Chapter 1
"Happy Birthday, Sweetheart." Shirley said into the phone wishing with all her heart that her son was in front of her rather than 3000 miles away.
"Thanks Mom. Wish I was home for one of your great cakes." Keith laughed remembering all the great birthdays he'd had at home.
It was April 12, 1975. Here he was turning 21 and he was on the road. The family group had broken up the summer before. Just as Laurie was deciding that college life was too busy for her to keep touring, Keith was deciding that college life wasn't for him and he was planning to devote all of his time to touring. He had put out a solo album while the family was still performing and had toured by himself and with the family.
That murderous schedule had almost put him in the hospital several times for exhaustion, but he'd made it through before collapsing into his bed at home to sleep for more than 24 hours straight after each grueling tour. He'd pretended to stay in college for one more semester, but even with a very limited class load, he wasn't able to attend many classes and had eventually dropped out with his mother's grudging acceptance.
Since that tense conversation, she'd slowly but surely accepted the fact that Keith would not be a doctor, lawyer or accountant. He was going to be a performer. That's all he'd ever wanted to be, after all. She'd just really hoped he'd have an education to fall back on in case it didn't work out. What a laugh that had ended up being. Keith was even more popular as a solo act than he'd been as the leader of the family group.
Since the family had stopped performing, Keith had played large venues, including Madison Square Garden! Shirley had flown 3000 miles just to see that one and had been blown away by her son's show and the response he'd received from the adoring crowd. Her last arguments had been spiked by the realization that her son would likely wither and die if he couldn't get up in front of an audience on a regular basis. It was in his blood.
At the same time the group was breaking up, Keith was clamoring to spread his wings even further. He'd moved out of the Partridge abode and into a rented house with Gordy and Skizzy overlooking the ocean. While Gordy and Skizzy continued to attend college, Keith would flit in an out of their lives depending on whether or not he was on tour. The three of them lead the ideal bachelor lives. They partied when they could and dated as much as possible.
Gordy had recently started seeing one girl exclusively, but Skizzy and Keith continued to play the field and refused to get serious with any one girl until they were at least thirty; or so they claimed.
But for now, Keith was in Florida playing a series of shows throughout the state. Shirley knew this was near the end of the most recent series of shows that Reuben had scheduled him for and that he'd be coming home in about a week.
"I'll make you a deal; if you come to dinner when you come home from the tour, I'll have a big old birthday cake waiting for you and we'll celebrate a little late. How does that sound?" Shirley wanted him to stop home for a long visit once he was home and this would be a great excuse to get him to come over.
"Sounds great mom! I'll be home next Saturday. Hey, sorry I have to cut this short, but we're heading over to the venue. Say 'hi' to everyone for me, alright?" Keith said while Shirley could hear someone calling his name and telling him to hurry.
"You better go. I'll say 'hi' to everyone." Shirley said quickly as she knew her son was in a hurry. "I love you." This last was said to the dial tone.
"Was that Keith?" Danny asked as he'd walked in on the end of her conversation.
"Yes, it was." Shirley said a little sadly as she settled the receiver in its cradle.
"How is he?" Danny plopped down on the couch never taking his eyes from his mother.
"Fine, I guess." Shirley realized she'd never really gotten the chance to ask him. His calls were always quick, but this one had been more brief than most. It could have been measured in seconds rather than minutes.
"So, I heard you mention a birthday cake. Chocolate, I hope." Danny grinned and patted his stomach. Since they'd stopped touring, he'd put on a few additional pounds. Shirley had thought at first that without the group he might join a sports team. He'd been so successful at baseball when he'd joined little league for a while, but since starting high school, sports didn't seem to interest him at all. Girls on the other hand; if she'd thought Keith had had a one track mind, Danny's focus was laser-like. Fortunately for Shirley, Danny wasn't quite as successful with the ladies as her eldest had been – not that he didn't try. The only thing more interesting to Danny was money and investments. Keith's second passion had been music, but both brothers shared a love for females that was unprecedented. It was all part and parcel of the male Partridge pedigree, she guessed. She could see shades of it in Chris, but he was a bit more shy than his older brothers, thank God.
