I figured I’d probably find Emmy up in the sitting room that will eventually become her recording space, playing the guitar she no doubt just bought, and that’s exactly where she was. Emmy was sitting in a chair facing the river, strumming her new guitar and singing softly to herself when I walked in.
“Hey, babe. How was the guitar shop?” I asked, resting my hands on her shoulders.
Emmy leaned her head over and nuzzled her cheek on my hand. “It was not what I expected,” she admitted. “I thought they would have more guitars for sale, but to my surprise, they mostly repair and fine-tune guitars for clients. The guitars they did have were all there on consignment. I bought this Ovation just so I would have something to play while we are here. It is nice enough, but I am not in love with it,” she explained.
“Well, I’m in love with you,” I said, rubbing her shoulders.
“Leah… that feels wonderful. And it reminds me- I need to buy some massage oil.”
Laughing, I leaned down for a kiss, and told Emmy “You aren’t the only one who wants to get me naked.”
“Well, of course not,” Emmy said. “You are stunning!”
Laughing at how Emmy’s verbal judo had left my joke flat on the mat, I explained. “Luisa asked if I would pose for her.”
“Really?” Emmy asked, her eyes widening with excitement. “Nude?”
“Well, she said either way, but if I was O.K. with nude that would be great,” I said.
“I think you should do it!” Emmy said, captivated by the idea.
“You want another woman to check out your naked wife?” I asked, teasing.
“Yes! You are magnificent, Leah. How could I not wish to show you off?”
Laughing, I said “I’m not really sure I’m comfortable with posing nude, you know?”
“Why not? Emmy asked. “You did it for that calendar.”
“Yeah, but that was the whole team, and the pics were ‘implied nude’ and didn’t actually show anything,” I replied. “And I didn’t know the photographer, and my session was over in, like, fifteen minutes. If Luisa is going to paint a portrait it’d have to be hours, I’d imagine.”
“Usually the artist does a series of sketches in the first sitting, getting the pose and composition she wants. Then she paints the majority of the portrait working off the sketch, and only calls the subject to sit down for another hour, maybe two, for the final details,” Emmy explained.
“Let me guess- you’ve had your portrait painted,” I said. Of course she had, right?
“Yes, several times during my childhood,” Emmy agreed.
“So you would be O.K. with me being nude in front of Luisa?” I asked, just for confirmation.
“I am very much in favor of it,” Emmy agreed. “When would it happen?”
“When she asked, I told her I wanted to see her portfolio first, and only then would I agree. So I guess whenever she drags it out to show me.”
“This could be so much fun!”
“For you, maybe,” I grumbled, but to be honest, I didn’t actually hate the idea. I mean, she was an artist, and had done plenty of figure studies, right? So for Luisa, I’d just be another model posing, that’s all, I told myself. No reason for it to be weird. It wasn’t weird when I took her clothes off so she could sleep last night, was it?
Changing the subject, I asked, “Hey, what do you want to do for dinner tonight?”
“I would like to stay in tonight,” Emmy replied, after thinking about it for a moment. “Perhaps we can order something for delivery?”
“Sounds good to me,” I agreed.
Leaving Emmy alone to practice, I wandered back down to the wine cellar to find Luisa.
“Hey, Emmy said you cooked for the Daltons, right?” I asked.
“At least once a week,” she agreed. “They had a cook, but she only worked Monday through Friday night, so I made the Sunday dinners,” Luisa explained.
“What about Saturdays?” I asked.
“They always went out for dinner on Saturdays,” Luisa said, shrugging. “Sometimes I’d cook if any of the kids stayed home, but usually the whole family went out.”
“Well, how about if you make dinner tonight? I know there’s really nothing here at the house, and Emmy and I are leaving in a couple of days, but you’re going to need some groceries, too, right? Let’s do some grocery shopping and have dinner in, tonight.”
“Sure, you’re the boss,” agreed Luisa, racking the bottle she’d finished cataloguing. “The Daltons liked pretty standard American fare. Steaks, potatoes, roast chicken, that sort of thing, but I’m also pretty good with Italian, too,” Luisa said, winding up her extension cord and stuffing her laptop under her arm. “Give me twenty minutes and I’ll be ready.”
“I’ll be in the kitchen,” I said.
