The Drakes of California
“Good afternoon, everyone!”
His father perhaps? Faye placed down her spoon and listened.
“My name is David Drake Jr. I want to thank all of you for coming here today to celebrate the birthday of this resort’s founder, my father, David Drake Sr. Today, he turns one-hundred years old!” The partygoers cheered and applauded. “As any of you who’ve had the pleasure of meeting him can imagine, the stories are many, the history vast. A detailed biography is included in the programs placed at each table setting and also available in the hotel lobby. For now, please enjoy this short documentary highlighting some of the rich and colorful history of this amazing man.
“As the film plays, the waitstaff will deliver glasses of champagne to every table. Please refrain from drinking them until the end of the film, where we will toast the man known fondly as...Papa Dee.”
Along with the other almost five-hundred guests, Faye watched in part amazement, part amusement as the story of the life of Papa Dee unfolded in the seven-minute film. The family had managed to retain impeccably preserved pictures of Papa Dee during various stages of his life: from the twelve-year-old standing between his maternal French grandparents to the twenty-five-year-old standing with his first wife. Narrated by family members, the documentary blended history with humor and offered a snapshot into what the viewers concluded was a diverse and interesting life. As she watched the film, Faye also snuck peaks at the family Papa Dee built, the ones she knew. Dexter sat next to his great-grandfather, seeming to keep up a running dialogue as they both watched the film. At times, the older man chuckled. At others, he’d lean over to whisper into an attentive Dexter’s ear. Faye found herself wishing she were a whisker on Papa’s aged chin just to hear what transpired during those obviously treasured moments. Smiling at the tableau before her, she was totally caught off guard when Dexter looked up and caught her staring. Busted! She slid her eyes away from the pair, but not before noticing Dexter laugh at something the old man said, head thrown back, pearly whites sparkling, arm reaching across the chair to hug Papa Dee’s slightly bent shoulders. What does that feel like, she wondered, to have a family that is so successful, and so close?
Faye wouldn’t know. Not really, anyway. There were fond memories scattered here and there: a Christmas at SeaWorld in San Diego; Thanksgiving with her father’s parents when she was seven. Her paternal grandparents lived on a farm in Tennessee. It was the first time she’d seen cows, chickens and pigs up close. But her father was a military man, army, gone from home a lot. During their many moves she gained a love for reading but made few friends. Her mother, an outgoing woman whose big personality often overshadowed her daughter, seemed content to leave Faye to her own devices while she either worked toward her BS in business management or socialized with the other wives, usually around a card game or television show. When she was eleven years old, her world got flipped upside down. The family moved to Saint Louis, Faye discovered a love for medicine and her life forever changed. Looking at Dexter’s sister, Diamond, leaning against a tall, handsome man whom Faye presumed was her husband, along with a group of about ten other people Faye imagined were part of the Drake family, Faye felt an unfamiliar pang of longing for family...and for love.
The cheering crowd brought Faye out of her reverie, and belatedly she realized she’d missed the last part of the film. What she couldn’t miss was six feet two inches of delectable goodness rising from his seat to take the mike.
“Hello, everyone. My name is Dexter, a fifth-generation Drake and the vintner here at Drake Wines Resort and Spa. In other words, under the watchful eye of the man we’re celebrating, I developed the bubbly we’re about to sip right now.” He raised the flute in his hand to their laughter and applause. “And now, a few words from the man who taught me everything I know, the man of the hour...David ‘Papa Dee’ Drake!” Everyone clapped again and turned their attention to Papa Dee.
When he stood, Faye noted that even with bent shoulders he stood tall. Had to have been six one, six two in his heyday. She realized that he and Dexter had the same eyes and nose. She also realized that she was spending way too much time analyzing all things Dexter Drake. Here it was almost six o’clock in the afternoon and she hadn’t thought about the clinic she was building or Haitian Heartbeats all day!
As one by one people rose to their feet, Papa Dee stood before the crowd with teary eyes. “Papa Dee Drake! Papa Dee Drake!” they chanted, and Faye joined in. Papa Dee waved his hands to quiet the crowd. “I appreciate all of the love that y’all are showing me. It’s true I’m no longer a spring chicken. But I’m not a cooked goose either!” The audience roared. “Thank you!”
Papa Dee sat, and another man stood up and addressed the crowd. “My name is Donald Drake, president and chief operating officer of the resort and proud grandson of David Drake Sr. Everyone, please, let’s sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Papa Dee and then raise our glasses in a unanimous toast!”