"No, this is Keith's birthday cake. He prefers a white cake. You know that." Shirley walked over and took the chair next to Danny.
"Yeah, but I was just thinking that he'll probably be delayed and won't show up when you expect him….and, seeing he won't be here you could make my favorite instead." Danny looked at her hopefully.
"You are hopeless, aren't you?" Shirley wrinkled her nose at Danny's pleading look.
"I believe that would make me hopeFUL." Danny said archly. "Are you going to ask Laurie to come home next weekend then?"
"Yes, I'll call her a little later. She's probably at the library right now." Shirley glanced at the clock and noticed it was only a little after 5:00. Laurie never got back to her apartment until later.
"She still using that old excuse?" Danny joked.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Shirley frowned at Danny.
"Nothing." He said innocently. He supposed he should let his mom go on blissfully thinking that Laurie was so busy studying that she didn't have a social life. As the nosy brother that he was, he knew differently. He'd overhear Keith and Laurie catching up with each other when they were both home and he knew that Laurie very actively dated. Not as actively as Keith, if you could call one night stands dating, but she definitely did not lack for male companionship.
xoxo
It was early afternoon and Reuben let himself into Keith's suite of rooms. He knew Keith had been up late jamming with his band mates after their last show, so he'd likely first hit the mattress while the sun was coming up. Reuben hated to wake him, but he had news for him and they also needed to get on the road if they were going to make the next venue. Only a few more days and then his tired and busy star could get another break; albeit a relatively short one.
The month of May was to be spent hitting a bunch of campus hot spots. Keith was jazzed because one of the colleges was Laurie's campus. He was looking forward to spending a day or so with her while he was there.
Reuben walked through the door and into the bedroom of the suite. He didn't bother knocking. He knew that Keith slept so soundly that knocking wouldn't have mattered. He was grateful to see that Keith was alone. He'd blundered a time or two into Keith's room to find him entertaining one of his prettier fans. Thankfully every time they'd just been sleeping. Reuben hated to think of the alternative.
Things sure were different than when he'd managed the family. That tour had been G rated while this one was most definitely R if not something a little more risqué.
He pulled the curtains open and let the sun splash into the room. He heard a quick groan that was muffled by a pillow that had been pulled over Keith's head.
"Up and at 'em." Reuben said loudly. He thought he might have heard 'go away', but couldn't tell for sure as the sound didn't quite carry through the pillow. "I've got an answer for you on that matter you wanted me to take care of. Plus we have to get driving soon if we're going to make it to Miami in time to do the sound check."
Reuben heard another muffled phrase that might have been 'screw you'.
"Keith, time is money." Reuben knew that would have worked better on Danny, but he couldn't come up with anything else at the moment.
The pillow was tossed aside and Keith finally sat up, though his eyes were still closed. Reuben watched the sheet slide down Keith's bare chest and he started walking toward the door. He knew since traveling by himself that Keith had taken to sleeping in the buff, less to pack had been the reason given, and he had no desire to have Keith get up before he remembered he wasn't alone.
"I'll meet you in the other room. But hurry up." Reuben said as he closed the door behind him.
Reuben didn't have to wait too long. Though Keith was tired, he did take his job seriously and he knew they needed to get a move on. He hated rushing through a sound check just because he was lying around. He could sleep on the bus.
He threw on some clothes, made a quick trip to the bathroom and headed out to talk to Reuben. He'd shower before the show because he planned to just go back to sleep once he was on the bus. Why shower now?
"What'd you find out?" Keith asked as soon as he walked through the door.
"Well, the bank says all you have to do is sign this paperwork and they'll take care of the rest." Reuben pulled out a sheaf of papers and set them on the coffee table. "The first ones give you access to your trust fund and, well, you know what the other ones will do."
Keith shared a grin with Reuben and sat down to start signing. "You've read them over for me, right?"
Reuben nodded and watched Keith sign them without question. The trust between the two of them was implicit. If Reuben was alright with what the paperwork said, than Keith was alright with it. He'd trust Reuben with his life. And he did.
Keith had been staggered by the sum of money that had been waiting for him in his trust fund. Everything since they'd started performing had gone into it without him knowing the sums that were added or what the sum had been built up to. His mother had made sure that he'd received not only his portion from all the performances, but also his portion as the songwriter. He received both royalties while his brothers and sisters got only the performance portion. What he found out was that he was a very rich man.
