Chapter 10 #3
“Yeah, we all tend to do that.” He laughed but stopped when the pain got to be too much.
I’m thinking that you’re going to be sore for some time now.
By the way, Ivan is getting your house worked on.
I wish I would have thought about it, but I think he might have as many as four crews working on it right now. ”
“That sounds like him. Just shut up and get it done.” Devlin nodded and stretched out his legs. “I guess I broke a few things.” He told him what had happened to him.
“You’re lucky I heard that the desk was on the far side of the room. It would have killed you had it landed on you.” He asked about the computer. “No one has said anything about it, but I can check for you. I’ll call your house now and have someone look.”
“Thanks. I was nearly at the end of the book, and I don’t want to have to start over.
It’s been good writing since I started on it.
” He said that he still reads his books whenever he has one come out.
“Thanks, but I told you guys not to buy them. I get enough advance copies that you don’t have to do that. ”
“I think we look forward to it coming out with everyone else. I know that I do. It’s been good to be able to sit and read one of them, knowing that it’s you who wrote it.
How did your last book signing go? Amber didn’t mention it to the women, so I don’t know.
” He said that he had people lined up out the door for him to sign the book he had coming out.
“That’s good. I know you hate to go to them, but people certainly do line up to meet you.
Do you go by Guy Frazier to them or Adam Sloan? ”
“Adam. I don’t want to confuse people about who I am.
Not to mention it keeps my life private.
I don’t want anyone to know that I’ve got an entirely different life that I live when I’m not working.
” Devlin told him that he could see that.
“You’ve no idea how scary it is for me to go to these things.
I keep waiting on someone to say that I’m a terrible writer and that I should quit writing altogether.
Or that someone will want to know why I’m writing at all when I should have a real job. ”
They both laughed, and it was a little easier on Guy.
They talked about all kinds of things while his brother dozed in and out.
He was told that it was the pain medication and that he’d be fighting sleep for a while now.
He shouldn’t, but he enjoyed talking to him.
He’d seen the house too and couldn’t believe that he was still alive after that.
“I have two more books in the series that I’m working on, and then it’ll be done.
I don’t know how I’m going to end it yet, but I’m sort of looking forward to it.
It’s nice to start something fresh in a new series.
I’m sort of living my life that way. Like it’s a book in a series that I’m writing so that I can have lots of memories for when I’m too old to make stories up anymore.
” He asked him if he’d still be writing murder mysteries.
“I don’t know yet. I’m still in the middle of this book ending.
But the series will end with no cliffhangers.
I know that people hate that. I’ll even have a few people bitch to me about not writing more in the series so that they can go on with the families that I’ve created.
I’d like my life to end like a story. Just ease into life so that it looks like I’ve gone on with my life after they’ve finished reading about me. ”
“If you were to write about us, that’s the way that I’d want you to end our series.
Like we’ve just stepped away from the story to get on with our lives.
But we’d have a good life too now that we have our families around us.
” He said that was it exactly. “Good. When I go, I want you to write my obit. Just say that I was a good man and a better father than I had. Then tell people to go to Brandy and Lica’s house because you know they’ll have food there. ”
Again, they both laughed, and he closed his eyes.
Devlin watched his brother sleep for a while and took his bruised hand into his.
After looking at his face, the stitches making it difficult to remember that he was his brother, he realized that his brother was right.
He’d go out with life like he’d lived the best that he could.
The two of them talked back and forth. When Amber returned with his meal, Guy was still awake this time. She cried, and he decided to step out of the room and find himself someplace else to eat. Or take it home. He was nearly to his car when Lisa contacted him.
“First of all, I love you.” He laughed and told her that he loved her as well. “Good. Nothing is wrong, but I told the kids that we’d have dinner out tonight. They heard about Guy and are upset. You know as well as I do they all love their uncles.”
“They do.” He put the sub on the side of the car where Lisa usually was and decided that he’d be all right until dinner. “I’m on my way home now. How about we get all dressed up and go someplace nice? That way we can have a good time, and no one has to have chicken fingers for dinner.”
“That sounds wonderful. While we’re out, we can stop by the bookstore to get the next installment of the series that the kids are wanting read to them.
” He said that would be great. “Awesome. I’ve been thinking about our vacation, and I want to go to Canada.
It’ll be good for the kids, and they’ll get to use their passports.
You know how much they love getting them stamped. ”
“I do as well. Next summer we’ll have to go someplace we’ve never been so that they can have a new stamp in their books.” She asked him where. “I don’t know. How about France? I think you can convince the nanny to go with us for a paid trip. That way, you and I can have some fun on our own.”
“I love that idea. And I don’t think it’ll take much convincing.
She loves it when we travel with her.” He said they’d plan it for the next summer and have a blast. “You know it. I think that it’ll be fun just to take the kids, but if we take Margaret, then, like you said, we can have some fun too. Yes, that’s a wonderful idea.”
They talked about the vacation while he was driving home. As soon as he pulled into the driveway, he knew that he was going to be planning the vacation for two weeks, if not more. It was something to look forward to, and he was going to make it the best that he could.
That night, he worked on the plans. It was like his brother said, another page in the series of life.
And now that he was going to be going on vacation with his family, he was going to live his life like it was a book.
Write down what they did and take plenty of pictures.
He was going to make sure that he had memories to bask in when he got older, and the kids were gone from home.