The High Notes: A Novel(58)

Clay invited his daughters to the event. They had nineteen major stars signed up, and both Iris and Boy would be featured. She would perform a full concert, and the others would each do one song. The choir that had volunteered would close the show, with the last song being sung by everyone who had performed, plus the choir. Victims of the event, their families, and everyone who had been there that needed them got free tickets.

Clay described it to both his daughters on a conference call and said he hoped they would come, and he’d send the plane for them. And then he added the rest.

“I want you both to know before you come that Iris is living with me. Things have changed since you met her in L.A.”

“I knew she was your girlfriend,” Margie said. “You lied to us.”

“No, I didn’t. It started after that, in Houston. Neither of us realized before that, that it was what we wanted. It just kind of landed on us, along with some other things.”

“Like what?” Margie asked suspiciously, and Ellen groaned.

“Lighten up, Margie. What’s up, Dad?” Ellen asked more pleasantly.

“Is she pregnant?” Margie wanted to know.

“No, she’s not. She’s living with me, and we have an eleven-year-old boy living with us.”

“She has an eleven-year-old?” Margie nearly shrieked. “She had him at seventeen?”

“No. Her best friend was one of the victims at the Garden. It’s her son. And for now, we both have him. Her friend was at the concert that night, and was killed by the shooter. Her son now has no living relatives, so he’s staying with us. We’ll see what happens. Iris is fostering him.”

“You don’t need to put up with that, Dad,” Margie said cynically.

“No, but I want to. I didn’t have such a great childhood myself. Neither did Iris. It’s our way of giving someone else a better childhood than we had.”

“That’s beautiful, Dad,” Ellen said kindly, moved by what he’d said to them and what he was doing.

“He’s a sweet kid, and he’ll have a rough ride if he winds up in foster care in Mississippi, or anywhere. We’d like to make things better for him than that.”

“So now you have a girlfriend and an eleven-year-old,” Margie summed up and sounded disgusted. “Thanks for warning us. I can’t come to the concert anyway. Mom and I are doing a wedding that weekend, and she needs me. We’ve had it on the books for a year, and I can’t let her down.” She sounded happy to refuse.

“That’s fine,” he said evenly. “I just wanted you both to know that you’re invited, and I’d love for you to be there.”

“It sounds like a glittering cast, Dad. For a good cause. I’ll be there,” Ellen said, happy to be invited, and wanting to support him for what he was doing after a tragic event. And it sounded like an incredible evening. Some of his biggest artists were going to be performing. “And you don’t have to send the plane for me,” she added, “I’ll fly commercial.” Ellen was much more modest than her sister, and rarely asked for anything.

“I’ll have Joanne get your ticket,” he said to Ellen. “And, Margie, if you change your mind, you’re welcome.”

“It sounds like you have a full house,” she said, miffed.

“There’s always room for you.” He didn’t make an issue of her not coming, thanked Ellen again, and they hung up. Margie was so shocked about Jimmy that she didn’t object to Iris as much as he expected. It was actually working out surprisingly well. Jimmy had been there for three weeks, and was happy and liked Zoe, the sitter, who was a sweet graduate student, going to law school at NYU at night. She kept Jimmy entertained by day and she babysat on some nights too. And Iris tried to be home for him as much as she could. He seemed to be thriving. They were still waiting for the home visit, which hadn’t happened yet, but was due any day.



* * *



—

The day of the memorial concert, Clay and Iris had a thousand things to think of. Boy had volunteered to keep the players straight when he wasn’t singing, and he and Iris were doing three duets, and he was singing four more songs on his own. Clay helped them with the order of appearances, determined by who the biggest stars were. Some were more easygoing than others. Even for charity events, there were rivalries. The press had been notified and were being given access for free.

They were making it casual, and Iris was planning to wear a denim miniskirt, within reason, red cowboy boots, and a rhinestone Levi’s jacket that was fabulous. She wanted the evening to be upbeat and made a point of not wearing black, as she usually did onstage.

Ellen arrived the night before, and stayed in the room she always did. She and Margie both had their own bedrooms at their father’s. The room Jimmy was sleeping in was a fourth bedroom Clay never used. Jimmy was right at home there. And Iris had put a framed photo of Pattie in his room. Ellen was very friendly with Jimmy, and played card games with him she had loved as a kid. She was respectful and kind with Iris, and Iris liked her. She was a straight-shooting, warm, open, nice young woman, with a passion for animals. Rosie loved her, and Jimmy too. He loved having a dog now. His mom never let him.

Most of the stars who were signed up were too busy for rehearsals, so they were going to wing it. Boy tried to get them to say what they were going to perform, but many of them still didn’t know even the day before. He was resigned to the fact that with that many stars lined up, there was going to be a certain amount of chaos, but it was all for a good cause.