by Cee, DW
I could see that Jane was angry with me for chastising her. I didn’t care. They had both hurt two people whom I loved dearly.
“Why don’t you both leave before my wife gets really upset.” Jake started laughing again and shooed them out. I didn’t even say goodbye.
It was at this point that I started crying. My heart hurt so much for Max and Laney. Max had been so hurt all his life by his parents, by me, and now by Jane. I thought that he finally found happiness with her. What would I do, what could I do to make things better for him? And Laney must’ve felt so betrayed by her own cousin. And it was all for naught. These two weren’t even in love with each other. They were just testing the waters.
“Don’t cry my love. It will all work itself out. I promise.”
“How do you know?” I asked in between sniffles. “What are we going to do for them Jake? I want Max and Laney to be as happy as you and I are. What can we do to help them?”
“Jane already has her head on straight, and she is going to go grovel to Max out in Mexico as soon as she can. I believe she’s planning on leaving this week. Donovan…well I don’t know what to say about my best friend. I do believe he and Laney are meant to be, but there’s only so much we can do when he doesn’t believe in the same thing. One day soon he will open his eyes. Trust me, I see the attraction, but he is fighting it. I believe that he will come to his senses.”
With those encouraging words he came and laid down in bed with me and brought our newborn in between us. This love, warmth and comfort is what I hoped for with Max and Jane and Laney and Donovan—but it didn’t appear to be in the cards for any of them.
I’d call Laney as soon as my little one went back to sleep, but for now, it was time to be a mother, again.
(Jake) July 26, 2013 Donovan’s Plight, Flight
“You gonna go after her?” My best friend had been miserable since he made a mess of things with Jane, and Laney left believing that he and Jane were together. Funny thing, the same reason that forced Laney back to England was the reason Donovan woke up to smell the coffee.
“Are you the one who sent me this?” He picked up what looked like a small notebook of sort. “It must’ve been you. I don’t know who else would’ve had access to this.”
“What the hell are you talking about? Are you going after her? Have you come to the realization that my cousin is your soul mate? The key to your happiness? Your happily ever after?”
“You’ve been reading Ellie way too many fairytales. I don’t know of any such thing.” He was still denying it.
“After witnessing my marriage, your parents, my parents, your sisters...you still don’t believe in happily ever afters?”
“You sound like a chick, now. Emily has done some number on you, my man. When did you become such a believer in fairytales?”
“Since I met my wife.” I decided to go in for the kill. “You can’t understand the wonders and beauty of being with the one woman who makes your world go around. There’s not a day that doesn’t go by when I wake up to her and smile. When you find the woman, your Emily, she’ll make you smile and thank God that you’re alive to feel such love. Our little Laney is it for you. Why do you keep fighting it?”
I’d no idea why he was fighting it so much. I knew he was attracted to her and he continually wondered what could’ve been, with her.
“Dude, I’ve made a mess of things with every woman I thought was the woman for me. I’ve left Kate bitter, Jane angry—though I’m hopeful she and Max will work everything out, and Laney hurt because she believes she caught me kissing her cousin of all people. Both Laney and Emily were right. I am selfish. I want what I want at all costs, and have no care for others’ feelings. What if I’m wrong about Laney? What if it’s just lust?”
“I think you know it’s not just lust. I’ve always known that Laney’s had a special place in your heart since we were younger. She was the one you used to always protect, always cared for, always made sure she was comfortable. Even when you were infatuated with Kate, you still took the time to show Laney how special she was to you. Was this all in my mind?”
“All this time, I thought I did that because she was a younger sister who needed caring, not as a future partner.”
“All right. Let’s be honest with one another. What’s got you in the dumps these days, then? You haven’t been dating, you’ve been an asshole on many occasions, and you’ve been sniffling around my wife way more than I like.” I didn’t care for any man to be near my wife, demanding her attention if it wasn’t me or the children.
“Emily doesn’t seem to mind. In fact she said she liked having me over. And let’s not forget Ellie, who gives me a bigger smile than she gives even her father, when I show up.”
“Don’t push it, Friend!” Jake warned.. “Or I’m gonna push you into that pool of ours that Ellie is so fond of jumping into with her godfather.”