The song was sung, the toast was made and soon the covered patio was filled with those dancing to some of Papa Dee’s favorite songs. Dexter was the first one out on the dance floor, twirling a vivacious Latina to a fast-paced “Minnie the Moocher.” It wasn’t long, however, before a Tyra look-alike tapped Ms. Latina on the shoulder. Dexter didn’t miss a beat as the “Moocher” segued into “A Tisket, A Tasket.” They kicked and stomped and step-ball-changed across the dance floor before he spun her away with one arm and pulled in his sister with the other. The siblings took a trip on the A train, and when they stopped the band had gone from the forties to the fifties without missing a beat. Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley and Ray Charles hits kept the dance floor packed, but Faye never lost sight of her dream man. When the band began playing a Sam Cooke classic and Dexter began walking toward her, Faye’s heart almost dropped to her toes. He can’t be coming over here. She looked behind her. That table was empty, its occupants already on the dance floor. No! Not me! He can’t possibly think I’d—
“Dance? Please?”
That smile is deadly. Lethal. Should require a permit and be concealed in public. “No, thank you. I don’t dance.”
“Nonsense.” He grabbed her hand before she could move it, began gently pulling her up. It felt as though all eyes were on her, her tablemates smiling and prodding her on. There was no way she could resist without looking silly. “I’ve got you,” he whispered as he pulled her up against him. She hung on—not because she was trying to make a romantic move, but because she really couldn’t dance! Especially the way he was turning and rocking back and forth. Fortunately for both of them he was an excellent leader, and she was more than content to follow where he led her. The song spoke of thrills and kisses, infatuation and longing, and sending people places, and with Faye feeling Dexter’s arms around her and smelling the musky manliness of his cologne, her head was spinning with the desire to experience them all with him!
The song ended and still she clung to him. It had been the most thrilling three minutes she’d experienced in a long time. She didn’t want to let go. “That was amazing.” Oops. Wait. Did I say that out loud?
“You are amazing.”
Yes, girl, those words actually came out of your mouth.
“My turn!” A fiery redhead came to steal away Dexter, and the spell was broken. Faye went back to her seat, and after awhile sanity joined her there. But not before reliving how those arms felt around her and how that chest felt up against hers, oh, about a hundred millions times. By the time the band was reminding the revelers that it didn’t mean a thing if it didn’t have that swing, Faye was back out on the dance floor, this time with the businessman from Texas. The day had turned out to be fun after all.
* * *
On the other side of the garden, Dexter joined his sister, Diamond, and their older brother, Donovan. They all watched their great-grandfather enjoy his moment in the sun.
“Ooh, look at Birdie,” Diamond said, giving a surreptitious nod to the scowling woman sitting at the table Papa Dee had occupied. “She does not appreciate Charlotte dancing with her man!”
“They both better watch out for Kat,” Donovan chimed, as he watched Diamond’s assistant, a Drake employee for over twenty years, make a beeline for where Papa Dee was dancing. “I think she’s getting ready to cut in!”
Sure enough the plucky, red-headed Irishwoman kindly took Papa Dee’s hand, placed an arm around his back and joined him in his rock around the clock. A semicircle formed around them as they danced, the audience clapping and cheering them on. The song ended. Papa Dee bowed.
“Such a gentleman,” Diamond cooed, putting a hand on her round belly.
“What a man,” Dexter agreed.
They all watched as the patriarch who’d lived to see five generations took one step, and then another and then fell over.
Chapter 8
Mayhem ensued.
The Drake clan surged toward their fallen patriarch, with Dexter leading the charge. “Move back!” he demanded. Reaching the man he’d idolized since before he knew the word’s meaning, he bent down to scoop him up. Just as he prepared to lift him, a voice even more commanding than his had been cut through the din of chaos.
“Do not move him!”
As one, the crowd turned toward the source of the sound. Faye moved quickly and decisively, her actions coming by rote. She’d weathered warfare in Africa, hurricane threats in Haiti. Her movements were automatic. All thoughts save those of the man on the ground—including the handsome man hovering over him—fled from her mind.
“Please. Let me through. I’m a doctor.” She dropped to her knees and placed two fingers under Papa Dee’s nose. He was not breathing. “Call 911.” Her voice was calm, authoritative, almost soothing in its surety. “Everyone step back. He needs air.” Everyone moved except Dexter, who stayed as if glued to his great-grandfather’s side. She loosened Papa Dee’s tie, ripped apart his shirt and spoke methodically. “I’m going to administer CPR.” She opened Papa Dee’s airway by tilting back his head. When still not detecting a breath, she covered his mouth with hers and sent two quick bursts of air into his body, followed by thirty chest compressions delivered between the ribcage and chest. Considering his age, she was careful to keep her hands directly over his sternum. Even so, she knew the chances were great that a rib would get broken. To save his life, however, it was a chance she had to take. The process was repeated. Breathe into the body. Chest compressions. Check for breath. Again. Finally, Papa Dee moaned. Very slight. Almost inaudible. But it was a sound.
Fortunately, not the only one. The blare of sirens could be heard in the distance. Faye looked up and caught Dexter’s panicked eyes boring into hers. “Someone needs to direct the paramedics to where we are.”
