Jean thought Lucien might want to stay and spend the whole afternoon playing classical music, but he had promised they would go to the greenhouse to get planting materials, and he wasn't one to ignore a promise.
In the car on the way, she asked him, "How do you know this man anyway? Since you tell me you can't grow anything, I wouldn't have expected you to know someone who runs a greenhouse."
"I met him through the foundation. He does the flowers for the gala and anything else we need," said Lucien. "I also use his services when I send flowers to my mother - birthdays, Mother's Day."
Jean couldn't help but smile. Of course he was a thoughtful son. More thoughtful than her own sons, she had to admit. And if this establishment was as good as Lucien said, she thought they could use them for the wedding flowers.
They pulled up to a storefront that read 'Manos Florist and Live Plants'.
"The greenhouse is out back," Lucien explained, "but Nick or his daughter Maria should be behind the counter.
"His wife?" Jean wondered.
"I'm afraid she passed away when Maria was very young. Nick raised the girl on his own, and he did a marvelous job. Maria is a lovely girl, smart, funny and determined. I'm quite sure you'll like her."
He held the door for her as they went inside.
Jean was somewhat surprised on meeting Mister Manos. He was about as different from Lucien as it was possible to be. The man seldom smiled (except when speaking of his daughter), and was rather rough around the edges, but he seemed honest and he certainly knew his plants. He spent a good deal of time with Jean, recommending the proper soil and nutrients, and he made her promise to let him know if she ran into any problems.
"Would you like me to have this delivered?" he asked when he was ringing up their purchase. "You wouldn't want to risk having one of the bags of topsoil break in that fancy car of yours, Lucien."
"What do you think, Jean?"
"I wasn't going to start planting today anyway," said Jean, glancing at her watch. "I'm going to have to head for the club soon. We might as well have it delivered."
Manos interrupted. "The club? You aren't Jean Beazley the singer, by any chance?"
Jean smiled broadly and glanced over at Lucien, whose grin was even wider. "I am," she said.
"It's a small world," said Manos. "It seems my daughter is dating your son. Jack has invited her to see you perform tomorrow night."
"Is that right? Jack said he was bringing a girl that he was crazy about, wanted me to meet her," said Jean. "It must be a big deal because he's never introduced a girlfriend to me before. And Lucien has told me what a wonderful girl Maria is. I'm looking forward to meeting her." She shared a pleased look with Lucien.
That brought a smile to the face of the lugubrious man. "She's a good girl. I want only the best for her. Jack is a business executive, is that right?"
"Yes, he and a friend started a company, and it's just beginning to grow much bigger," said Jean. Lucien had been pleased to tell her that Patrick's reports on Jack's firm were positive, practically glowing reviews.
"That's good, then," said Manos, nodding his approval.
"And now we really have to go. Thank you for your help, Mister Manos."
"Nick, good to see you as always," said Lucien as they took their leave.
When they reached home, Lucien accompanied her upstairs where she would shower and get ready for work. He was just as delighted as she was about Jack and Maria.
"They'll be good for each other," was his assessment, and she agreed.
As she began to undress, he started to as well.
"As enticing as you always are, and as much as I enjoy taking a shower with you," she said, kissing him, "I'll be late if we do this now."
"Is this how it is, now that we're engaged?" he asked, pouting, before he laughed. "I'll use the one in the guest room. I thought I'd go to the club tonight. To see you, of course, and I also want to speak with Alice."
"Tell her the good news about your breakthrough?" she asked.
"I think she deserves to know, after all her hard work with me."
"And all your hard work with her," Jean reminded him. "I'm so proud of you, my love."
He paused in his undressing to reach out and pull her close. "I have you to thank most of all," he insisted. "You gave me the courage and the strength to undertake this."
"Nonsense," she said, but with a smile on her face. She knew just how brave and strong he was - Matthew Lawson's life was proof of that. Perhaps she had inspired him to remember how strong he actually was, and if so, she'd accept some of the credit for his recovery.
She initiated the kiss that ensued, and Lucien was only too willing to follow her lead. It would have escalated if she hadn't pulled back gently before giving him another quick peck. "Work, remember?" she said.
"Maybe I should have a word with your boss," said Lucien with a mock frown.
She gave him another kiss before saying, "Aren't you one of my bosses?"
He laughed. "I'll have a word with myself then while you take your shower."
As she showered, Jean couldn't help but reflect on how well things were going in her life at the moment. The career she'd always dreamed about was within her grasp. Her financial worries were at a minimum. Jack seemed to be settling down at last, in both his professional and personal lives. Yes, Christopher and Ruby were moving out of state soon, but they'd still be close enough for a day-trip visit, and what's more she'd have Amelia for a whole week while they moved. (Christopher had said they'd bring her with them to the club the following night, and Jean and Lucien would take her home from there.) And most of all, she was engaged to a kind, generous, funny, clever man who loved her just as much as she adored him. The tiny superstitious part of her wondered at the price she might have to pay for so much happiness.
When they walked into the club together, Jean saw Alice frown at the sight of Lucien.
"I thought we had an agreement," she began.
"We do, and I'm not here to work," he insisted. "I'm here to see the show. I'm told you have a wonderfully talented and beautiful singer performing tonight."
"That's right," said Alice, not looking any happier. "But now tell me why you're really here."
"How about I show you instead," Lucien told her. He walked over to the piano and sat down at the keyboard. He paused for just a moment, trying to decide what to play, Jean thought. And then with a shrug, he decided to go big, and the dramatic opening notes of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony filled the room. But he continued to play, as Alice stared at him in wonder. When he reached a stopping point, he held his hands straight out in front of himself, and they were perfectly steady.