“Well, look who’s here, again!” Nick and Doug waltzed into the backyard as though they owned the place. Each adult was carrying a child with Emily not far behind, carrying the infant.
Ellie gave me her famous smile, but refused to jump into my arms. She was happy to be with Nick this time.
“Traitor,” I grumbled when she turned away from me. “What’s Nick promised you to turn you away from me?”
“Look at their attire. They’re going swimming as soon as dinner’s done. She’s done with you unless you can produce something more precious than the pool.”
“Ellie, you wanna go take a walk with Uncle Donovan?” I tried to coax her away from Nick.
“NO!” She declared and shook her head fiercely.
“You wanna go swimming with Uncle Nick?” My brother was rubbing in his win.
She nodded her head fiercely, again and hugged Nick the way she usually hugs Donovan when he comes over and plays with her. Even a one year old was playing games with his mind and wreaking havoc on his emotions.
“Women! I can’t seem to win any over, no matter the age. I concede and bow down to you,” Donovan called out to Nick and showed his respect to the man who won, fair and square.
“Women issues?” Now Doug was taunting him.
“Smugness doesn’t become you, Doug.” Donovan answered in a pissy way, while the rest of the group laughed.
Doug did have a smug look. “I talked to Laney just now,” he announced.
“You did?” Donovan said a little too loudly and enthusiastically.
Doug cracked up again. “Shit, Donovan! You’re like a lovesick puppy. You’re just as bad as her boyfriend.”
“What the hell? What boyfriend? Laney doesn’t do boyfriends. She just dates.”
“Where’ve you been?” Doug was doing a great job of making my buddy jealous. “She’s been seeing this guy pretty seriously since she got back to England last month. You know he’s asked her to marry him?”
“Fucking hell? Are you kidding me? Is this the same idiot who called her his duchess? What the hell was that all about, giving up a dukedom? Who the hell has a dukedom?”
“He apparently will.” My wife was now getting into this intervention. “He will inherit a large dukedom when his time comes. You may have to Your Grace our little Laney and her husband, after they get married, of course.” Emily had a sly smile going. God, I loved my wife. I walked over to her and kissed her lips just because she was so damn cute.
“Are you kidding me?” Donovan was a bit outraged now.
“Nope. Laney told me that she spent a week at his grandfather’s larger than imaginable country home.”
“She talks to you, too?” Donovan addressed Nick. “Why won’t she return any of my calls if she’s talking to the rest of you?”
“Maybe she doesn’t want to talk to you.” Doug laughed at Donovan’s torment.
“She and Michael called me right before we got here. They’re going to Rome together to tour the city.”
“What. The. Fuck! I’m so screwed.” Donovan ha
d his head in his hand. “You guys are all lying to me, huh? She and this Michael guy are not as serious as you say they are.”
Now it was time for my intervention. “You heard Michael’s speech about Laney being his sun and moon and whatever the hell he uttered. Poetic bastard, wasn’t he?”
“‘She’s the shine to my sun and the light to my moon. I’d give up my entire dukedom to spend a lifetime with her,’ was what I believe he crooned when he visited her in the hospital. That was the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard a man declare to a woman.” My wife added. “That Michael could write romance novels with the way he was waxing poetic about our Laney.” Emily smiled over to Donovan. “They both looked so happy in love.”
“It doesn’t get more serious than when you ask someone to marry you, Buddy.”
“You are all making me delirious,” Donovan was done. “I’m going home. Go ahead and be happy. I don’t want any part of it.” He got up and kissed all three kids. “Goodbye children.” The twins waved bye to him in response.
“Did we do it? Will he go after her?” Emily asked.
“Hell yes! I’d bet one of my kids that he’s on the next plane to London as soon as he gets his affairs in order.”
“This is gonna be good! I wish I was a fly on the wall when he starts courting Laney.”
“Perhaps we will be that fly on the wall and see his anguish. This could be high drama and Emmy-worthy entertainment.” And I couldn’t wait for the show to begin.
(Donovan) July 29, 2013 I give up!
