Page 101 of Lies and Lullabies
“Sure? Just a minute.” I went into the kitchen and returned with a wall calendar that Adam had made with a picture of Vivi on every page.
“Aw! Look at this. I need a copy.” Jonas pulled out his phone. “Okay. August seventh my tour is over. And I don’t have another show date until the twenty-fourth, in Munich.”
“Munich?”
“We’re headlining a music festival. Even though I told my agent not to book anything more in Europe or Asia, I can’t cancel this. But maybe you and Vivi could fly over with me beforehand, and we could go to Euro Disney, or something.”
I clicked my pen and made a note on the calendar. “Don’t evenbreathethe word Disney near Vivi until the day you are ready to pull up to the gates.”
“Point taken,” he said.
“Okay, Mr. Magic. What else is on your calendar?”
Twenty-Five
Jonas
I sat with Kira for hours as we worked through the details of our busy lives.
Together, we mapped out the next several months. This time, I was more honest about all the uncertainties in my life. “I have to figure out if Nixon is okay. And when we’ll need to get into the studio again.” I didn’t explain to Kira that Nixon always felt better again when fall arrived, because I really didn’t understand it myself.
“Okay,” Kira said, setting the calendar down. “That’s a lot of flying to Boston.”
“I don’t mind,” I said quickly.
“It’s just…” Her eyes lifted to search my face. “How does this work next year? When you can’t take any more time off? Your life is in Seattle and ours is here.”
I hitched myself closer to her on the couch and pulled her in. “I probably have to record in Seattle, but I can write anywhere. I promise.”
Kira started to say something else, but I didn’t let her. I leaned forward and took her mouth in a kiss. Just one. And she tasted like heaven. Like an angel.
Shewasan angel. Kira took care of her brother and her daughter. She’d once taken care of me, and I wanted to return the favor. I needed to start now. Kira was probably exhausted. I broke our kiss. “It’s late, and you’ve had a tough day. We should get some sleep.”
She smiled, and I felt it all over. “My father is staying here. I don’t quite know where to put you.”
This made me grin. “You can’t close the barn door after the horse gets out, Kira. I don’t think he’ll be shocked if I sleep in your bed.”
For a moment I thought she’d argue. “I suppose you’re right,” she said after a pause. “I’ll get him set up to stay in Adam’s room. I’ll leave him a note.”
While she did that, I went into Kira’s tiny room, where a double bed took up most of the floorspace. It wasn’t meant to be a bedroom, that much was obvious. There wasn’t even a closet.
I’d mentioned to Kira that I wanted to rent a place in Boston. But I’d rather buy a roomy brownstone and put a little recording studio in it. There would be a big bedroom for the two of us, a room for Vivi, of course, and also a guest room. There would be space enough for everyone. And it needed to be close to Adam, of course.
Did such a place exist? I’d have to find out.
I got ready for bed and climbed under Kira’s covers without waiting for an invitation. A few minutes later she appeared in the doorway wearing her black nightgown. Her eyes swept over me, and her lips quirked in amusement.
“What’s so funny?”
“You. There.”
“You see anything you like?” I wiggled my eyebrows at her.
Kira rolled her door shut—it was a pocket door, the sliding kind—and then she shut off the light and slipped into bed beside me.
“Your room is like a little cabin,” I remarked.
“That’s the generous description. It’s meant to be an office. I gave Vivi the real bedroom, so she’d have somewhere to keep her toys.”
