First Class Farewell (13 page)

“Do we need a cart?” Shelby asked.

“The kids are drinking five gallons of milk a day!” Adam
replied. “I’m going to get ten this time.”

Wandering down the aisle to the back of the store and the
dairy section, Shelby saw a young boy standing alone just a few feet in front
of them.

“Hi, honey,” she said as she crouched in front of him.
“Where’s your mommy?”

The little boy, Shelby guessed to be about five years old,
just looked up at her with big brown eyes and shrugged.

“Would you like me to help you find her?”

He nodded. Shelby took his small hand in hers and turned to
Adam. He smiled. Heading back the way they’d come, Shelby and the boy walked
towards the cashiers.

“Oh my goodness! There you are, Israel! You scared me!” A
young woman ran towards them and dropped to her knees, sweeping the boy into
her arms. “Thank you so much for finding him,” she said to Shelby. “Thank you.”

“No problem,” Shelby smiled. She said goodbye to Israel and
headed to find Adam, who was filling the grocery cart with milk. “He’s safely
back with his mom,” she announced stopping in front of the dairy case.

“Good. He looked scared to death.”

“I know, my heart broke when I looked into those big brown
eyes,” Shelby frowned.

They pushed the cart back down the aisle and paid for the
ten gallons of milk. On the way to the car in the parking lot, they watched
Israel and his mother walking away, hand in hand.

“You did a great thing back there,” Adam smiled.

“Someone would’ve found him. He was just standing there.
It’s not like he was hiding or anything.”

“No, but he obviously trusted you.”

“Yes, he did.”

As they rode back to the house, Shelby thought about those
big brown eyes and how relieved his mother looked when she saw him walking
towards her. She was glad she could help. When they arrived home, they unloaded
the milk from the trunk of the car and hauled it all into the kitchen.

“Thank so much,” Katy smiled, as she put a few of the
gallons into the fridge, the others needing to go in the fridge in the pantry.
“This should keep the little rug rats going for a little while,” she said as he
winked at Janie.

“Yes,” Janie agreed. “It should do for a day or two.”

*****

That evening, Cynthia was grilling chicken for dinner.
Maureen had suggested they eat outside, too. The kids were loud as they played
and Janie and Katy were carrying silverware and plates from the kitchen.

“Can I help?” Shelby offered.

“Sure,” Janie replied. “Can you grab the tray of condiments?
It’s next to the fridge.”

Shelby headed through the French doors and into the great
room. There stood Annie trying to lift one of the stools at the island.

“Whatcha doing there?” Shelby asked.

“This has to go on here,” Annie frowned.

“On where?” Shelby asked.

“Here!” Annie demanded, pointing to another stool.

As Shelby walked up to Annie, still struggling with the
weight of the stool, she asked, “Why?”

“Can you help me?”

“Okay,” Shelby answered, unsure of what the three year old
was actually trying to accomplish. She lifted the stool from the ground and
stacked it on top of the other stool. “Now what?”

“Now this stool has to go on there.” She was pointing to a
third stool.

“Are we making a tower?”

“Yes!” Annie exclaimed, delighted with the plan.

“Why?”

“So I can touch the ceiling.”

“Oh, of course,” Shelby grinned. “Silly me.” But looking up
at the ten foot ceilings, she knew it was going to take many more stools than
were in the kitchen at present. “Um, what if we do it another way?” she
offered.

“How?” asked Annie, skeptical of a plan other than her own.

“Well,” said Shelby, as she lifted Annie and sat her on the
island. “What if,” she said as she jumped onto the island, too, “I stand up
here,” she said as she stood, “and lift you up like this?” She lifted Annie
into her arms, careful of the two pendants lights hanging from the ceiling, and
maneuvered Annie into the air. Annie stretched her arms and then with a tiny
‘thud’ hit the ceiling with her hand.

“YAY!!” she exclaimed, as Shelby pulled her down to her
chest and held her firmly.

“What are you doing?” Adam asked as he strolled into the
kitchen.

“Touching the ceiling,” replied Shelby, as if it was the
most natural thing in the world.

“I touched the ceiling, Adam!” Annie grinned.