"Impressive," said Matthew. "Congratulations, Major." He strode forward to shake Lucien's hand.
With her usual straightforward manner, Alice asked what Jean herself had wondered. "Well done. You've earned this with all your hard work, Lucien. And now that you've succeeded, what comes next? Do you resume your career in classical music?"
"I hadn't really thought about it," he admitted. "But, no, I don't think so. Jean and I have a dream of our own. That's why I finally agreed to go through with this therapy. That dream hasn't changed. But now I have additional options."
He began to play a classical piece that sounded somewhat familiar to Jean and then segued into a boogie-woogie style song.
Matthew growled. "Stealing music from Groundhog Day now?"
"Very good," said Lucien pointing at his old friend. "The first part was Rachmaninoff, by the way. But it proves my point. Options."
"While you two have at it, I'm going to get things ready for Amelia," said Jean. "As a reminder, Matthew, she'll be staying with us for a week beginning tomorrow, so she'll be sleeping in the dressing room while I'm on stage."
"And Lucy will join her, with me watching over both of them," Alice added. "Jean, let me help you rearrange things in there."
As the two women headed for the back stage area, a small cry was heard from Matthew's office upstairs. Clearly Lucy had awakened and wanted attention.
"You go ahead, I'll get her," said Lucien to the women, and he bounded up the stairs. Lucy's cries ceased at once, and she was chortling happily when he carried her back down.
Alice took her from him and followed Jean back to the dressing room. "You two seem to have the magic touch with my daughter," she said. "No matter how upset Lucy is, she calms down immediately when you or Lucien pick her up."
"I'm sure it's a combination of experience and luck," Jean told her, although Lucien was particularly good with Amelia as well.
In a way it was a shame that they wouldn't have children of their own. Time was against them, especially as they were on the threshold of launching new careers. Still, she supposed they had better discuss it at some point. Motherhood, if it did happen, would be so very different this time, without having to worry about putting food on the table or affording rent bills.
"You look deep in thought," Alice noted. "Is everything all right? You're happy about this recent development in Lucien's recovery?"
"What? Oh, yes, of course. You should have seen him when he discovered he could play again. He was like a child finding a long lost favorite toy. No, I was just thinking..." She caught herself, not wanting to reveal the change in their status until tomorrow night when everyone would be there together.
She recovered her near fumble. "I was thinking of all the things I still have to do to get ready for Amelia's stay."
"Anything I can help with?" Alice asked.
"I don't think so, but thank you."
An hour later when she walked onto the stage, the first thing she did was look for Lucien. She spotted him sitting at the bar where he'd obviously been speaking with Cec, but now she had his full attention. She smiled at him and he returned it with one of his own, then he put his hand up to his chest and tapped two fingers over his heart.
With Terry picking up on her cues, she changed up her playlist to sing mostly happy songs, ones that matched her mood. And to close, of course, she chose what she thought of as their song, At Last.
When she had finished, Lucien was immediately off his barstool to stand and applaud. As she bowed to the audience she kept her gaze locked to his, wanting him to know that this performance had been especially for him.
She washed off her stage makeup and changed her clothes as quickly as she could. Somehow since they'd become engaged she could hardly stand to be away from him. She ran a brush through her hair and hurried out to see him.
He was waiting, of course, and opened his arms wide for a hug when she approached. She was happy to oblige, running her fingers through the hair at the back of his neck.
"You were marvelous, even more marvelous than usual," he told her.
"And you need a haircut, unless you're planning to grow it out," she replied.
He reached up a hand to smooth his hair back down. "Yes, I know. My barber's been away on holiday. I've been counting the days until he returns. Day after tomorrow."
"Thankfully Amelia is past her hair-pulling phase or you might be in trouble," she teased.
"Best not to tempt her, in any case," said Lucien. "Now, my dear, shall we head home?"
As usual, there was little traffic at that time of night. Classical music station KUSC was playing on the radio as Lucien drove. She watched his fingers move across the steering wheel in time with the music, playing air piano no doubt.
"I feel guilty that I'm so woefully ignorant when it comes to this type of music," she admitted. "Do you think you could give me a crash course? That would make it easier when we're deciding on music for the wedding."
He glanced at her, a wide smile on his face. "It would be my absolute pleasure," he assured her.
She saw him glance in the rear view mirror and frown slightly as both hands grasped the wheel firmly. "What is it?" she asked, turning around in her seat to look behind them. There was another car following very close. It looked to have two men inside, but that's about all she could tell.
"I think we're being followed by the police," he said. He nodded toward his phone where it lay on the console between them. "Can you please put that in the holder and turn it on for me?"
Her heart began to race as she clicked the device into the dashboard holder and tapped in his passcode.
"Siri, begin police recording," he instructed.
She saw her own phone messaging app activate a moment later, and the recording from his phone's camera showed up on her own screen.
"Just in case they decide to 'lose' or break mine, I wanted another copy of any encounter somewhere else," he explained.
"Have they been harassing you since the incident with Ned?"
"Let's just say they've made their presence known from time to time," he told her, as his eyes continued to flick between the road ahead and the view behind.
"Can't you or your attorney report them? After all, you did nothing wrong when...". She broke off as Lucien stiffened, and the red and blue lights on the trailing car's rooftop began to flash.
She felt genuine fear as Lucien activated his signal and slowed down to steer the car over to the shoulder of the road.
But the police car didn't pull over with them. Instead it roared on past with its siren shrieking.
When it had disappeared around a bend in the highway, both of them let out a shaky breath. "I suppose they've gone to do the job they're actually paid to do," said Jean.
"Indeed," said Lucien.
She noticed that he continued to stay on high alert until they had arrived safely in their own drive. Only then did his smile return, as they made their way inside the house together.