The two big refrigerators were almost entirely empty, save for a few things like bottles of water, some Cokes, and the like. The freezer was totally empty, too, for which I was probably grateful. The pantry had a fair amount of canned goods, and thankfully it was all fairly recent, judging by the date codes.
“Yeah, I looked at that stuff,” said Luisa as I was checking the cans. “I think that the cook here kept the stock up to date, so none of those cans are too old at all, from what I can tell.”
“Except maybe the Cokes in the fridge in the cellar,” I joked.
“What? No, I put those there,” Luisa said. “I needed something while I was working down there.”
“Oh, thank God,” I said. “I was a bit worried I was drinking stuff that should have been thrown out years ago,” getting a chuckle from Luisa.
“No, that fridge down there was empty. Those Cokes and bottles of water are all new.”
“Should I call Wally to give us a ride to the store?” I asked.
“No, it’s only like three blocks away,” Luisa answered. “But if we do a big shopping trip we’ll want a ride back here.”
“All right,” I said. “I’ll text him to let him know we’ll need him in an hour or so.”
“How bizarre is it to go grocery shopping in a limo?” mused Luisa as we walked out the door.
“So, I’ve been considering keeping Wally on full-time,” I said as we walked. “What are your thoughts?”
“Well,” Luisa said, thinking about it. “You need a driver when you’re in town, right? But how much of the time are you guys actually planning on being here?”
“That’s a good question,” I said. “But it won’t just be us. I expect that friends and family members will be able to use the house as their New York headquarters, even if Emmy and I aren’t here. So maybe, I don’t know, three or four months out of the year, all told? But also, what if you need a ride somewhere?”
“If I can’t get there by walking or on the subway, I usually get an Uber,” Luisa said. “So it isn’t as if I need a limo to chauffeur me around.”
“Well, it wouldn't be a limo,” I said. “I’d probably buy two vehicles for here, since we have two parking spots. A nice sedan, and maybe a van or something like that for when we have something big that needs to be picked up. I don’t know,” I said. “I haven't really given it a lot of thought.”
“Well, let’s think about this for a moment,” Luisa said as we waited at a crosswalk. “Right now, this visit, you’re here for, what, ten days? And how much is the limo service charging for you to keep Wally exclusive?” Not waiting for an answer, she continued. “Now let’s say you need a driver for three months out of the year- that’s the low end of your estimate, right? So that’s ninety days. Multiply what the service is charging you times nine. Is that more or less than the cost of keeping Wally on the payroll, plus the cost of the cars you’re talking about? If so, then hire him. If not, you’d only be paying for convenience, which is O.K. if you accept that that’s what you’re doing. I mean, really, the rational economic choice is to just Uber wherever you want to go and pay delivery fees when you have to.”
“All right, I can see that’s the rational argument,” I agreed. “And I’d more or less thought the same thing. But the reality is that I can’t drive Emmy wherever she needs to go all the time, and parking is such a… challenge, here in Manhattan, that having our own car that we drive would be as much a pain in the ass as anything,” I said. “This means having a driver. Uber and taxis are O.K. for most people, but Emmy’s really recognizable and famous, and there are those out there who are most definitely not fans and I’m not really in love with the idea of her getting in cars driven by randos, know what I mean?”
“You mean those religious asshats that sometimes protest her shows?” Luisa asked.
“Yeah, and others,” I said, and realized that I needed to explain the whole Night Children thing to her.
After that, the actual shopping took most of our attention. We got ingredients for dinners for the next few nights, as well as things that Luisa would need for herself, living in the townhouse after we leave.
I texted Wally as we went through the checkout, and he pulled up to the curb just as we exited the store. Quickly loading the groceries in the trunk, soon we were back at the house.
“Wally, can you stay for dinner?” I asked as we carried the grocery bags down the front steps and into the lower entrance. I refused to call it the ‘servants’ entrance’.
“Dinner? Me? With you and Miss Emmy?”
“And Luisa and Grant, too,” I said. “I have some things I’d like to talk about with you.”
“Of course,” Wally said. “Let me park the car and I’ll be right back.”
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Grant was at the breakfast table in the kitchen, reading something on his laptop. He jumped up to help, but we’d already carried in everything between the three of us.
“Luisa’s making dinner tonight,” I said.
“Anything I can do to help?” he asked.
“Well, I was thinking that after dinner, we could maybe have some drinks,” I said. “Luisa, you said you tended bar in college?”