“I saw you,” Adam answered. “It’s time for dinner. Want some
chicken?”

“Yes, I do!” Annie declared.

Shelby handed her down to Adam who placed her on the floor
and she skipped off outside for dinner. Shelby stepped to the edge of the
counter and Adam reached for her and helped her down, her body sliding down his
as her feet stretched for the floor. For a split second, their entire bodies
were touching and the awareness of her filled every one of his senses. Before
he was able to do something stupid, Shelby stepped away.

“So…was that your idea?” he chuckled.

Shelby laughed as she walked over to the stools, still
stacked together. “No. I came in and she was trying to build a tower so she
could touch the ceiling. I figured a controlled environment was probably the
best way to give her what she wanted.”

“Good idea,” agreed Adam. “That girl is fearless and there’s
no telling what stunt she would have come up with to achieve her goal.”
And
you don’t think you’d be a great mother?
Adam was convinced of how
wonderful she really would be.

*****

The next morning the sound of a car pulling into the
driveway caused Adam to alter his route to the kitchen. He wandered down the
hall and opened the front door. A young woman, in her twenties and blonde,
bounded up to the stairs and stopped a few feet in front of him.

“Good morning, Sir. I am here to see Mrs. Elizabeth Lathem.
I’m here from the hospital to check on her.”

“Hi,” he smiled. “Come on in.” She followed behind him as he
walked into the small reception room off the hall. “If you’d like to wait here,
I’ll go and find her.”

She nodded and stood in the middle of the room.

“Make yourself comfortable,” he offered and left her as he
went in search of Beth.

Adam finally found her still in her room and she and Tim
quickly made their way down the stairs and off to see the nurse.

“Who’s that?” Tyler asked Adam.

“Someone from the hospital. She’s here to do a quick
check-up on Beth.”

“She’s totally hot!” Tyler smiled.

“Is she?” Adam asked.

“Oh, come on!” Tyler laughed. “She’s totally your type.
Don’t tell me you didn’t notice.”

Adam grinned. “I noticed.”

“So, you gonna ask her out?”

“I don’t even know her name!”

“So?”

“Oh, right,” Adam grinned. “I forgot who I was talking to
for a second there.”

“So…are you?”

“I…ah…well…”

“Are you?” Shelby asked, as she walked down the stairs.

Adam’s head whipped around to see her, her expression
serious, her brows slightly lifted.

“No. I’m not.”

“Well, if she’s totally hot, why not?” Shelby asked,
eyebrows raised.

“Because I’m not interested in
her
.”

“So, you don’t care if I, uh, walk her out?” Tyler asked.

“No, I don’t care,” Adam frowned.

Tyler left Adam to go and hover by the doorway to make his
move when she was finished with Beth.

“Don’t do anything on my account,” Shelby said as she came
to the last step, just a couple of feet from Adam.

“I won’t.”

Shelby drifted past him, her chin a little too high, her
expression a little too tight.

She’s jealous!
He grinned.

*****

“Everything looks good, Mrs. Lathem. The doctor wanted me to
give you these vitamins and you’re gonna follow up with your doctor when you
get back to New York, right?”

“Right,” nodded Tim. “We’ve already made the appointment.”

“Good,” she nodded. “Hopefully, you won’t need to come back
and see us, but if you’re at all worried, you come right in, okay?”

“Thank you,” smiled Beth. “We will.”

Suddenly Tyler was there to walk the young lady out to her
car, leaving Tim and Beth alone.

“I will not do anything to risk these babies,” Beth said. “I
will climb into a bubble wrapped room for the next seven or eight months if
that’s what it takes.”

Tim chuckled. “I don’t think we have to go to that extreme,
but taking it easy is definitely a must.”

And they sat, side by side, rubbing Beth’s still very flat tummy.

Shelby stomped along the sand, kicking at the water every so
often as it rippled over her toes. “He can damn well go out with anyone he
wants to!” she muttered. “Oooh, she’s totally hot!” she mimicked Tyler. “Well,
go out with her then!” she continued her ranting. Fortunately there was nobody
around to hear her.

