Rock and Roll Never Forgets (The Rock and Roll Trilogy) (30 page)

They sat up for a while. Sharing a bottle of wine, they talked about what was ahead.

“You are welcome here,” John said. “Make yourself at home, please.”

“John,” Andy began
.

John continued, “Here are the keys to the SL; it’s in the small garage
.
Use it to get back and forth.” 

“I don’t know what to say,” Andy said
.

“You don’t need to say anything, it’s not necessary. It’s what Beth needs, that is what I have to do.”

“I can’t tell you how grateful I am.”

The next morning when she awoke John was there with Dr. Sampson and Dr. Davin Reilly, the oncologist. Dr. Reilly was transferring Beth’s care to his practice. John had met with him, and Beth could tell by the look on his face that it wasn
’
t favorable.

“
Beth,” He extended his hand.
“
It’s nice to meet you. Your husband tells me that you are not into formalities, so not to call you Elizabeth.” 

Friendl
y,
warm smile, so far so good on the bedside manner…

“
Nice to meet you, too, I
’
m not going to beat around the bush here,” Beth said.

“
John and Dr. Sampson both said you would be frank,” he laughed easily.

“
I
’
m not willing to go through any extended treatments that will keep me away from my home, from my child, any longer than I have to. I know the deal and it
’
s OK. It
’
s quality, not quantity the way I see it. I want the rest to be the best, ya know?”

“
I agree. We’ll do another CT and liver scan to see exactly what we are dealing with. We will do that today.” 

“
Well then, that just about says it all doesn
’
t it,” she said.

“
I
’
ll see you again before I leave the hospital this evening,” Dr. Reilly said as he turned to go.

He and Dr. Sampson left and the room was very quiet. John sat down beside her with a heavy heart. It showed on his face.

“
It
’
s the way it needs to be John. It
’
s what is right, for Carlee, for you, but mostly for me.”

“
I know,” he said sadly, the reality really sinking in.

They took her for the tests a short time later. When she returned to the room, Roddy was there. He just sat there beside her for the longest time. He would look up as if to speak, but the words wouldn
’
t come.

“
It
’
s OK,” she told him after a while. “You can talk about it.”

He took her hand.
“
I have something to tell you. Andy and I have already talked to John, but now I need to tell you.”

“
What is it?”

“
Beth…” One word was all he could muster at that moment. He was visibly shaking.

“
What Roddy? What is it?”

“
Beth, I need to tell you about something that happened a few years back.”

“
OK,” she listened intently, cautiously.

“When Andy was in the doldrums, the pits of hell… When we sold the chalet…” He was struggling and she squeezed his hand.

“
It
’
s OK Roddy. Talk to me.”

“
When all that was going on…”

“
Yes?”

“
Andy, he had me do something and swore me to secrecy at the time. And as I
’
ve helped you with this kind of stuff all these years I’ve kept something very important from you. The time to tell you just never seemed right, so I kept putting it off. I know you and I…”

“
What?” What secret had he kept from her?

“
When I invested the chalet money for you, Andy had me transfer some other things into your name. It hasn
’
t needed to come up before now, it was secure, taken care of.”

She looked at him waiting, and asked;
“
What things?”

“
Song royalties.”

“
What does that mean?
” Beth asked
.

He paused for a long moment.
“
You are a rich woman Beth.”

She laughed,
“
What do you mean?”

“
Any song Andy wrote for you, about you; that he noted so in the song notes or sheet music, he had me transfer a percentage of the royalties to you, a large percentage.”

He paused and took a deep breath in order to continue. “I knew at that time that you wouldn
’
t take it. You
’
d be stubborn because you were hurting. You wouldn
’
t have taken it because of your pride. So it
’
s all in trust now. The lawyer who handled the sale of the chalet took care of it all. It was set up to be taxable when dispersed, so there really wasn
’
t an urgent need to tell you before now.”

“
I don
’
t understand.”

“
You need to talk to the lawyer Beth. You need to decide what to do with the money and make arrangements. I was going to tell you when you and John married, and then after Carlee was born and then, well, I just didn
’
t. It was all taken care of legally. I should have told you, I just never did. It was in a safe place. You need to take care of this, Beth, before…” He grasped for what to say next,
“
Before something happens,” he said. “Right now the
Cancer Foundation
and your folks are the beneficiaries. You need to change that. I should have had it taken care of when Carlee was born,” he was mumbling now.