“Well, yeah, but at Applebee’s,” she answered as we worked to put the groceries away.
“Know how to make a Manhattan?” asked Grant.
“Of course,” Luisa replied, a look of disbelief on her face that he would even ask.
“Well, how about you check to see what we actually have that’s any good, then make up a shopping list? Grant, would you make a run to the liquor store with me for whatever Luisa needs?”
“Yeah, I can do that,” Luisa said.
“Sounds like a plan,” Grant agreed.
Fifteen minutes later, after Luisa had Grant and Wally bring up everything from the wet bar downstairs to the bar in the parlor, she started working on her list. She tossed the cherries and the like in the trash, poured a few bottles down the sink and generally eliminated everything that was no good any more. Grant managed to pick the lock on the locked cabinet, which did have the good stuff hidden away.
She wrote down what was needed, and then what would be good to have. A third list were things that we should have gotten at the grocery store- limes, oranges, fresh mint, olives- that sort of thing.
“You know that when the crews are here, all this needs to be locked up,” Luisa said.
“I guess we can just transfer everything to the cellar bar when the time comes,” I said.
“Yeah, but they’re going to work down there, too.”
“We’ve got to have the wine removed into storage by then,” I agreed. “Any progress on that?”
“I’ve sent out a couple of emails,” Luisa said.
With the list in hand, Grant and I headed for the liquor store Luisa recommended while she stayed behind to get going on dinner. Wally stayed to help, with the understanding that we might need a ride back to the house.
“I got my daughter tickets for tomorrow,” Grant said as we walked.
“Great!” I replied. “She’s on board with the whole idea?”
“Yeah, she is,” he said. “She’d been feeling stuck in a rut, you know? This is just the sort of kick in the pants that she needs,” he said.
“Well, she hasn’t come up to check things out yet, or met me and Emmy, never mind Luisa, who’d be her roommate, in a sense. She might change her mind.”
“Realistically, you have to remember that she just got out of four years in the Corps. At no point in any of that time did she get to pick her roommates, much less her boss, so it isn’t like she’ll complain.”
“No, maybe not,” I agreed.
We grabbed the things we needed from the grocery store, then walked to the liquor store in amiable silence.
Our shopping list didn't seem that long, but the total was almost two thousand bucks anyway. A few of the bottles made the bulk of the ticket, and we didn’t even buy any of the really expensive Scotches. Still, it was a couple of heavy grocery bags’ worth, so we called Wally for a lift. It was only three long blocks home, but still- we had a driver, so why not put him to use?
Settling into the limo, Grant said “Leah, I gotta admit this wasn’t the life I expected after retirement.”
“No?”
“Nah, I expected I’d take some civilian contracting job, maybe training soldiers in the UAE or someplace like that. I didn’t think I’d be wearing tailored suits, riding in limousines.”
“And here you are,” I said.
“And here I am,” he agreed.
Back at the house, Grant and I carried the alcohol and mixer ingredients up to the parlor bar. As we were stocking the shelves, Grant said “I know I kind of sprung the idea of hiring Mia on you,” he said. “Don’t spare my feelings if she doesn't work out when you talk to her. Sure, she’s my daughter, but she needs to either get this job or not based on her own merits, not just because you’re humoring an old man.”
“Grant,” I said, pausing a moment. “You brought up the idea, but I was already thinking along those lines. You suggested a candidate, and because I’ve come to trust your judgement, I’m happy to interview her. Your recommendation carries some weight, don’t get me wrong, but if she isn’t the right fit, I’m not going to try to make it work. It never even occurred to me to hire your daughter simply because she’s your daughter. Now, because she is your daughter, I am willing to be flexible on some things, like taking the time to attend classes, for example. But I also look at that as an investment. Maybe she’ll study real estate law and I’ll switch her job position when she graduates. Maybe she gets her degree in culinary arts and she takes over as household chef- whatever. If she’s doing what she wants, she’ll be better at it and more motivated, and everybody wins, right?”
“Well, of course,” he admitted. “Thanks.”
“I haven’t hired her yet.”
“No, that’s not what I meant. Thanks for, hell, I don’t know how to say it. Thanks for being so…”
Laughing, I said “Let’s go down and see how close dinner is to being ready.”
Passing through the first floor, we saw Wally setting the dining table, and Grant went in to help. “I’d bet you didn’t see this as how you were going to spend this work week,” Grant said to Wally as I descended to the basement kitchen.
