Page 63 of Lorna's Savior
“Good, I was actually surprised. In the course of investigating the aforementioned case, I found myself in LA with loose ends. I went to Mom and Dad’s store, and found out that everyone was there.”
“Who’s everyone?”
“Ren, Mac, Liv, Pip, Mom and Dad.”
“Wow, what are Ren and Mac doing now? I don’t hear much about, nor from them anymore.”
“Are you sure you want to know?” Andy laughed, and told him all about what his two brothers were doing in Colorado.
“No shit, really?”
“Really. I haven’t had a chance to do any research on it, but Dad was all for it.”
“Shit, if your father’s all in, then you know it must be a legitimate deal.”
“Yeah, my thoughts exactly.” They continued to talk, and after he hung up, Andy shook his head. Apparently, his cousin was bored, because they had discussed everything from both of their jobs, to family, to vacations. The only subject they didn’t touch on was women. Not that he was hiding Lorna from anyone, he just didn’t want to share her at this time. With a grin on his face, he closed up his office for the day and went out to the kitchen. He still had several hours before Lorna was due home, but he wanted to surprise her with one of her favorite meals. He grabbed the notebook she’d made into a cookbook with Lori’s recipes and began to read, noticing Lorna’s notes in the margins as he did.
Several hours later Andy was putting the finishing touches on the table settings when he looked up and saw Lorna standing there.
“Hey,” he said as he hurried over and took her purse and briefcase from her. After placing them on the living room sofa, he gathered her in his arms. Holding her, he didn’t release her until she wrapped her arms around him, then drew in a deep breath, and relaxed.
“How was your day?” he asked as he led her to the table.
“Tiring. What’s all this?” She waved her hand at the elegantly set table.
“I had a great morning, and early afternoon. I was able to get a lot of work done, but after a phone call from my cousin, I decided to treat you to a meal. I’ve been cooking all afternoon.”
“I see,” Lorna said as she raised her brows, and pointed to the pots and pan on the countertops.
“Don’t worry, those are clean. I washed them already, just haven’t had the time to put them away.”
“Thank god,” Lorna said as she sat down. They had an agreement that whomever cooked, the other cleaned up afterward. She was not looking forward to washing all those pots and pans. “I don’t think I would have the energy to do them tonight.” She took the wine glass he handed her and took a small sip. “What’s on the menu? Whatever it is, it smells wonderful.”
“You had left your cook notebook here and I read all the recipes. Even the notes you left in the margins. You know, your thoughts on if you liked it or not. I don’t know if it’s as good as Lori’s, but I made Beef Wellington.”
“Wow,” Lorna said as she watched as he brought over the dish, and placed it in the center of the table. Then he went back for the bowl of salad. They filled their plates and ate. Neither said a word until they were almost done. “Damn, this is excellent.” Lorna sighed as she continued to eat. They had eaten enough to stem their hunger, and as they slowed down, they began to talk.
“Can you say why your day was so tiring?”
“We have a new fundraiser. I got all the information today. Luckily it’s not until Christmastime, so we have plenty of time.”
“What is it for? If you can say?”
“The local Children’s Hospital wants to raise funds to put in a new wing for their NIC-U. I was thinking of having a theme for it.”
“Which is? And where would it be?”
“It might sound morbid, or mean.”
“Try me.” Andy took her free hand in his, and squeezed it gently.
“The hospital has already begun work, but they ran out of funds. I was thinking if the construction crew could clean up the area and make it safe, then I’d like to have a Christmas party for the children stuck in the hospital and the people attending the fundraiser. Make it about the kids. I know the fundraiser is for the NIC-U, which is for babies born with problems, but there are older kids there too. Then, like we did at the aquarium, have placards with what they want to do with the money they raise. This one will be open to the public as well as the invitations going out to our regulars. Sort of like how we did the event for Ronnie and Grady.”
“I didn’t attend that one, but you’ve told me about it. I agree, because not just certain children get sick. All walks of life have children with the risk of being sick.”
“Exactly.”
“Are you going to have an actual Santa?”