And, as of a few days ago, he was officially of legal age to receive his trust fund. It was his to manage. Well, he'd actually entrusted its management to Reuben and whatever financial advisors he'd decided to use. Keith knew, probably better than anyone, that he was terrible at managing money. He figured he'd just continue to live his life and let some experts invest and manage it for him. He could easily live on the interest alone so long as he didn't live extravagantly. And a guy with two roommates did not live extravagantly; even if he did pay most of the bills.
Keith finished his last signature with a flourish. "They won't say anything until I can tell her myself, right?"
"They told me they wouldn't." Reuben assured him with a grin. The kid was really something special and his latest scheme was really something that Reuben admired. The kid was all heart. Well, he guessed he shouldn't call him a kid anymore. He was officially a man. Not that he hadn't been working like one for the last 5 years, but now the law said he was a man not just his responsibilities.
"Great! Alright, let's get on the road so I can get some more sleep. I'm bushed." Keith headed back to grab his duffle bag. He knew Reuben would handle the rest.
"Your coach awaits." Reuben swept his arm toward the door. "Oh, wait, let me call down first. There's quite a crowd out front. You'll need some security to get you through."
"Really? When did they find out where I was staying?" Keith sighed in resignation. He was still traveling by bus, but now the bus was a coach bus with sleeping quarters; though from the outside it was very nondescript. No family name printed on the side or psychedelic paint to give away who he was while he was traveling. He tried to fly under the radar as much as possible. It was a whole lot safer that way.
He either flew by private jet or drove in his comfy charter bus from show to show. His schedule was much heavier than with the family, but he certainly traveled in much greater style. Danny had been extremely jealous when he'd found out.
"How many years in that old decrepit bus and you go off on your own and get charter planes and a coach bus? I want to reread our contract." Danny had busted Reuben's chops about it as soon as he'd known. Reuben had just smiled at him and told him to 'stick it where the sun don't shine'. Danny had only been 14, but Reuben had known him for so long that talking to him like another adult had become second nature. Danny had been an adult for way too long already, though when it came to complaining he could quickly revert to his actual age.
xoxo
It was Thursday morning and Shirley was humming as she made breakfast for Danny, Chris and Tracy.
"Why so happy, mom?" Tracy asked as she walked into the room and took a seat at the table.
"Your brother and sister are both coming home this weekend." Shirley had withheld the information from them so that they could concentrate at school. But, she was unable to withhold it from them any longer. She was too excited herself.
"Really? Keith is coming home?" Chris who'd followed his sister into the room was practically dancing at the happy news.
"Yes, Laurie's coming home too, right mom?" Tracy reminded her brother who only seemed to be excited about Keith. Tracy was happy that Keith was coming home, but she was equally as happy to be seeing Laurie. She missed her roommate now that she was gone more than she was home.
"Yes, Laurie's coming home tonight and Keith will be here on Saturday." Shirley added a quick, 'I think so' in her head. She knew Laurie was coming home today already to help her get ready for Keith's impromptu birthday party as she had only one morning class and then had off Friday. Keith, on the other hand, was a question mark as to when he would arrive. Any kind of travel delay could mess things up completely. But, Shirley had been in contact with Reuben and so far things were on schedule. Keith would be flying in on Saturday and Reuben would bring him straight from the airport.
Her plan was to have his birthday dinner one week late. She was making all of his favorites. She knew he always lost weight when he toured. Oh, he ate well, it was just that he worked off more calories on stage than he could possibly ingest. She'd seen his very energetic show and knew that she would always worry about him; no matter how old he got.
"Where's Danny?" Shirley asked Chris. Though the boys no longer shared a room, she knew he'd know where he was.
"He had trouble getting up, but he should be down soon." Chris told her.
Shirley could only roll her eyes. It was as if as soon as Keith moved out, Danny had taken all of his bad habits and made them his own. He'd never been hard to get moving in the morning, not like Keith had been – that is until Keith had moved out. Then, all of a sudden, Danny had begun to sleep late and was almost impossible to wake up. She'd put it down to his missing his brother and subconsciously mimicking him as a way to hide it.