After walking for several minutes, the tirade finally wore
thin and a sense of calm returned. She turned around and retraced her steps
back towards the house, stopping a hundred yards or so before the gate to the
garden. Flopping down onto the sand, she looked up at the blue sky overhead.
Laying back, she placed her arm over eyes, shielding herself from the bright
sun glaring down on her.

She’d only been there for a few minutes when she heard
someone sit next to her.

“May I join you?” Katy asked.

“I’m not doing anything,” Shelby replied, with a hint of
sarcasm in her voice, but feeling relief it was only Katy interrupting her
solitude.

“Well I don’t want to do anything either,” Katy laughed.
“That’s why I want to join you.” She sat down in the warm sand. “You okay?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Because I watched you stomping down the beach like you were
about to kill something, or someone.”

“Nope! I’m just dandy.”

The tone of her voice said otherwise, but Katy let it go.
“It’s been a weird week. Saying goodbye to Ray was…
is
hard. And then
Beth and Tim’s news is so exciting.”

“And then there’s my news,” Shelby said.

“What news?”

“I got the email the other day.
The
email,” she
repeated.

“What?” Katy exclaimed. “Why didn’t you tell me? Say
something?”

“With Beth and everything I…well, I didn’t want to rain on
her parade.” Shelby sat up and brushed the sand from her legs.

“Oh, Shelby! There is plenty of joy to go around. So? Where
are you going?”

“I’m not
going
anywhere. Isn’t that exciting?”

“Huh? I don’t get it.” Katy swung around to face her.

“I’m staying in New York,” she grinned. “Mount Sinai.”

“Holy shit! That’s fantastic,” Katy screamed and pulled
Shelby into a hug. “We have to…you have to tell everyone!”

“When there’s nothing else going on.”

“There’s nothing else going on,” Katy declared, as she
climbed to her feet, dragging Shelby with her.

And so another party took place on the patio of the Lathem
estate that evening. Pulling out all the stops, the family danced and partied
‘til almost midnight in celebration of the wonderful news. Many family members
expressed relief, now knowing that Shelby wouldn’t be leaving the city.

“You realize I’ll be working one hundred hours a week,” she
chuckled when Derek had talked about being able to continue his relentless
teasing of his surrogate little sister.

“Yep, you will be,” Adam agreed with a smile. “But it’s all
worth it in the end.”

Slowly, couple by couple, the family disappeared, calling it
a night and returning to their rooms. It was just after one o’clock when the
only ones left were Shelby and Adam. “Well, goodnight,” she said as she went to
stand.

Adam grabbed her arm, forcing her to remain seated beside
him. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked, the hurt obvious in his voice.

Shelby shrugged. “There was so much with Beth and triplets
and…and stuff. I didn’t want to ruin her moment.”

“But why didn’t you tell
me
?” he repeated.

She looked down at her hands fidgeting in her lap. The truth
was, she was going to tell him earlier that very morning, but as she’d come
down the stairs she heard him and Tyler talking about how hot the nurse was and
she’d changed her mind. “I didn’t think you’d care,” trying to sound nonchalant
in her reply. But even as she heard the words, it just sounded immature.
Am
I still in middle school?
She rolled her eyes.

“You know that’s crap,” he called her out.

“Yeah,” she admitted. “I just hadn’t found the right time.”

Adam swung around to face her, placing his hand on her
thigh, his thumb lightly caressing the soft skin of her leg. “Shelby,” he
whispered.

“Can’t sleep. Gonna go for a swim. You guys wanna come in?”
Tyler interrupted as he wandered out to the pool. He threw a towel on an empty
chair and dove in to the cool water.

Livid with his brother, Adam stood, grabbed Shelby’s hand
and dragged her around the pool and into the pool house, closing the door
behind him. He pulled the curtains closed and turned on the lamp next to the
bed, emitting a soft glow over the room. “Have a seat,” he instructed as he
walked to the fridge and pulled two bottles from the shelves in the door.
“Beer?” he asked. Shelby shook her head. Adam popped off both tops anyway and
went and sat next to her on the small sofa.

“I figured you already knew, but I guess I should say it out
loud and tell you.”

