Chapter 28

After the wedding comes the marriage.

Cathay turned out to be a remarkable wife. She was totally in on our being a couple, all the time, every day, without exception. We managed to spend three entire years without ever sleeping anywhere except together. Having a wonderful Gulfstream private jet made being together a lot less stressful than it would be if we had to fly commercial.

Sheldon became Baby Girl’s best friend. They spent all day together just sitting and touching. He was so damaged that sitting was almost all he was capable of, but they positively adored each other. When he went down for his frequent naps, Baby Girl settled on the bed beside him and glared at anyone daring to try and disturb his sleep.

The four of us were always together. If it were possible, after all the publicity that surrounded our wedding, Cathay was even more in demand. To balance work and life, she carefully chose which commitments to accept and which to ignore. Those that would put too much strain on Sheldon’s fragile health were declined without a thought. Those that wouldn’t build her brand were declined regretfully.

When she toured, we all toured. The jet hauled us all over the world so that Cathay could capture millions of people under her special spell. The talent that was stored inside her body was immense. People that loved her music had no earthly idea how little of the whole package they were enjoying.

When Cathay discovered I played the piano, she browbeat me into being her rehearsal accompanist, so that she could practice away from the rest of her entourage, giving us even more time alone. Sheldon seemed to adore sitting in his special wheelchair and listening to his favorite person in the whole world, sing to him, as she worked out arrangements, memorized lyrics, and decided what would and wouldn’t make it into her shows.

No matter how hard she pushed, I steadfastly refused to stand on the stage with her orchestra. They were true musicians. I was a hack and we both knew it. Cathay wanted me to experience her world from above the orchestra seats, and I wanted to enjoy being captivated by her performances.

Our first year flew by.

When she needed to head off to Australia to do a command performance for an international gathering of heads of state, the doctors put their foot down. Sheldon was in no condition to fly all the way to Australia and turn around to come back within sixty-seven hours. When Cathay begged me to look after her little man, I agreed to stay home with him and Baby Girl.

It would be easy, but I hated being parted from my new wife.

The phone jarred me awake at three-twenty-four A.M.

“Lord Terrance. This is Joan Davidson at MI-6.” She gave me a few seconds to come awake. If they were calling me in the middle of the night, it was bad.

“Lord Terrance, there’s been a terrorist event in Australia.” The longest five seconds of my life began when she paused before continuing. “There was a bombing at the Summit. Many leaders were injured, several fatally.”

I waited for what felt like days for the hammer to drop.

“Lord Terrance, I am so sorry to have to inform you that Cathay was among those killed...”

I know she continued speaking but I heard nothing.

‘How can this keep happening to me,’ I thought, impotently?

The pain in my heat was every bit as bad as when Jennifer and Beth Ann were killed. Time seemed to stop at the point that Joan said Cathay was gone. My mind couldn’t wrap itself around the indescribable pain that crushed my heart. Baby Girl sensed my torment and was beside me in an instant. Her nose pressed firmly into my chest as she tried to save me from the blackness that rose around me. Evidently Joan hung up. At some point I realized that I was holding a dead phone and smashed it into the wall beside the bed. The shattering of the parts barely registered.