The High Notes: A Novel(62)

“Not yet.” She said something about it to Clay later.

“That’s easy, he just wants to be sure we’re staying together and he’s safe.”

“And he thinks that’s a sure thing?”

“I guess so,” Clay said quietly. “You know, if you ever do want to get married, I’d be willing. I’d like that very much. I just figured you weren’t ready.”

“I’m not. I feel too young to get married.” He respected what she said and didn’t press her.

“Then we’ll just stay engaged for as long as you want. After our fourth or fifth child, we’ll go down to city hall and get married,” he teased her.

“I’m really not ready for kids,” she said, but he knew that too.

“Even though you have a twelve-year-old kid?”

“He’s not mine. That’s different.”

“I’m not sure it is,” he said. “I love Jimmy almost as much as my daughters. In time, I’ll bet it will be the same.”

“Let’s not test the theory for a while. Let’s celebrate our engagement first,” she said, and they locked the door to their bedroom and did.





Chapter 16





Iris’s new album came out in November, and was a smash hit. They went on tour the day after Thanksgiving and she played her first concert of the tour on December 1 in Boston. Clay had gotten her a great opening band, which warmed the audiences perfectly. They were new talent he’d recently discovered.

They played Boston and Chicago, and then went to Denver. Her second tour was even more successful than the first one, and Clay stayed with her for the whole three weeks, making sure that everything went smoothly. The hard part this time was leaving Jimmy. She missed him, and they FaceTimed with him at breakfast and dinner.

She got food poisoning in San Francisco, but went on anyway, and in Dallas, it turned out to be the flu. She had no trouble singing and hitting the high notes. She just couldn’t eat. Clay was worried about her. She’d been working too hard for months, and she was sick for the rest of the tour but performed anyway. She’d been well trained to do that on her earlier tours for Weston and Hendrix.

She fainted in Atlanta before she went on, and realized it was because she hadn’t eaten, and when they got back to New York, he insisted she go to the doctor.

“I’m fine,” she dismissed it, but he could see that she had lost weight. She was exhausted. She was busy getting ready for Christmas since they’d been away for three weeks, and she’d been too sick to go shopping for most of the trip.

He came home early from work one afternoon, and found her asleep on their bed. She hadn’t been to the studio to rehearse in several days, he discovered when he checked, which was unlike her.

“What are you doing home so early?” she asked him sleepily, and he looked serious.

“We’re going to the doctor.”

“That’s ridiculous, I’m not sick.”

“I hope not. You felt lousy for most of the tour. You had food poisoning in San Francisco, the flu in Dallas, and you fainted in Atlanta. That doesn’t sound good to me. You’ve been working too hard. We have a four o’clock appointment with my internist. I can’t have my biggest star out of commission.”

“I have too much to do. I promised Jimmy I’d take him to get a new action figure that just came out, before it sells out.”

“Nope.” He sat down on the edge of the bed then. “Iris, I love you, you’re scaring me. Let’s find out what you’ve got and fix it. Please.” There were tears in his eyes, and she nodded and got up. She felt silly being taken to the doctor by him, but she didn’t like going to doctors, and he knew she wouldn’t go on her own. Her father had never taken her when she was a kid. She just kept going till she got over it.

“I promise, I’m not sick. I’m just tired after the tour.”

“You were tired before the tour,” he reminded her.

“I was recording the album then. I worked late every night.”

“Shut up and be good. Would you take Jimmy to the doctor?” She nodded and she could see that she wasn’t going to talk him out of it. He had his car and driver downstairs, and twenty minutes later, they were at his doctor’s Park Avenue address. She didn’t have one of her own.

He walked into the waiting room with her, and sat down. “You can take it from here,” he said. He wasn’t going to go in with her. He just wanted to get her there. After that, it was up to her. She sat down next to him and read a magazine, and they called her name five minutes later and she disappeared. She was gone for half an hour, and came out looking dazed. Clay didn’t like the way she looked, but didn’t want to ask her with other people around.

“Are you okay?” he whispered to her when they left the office.

“I’m fine,” she said. She looked shell-shocked.

“Did he run tests?”

“Yes.”

“Is it serious?”

“Very.” He looked panicked when she said it, and wanted to cry. He didn’t want to lose her. He had waited for her all his life. He stopped walking before they got to the car, and he pulled her into his arms.

“Whatever it is, we can deal with it. I love you. What did he say?”