“What?’ she asked.

Adam took a long drink, stifled a burp and then said, “I
have feelings for you, Shelby. I have for a long time.”

As Shelby began to speak, he threw his hands up in to the
air. “I don’t want you to say anything until you’ve heard me out.”

She closed her mouth.

“Over the past few years we’ve spent a lot of time
together,” he continued. “I guess, at first, we ended up together at family
parties and stuff because we were close in age and had medicine in common. And
we did…we do. And what may have started out as just a mutual interest, well,
for me, has grown into much more. I like to spend time with you. I
want
to spend time with you. You are the last person I think about before falling
asleep at night and the first person I think about when I wake up in the
morning. And many nights I dream about you, too. Of all the people in the
world, you are the one I couldn’t live without.”

As he took a breath, Shelby looked up at his face and their
eyes met. He knew in that moment that she felt the same way, too. He knew
beyond doubt that she was his future. Somehow he needed to convince her that
she knew it, too.

“I love you, Shelby. I don’t expect you to say anything, I
just want you to know that I love you and that I’ll do whatever you want or
need me to do to make you happy. I see us growing old together, spending our
lives laughing and loving and making a home and having a family.”

He saw it instantly…the panic that rose through her entire
body. It was too much for her. She stood.

“No! Don’t go! I didn’t mean to…to scare you. We can take it
as slow as you need.” Her shoulders dropped a fraction and he heard her exhale
slowly. “I mean it,” he said. I’ll do anything you need. I am yours to
command.”

The faintest of smiles crossed her lips. “You shouldn’t give
me that kind of power. You might just live to regret it.”

“Never,” he exclaimed as he stood and faced her, their
bodies almost touching. “Shelby, I’ve never told a woman I loved them. I’ve
never felt this way about anyone. It’s almost frightening but it’s a good
frightening,” he smiled.

“That doesn’t even make sense.”

“I know, but it’s how I feel.” Adam lifted his hand and
gently cupped her cheek, then cautiously bent his head to hers and lightly
pressed his lips to hers.

Closing her eyes, Shelby accepted the sweet kiss, but as
Adam unconsciously pressed closer and nipped her bottom lip with his teeth, she
stepped back and out of his reach. Then she turned and left him alone as she
walked out of the pool house, around the pool and into the main house. He
wanted to run after her, to make her stay and talk out her fears, but he knew
she needed time...time to digest his revelation, and time to realize she loved
him, too.

*****

Although he’d never said anything before tonight, Shelby
knew that her relationship with Adam was more than just friends. As he’d said
the words, they were somehow familiar to her, with her feeling the same way.
Hearing Adam say it aloud, though, had made everything real and no longer
deniable.

Adam was the last person she thought about at night. He was
the first person she thought of in the morning. When something good happened,
he was the first person she wanted to tell. When something not-so-good
happened, he was also the first one she thought of.

But it was all different now. He’d laid his cards on the table
and their relationship was forever changed. Unfamiliar territory was where she
found herself, floating adrift in a sea of emotion. Emotions that ranged from
flattered and validated as a woman, to terrified and confused.

After several hours of tossing and turning, dozing on and
off, still tired but morning upon her, Shelby dressed and headed downstairs to
the waiting bedlam for a cup of coffee. Amazingly enough, Ella and Cynthia were
the only ones in the kitchen.

“Coffee, Miss Shelby?” asked Cynthia.

“Yes, please,” Shelby replied, slipping onto a stool next to
Ella.

Placing the cream and sugar in front of her, Cynthia smiled
as she slid the cup of coffee to Shelby and asked if she’d like some breakfast.

Shelby smiled and declined. “Where is everyone? Are we the
first ones up?”

“Good gracious, no!” Cynthia laughed. It’s almost ten
o’clock.”

“What?” Shelby was stunned.

“You slept in,” Ella stated.

“I guess I did.”

“Shelby, are you and Adam going to get married?”

She choked on the mouthful of coffee, sending her into a
coughing fit. Finally, regaining control of her lungs, she wiped the tears than
had run down her cheeks, and noticed Ella was still waiting patiently for an
answer.

