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I shrugged. "I have to rethink what I'm doing."
He caught my eye, frowning. "Don’t let Sefton undermine your confidence. Both your teachers asked you to be in the Master Class. That's a huge compliment. Obviously, you have talent."
"Talent isn't enough. You have to have a voice."
"Kate, forget all that mumbo jumbo Sefton said. All that really matters is that you love what you do. You looked so happy that day I saw you in the studio after a long day painting. I think you have found your passion. You have to let yourself enjoy it and don't let what others think affect you. You can't ever really know what other people are thinking. You can only know yourself and how you feel. That's what matters."
We sat in silence for a long time, enjoying the silence but I couldn't escape the notion that what other people thought about you did matter. My gut tight at the thought that people – especially Claire and Michael – might know about our lifestyle. It shouldn't matter, but people could be so small and judgmental.
"How will Claire knowing about us affect your relationship with her and Michael?"
Drake took in a deep breath. "I'll wait and see if she does or says anything else. But maybe from now on, turn down her requests to go out or do anything."
"But what about going on safari? She said she and Michael would arrange something for the four of us. Should we refuse to go with them?"
Drake shook his head. "I don't want my friendship with Michael to be strained, so I'd be willing to go on safari with them, but don't get too friendly with her, in case she really is that manipula
tive."
I nodded. In truth, I didn't really want to spend time with her, especially if she knew about Drake and was gossiping to anyone about us.
But it did all finally make sense to me – Claire so willing to dole out motherly advice to me about my relationship with Drake, warning me to get my own life, keep busy, always talking about how often Drake would be away. She even seemed to push me together with Sefton…
"She was trying to break us up," I said finally. Looking back over everything, it was as clear to me. Claire wanted Drake to be with Sam – a fellow surgeon, not some grad-student artist wannabe. "She always said these things that made me feel insecure about our relationship. I took it as friendly advice from someone with experience, but now that I think of it, I think she was laying a foundation of doubt in me."
"I still can't believe it," Drake said, his voice sounding hurt. "I hope Michael wasn’t part of this. I don’t believe he'd go along with it, but still… to be so unaware of what your spouse is doing."
"You said he's very busy."
He shrugged. "I'm glad you're here," he said and pulled me onto his lap. "We were each thinking the same thing, not wanting to be separated any longer."
"We were," I said and smiled, my throat choking a bit. I nestled my face in the crook of his neck, warmth for him flooding through my body. Then I pulled back. "What were you and my father talking about before you left?" I said, looking into his eyes. "I asked him but he wouldn't tell me. He told me to ask you."
Drake smiled, his expression thoughtful. "I told him," he said, speaking slowly as if he were trying to compose his response. "I told him to make sure and get better because he was like the father I wished I'd had and I didn't want to lose him, too."
A surge of emotion filled me. "What did he say?"
"He said that I was like a second son to him. He admired my father, loved him like a brother. He saw a lot of Liam in me and was so glad that you and I fell in love but that Liam's one regret was that he failed to put my mother first in his life instead of his career. He said I shouldn't make the same mistake. He was right. That's why I decided to come back to Manhattan. I didn't want to make the same mistake my father did."
I squeezed him more tightly, for I could hear the emotion in his voice.
"I can’t believe you would have really left Nairobi. I'm glad I came back when I did. I'd feel terrible if you quit because of me."
"I'd only leave because of you, Kate. I realized that I can't stand to be apart from you. I don’t have to be, and I don’t want to be. I want to be like Elaine and your father. Not one night apart by choice. Do you understand?"
"I understand," I repeated and then our mouths met in a kiss, our lips pressed together, and the kiss became more intense until neither of us could keep our hands off each other.
Then Drake pushed me down on the couch, my hands beside my head, his fingers lacing with mine.
"I love you," he said, his eyes holding mine, his expression so intense. "Never leave me again."
I couldn't respond, my throat choked and my eyes filled with tears. The fact that Drake was willing to give everything up to return to Manhattan to be with me so I could stay and care for my father, that he'd even consider doing so, finally registered in my mind. All the concern and worry I'd felt since coming to Nairobi, about Sam, whether I was good enough for Drake, and whether we'd be able to work things out, faded into nothingness.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
The next two weeks passed quickly as I tried to get back into my routine, filling my days away from Drake alternating between working at home in my studio, shopping in the local market, and taking my art class with Talia Abasi.
Drake also had to adjust to his new schedule. He didn’t work as much as he had previously, for his slate had been taken over by the locum tenens. Instead of his own slate, he took over part of Michael's so Michael could get his backlog of cases down to more manageable levels. Drake still taught his classes and was away several nights a week, but was home more often.