"No need to tattle on me. I'm here." Danny said as he flopped into a chair at the table. "I'm starving."
Well, there was still one difference between her two oldest sons; Danny ate far more than Keith ever had. She'd need to start watching it, but Danny was growing taller every day and, though slightly overweight, he was definitely not fat. Whereas her two oldest were very slim and slender, Danny was much bigger boned and was just meant to carry a little more weight and muscle than his older siblings. He took after her father while Keith and Laurie took after Dan's side of the family.
Shirley sighed as her three remaining kids at home noisily left by the back door. She sat down to finish her cup of coffee, but didn't dawdle. She had to go to the grocery store before Laurie got home. She also wanted to get a start on giving the house a good cleaning. After all, she hoped that not only Laurie would spend the whole weekend, but that Keith would spend a few nights as well. That meant changing the sheets on his old bed and making sure that the spare bed in Tracy's room was ready for Laurie. She couldn't wait to have a full house again.
xoxo
"Hey, mom, I'm home." Laurie said as she juggled her small suitcase, her keys, a box of bakery she'd picked up knowing how much Danny loved the muffins from the bakery by her apartment and the mail that she'd grabbed from the mailbox on the side of the house on her way by.
"Oh, honey, you look fabulous." Shirley said as she came around the corner from the kitchen. She walked quickly to her daughter, grabbed the box of muffins that were in the greatest danger of being dropped and engulfed her in a one armed hug.
"Are you kidding? I've put on the sophomore 20. And I thought the freshman 10 was bad." Laurie scoffed in disgust.
"Honey, there is no way you've put on 20 pounds." Shirley looked at her daughter's slim figure and thought that if she had, it had gone to all the right places. She looked fabulous.
"My scale says otherwise, but thank you for saying I look great." Laurie grinned. "You are positively glowing yourself. Pretty excited that Keith's coming home, hmmm?"
"Not just Keith, you too." Shirley reminded her. "Just drop that anywhere. Let's have a cup of coffee and catch up."
"Sounds great!" Laurie dropped her bag next to the steps and followed her mom into the kitchen. "Oh, I almost forgot, I picked up the mail."
Shirley grabbed the small stack of envelopes from her daughter and tossed them onto the table while she continued on to set down the bakery box and grab the cups and coffee pot.
They spent the next couple of hours catching up. They laughed about the antics of Laurie's roommates. Laurie had moved to an off campus apartment against her mother's wishes originally, but Laurie had told her that the dorms were not conducive to studying and Shirley had given in.
Laurie's roommates were all very serious about school, but not too serious. They had agreed to have one night a weekend for parties if they wanted to have one. The other nights were considered to be quiet nights, though visitors were welcome; just no parties. It was working very well for them. They had all kept their grades up while experiencing the fun side of college life at the same time.
She remembered Keith teasing her about flunking out of school now that she had her freedom, but she'd proven him wrong. She was way too level headed to submarine her own future while still having the time of her life. She thought she'd found a pretty happy medium and she'd have no problems telling him that when he got home.
She'd sure missed him. Their frequent chats were now quick phone calls between shows or in the middle of the night. When Laurie was in classes, Keith was free; when Keith was on stage, Laurie was free. The only time they seemed to connect was if Keith called at about 3:00 in the morning. It worked alright for Keith's schedule, but Laurie would be almost catatonic in some of her classes the next day. They'd quickly agreed to keep their calls to once a week or so.
"How'd he sound?" Laurie asked as their conversation turned toward Keith.
"Wonderful. Tired. Homesick." Shirley smiled a little sadly. She really wished she could go with him sometimes. She missed the road just a little every now and then.
"Well, we'll give him a big dose of home and he'll be good to go for another couple of months." Laurie joked to pull her mother out of her melancholy mood.
"Why don't you go upstairs and settle your stuff in your old room before Tracy gets home. Once she gets here, you won't have any time." Shirley reminded Laurie that Tracy was always happy to see her older sister and would try to completely monopolize her time when she visited during the school year.
"Sounds good. You're planning on having Keith spend the night?" Laurie assumed as when Keith wasn't coming home, Shirley would always put Laurie in his old room rather than back with Tracy.