As if a sprinter’s gun had been fired, Dexter was up and moving through the crowd. The resort’s security team worked to keep the guests at bay although honestly, respect for the man they’d come to celebrate kept most everyone at a respectable distance.
Within seconds, paramedics stormed in. As one kneeled down to begin work on Papa Dee, Faye addressed another one. “I’m Dr. Buckner. It seems we have a man with a heart condition. The patient has been somewhat stabilized, but we need to get him quickly to the hospital.”
They secured an oxygen mask on Papa Dee, put him on a stretcher and quickly wheeled him around to the side entrance. Dexter walked briskly alongside the gurney. The paramedic to whom Faye had been speaking uttered a quick “thanks” before turning to run behind the other.
She stayed him with a hand on his arm. “What hospital?”
“Loma Linda.” And then he was gone.
Faye turned and went in the opposite direction, away from the side entrance and toward the front entrance, which was closest to the hotel and its parking lot. Only one thing was on her mind: getting her credentials and then locating the hospital through her GPS. Thankfully, she’d had only one flute of champagne, had taken only one sip from the second that had been offered during the toast. In the space of a few minutes, Papa Dee had gone from being a person whose party she was attending to a person whose life had been in her hands. As a doctor who practiced with her heart, she had to make sure her patient was all right. She wouldn’t be able to rest until she knew.
Within the span of fifteen minutes, Faye was taking the Clinton-Keith exit off I-215. After two more left turns she arrived at the hospital, parked in a designated spot and entered through the emergency entrance.
“Hello,” she said to the receptionist at the desk. “I’m Dr. Buckner, and I’m here to check on a patient, David Drake Sr. He came in probably five, ten minutes ago suffering from cardiac arrest and perhaps other complications.” She placed her credentials down on the desk as she spoke.
“Yes, Doctor,” the receptionist replied after a quick perusal of Faye’s ID, the keys on her computer being clicked rapidly as she viewed the screen. “He’s in emergency right now.”
“The attending physician?”
More key clicks. “Dr. Saunders. I’m not sure we can get you into the emergency room—”
“That won’t be necessary. I can speak with the doctor when he’s finished. Which way to the waiting room?”
“Right around the corner. You can’t miss it.”
“Thank you.” Faye rounded the corner. Dexter was the first sight she saw.
She stopped.
He stopped. His eyes were glassy; worry was painted all over his face. “You’re a doctor.”
“Yes, I am.”
“My great-grandfather. Do you think...”
“We don’t know, Dexter. But he was breathing when the paramedics arrived and his heartbeat, while not overly strong, was steady. His skin tone looked good, and there was no drastic drop in his body temperature. I think the best thing for him right now is all of us thinking positive thoughts and believing in the best possible outcome.”
“You’re right.” He continued looking at her. His expression was unreadable. “Thank you.”
As he looked into her doe-brown eyes and she stared into his brownish-hazel orbs, something happened. A heat, low and mostly unidentifiable, passed between them. The same as the one she’d felt on the dance floor while in his arms. Then, like now, it was gone in an instant.
“I was headed to the waiting room.” Faye walked past him and into the room, where various families huddled with combinations of faith and worry, hope and fear. Her targeted destination was easy to spot. Decked out in their party wear, the Drake clan, along with concerned employees who’d come in on their day off to recognize the founder, took up a third of the room. Halfway there, the man she remembered as the son of Papa Dee spotted her. He said something to the group and a dozen heads swiveled in her direction.
“Doctor.” David Drake Jr. was the first to speak.
“How is he?”
“What happened?”
“Is he going to be all right?”
These questions rang out at once. Faye raised her hands to still them. “I just now arrived and haven’t been in the emergency room or spoken to the attending physician. The nurse says he’s stable, and when she has a moment, she’ll let the team know I’m here.”
“What do you think happened to my father?” David Jr.’s voice was strong, but deep concern shown in his eyes.
Faye was almost sure that Papa Dee had suffered a heart attack, but she wasn’t certain so she wouldn’t share. “It’s best not to speculate,” she said instead, her voice automatically calm and soothing from years of comforting the afflicted. “In times like these it’s difficult, but if you’ll try to remain calm and keep your thoughts positive, that’s often the best for your loved one.”
“The doctor’s right,” Dexter added. He placed a hand on Faye’s shoulder. Only now did she realize he’d been standing just behind her; only now was she aware of the source of the woodsy scent that had tickled her nostrils. “Y’all know how Papa is. He wouldn’t want us out here crying and carrying on.” Dexter said the words in the raspy voice of his great-grandfather. “Or getting our faces twisted up.” Another Papa Deeism.
A kind-looking older woman approached Faye. “Hello, I’m Mary Drake, David Jr.’s wife. We’re so thankful that you were there today. Are you a resident of Temecula?”
