The Bucket List (17 page)

From the moment Irving had picked her up at the airport in Austin she'd felt like she'd been swept away into another world. Sara had been so happy to finally meet her, she was positive she'd seen a few tears glimmer in the older woman's eyes. Her little brothers, Drew and Timmy, had shown no reservations at all. The whole time she'd been there they had more or less been stuck to her, telling her, the way only a six and a four year old could, how happy they were about her being their sister. They had accepted her with no questions asked.

They had treated her as part of their family from the word go. Her very first night, the boys had asked for a bed time story from her and she'd sat with them long after they had fallen asleep, thinking how much she had missed of their young lives. How different would her life have been if she had accepted her father when he had found her? How different would it have been if she had time now to get to know them? When she had gone back downstairs she had sat with
Irving and Sara and talked well into the night. It had been so long since she had felt like she belonged...

In her own room, she had cried herself to sleep both nights. She had started wishing she had not come up with the stupid list in the first place. It would have been so much easier to say goodbye to
Irving if she'd never told herself she had to get to know him first. She just hadn't expected to like him that much. She had thought she'd just throw him a few crumbs, you know; do him a little favour for all the years he had tried to be in her life. Now, not only would she have to say goodbye to the incredible man she had come to know, she had to say goodbye to a whole new family.

When they had dropped her off at the airport, they had made her promise to visit them again soon. She'd had to lie to them that she would. She couldn't do that again, it was too painful.

So for most of the flight, she had sat in her seat and silently cried to herself. It had been only as they were landing that she had thought to tidy herself up for Corey to try and avoid any awkward questions.

"Rae!"

She looked around and saw Corey waving at her to get her attention. Plastering a smile on her lips, she pulled her bag to where he was waiting and walked into his arms. Her dear friend, where in the world would she be without him?

"You
all right?" he asked, tilting her face up so he could look at her.

"Yeah. I have two little brothers," she answered.

She hadn't meant it to sound so shaky.

"Was it too much?" he asked softly.

She buried her face in his chest instead of answering. She didn't want to talk about the new family she was leaving behind.

"Let's go home,"
Corey said as he took her bag and led her out of the airport, his protective arm around her the whole time.

The ride to their house was made in almost complete silence. She had too much whirling around in her mind, she knew she would have burst into tears again right there if he asked any questions. As always, he knew her well enough to understand that without her having to say anything. Of course, that meant an explanation later, but for now she was happy for the reprieve.

Corey drove his car up the driveway of the house they had bought together a few years back. Neither of them were hardly ever home due to work commitments, so because of that, this house had become their haven, the one place in the world where they could just chill out.

"Mum invited us over for dinner tonight. Should I cancel?"
Corey asked when they walked into the house.

"God, no! Your mum will only blame me," Rae said as she walked into the lounge.

The TV was blaring and John was sprawled out on one of the sofas watching a music channel.

"Hey, sweetheart," he said when he saw her. "How did it go?"

"Don't you have your own house to go to?" Rae grumbled as she dropped herself next to him and let him give her a hug.

"Is that the thanks I get for coming all this way to keep you company tomorrow?"

"I already said I don't want a fuss," she said firmly. "If either of you decide to throw a party I swear I will chop your balls off and feed them to the dogs!"

"Ouch! What the hell's got you?"

She let out a tired sigh just as Corey walked in after taking her bag up to her room.

"Nothing. I'm just tired."

"Maybe something in here will cheer you up," Corey said as he dropped a bunch of letters onto her lap.

"I doubt it," she mumbled as she went through the letters.

Her heart missed a beat when she realised that half of them were from the doctor's office. Corey would have noticed that too because the return address was on the back. She tensed up as she realised she might have to explain why. She wasn't ready to do that just yet. She'd ignored the doctor's calls on her cell phone but she hadn't really thought he would write to the house.

"What's all that about, Rae?"

When she looked up she realised both men had been watching her reactions.

"Oh, nothing," she lied. "I went for some blood tests some time ago, like I do every few months."

"There's at least five letters from Dr. Harvey's office. They can't all be about one blood test."

She noticed John perk up a bit at the mention of the doctor then remembered he had answered her phone the previous week. What had she told him? Headache?

"I did a few female checks, too," she lied. "Nothing to worry about, I'm fine."

"How do you know that if you haven't opened the letters?"
Corey asked.

"Because I was anxious so I went to Dr. Harvey before my trip to Columbia. You know they write to you anyway to tell you your results are back. These must have been already in the post when I went there."

Had she been convincing? She hoped so. Corey was the one person who could always catch her lies but this was the one time she needed him to buy it. In a couple of weeks or so, when she had done all she needed to do, she would tell him. Not everything, of course, just about the cancer. If he found out now, she had no doubt he would drag her to the doctor's office and force her into treatment. Then she would be forced to go through useless chemo while Corey watched her die. That would be worse than the dying itself. She couldn't do that to him.

She threw the letters aside and put her feet up. She knew they were still watching her.

"What?" she frowned.

"It's just that there was a bunch of messages on the phone for you as well."

Oh, crap! Weren't these doctors supposed to respect your privacy and all that?

"Who was it?" she asked as if she didn't know.

"Dr. Harvey wants you to come in," he explained.