“
Well,” she blew out a big breath and looked at him.
“
How much are we talking about?”
s
he asked after a while.

“
Beth,” he looked at her.
“
Every song we are talking about was a hit, a big money-maker, you know that. Andy felt like he had enough. He wanted to take care of you, forever.”

“
How much Roddy?”

“
Couple million by now.”

“
Millions?” She repeated t
he
word, clearly in shock.

“
Yes sweetheart, millions. Carlee will never need for anything financial.”

“
I see.
”
She needed a minute to process what he had just said.
“
I have a Will,” she said finally.

“
This is in a trust, it
’
s excluded. You need to take care of this, Beth.”

“
I need Andy,” Beth whispered. Not John, Andy.

Roddy rose to leave the room.
“
Wait,” she said.
“
Please sit back down. There
’
s something I need your help with.”

“
What is it?” He sat back down.
“
You know I
’
ll do anything, Beth. Anything.”

She thought for a minute.
“
This isn’t an easy request, for many reasons, but it needs to be done. I need you to, please, contact Norton Edwards. You know who he is, the
Rolling Stone
articles, I need to talk to him. It
’
s important. It
’
s time.”  

He just sat there, drinking in what Beth had just asked him to do. He knew why she asked, and it was hurting him
.

“
I
’
ll do it.” He rose and started for the door.

“
Come back,” she said.

He walked back to the bed and she took his hand, pulling him to her.
“
I love you,” she whispered in his ear and kissed his cheek. “Send Andy in please.”

“
Mmm hmm, I love you more
,
” he said back and turned away.

“
I love you
mostest
,” she laughed. “Look at me.” He looked back.
“
I
’
m OK. I
’
m better now. My child will never want for anything because of this.”

“
She
’
ll want
,
Beth. She
’
ll want for something that none of this will take care of,” he said sadly, and he left.

Andy came in a few minutes later. It was getting late in the day and the light in the room was low. He was wearing light-colored jeans and a black pull over shirt, that ponytail still hanging down his back. Most men at his age couldn
’
t pull that off any more, but Andy could. He looked so beautiful, sad, but so beautiful.

“
Hey,” he said.

“
Andy,” she reached for his hand.
“
Thank you.”

“
Don
’
t…”

“
I need to. I find peace knowing that Carlee will be OK. It
’
s a little overwhelming, I have to admit.”

“
After all we went through,” he slipped his hand from hers to pace. “I needed to know that you would be taken care of if something happened to me
.
I would always take care of you, no matter what, but if I wasn
’
t there, I wanted to make sure you were OK, even if we weren
’
t together.” He paused, "Half of who I am is because of you.”

He reached into his shirt and pulled out that gold chain with his half of the Mizpah.

“Oh, I can’t believe…”

“I haven’t taken if off since I put it on Bethy.” He finished her thought.

I don
’
t think I even know where my half is
…

“
Even after John,” she was thinking out loud, “I am sure you could have done something to change the royalty thing…”

He stopped her.
“
Beth, I wouldn
’
t have. What if something happened to him? I needed to know that you would always be OK. I should have been the one to tell you. It should have been me, a long time ago, but I was a coward. I was afraid of your pride, afraid that you would turn me away, afraid I couldn
’
t handle that, so I just gave it to Roddy to handle, like almost every important thing in my life.”

“
Thank you.”

There was silence in the room for a long time. He stood at the window, hands in his pockets and peered out, not really looking
at
anything, just not looking at Beth.

The light got lower, and finally he began to pace again. “Bethy, Bethy, Bethy,” he said.
“
All the things I should have done,” wringing his hands as he did.

She reached out and he came to her, and she squeezed his hand.
“
Shoulda, coulda, woulda,” she said.
“
Fate, Andy, everything happens for a reason. I believe it’s all part of God’s plan.” Then she added;
“
He must have something else in store for me…”

Still holding her hand,
“
Oh, Bethy” he said, “Look what we missed. We could have been, we could have had, we could have done…”

“It wasn
’
t meant to be.”

He asked, sadly,
“
Why?”

“
I
’
ve thought about that a lot over the years. You weren
’
t the marrying type. You couldn
’
t settle down Andy.”

“
I could have, with you.”

“
No, or you would have,” she said
.

They sat quietly for a while. Twilight fell over the room. Beth dozed and when she woke it was John who was sitting there.

“
Hi,” he said.