that Hope and I could visit tonight but only for a short time. I hated leaving her there all alone.

I left the office around four o’clock and, when I arrived home, Hope and Madeline were in the kitchen baking Halloween cookies.

“Isn’t it a bit early for Halloween?” I asked as I set my briefcase down.

“Halloween is in two and a half weeks. It’s never too early. Is it, Hope?” Madeline asked.

“Nope. Never too early for Halloween. I can’t wait to try on my costume.”

“What are you dressing up as?” I asked.

“Cinderella. My mom is making my costume.”

“I bet it’ll be very nice. Did you cook dinner?” I asked Madeline.

“No. I’m sorry, Jack. We got so involved with these cookies that I forgot about dinner and I have to leave in about a half hour to get ready to leave tomorrow.”

“No worries. Hope and I will stop and get something before heading to the hospital to see Lorelei. I’m going to head upstairs to change.”

“Mr. Sutton,” Hope spoke.

“Yes.” I turned around.

“Would you like a cookie?” She held one out to me.

I stood there for a moment and looked at Madeline, who was smiling at me.

“Sure, Hope. I’d love one. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” she spoke as I took the cookie from her.

Jack

I took Hope to one of my favorite Italian restaurants called Maialino, which wasn’t too far from the hospital. As the hostess seated us, she gave me an odd look. What the hell was her problem?

Hope picked up her menu and looked it over.

“Do you know how to read?” I asked.

“I’m seven. Of course I can read.” She shook her head as she looked at me.

I couldn’t help but smile, because at that moment, she reminded me so much of Lorelei.

She set down her menu and looked at me. “I can’t read this menu. The words are too big.”

“Okay. Let me help you.”

Just as I said that, our waiter walked over. “May I start you off with something to drink?”

“I’ll have a scotch on the rocks, please.”

“And for you, Madame?” he asked as he smiled at Hope.

Hope looked at me for a second and then at the waiter. “May I have a coke, please?”

“Of course.” The waiter gave a small bow.

“So what would you like to eat?” I asked as I set down my menu.

“Spaghetti with plain sauce.”

“Oh. Well, I’m not quite sure if they have that here. How about a spaghetti with clams and a white wine garlic sauce?”

“Yuck.” She scrunched up her nose.

“Okay. The pasta with the lamb ragu, tomato, and grana Padano?”

“Huh?”

The waiter set our drinks down and asked to take our order. After placing mine, I asked him about spaghetti with plain sauce for Hope.

“Do you have spaghetti with just plain sauce?”

“Umm. I’m not quite sure. I’ll have to go ask the chef if he can do that.”

“Thank you and please tell him that I will pay whatever it costs for him to make a plain sauce.”

“Very well, sir.” He smiled.

I pulled my phone from my pocket and started checking my emails and messages.

“My mom said that it’s very rude to have your phone out during dinner and that you should be talking to the people who are with you face to face instead of being on the phone.”

I looked up, gave her a blank stare, and slowly slipped my phone back into my pocket.

“Are you driving me to school tomorrow?” she asked.

“I suppose I have to.”

“Do I have to go to latch key?”

“What’s latch key?” I frowned.

“I go there in the mornings before school starts because my mom has to be at work by eight o’clock and school doesn’t start until eight fifteen. The ladies there watch us until school starts.”

“I see. Well, I suppose you won’t have to go to latch key while you’re staying with me. I can drop you off when school starts.”

She gave me a smile and the waiter walked over and placed our food in front of us.

“One spaghetti with plain sauce for the little lady.” He smiled.

“Thank you.” She giggled.

As we were eating our dinner, I heard a voice behind me.

“I don’t believe it.”

I looked up from my plate and saw Coco and Garrett standing there. I narrowed my eyes at both of them.

“What are you two doing here?” I asked.

“We just came from visiting Lorelei and decided to get something to eat,” Garrett replied.

“How is she? We’re heading over there as soon as we’re finished.”

“She’s still very sleepy and not feeling good. We were only there about fifteen minutes. We brought her some flowers,” Coco spoke. She looked at Hope. “Hi there, sweetie. I’m Coco, Jack’s sister. This is our friend, Garrett.”

“Hi.” She smiled.

“I need a picture.” Coco grinned as she handed her purse to Garrett. “Hope, do me a favor and go sit next to Jack so I can take your picture.”

“Coco, stop!” Jack commanded.

“Oh no, big brother. This is too good of an opportunity to pass up.”

Hope slid next to me and turned so she was facing Coco.

“Jack, lean in a little.”

“Coco, I’m warning you.” I gritted my teeth.

Hope looked up at me, smiled, and Coco snapped the picture.

“That was lovely. One more with both of you looking at the camera.”

I took in a sharp breath.

“Smile, Jack.” Hope placed her hand on my cheek.

I looked at Coco and forced a smile as she took another picture.

“Okay. Our table awaits us,” she spoke as she took her purse from Garrett. “It was nice to meet you, Hope.”

****

We entered Lorelei’s room and she was sleeping. I told Hope to be very quiet so we didn’t wake her. She looked pale and it hurt me to see her like that. Suddenly, I didn’t care about anything else but her. I didn’t care about the company, what was going on, nothing. I only wanted her to get better.

“Hope, come with me,” I spoke as we stepped out into the hallway. “We have to go home now. It’s getting late. I’ll tell the nurse to tell your mom that we were here and I promise I’ll bring you back to visit her tomorrow after school.”

She gave me a sad look as she slowly nodded her head. “Wait,” she spoke. “Can I lay Luna next to her?”

“You sure can but make sure you don’t wake her up. Your mom needs all the rest she can get right now so she can get better.”

I followed Hope back inside Lorelei’s room and she carefully placed Luna beside her.

“Now my daddy can be with her while she gets better.”

My heart ached when she said that. A feeling washed over me that I’d never felt before. This little girl, Lorelei’s little girl, was probably the most thoughtful person I’d ever known. Walking up to the nurse’s desk, I told Lorelei’s nurse to be sure to tell her that we had been there when she woke up. We met Tony outside and headed home.

I sent Hope upstairs to get into her pajamas. As I was pouring myself a scotch, she came down and sat on the couch.

“All ready for bed?” I asked.

“Yep. Can you read me a bedtime story? My mom reads to me every night.”

Oh shit. She’s kidding, right?

“Umm. Sure. Did you bring any books?”

“Yeah. I brought
Charlotte’s Web
. Wilbur just met Charlotte.” She smiled.

“Shouldn’t you be reading that yourself? Practicing?”

“I read a lot of other books, but every night, my mom reads me to sleep. She said it’s our quiet time together.”

This was something I didn’t want to do. The only thing I read was the newspaper or the internet. I sighed.

“Only a couple of pages, okay?”

“Okay.”

I walked up the stairs and Hope followed behind. When we reached her room, she pulled back the covers and climbed into bed. I looked at her and narrowed my eye.

“Did you brush your teeth?” I asked.

“Yes. Right after I changed into my pajamas.”

She handed me
Charlotte’s Web
and I opened to the page that was bookmarked.

“I’ve never read this book.”

Hope laid her head on her pillow and I sat down on the edge of the bed and started reading from the pages. I had read ten pages of the book when Hope asked me to stop.

“I’m going to sleep now.”

I placed the bookmark on the page where I left off and pulled the covers up over her. As I got up from the bed, she reached her hand out and grabbed mine. I turned and looked at her.

“Good night, Mr. Sutton,” she sleepily spoke.

I stared at her for a moment as she closed her eyes.

“Good night, Hope.”