Ch 112 What are you doing?

“What are you doing up so early?” Janet and Wendy said this at precisely the same time and then laughed at themselves.

“Well,” Janet said, wrapping an apron around herself. “I got used to making breakfast for everyone this week. What’s your excuse?”

“I got used to it after doing it for the past umpteen years,” Wendy replied, grabbing her own apron. “I suppose we can do it together.”

Janet hugged her mom. “And we can talk…about  stuff…and Daddy… and stuff,” she said, anxiously.

Wendy stiffened and the expression on her face didn’t look inviting.

“But that can wait, if you want,” Janet added, taking out the skillet and placing it on the stovetop while trying not to sound as disappointed as she was. She frowned as she watched her mother relax and take items out of the refrigerator. 

Janet thought this would be easy. She had hoped to have her parent back together and her dad home in two minutes. Not likely!

Several times Janet tried to broach the subject as she chopped ham, onions and peppers for omelets and each time she was thwarted. Her mother changed the subject every time. By the time breakfast was ready Janet was practically in tears. When she heard a knock at the door, she ran to answer it and threw herself at Wes.

“Hey! What’s wrong?” he asked holding her tight.

"Oh, Wes." She shook her head and buried her face in his chest.

“Tell me,” he insisted, then he heard Wendy singing in the kitchen. “Your mom’s home.” He tilted Janet’s face so she had to look at him. “And your dad’s gone? That’s why you’re upset.”

She nodded. “She doesn’t want to talk about it. She doesn’t want to listen at all,” she whined.

“Your dad warned you that it wasn't gonna be easy,” Wes sighed, hugging her close. 

“I know, but…”

“But you wanted them to get instantly back together. That wasn’t very realistic, though, given all the animosity and stuff. Give it a little time, Janet, just let it rest for now, okay? Maybe curiosity will get to her. Maybe tonight when we get back she’ll be more willing to hear what you have to say. And if that fails…well, they’ll both be at the gala next Saturday and with you and Luke singing all those love songs…”

She looked up and him and smiled. “I could get Luke to sing their favorite love song!”

Wes grinned and bent down to kiss her. “You’re not the yenta for nothing, babe. Do you know it?”

She bit her bottom lip thinking, then her eyes flew open wide and she wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed until he almost choked. “I think I do. Oh, Wes, I love yo…uh… You’re not so dumb. Thanks for the good idea.”

He chuckled. “I love you, too,” he whispered in her ear.

She blushed bright pink and pushed out of his arms. Taking his hand she led him to the kitchen without saying another word. 

“I should have known it was you,” Wendy said, smiling at Wes.

“Hey, Ms. Meadows,” he said. “How was your trip?”

“Very good,” she replied, holding out a dish to him. “You’re just in time for an omelet. Hungry?”

He nodded and turned to the table with his plate. That’s when he saw Tristan staring at him in awe, a bowl of cheerios in front of him. 

Wes smiled. “Hey, little man. How ya doing?”

“Good,” Tristan said, his blue eyes wide. “Where’s Mr. Bashan?”

“My dad? He’s working today. Saturday’s always busy for him.”

Tristan’s face fell. “So, he’s not gonna come over today?”

“I…well… maybe later,” Wes said.

“Tristan, you’re going to stay with me today. We’ll play games and watch your favorite movies and eat popcorn. Won’t that be fun?” Wendy said.

He gave her a skeptical look and shrugged. “Okay, Aunt Wendy.”

Wes gave her an apologetic look. “My dad’s kinda awesome.”

Wendy forced a smile, nodded and turned away, feeling her cheeks grow warm as she recalled how very close she came to finding out exactly how awesome Donny was…in bed anyway.

“Mom,” Janet said, taking a chair beside Wes. “you’re coming to the Gala, right?”

“Of course!” she said. “Wouldn’t miss it for anything. Alec bought a couple dozen tickets and promised me a few.”

“A couple dozen?” Janet skrieked. “For who?”

“Whom,” Wes corrected.

Janet rolled her eyes. “Okay, Mr. Shakespear, for whom,” she snapped.

“A couple dozen friends, obviously,” Wendy retorted, sipping at her tea.

“Dad will be there, too. He bought tickets, even though I get some for free cuz I’m singing,” Janet said, watching anxiously for her mother's reaction.