Luisa was busy, so after I asked and she told me that she had everything under control and dinner would be ready in twenty, I went to find Emmy. I eventually found her up on the top floor terrace, the one I’d already started thinking of as Luisa’s patio.
Emmy was leaning against the railing, looking out over the East River at Long Island City in the distance, enjoying the warm humid evening air.
“What are you doing?” I asked as I wrapped my arms around her.
Sighing with pleasure, she leaned back into my arms. “I am thinking about things.”
“What things are you thinking about?”
“The activity in this house, with Luisa, Grant and Wally here- it reminds me of home when I was young.”
“Makes sense,” I said. “I mean, I’ve only ever seen your Fallbrook house, but it always had people around, working.”
“Yes. Our house in Palo Alto has always felt very quiet to me. Perhaps even a bit lonely.”
“Even with Grace and her little girlfriends around all the time?”
“Even so,” Emmy said.
“Hmm,” I said, thinking about what Emmy had just told me. “So, if you like that activity, why are you up here, all by yourself?”
“I do not need to be in the activity, Leah. I simply need to know that it is happening.”
I had no reply for that, but it did get me to thinking.
We stayed like that, me holding Emmy, her arms across mine, looking at the ships on the river and the lights of the city across the water.
“I love you so much, Leah,” Emmy whispered. “I wish this could last forever.”
“I do, too,” I whispered back. “I do, too.”
Luisa had prepared salmon steaks for those of us who liked fish and roasted chicken breasts for Wally and me. It was good- not too fancy, but well cooked and nicely presented. I particularly enjoyed the sautéed summer squash, which got compliments from everybody. This was the first meal Luisa had cooked for us, and I thought she did an excellent job.
During dinner, we chatted about relatively trivial things, then, as they say, ‘retired to the parlor’ to have drinks and a more serious conversation.
Luisa made me a really nice Old Fashioned, and Grant got the Manhattan he’d asked about earlier. Wally stuck to ginger ale, since he had to drive home afterwards, and Emmy had a glass of sherry, as did Luisa.
“All right,” I said when everybody had settled down. “I wanted to get you all here together to get your input on some things.”
Wally looked puzzled, probably wondering why I’d ask him to be involved.
“Here’s the deal. Emmy and I, we bought this house to be a place to stay when we are here on the East Coast. This isn’t going to be our full-time residence. You all know that, right?” When everybody indicated they understood, I continued. “Right now, Luisa is our only person who will be here full-time. She’s going to take care of the house for us while we’re gone. But I don’t really like the idea of her being in this big old house all by herself all the time, so I’m thinking of hiring somebody else, somebody who could do some of the maintenance, somebody who could help her out. This is a big house, and running it will take a fair amount of work, and I don’t want Luisa to have to deal with it all on her own.”
Looking around, I saw that Wally still didn’t know why he was involved in this discussion, Grant knew exactly what I was talking about, and Emmy seemed sort of pleased that I’d maybe hire somebody to help Luisa. Luisa herself looked a bit concerned, but she didn't say anything, so I continued.
“Luisa doesn't drive, and the other person I’m thinking about hiring won’t necessarily be a driver, either, so Wally, this is where you come in. How would you feel about joining our staff on a permanent basis?”
“Me?” he asked, surprised. “But you just said you wouldn't be here all the time. Why would you need a full-time driver?”
“We don’t,” I admitted. “But we will often enough to make having you on staff make sense. The way I see it, you’d drive Emmy and me when we’re in town, or, if we have guests staying here, you’d drive them. Also, if Luisa needed your help, maybe for a big shopping trip or something like that, you’d drive for her when she needed it. Realistically, you’d be on call all day and evening for maybe three, four months out of the year, and the rest of the time you’d just wait until your services are needed. So it’d be busy like this last week for maybe one third of the year, and mostly time off the rest of the year.”
“And pay?” he asked.
“I’d pay you every other week, regardless of how much or how little you worked for us that period, and I’d make sure you earned at least what you’re getting now from the livery company. But this would mean you’d have the possibility of being called on at any time. If we just decided to fly in at two in the morning on some random Tuesday, we’d expect you to meet us at the airport. While we're in town, we might ask you to work from breakfast time until the clubs close down at three the next morning, or might give you the day off- I can’t say. You’ve seen what it’s been like this week. But if we’re out of town, unless Luisa calls you in or something like that, your time’ll be your own.”