“No, ma’am. I’m a guest at the hotel.”
This news elicited a variety of facial expressions: surprise, delight, curiosity.
“Donald Drake here,” a tall, imposing man announced, coming forward with hand outstretched. “I’m David Sr.’s grandson and the president of the hotel. What is your name, Doctor?”
“Faye Buckner.”
“How long have you been at our establishment?”
“Just arrived yesterday. I’ll be staying for a week.”
“Well, on behalf of myself, my wife—” he gestured toward an attractive, slim woman whose expression suggested that her thoughts were in overdrive “—and the entire Drake family, let us thank you for stepping in today and helping our patriarch by considering you our guest during your stay.”
Faye’s brow furrowed. She was already a guest at the hotel. How else would she consider herself? “Thank you,” she said, hoping it was an appropriate response to what she thought an obvious statement.
The woman who’d been introduced as Donald’s wife stepped forward. “Dear, would you like to sit down? It may be a while before the doctor comes out.”
Faye nodded and followed the elegance-oozing woman to a row of chairs. On the way, she caught a look pass between Dexter and his sister, and saw a wisp of a smile cut through the worry lines.
“I’m Genevieve Drake,” the woman said as soon as they were seated. “David Jr. and Mary are my husband’s parents—my in-laws.” She nodded toward the three people still standing. “Those are our children. Donovan, he’s the oldest. Diamond is my only daughter and Dexter our youngest son.”
“You have a beautiful family,” Faye said sincerely.
“Thank you. We’re very blessed.”
“Yes. You are.”
“What about you? Are you here visiting with your husband?”
“No, Mrs. Drake. I’m not married.”
A perfectly arched brow rose ever so slightly. “Oh?”
“No, ma’am, I’m single.”
“Single as in never married?”
“Correct.”
“Do you have children? I don’t mean to pry, but you’re smart, attractive...I’m curious.”
Faye chased away the discomfort that usually came with this topic of conversation. At thirty-two years old, it was one she’d had often. “I understand. No, I don’t have any—”
“Excuse me, ladies,” Dexter interrupted. “Faye, you have the distinct look of one being interrogated. Is my mother asking for your date of birth and Social Security number?”
“We’re just talking,” Faye said with a smile, hiding the sigh of relief that she’d been rescued.
“Yes, I’m very familiar with how my mother loves to talk,” he said with a smirk. “All of that listening has probably made you thirsty. Would you like to join me in a hunt for the cafeteria or somewhere to get bottled water?”
Faye stood. “Sure.”
They turned to leave, just in time to see the doctor entering the waiting room and walking toward them. The men were on their feet in an instant.
“How is he, Doc?” Donald asked.
The others gathered around the doctor. “He’s weak, but he’s going to be okay.” The expression on the Drakes’ faces was a collective one of relief. Faye could have sworn that a little more air seeped into the room. “Where is Dr. Buckner?” The doctor looked around the group.
Faye stepped forward. “Right here,” she said, hand outstretched. “You must be Dr. Saunders.”
“Yes. I understand that you attended the patient until paramedics arrived?”
“Yes.”
“Good work. Thanks to your quick actions, there appears to be no permanent damage to any major organs, including the heart.”
David Jr., who was just an inch shorter than his six-foot son, Donald, came to stand beside him. “What happened, Doctor?”
“And you are?”
“I’m the patient’s son.”
The doctor nodded and shook the outstretched hand. “Mr. Drake suffered what’s known as a coronary artery spasm—in layman’s terms, a very mild heart attack.”
“Oh, goodness!” Mary cried, voicing what some of the others had felt. Her own father had died when she was thirty, just ten years after she and David Jr. had married. Now, at seventy-eight, she’d known Papa Dee longer than she’d known her own flesh and blood, and loved him not one bit less. “A heart attack is serious. What are you going to do? A bypass? How can you say that he’ll be fine?”
“Your concern is understandable,” Dr. Saunders replied, his voice firm and matter-of-fact. “Heart attacks can be very serious, and very damaging. Fortunately, what Mr. Drake experienced is the very least of what can happen when the artery wall tightens and blood flow through that artery is restricted.”
“What is the treatment?” Dexter appeared calmer than he’d looked since Papa Dee dropped to the ground.
“We’re still performing tests to determine plaque buildup and other potential causes for the blockage, but in most cases the problems can be solved with medication.”
“Can we see him?”
“He’s still in ICU, but we’ll have him in a private room shortly. The nurse will let you know when he’s been moved.”
The family asked a few more questions, received the doctor’s reassurances and then sat down to wait. Only after looking around the room and then the hallways did Dexter realize that sometime during Dr. Saunders’ explanation, the angel who’d likely saved his great-grandfather’s life had left Loma Linda.
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