The woman’s eyes moved to me. “And this would be Kelly?”
“No, Cindy,” her husband said. “Remember I told you? Lucien and Kelly broke up several years ago.”
“Oh, of course.” She smiled, but there was confusion in her expression as she continued to stare at me.
“Adrienne,” I said, smiling as warmly as I could muster.
“Adrienne? That’s a lovely name,” she said.
“I’m Tom,” the man said, holding out a hand to me.
I shook it, smiling at him, too. Lucien pulled me close against him. “Want a drink?” I nodded enthusiastically.
We settled there in the living room, and talk centered mostly around the roses we could barely see outside the back doors. Cindy seemed to think they were quite beautiful, oohing and ahhing over them like the sun was shining right down and they were glowing with a bright aura. I didn’t understand why everyone was letting her babble that way. She was making a bit of a fool out of herself.
When we went into the dining room, Lucien slid his arm through mine and pulled me back a little, letting the other two couples lead the way.
“She’s got early onset Alzheimer’s,” he said near my ear.
“Oh. Wow. Really?”
He nodded. “Her husband wants her to be included in the trials of our new drug when they become a reality. But I have no control over that. Not even Jacob had any control over it. It’s all regulated by the FDA. But she’s an old friend of my mom’s…”
“She’s hoping you can break some rule or something.”
“Yeah.”
“Does that happen a lot? People asking for special treatment?”
“Yeah, actually, it does. I sent your father a bunch of emails I’ve gotten over the years that might have something to do with what’s going on.”
“That’s good.”
He slid his arm around my waist and guided me the rest of the way into the dining room. His mother looked at me as we came into view, her eyes full of something that was like understanding, but not quite. I couldn’t quite decide if she liked me or not. I wanted her to. I wanted the whole family to like me. I especially wanted Lucien to like me.
And that frightened me.
“Where’s Rachel?” Lucien asked as he helped me into my chair.
“She’s resting,” Karl said. “She has a headache.”
“Convenient,” Lucien said, shooting his mother a look. She shrugged, clearly not bothered by whatever it was going on between the two of them.
He sat beside me and slid his hand over my thigh. I suddenly felt as though I was caught in the middle of something I didn’t want to be caught in.
I could see the way Tom was helping Cindy now, the way he had to show her which utensil to use for her food, which glass was hers to drink from. She seemed to remember who everyone was, but keeping her knife out of her hands was an ongoing task for Tom. It hurt me to watch her, thinking of how awful it would be to lose your memory in such unpredictable and humiliating ways.
“Your mother says your company is getting ready to run a trail on a new Alzheimer’s drug,” Tom said to Lucien as the salad course was served.
“We are.”
“She says it’s promising.”
Lucien inclined his head. “That side of the business is really Jacob’s department.”
“But you’ve filed for FDA approval to move to human trials.”
“We have. We expect to begin within the next six months.”
“Then the drug must be close to market ready.”
I watched the clouds move over Lucien’s face even as his eyes darted toward his mother briefly. This was what he was talking about earlier, I guessed, patients and their families wanting special treatment in the trials.
Lucien handled it with grace, though.
“We’re doing the best we can to get the medications patients need to the market as quickly as possible. We want to see people benefit from the latest advancements. But there are rules set forth by the FDA that we must follow. I’m sure you understand that.”
Tom looked disappointed, but he agreed.
“We can’t break the rules, I suppose. Then there would be mayhem everywhere.”
Lucien reached under the table for my hand, squeezing it as Karl asked Tom about his golf game. Subject changed. Crisis averted. But that dark cloud of disappointment still lingered.
Halfway through dinner, my cellphone buzzed.
I know who you are, a text from an unavailable number read. I can find you whenever I wish.
The words seemed chilling. I glanced at Lucien, but he was listening closely to something Karl was telling him, not really paying attention to me.
Who is this? I texted back.
You’ll find out soon enough if you don’t back down.
How?
There was no response.
I took a screen shot and sent it to Robert.
I’ll take care of it, was his quick response.
This situation was beginning to creep me out a little. It seemed benign on the surface, but sometimes it was the most benign situations that got out of control very quickly.
“Take me home,” I whispered into Lucien’s ear.
He nodded without asking why.
Chapter 19