“Why- why would you do this? It makes no sense,” Wally protested.
“Sure it does. Simple math says that if we want a dedicated driver like you for the times we’ll be in town, it’d cost us as much as we’d pay you for a year’s salary,” I explained “Emmy and I like you, and you’ve been nothing but excellent in the way you’ve treated us and accommodated our requests. Who knows what driver we’d get next time, even if we specifically requested you?”
“Thanks,” Wally said at the compliment. “It has been a pleasure to drive for the two of you.”
“Also, Wally, one more thing. If we do hire you, I’m going to send you to some specialist driving schools, and you’ll spend some time working with Grant here, too.”
“Driving schools?”
“She means evasive driving,” Grant said. “Hey, Luisa, can I get another one of these?” he asked holding up his glass.
“The company had us go through an evasive driving course,” Wally said.
“Not like this one,” Grant said. “I guarantee it wasn’t like the one she’s talking about.”
“Um, medical? Dental?” Wally asked.
“It may seem strange, but you’ll actually be on the payroll of a real company with real accountants and real health care plans, both of you,” I said, looking at Wally and Luisa. “My company has retirement plans and everything. It’s totally above-board.”
“Let me talk to my wife,” Wally hedged.
“Of course. We also have college aid, too.”
“And you’d match my current pay?”
“At least,” I assured him.
“Can I call my wife now?” he asked, and I knew he was onboard.
“Sure, or talk it over when you get home. I don’t need an answer right now.”
“Thanks,” he said and sat back down.
“Now, Luisa, what happened last night makes me think that you need to work with Grant here, too.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, looking nervous.
“Grant is our security chief. He’s trained thousands in self defense strategies and techniques. You and Wally will study with him, maybe an hour a day, whatever works best, until he says you’re good enough.”
“Good enough?” she asked, looking even more worried.
“Leah means good enough to deal with shitheads like the junkie last night,” Grant said, sipping his Manhattan.
“I could never beat anybody up like that!” she protested.
“That isn’t what either of us mean,” Grant assured her. “Hell, of those thousands that I’ve trained, only a handful could have done what Leah did last night as easily. No, mostly I’ll be teaching you how to spot trouble like that a mile away and avoid it,” he said, giving me a meaningful look. “Same goes for you, Wally. Sure, I’ll teach both of you some basic self defense combat moves, but mostly it’ll be conflict avoidance strategies.”
“Um, why?” Luisa asked, still nervous.
“This is confidential- don’t share this around,” I said. “Wally, you need to take this into consideration on whether you want the job. There are people who literally want Emmy dead. Not idiots like that guy last night, but people who have very specific agendas against Emmy. It’s unlikely that either of you two would ever be targeted- that isn’t their style, but with Grant’s training, you’ll perhaps be able to see suspicious behavior that you’d otherwise miss and avoid getting caught up in it. I don’t want either of you thinking you have any sort of bodyguard duties. No, if these people come around, I want you to get away, protect yourself by not getting involved if it comes down to a fight.”
“You’re serious?” Luisa asked.
“Very serious. I want you to learn self defense to defend yourself, and threat assessment to know when to get away. I just want you to be safe. I don’t want you wrapped up in any dangerous situation,” I said.
“This is why you’d want me to take evasive driving classes?” Wally asked, showing that he was paying attention.
“Exactly.”
“How often does this happen?” Luisa asked.
“Once in the last four years,” I said. “Well, twice, actually,” I said.
“Not counting last night?”
“Not counting last night,” I agreed.
“What happened those two times?” Wally asked, beating Luisa to the punch.
“I’ll give you all the details if you decide to hire on,” I told him. Turning to Luisa, I said “I’ll tell you if you decide you’re still onboard tomorrow.”
Emmy chimed in for the first time since we’d all sat down. “Leah is… Leah is very, very committed to the security and well-being of our people. All of our people on the West Coast, even those who were caught up in the two mentioned incidents, they trust her with their lives. It is no exaggeration to say that our people adore her and would do anything for her.”
“It’s true,” Grant said. “I’ve seen it. Unbelievable loyalty.”
“You make it should like she’s some sort of cult leader,” Luisa said.
“No chanting, no saffron robes,” Grant said, laughing. “I promise.”