Page 102 of Everything After

Alfie closed out the call and put his cell phone back in his pocket.

“Look at you… what did you say, playing matchmaker?”

“I’m not meddling. I like Neil, he’s one of the good guys, and Kara… maybe she’s finally ready to move on.”

I shook my head. “You never cease to surprise me,” I mumbled, sliding my hand through his arm and cuddling into his side.

“Lily, that sounds like a challenge when you say things like that to me. Don’t underestimate me, I’ve more than a few tricks left up my sleeves,” he mumbled, nudging me away with his shoulder and dipping to peck my lips. “If you’re good I might even break one of those moves out for you tonight when we get into bed.”

CHAPTER 56

ALFIE

“Good luck today. I’m sure you’ll feel better once you’ve spoken to her. No matter which way it goes, you’ll have had a chance to tell her how she made you feel, and you’ll get closure.”

“That’s just it, with all these hormones flying around inside me, one minute I’m like, ‘okay, I can be the bigger person. I found the love of my life in you, we have a great life’, and the next I feel all stabby and want to scratch her eyes out the moment I see her.”

I chuckled. “The bigger person gets my vote.”

She sighed and I heard how heavy the thought of the meeting with Saffy rested on her chest. “I know, mine too.”

“Just do it and hurry back. I want you to spend time with Kara.”

“I still can’t get over you inviting Neil.”

“Why not? He was a good kid in college… a good musician too. I’m interested in where he’s at now and… I guess I want some normality from good, grounded people that have nothing to do with the music industry.”

“I hear you. Okay, well, I’ll do my best to keep my temper in check and get home as soon as I can.”

Lily had been on tenterhooks since the moment Holly had rung to say she was bringing Saffy to Miami. The face-to-face between them was intended to clear the air before Holly’s wedding. Holly had flown in her daddy’s jet from Dallas to pick up Saffy from Oklahoma and planned to mediate between them.

Obviously, the less stress for Lily the better, in my view, but she’d insisted on going alone, but conceded to Oscar driving her there, staying with her and bringing her home.

Since I knew I’d be home alone for most of that day, I’d invited Kara and her daughter over with the view to looking at real estate and having a proper catchup.

Meeting Neil had given me an idea the moment I’d learned he wasn’t with anyone, and as he and Kara had daughters, I figured that they should be introduced to each other. Kara needed friends, and Neil looked like he could do with one when I’d seen him at the reunion.

Usually, I wasn’t interested in anyone else’s business, but Kara was different. However, when I’d invited her and her daughter over, Neil hadn’t been in the picture. Now that he was, I figured I wouldn’t tell her that he was coming, in case she found an excuse not to come.

I’d sent a car to pick up Kara and Poppy from Sienna’s and had them come to the helipads at the executive airport in Miami. It had been weeks since I’d flown and wanted to keep up my hours, plus, what can I say, it was a fun way to travel.

“Wow, are you really going to drive a helicopter?”

“Fly a helicopter. I have no idea what they’re teaching school kids these days,” Kara said, rolling her eyes to the back of her head.

“I know, I was being silly,” Poppy remarked.

The girls climbed in, buckled up then I took off for the short ride back to the island. “This is awesome, I can’t believe I’m actually in a helicopter being flown by a famous rock star to his house,” Poppy gushed.

“Me neither.” Kara beamed a smile that moved me, and I considered that it was the first time I’d seen a genuine smile that reached her eyes since we lost Gary.

“I didn’t know you flew your own helicopter,” Kara admitted.

“Lily’s dad was a commercial helicopter pilot in London, it was him who suggested it. At first, I thought it sounded pretentious given we have a jet. Although, since Charlie taught me, Lily bought me this for my birthday. I know it’s extravagant, but it cuts down a lot on time when longer distance meetings are required. You have no idea how many pressures there are on our time. I’d take it everywhere, but finding places to land it is tricky.”

“Is Lily at the house?”

“No, she had an errand to run this morning, but she’ll be back later.” What happened between Lily and Saffy was their business, and I found the more people that have opinions as to how someone should react when they’ve been wronged, the more convoluted the resolution becomes.