“I assumed he would. You’re his baby and it’s your debut. Think we’d miss that?” Wendy said.

“Luke was wondering if you’d like anything special.”

“What do you mean?”

“A favorite song you’d like to hear him sing,” Janet said.

Wendy stared, incredulous. “Why would he care what I want to hear?”

Janet shrugged but it Wes who answered. “Luke is really keen on pleasing everyone. So he’s asked almost every person he knows for suggestions. their favorite songs. I think his mom said he even called up his grandfather for his favorite song. Pity it was Perry Cuomo or something.”

“You’re kidding,” Wendy said.

Wes shook his head. “He’s totally freaked out about this thing. He wants it to be good.”

“It will be. He’s awesome!” Janet said.

“And what are you? Dust in the wind?” Wes asked.

“He does play that song really well, but he didn’t think it was right singing it without a guitar. He’s only doing the piano. I’m sure that’s why he’s freaking out.”

Wes laughed. “I meant, you’ll be there with him, so together you’ll be even better than awesome.”

“If I don’t choke,” Janet muttered.

“Well,” Jasmine said, coming in to the kitchen just then. “If you do, I’ll be there to cover for you.”

“Janet will do fine, Jasmine. Don’t be snarky,” Wendy said.

“Mom! I didn’t know you were back.” Jasmine rushed to her throwing her arms around her. “I missed you.”

“Hmm, missed you, too, when you’re not being snarky,” Wendy retorted.

“Just teasing. Janet knows that,” Jasmine said, giving her a look which clearly said, ‘Back me up or else.’

“Not sure she does,” Wes said, glaring at Jasmine.

“Wes, don’t,” Janet whispered. “We should go.”

“Yes, you don’t want to keep Luke waiting,” Jasmine said sweetly.

“No, we wouldn’t,” Wes said, standing and taking his empty plate to the sink. “Thanks for the omelet, Ms. Meadows. It was great.”

“You’re welcome, sweetie. When will you get back home? For dinner?” Wendy asked.

Janet and Wes exchanged looks. “It’s the last weekend before the Gala. He might not let us leave, like ever!” Janet said.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if Luke’s got sleeping bags set up in the corner of the music studio for cat naps,” Wes said, placing an arm around Janet as they left.

Wendy gaped after them. “Are they kidding?”

Jasmine rolled her eyes. “So, Mom, how was New York?” she asked. “Did you bring me anything?”

*****

“Finally! I thought you’d never get here!” Luke shouted as he opened the door for them, grabbed Janet’s hand and yanked her inside. “We have so much to do! I want to do it all the way through at least once with no interruptions.”

“Um…Luke, can I ask you for a huge favor?” Janet said, as she removed her jacket.

He stared at her with those dark, brooding eyes which could only be called feverish at the moment. “What? You can’t do this to me. Not now!”

Janet gaped. “Huh?”

“You have to do this, Janet. You promised! I’ve set everything for two to sing. Everything! You can’t back out now.”

She shook her head and Wes interceded. “Nothing like that, Dude. Relax. She’s not backing out, but she was hoping you could add a song.”

“What? But I already have them picked out and…”

“Luke, chill,” Alana said, placing a calming hand on his arm. “Tell us what you’re thinking, Janet. What song and why?”

Instead of answering, Janet burst out in tears.

“Oh, God…this isn’t happening…this isn’t good. Make her stop!” Luke said.

“Luke, please, you’re scaring her,” Alana said, going to comfort her, but Wes was already on it. 

“I’m scaring her???” he shouted. “She crying! You can’t sing when you’re crying!”

“It’s just stress,” Alana calmly said. “Just let her have it out and we can start practice in a few minutes. Luke, go to the piano and play something. Warm up.”

“I’ve been warming up for two hours.”

“Five more minutes,” Alana begged, shooing him to the instrument across the room. He ground his back teeth and stomped away.

“Janet, what is the song you want to sing. Why is it so important?” Alana asked softly.

“You know about her parent?” Wes said in a quiet voice. When Alana nodded he continued. “She thought if Luke and she could sing one of their favorite love songs that…”

“We could get them back together,” she finished for him. “That’s a great idea. What song? I’ll look for it while you practice on the ones we already have picked out.”

“It’s from the Dirty Dancing movie. I don’t know what it’s called, but I’ll know it when I hear it,” Janet said, with a sniff.