"If he'll agree." Shirley said as she picked up the mail that she'd previously tossed aside. She couldn't stop the 'oh no' that slipped out when she noticed the name on the top envelope.
"What is it?" Laurie stopped her progress toward the door at her mother's worried exclamation.
"Oh, it's nothing." Shirley quickly tried to cover.
"Mom, that was not 'nothing'." Laurie pointed out. "Come on spill it; you'll feel much better. At least that's the logic you used to use on us."
"Well, it's just that since we've stopped touring, I've been having a few financial problems. I've been avoiding going back to work with you and Keith out of the house; Chris and Tracy are too young to be alone for so long and Danny just isn't much of a housekeeper." Shirley babbled a little nervously. She'd never intended for her kids to find out that she'd taken out a second mortgage on the house to pay for Laurie's private university tuition, books, apartment, car and other expenses so that Laurie wouldn't have to start using her trust fund just yet, not to mention Keith's short stint in college and all the resulting expenses, replace the station wagon that had chosen to die on her recently and replace several other household appliances that had all died on her all at once; she was sure it had been a conspiracy.
She found herself spilling the whole tale to Laurie who had always been a good listener. She related how it wasn't cheap running a household of 6 and touring was an even bigger expense. When all was said and done, she'd had a much smaller trust fund of her own, while her kids were likely set for life.
"Oh, Mom, why didn't you let me use my trust fund? There's plenty in there, isn't there? Besides, that's why we started the band – to pay for college. Stanford is very expensive; I know that my scholarships don't cover even half of it." Laurie reminded her. She thought back at the monthly checks she'd been mailed by the bank for all of her expenses and could only guess that her mother had been the source of that funding as well.
"I know, but I thought it would be better if you started your career or married life with a little nest egg put away." Shirley told her the reasons she'd given herself for trying to pay for everything without touching her children's futures.
"Well, I'll be just fine. You use that money to make yourself solvent again and I won't take 'no' for an answer." Laurie said sternly.
While Laurie had been almost chastising her mother, Shirley had opened the envelope and couldn't hold back the gasp of surprise.
"What is it?" Laurie watched her mother's face pale and then watched her eyes fill with tears. "Mom!"
"Oh, he didn't. That sweet, foolish…." Shirley couldn't finish her sentence as the tears began to fall.
Laurie grabbed the letter from her mother's trembling hands. "That sneak. He did this without your even knowing about it."
Laurie read the words again – 'We are happy to inform you that both of your mortgages have been paid in full. The title to your house is enclosed without encumbrances. Thank you for doing business with San Pueblo Community Bank.' She made the same logical conclusion as her mother had. The only person who would have done this, who could have done this, was Keith.
xoxo
Keith had been hustled off the stage and, wrapped in a blanket, he'd been stuck in the back of a laundry truck to be driven to the hotel. He'd sneak in through the delivery entrance, go up to his suite, take a quick shower and then catch the red-eye back to the west coast.
He grinned as he ran past Reuben. It had been a great show if the continued screaming was any indication.
He showered, changed into jeans and a T-shirt, grabbed his duffle which included a hat and glasses and headed toward the elevator. He knew Reuben would be waiting for him in the lobby with the limo ready to go.
"That was quick." Reuben said as he watched the young man with a hat on his head exit from the elevator. He'd kept his head down in hopes he wouldn't be recognized, but Reuben knew exactly what he was looking for.
"It's easy to hurry when mom's home cooking is waiting at the end of this flight." Keith grinned. If anyone had seen that grin, no disguise in the world would have been good enough. It was the kid's trademark. A smile that lit up his face and brought smiles to everyone around him.
"I thought you didn't plan to go home until Saturday. It's only Thursday night." Reuben felt his answering smile slide off his face in confusion.
"I plan to sleep the day away tomorrow so that I can actually stay awake once I get to Mom's. Besides, I have a hot date with a 'good friend' later tonight. She's meeting me at the airport." Keith's grin got a little bigger.
"Forget I asked." Reuben laughed and they headed out to the waiting limo.
Keith signed a few autographs of the lucky fans who had picked the right hotel to stake out, waved to them one last time and then they sped off into the night.