“Well?”

“Why would you ask me that?” Shelby inquired, curious what
the answer would be.

“Mom and Katy were talking at the spa.”

“And? What did they say?”

“Adam has decided he wants you, but you’re too scared and
they hope you can figure it all out because you’d make a wonderful mother.”

“Did they now?” Shelby didn’t know whether to be livid or
amused. Deciding not to let the conversation go any further, she excused
herself and walked up the staircase to take a shower.

*****

Adam had been sitting by the pool waiting for a glimpse of
Shelby. He didn’t want to pressure her but he needed to see how she would react
to him the morning after his honest declaration. Would she avoid him? Would it
be awkward between them? He only had four days until they returned to New York
and back to the hustle and bustle of regular life. He wanted to know where he
stood before they boarded the plane for home. He wanted to know if she could
take a leap of faith and trust him with her heart. The waiting was killing him
and after an hour, there was still no sign of her.

Strolling through the French doors into the house, he found
Ella and Cynthia rolling out dough on the granite counter. “Cookies?” he
smiled.

“Pie,” Ella answered.

“Yum,” Adam replied. “Have you seen Shelby?”

“Upstairs, Mr. Adam,” Cynthia said, never taking her eyes of
the dough being stretched under her deft hand.

“Thanks,” and he headed for the stairs. Taking two at a
time, he reached the door of the music room before he had a chance to formulate
in his mind what he was going to say. But it wouldn’t have mattered anyway
because the moment he saw her step from the bathroom, wrapped in a towel, her
wet hair clinging her shoulders, his mind went completely blank. He was unable
to form one coherent thought.

He silently chastised his behavior. Three days ago, Shelby
walking from the bathroom wrapped in a towel still would have stirred his
insides, but wouldn’t have made him tongue tied like the long ago days of
middle school.

“Uh, hi,” he stammered. She smiled and his knees weakened.
He mentally cursed each one individually. “Uh, I’ll let you get dressed and
then would you like to take a walk with me?”

“I’ll meet you downstairs.”

Adam nodded and left her as she entered her bedroom and shut
the door behind her. “I’m a pathetic moron,” he muttered as he stepped off the
bottom stair and walked down the hall to the library.

“I’ll second that,” Derek laughed.

Adam smirked. “Thanks.”

“What’s wrong with you?”

“I’m successful, not a bad looking doctor. I should have all
the confidence in the world.”

“And you don’t?”

“Nope. Not when it comes to…well…nope.”

“Shelby?” Derek grinned.

“What? Why would you…huh?”

“Oh, come on!” Derek laughed. “It’s not like I don’t know.”

“But, how? I only found out a few days ago.”

Derek shook his head as they walked into the library and sat
in two brown leather wingback chairs. “I know that we don’t talk much, other
than about sports and stuff, but can I give you a piece of advice?” Adam
nodded, so Derek continued. “She’s pretty much been my sister for the past
twelve years and while we’ve never lived under the same roof for more than a
few days at a time, I’ve gotten to know her pretty well. As awkward as it is to
say, she likes you. You’re the only man she looks at as a
man
.”

“Huh?”

“Well, there’s family and then there’s the opposite sex…and
she looks at me, and Mark, and Matt and all the Lathem males as family. But
you? You’re a man.”

“You’re full of it, and this is…is a very awkward
conversation,” Adam frowned.

“Maybe I’m not explaining it well, but, trust me, she has
feelings for you and if you hurt her, I’ll beat the shit out of you.” The tone
of Derek’s voice had Adam understanding he was deadly serious.

“I’m not planning on hurting her. I’m planning on marrying
her.”

“Oh.” Derek’s eyes widened. “Well, okay then.”

*****

Shelby had dressed and headed back to the bathroom to blow
dry her hair. She’d taken her time, not purposely making him wait…well…maybe.
With the large round brush she aimed the hair dryer at each section of hair and
meticulously styled it into big wavy curls…stalling if she were to be honest
with herself. When she had no other reason to be upstairs, she slowly made her
way down to the great room, as the family was gradually starting to gather,
their stomachs reminding them it was lunch time.