In all, the concert lasted two hours and thirty minutes. There was a twenty-minute intermission after the first ninety-minute set. Celia performed eight of the ten songs from her new CD, scattering them throughout the performance so that no one got bored by hearing too much unfamiliar material in succession. She played all of her most popular songs, scattering them throughout as well, and ending the set with Playing Those Games, her most popular hard-rock number. The encores were Why?, Should We Believe?, and, finally, The End of the Journey, which was projected to be sitting in the number one position on the charts when the first date was actually played.
Celia thanked the audience for coming out to see her, her voice humble, her accent, once again, deliberately thickened. She and the band linked arms and took a bow. They then walked off the stage to surprisingly loud applause from the small crowd, and the house lights came up.
“That was incredible,” Meghan said to Jake, her eyes wide, a look of profound bliss on her face. “Is there any more? Is it really over?”
“It’s really over,” Jake told her. “Always leave the audience wanting more. A cardinal rule of entertaining.”
The two of them looked over at Loraine, who was still staring at the stage, a peaceful expression on her face.
“What did you think, Loraine?” Jake asked her.
“That was very enjoyable,” she said softly, almost as if she were surprised to hear herself saying it. “She is very talented. All of them are very talented. I have to say that this was a very moving experience.”
Jake smiled at her. “That’s why I work with them,” he told her.
There was the general gathering and congratulating and gladhanding by the various suits who had attended. Jake made all the required pleasantries. He did not bother to introduce anyone to Meghan or Loraine. No one seemed to mind.
The suits finally made their way out to their limos, leaving only the family and friends. Meghan and Loraine each had a few more drinks at the open bar while this was going on. Loraine seemed considerably more jovial now. Whether it was from the performance she had seen or the alcohol, Jake was not sure, but he did not really care.
Celia and the rest of the band came into the audience area, all of them freshly showered (including Miles, thankfully). Celia came over to Jake and his small entourage right away. Her eyes lit up when she saw Meghan there.
“Meghan!” she squealed, as if they were old friends who had been apart for many years. “I’m so glad you could make it!” She then wrapped the startled nanny up in a full-on Celia-hug, which Meghan reflexively returned. “What did you think of the show?” she asked when the embrace finally broke.
“It was uh ... the most awesome thing I’ve ever seen,” Meghan said, a little tongue-tied, still unable to believe that Celia Valdez had just hugged her. “Really. It was totally the bomb!”
“I kind of like that expression,” Celia said with a smile, her accent not nearly as thick now. She then turned and looked at Loraine. “Hello,” she said, still smiling. “You’re Meghan’s mom, right?”
Loraine was tongue-tied as well. “Uh ... yes ... yes I am,” she stammered. “It’s so nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you as well,” Celia said, shaking hands with her. “I never would have believed you’re her mom if Jake hadn’t told me. You look like her older sister.”
Loraine blushed a little. “Trust me, I look a lot older than her older sister,” she said.
“Danielle,” Celia said. “I met her too. We spent a long night together about nine months ago.”
“You did?” Loraine asked, confused.
“I was there when Caydee was born,” Celia explained. “Didn’t she tell you that?”
“No,” Loraine said. “She didn’t mention that at all.”
Celia smiled. “She has professional discretion,” she said. “I like that in a nurse. Anyway, did you like the show? You can tell me if you hated it.”
“No, no!” Loraine said, shaking her head. “It was spectacular. I really enjoyed myself.”
Meghan giggled. “Mom was singing along with most of the songs,” she said. “She really got into it.”
Loraine blushed but did not deny the accusation. “I’ve forgotten how many popular songs you actually have,” she said. “Truly, that was an amazing performance. I am so glad I came.”
“I’m glad you came too,” she said. “Listen, if I don’t get a vodka and tonic in the next two minutes, I am seriously going to die. Please excuse me.”
“Of course,” Loraine said. “It was nice talking to you, Ms. Valdez.”
“Call me Celia,” she said. “And we’ll talk some more. I’ll be coming back to Oceano with you. Didn’t Jake tell you that?”
“I think I forgot to mention it,” Jake said with a little smile.
“Really?” Loraine said. “You’re coming back with us?”
“I’m on break for the next six days,” she said. “We all are—well, except the roadies and the techies. I’m gonna stay with Jake and Laura tonight and tomorrow we’re off to Montana for a little trek through Glacier Park.”
“Really?” Loraine asked. She looked at her daughter. “Are you going with them, Meghan?”
“No,” she said, perhaps a little sourly. “They’re taking Caydee with them. I’ll be off the next six days too.”
“Ohhh,” Loraine said. “I didn’t know that.”
“I was gonna tell you on the flight back,” she said.
“Then we can get together on your days off!” Loraine said happily. “How cool! Aunt Virginia has been asking about you. We can go visit her tomorrow!”
“Uh ... yeah, Mom,” Meghan said, casting an evil little look in Celia’s direction. “We can do that.”
“That’s great!” Loraine declared, now happy as a clam. “You know, I think that maybe one more glass of wine would do no harm before we fly back.”
“Then let’s hit the bar,” Celia said, grabbing her arm. “I’ll buy.”
As the two women headed to the bar, Meghan looked over at Jake sourly. She knew, of course, that Celia was not going to be staying in the guest room tonight, but that was not what was irking her.
“Maybe Celia shouldn’t have said that?” Jake asked knowingly.
Meghan shook her head. “I was really just kind of hoping to stay at home, relax, hang out in the hot tub, maybe have a few drinks, read some books from the library, watch some DVDs.” She sighed. “Now I got Aunt Virginia. What a rip.”
Chapter 27: Can the Beat Go On?
Glacier National Park, Montana
August 14, 1998
There was no need for an alarm clock or a wakeup call when one had a Caydee. She routinely slept through the night now, generally going down around 8:30 PM and staying down, but she was still an early riser. This morning was no exception. Jake woke up to the sound of her enthusiastic chants coming from her room in the two-room suite they were staying in at the Many Glacier Lodge on the east side of the sprawling, mountainous Glacier Park.
“Do!” Caydee shouted out loudly, pronouncing it “doe”, as in a deer, a female deer. “Do, do, do, do, doooooooo!”
It was not really a word, as she was still a few months away from even being able to say mama or dada, but one of the notes in the major musical scale, the first one, in fact, which represented C. Jake was in the habit of singing her the lyrics to Do-Re-Mi, from the Sound of Music, as that song, aside from being quite catchy and easy to learn, was the easiest way to memorize that particular scale and commit it to memory for all time. Caydee loved hearing him sing it (he always did it A capella and separate from the guitar sing sessions), but so far she had only picked up on the first note. And she had adapted that as her note of all notes, sound of all sounds, word of all words. She used “do” for all manner of communication now. She shouted “DO!” when she was upset. She asked “do?” when she was curious. She cooed “do” when she was happy. And she shouted out do, do, do, do, doooooooo!” when she was awake and ready to leave her crib in the morning.