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Opening the front door slowly, she removed her shoes and tipped into the foyer and over to the double staircase closest to her wing. Laughter spilled from the formal dining room along with the clanking of silver on china. Her hopes grew. The noisy clan’s antics might have covered the sound of the car. She placed a foot on the first step and prayed there would be no creaking.
First step. Silence. Yes!
Second step, the tricky one. A little creak, not much.
“London? Is that you?”
London could have sworn Jennifer had hall video monitors behind her eyeballs. There was no way she could have heard that tiny creak all the way in the dining room. Especially over the raucous voices coming from there.
She thought about not answering but knew that was useless. Jennifer would just employ a sibling or two to smoke her out of hiding. She slunk down the stairs, resigned to her fate. Putting on a brave face and a runway walk, she entered the dining room. “Hey, everybody!”
A small cacophony of greetings erupted from almost a dozen Drakes seated around the massive custom-made platinum, glass and mahogany table. No children were present. The nannies no doubt were with the next generation in a former sitting room on the other side of the house that had been turned into a playroom paradise.
So far, so good. No cheeky comments or sly innuendos. Maybe her family had become immune to the tabloids. Like she had. She hoped so. One of the things she hoped to do during this time at home was reestablish the type of bond with her parents she saw her siblings enjoy. That would be much easier if she didn’t have to explain dancing in a club with a bare-butt cowboy. She kissed her mom and dad, who sat at opposite ends of the table, before continuing to the food-laden buffet that anchored the far wall, filling a bowl with fresh fruit, placing a bagel on a saucer and taking the empty chair next to Terrell to enjoy her first course.
She’d barely bitten into her first juicy strawberry when the query began.
Jennifer led the way. “How was San Francisco, dear?”
London nodded as she swallowed her bite. “Good. Great, actually. In fact, I’ve got news.”
This quieted the chatter all around. She felt like Tupac. All eyes on her.
“I thought we’d have to pull the news out of you,” Ike Jr. said, eyes slightly judging.
London caught Quinn’s subtle eye warning. Ike Jr. knew. Dang it. Suddenly she wished her glass of orange juice were a mimosa. Though what the tabloids treated like breaking news was really no big deal, her father and his namesake bristled at any hint of controversy. The faster she explained what happened, the faster they could move on. So she dived right in.
“What? The picture of me dancing with Mr. Tuxedo and the bare-butt cowboy?”
Ike Sr. choked on his water. Some laughed. Others scowled. Jennifer’s expression remained placid. She’d weathered worse storms.
Warren, who along with wife, Charli, owned a ranch and vineyard, was the first to comment in a string of many. “And here I thought you weren’t too fond of the ranch life.”
“Wait a minute. I didn’t see the picture, just read the article. A man actually showed his bare behind?” Niko asked.
“He wasn’t totally naked. He had on chaps,” Teresa said.
Monique chimed in, “You can’t take a story like that at face value. Especially when it comes from XYZ.”
“Just please tell me that’s not part of OTB’s new line,” Terrell joked.
London gave him a playful jab. “You’re silly.”
Quinn tried to make light of the matter. “It was San Francisco, you guys, where everything goes and anything can happen.”
Ike Jr. slid her a glance. “Thanks for letting me know. I’ll be sure next time to send along a bodyguard—me.”
“You took that the wrong way! What happens isn’t necessarily wrong or bad. And what was taking place when that picture was taken is nothing like what the articles implied.”
Ike Sr. spoke through a scowl. “Exactly what did happen, Clarisse?”
She gave them the short version, mainly the whispered conversation that allowed the questionable photograph. “It’s a private club,” she finished. “A neighborhood hangout where most are regulars and everyone knows everybody else. I was actually surprised paparazzi was there.”