He was watching her face closely, so obviously his brain was ticking.

"I spoke to him already," she said, brushing it off. "Last week. John knows that."

Corey
looked at John for confirmation.

"Well, I answered her phone while she was asleep..." John said.

Bull crap! It was only a little white lie and John couldn't even do that. She knew he was going to explain that he'd answered her phone and only took a message. He had no idea if she'd called the doctor back.

"See?" she cut in. "Now, if both of you will just shut up, I've had a rough few days. I'm going to take a little nap before I freshen up and get ready for your mum's dinner."

With that, she picked her mail up and stood to leave the room.

"Rae, what the hell is going on?"
Corey said, grabbing her arm before she could walk out. "What are you hiding from me?"

"Nothing!" she snapped. "I've just spent a couple of days with my brand new family. My little brothers told me they love me. Forgive me for thinking everything else right now is total bullshit!"

With that she pulled her arm out of Corey's grasp and angrily stormed out of the room.

As soon as she was safely in her room, she let out a sigh and prayed that had done the trick. She deserved an Oscar for that performance!

"Rae, come on. You look gorgeous, let's go already!"

"How do I look gorgeous, I'm not even dressed yet?" she chuckled as she riffled through the clothes in her wardrobe.

She wasn't feeling attractive at all. After she'd lain down on her bed that afternoon, she'd had another one of her attacks. After the sleeping pill had worn off she'd still felt so tired and going to see Corey's family was the last thing on her mind. But because she had promised to go, she thought if she made a bit of an effort with her clothes she'd feel better about herself and maybe draw attention away from the bags under her eyes.

"You know you don't need to dress up,"
Corey said from his spot on her king sized bed. "A pair of jeans will do."

She pulled out a pair of white, knee length Capri pants and a black halter neck top with white stripes and held them against her
underwear clad body.

"How about this?" she asked him.

"Yes!"

Rolling her eyes, she threw the outfit on the bed on top of the large pile of clothes she had discarded already next to him. He'd said yes to everything.

"If you don't hurry up and pick something I'll drag you out of here in your little French knickers," Corey threatened.

"With no bra?" she asked with a pretend incensed gasp, covering her bare breasts with her hands in false modesty. "Your mother would have a fit!"

There was a little knock on the door before John walked in. She had no idea why he still knocked; he'd seen her in the worst possible situations before.

"Tammy is here," he told her.

The way he held her gaze told her that her personal assistant had probably explained her reasons for her visit. Shit! He raised his eyebrows questioningly, making her rush to grab the Capri pants and top off the bed.

"Yeah, I was expecting her," she lied as she quickly dressed.

"Why did you tell her to come now? You know how mum gets when we're late," Corey moaned as he got off the bed to follow.

"It won't take a minute. Grab your keys," she said as she grabbed a pair of heels and her bag and rushed past John.

Tammy was waiting in the lounge, sitting all prim and proper on the edge of one of the sofas. She was only 21 now; she'd been her assistant for over two years now. Rae had picked her solely for the fact that the little brunette had come to the interview, straight out of school and dressed from head to toe in her conservative clothes looking like she couldn't be touched and she just hadn't been able to help herself. She'd imagined breaking her down slowly until she finally took what she wanted. Tammy had turned out to be the best person for the job, despite her tender years and inexperience so in the end she had decided against bedding her PA. She'd realised she couldn't lose her.

"Tammy, we can't do this right now," she said quickly.

"So when? You're ignoring my calls and you've been off God knows where without a word," Tammy started. "If I hadn't seen you in some entertainment magazine with Corey, I would never have known where you were."

"I was going to call you," she said.

"And while you thought about it, we've already lost two accounts," Tammy revealed. "We're in danger of losing three of our biggest if you don't stick to their agreements and do what we said we'd do."

"Tammy, I really can't do this right now," she repeated. "Hire out if you need to, I can't come back to work right now."

"Why? What could be more important than the business you've shed blood and tears to get where it is today? There are bigger companies out there who'll eat us up without a second thought; we'll be just an afterthought."

"I said I'd call you, Tamara," she repeated, using her full name to express how serious she was being. "You can run that business single handed, you've done it a million times before. Hire out or take on some of the accounts yourself. I'll be in touch soon."

Tammy stood up and picked her bag up, realising she had been dismissed. Rae felt something unfamiliar choke her, and she realised it was guilt. Tammy didn't deserve what was about to happen.

When she'd walked the brunette to the door, she said to her, "Give
yourself a raise. And a bonus. I couldn't be where I am without you."

"What's going on, Rae?" Tammy asked
, realising that there was more than met the eye.

"I will call you. Soon. I'll explain everything."

When she finally shut the door, she realised she had to see her lawyers as soon as possible. She had already done her will but they would have to make some adjustments. She would leave the company to Tammy. After two years working in close proximity with her she knew a few things about what made her who she was. She lived with an invalid mum and a Down's syndrome brother, it would be hard for her to start looking for another job now, not one that would pay her as well as she was paid now.

"Explain what?"

She turned from the door to see John standing right behind her. She rolled her eyes and walked past him to put her shoes on in the lounge.

"John, I love you and all, but you need to just step right on out of my business," she told him.