Alana’s bright emerald eyes lit up. “Ooh, I bet I know the one! My mom loves it! Janet, go to the bathroom and splash water on your face. Take a drink too and then, go practice with Luke, but don’t say anything about this new song, okay? I’ll take care of everything. No worries, okay?”

Janet nodded and did as she was told. Alana sighed in relief.

Wes chuckled. “You’re good, Alana. Don’t know how you can handle such a temperamental artist like Luke and still stay sane.”

“You do pretty good with Janet,” she said, her cheeks rosy.

“She’s just upset about her parents. Yeah, she’s nervous about the gala, but she’ll be all right.”

“Luke, too. Especially if…want to help me look for the song?” she said, watching Janet come out of the bathroom and head straight to Luke. Within a few minutes she was sitting beside him on the piano bench and they were looking over the song list.

“I can only stay a little while. I have several appointments today, but I’ll be back later,” Wes said.

“Come on, then. It’s gonna be a long day,” Alana said, leading the way towards the recording booth. “Luke wants to do a once through to test for time.” At the confused expression on his face she elaborated. “Like a dress rehearsal.”

Wes nodded, followed her inside and looked around at the impressive looking equipment. “So, he could record here, like a real album?”

“Oh, yeah. We’ve been recording all the practice sessions,” Alana said, as she went to a cabinet and searched for the music sheet under the letter S. “Luke likes to listen to them to figure out what he likes, what works, what doesn’t and go from there.”

Wes watched Janet and Luke through the glass. They were singing a song he’d never heard before. “They can’t hear us, but we can hear them?”

“That’s how it works,” Alana explained pointing at the mass of buttons and slides on the panel. “You flick this switch if you wanna tell them something from in here.”

“Will he be working on an album soon?”

“Already is. Luke has enough songs written to do two double albums, but he needs studio musicians and the money to pay them. That ain’t cheap,” Alana said, still looking through the music sheets. “He could do it all himself, of course. He could play every instrument individually recording them and then putting them together. He probably will have to do it all to get it done. It’s more time consuming, though.”

“Couldn’t some of the practice sessions make an album?” Wes asked, a plan starting to form.

“Oh, uh…sure,” Alana suddenly turned bright red.

“What is it?” Wes asked.

“Please, don’t tell Luke or even Janet,” Alana whispered, unnecessarily. “Randy—that’s Luke’s dad—he’s been taking those practice sessions and um…remixing them in secret. He’s hoping to surprise them with a real album to sell, maybe at the gala or at the wedding, if it ever happens. Did Luke tell you it's been postponed again? Crazy.”

“Yeah, Janet said they might just elope."

"Oh, I hope not!"

"Why is it a secret, the remixing his dad's doing?”

“Luke wouldn’t like it. It’s weird and hard to explain, but, he just doesn’t want Randy doing anything for him. He wants no special treatment and he thinks his dad will twist arms and ask his old buddies in the music industry for favors and force Luke down their throats when he’s not really good enough or ready.”

“But he is good enough,” Wes said. “And he’s obviously ready.”

“I know that and you know that and almost every other person who has heard Luke sing knows that, but…”

“Yeah, I know. Luke is the one who has to know it,” Wes said, exasperated.

“Luke just doesn’t want his dad involved.”

“That’s nuts, if he knows the business and has contacts. Why wouldn’t he want as much help as possible?”

“It’s complicated,” Alana said, as she pulled out some sheet music with Patrick Swayze on the cover. “I think I found it.”

“So, if it costs so much money to make an album, would Luke accept donations or investors?” Wes said, feigning casual.

“Well, he already has an investor. Do you know Mr. Stubenhaus?”

“The Yacht designer? Sure, I did his website,” Wes said.

“He built this studio for Luke.”

“Seriously?”

Alana nodded. “He’s another one who believes in him and he’s got the money.”

Wes looked again at the two singing at the piano, their voices floating into the booth as if on angel wings and a plan evolved in his head. “I believe in the both of them and I’m going to do something about it.”

“Uh…like what?” Alana asked her eyes like huge emeralds staring up at him.

He grinned. “First, I think I’d better have a little chat with Randy. You can keep a secret, right?” He then winked and left her alone in the booth.

“Um…especially if I don’t know what the secret is,” she mumbled to herself.