After rereading the damn diary and convincing myself that Delaney wouldn’t refuse my affection, I made a life altering decision. After weeks of torture, and thinking about her constantly, I knew she was the girl for me. Part of me was scared like hell. I’d gone through life thinking I was in love with Kate, only to figure out that the love part died when I went off to law school. Then there were the countless women I’d dated and left. Of course, my last failure was Jane. What the fuck was I thinking believing that we were meant to be? And how the hell could I have been sexually attracted to Jane? Damn! It grossed me out to think that I had any attraction towards someone I considered a little sister.
There was always the school of thought that Laney could turn out to be the same case as Jane. Shit! I knew absolutely nothing about true love—the kind that Jake preaches every chance he gets. But, I was going to try. It killed me to know that every day I wasn’t with Delaney, she was with another man and forgetting the connection we had. I didn’t know if I was an idiot, but since she refused to return any of the messages I’d left for her, I had to hope that she still had feelings for me. It was either that, or she hated my guts. I chose to believe in the former.
“Roland, you have a moment?”
Roland looked up from his paperwork and didn’t say a word. I was feeling like a school boy at the principal’s office.
“I’d like to transfer to the London office, as soon as possible.”
Roland now looked at me funny, but still stayed mute.
“Would that be possible?”
“Depends on why you want to go to London.” Finally, a word or two. “For what reason do you need to go all the way out there? Is it to renew your relationship with Kate?” There was a firm disapproval in his voice.
“No, Sir. It’s to try and win over the affections of your granddaughter.”
“Which granddaughter?” Damn! This wasn’t going to be easy.
I lowered my head in a deeply apologetic way. “I’m sorry sir for being an asshole towards both your granddaughters. I shouldn’t have trifled with Jane’s feelings and caused a rift between her and Max. And I deeply regret that it’s taken me this long to understand what Delaney meant to me. I’d like to try. I’ll need to grovel, court, whatever the hell she wants, to earn the family’s approval and Delaney’s love.”
“You mean that, Son? You’re not going to hurt my granddaughter, are you?”
“No, Sir! I believe I’m in love with your granddaughter. I can’t stop thinking about her. I hear her laugh in the middle of my day, I see her smile when I try and sleep at nights, I talk to her when I’m lonely. Is this an early onset of dementia, or is this love?”
Roland chuckled. “That’s how I felt when Estelle left me for Jerry. I thought I’d go mad if I didn’t see her one more time, hold her in my arms one last time, love her again for the last time.”
“That’s it, Roland. I need that chance with Delaney. And it won’t be for one last time. I plan to win her over for a lifetime.”
“You’ve got your work cut out for you. Hasn’t Jake told you about Michael Bennington? He’s pursuing her with all his might. I’ve never seen such ardor in a young man. My old buddy, Harry Bennington, his grandfather, is pissing in his knickers right now because Michael’s in love with an American girl. But secretly, I know Harry is in love with our Laney as well. He’s constantly having her over at his country home because ‘Laney loves it here,’ the poor fool keeps telling me. What do you have going for you that’s going to give you one up on Michael?”
“I have her love, Sir. That’s what I have.” Was I kidding myself? Did I honestly believe that I had her love, still, after all this time had gone by?
“I hope you’re right, my boy.”
“Well it’s about damn time!” My future father-in-law proclaimed when I went over to his house to ask his permission to court Delaney. “What the hell took you so long? Didn’t you see how my little girl mooned over you since she was a...little girl? You’re the damn reason she left here and now it looks like she may stay there forever if she marries this future Duke of England.”
“Dad,” Doug interrupted. “He’s not the future Duke of England. He’s just a duke of some area in England.”
“Whatever the hell he is, I won’t have my daughter living so far away from me. You go declare your intentions and bring her home,” the Chief commanded.
“So, you don’t care which man brings her home, as long as he’s successful?” Doug laughed. “Maybe Josh will bring her home. I happen to know he still has the hots for Laney.”
“You ready to treat my baby like the princess that she is? She’s too good for the likes of you, Donovan. She’s as pure as they come—a rarity in this day and age. She’s never given her heart to anyone except you and all you’ve done is squashed her dreams.”
Was anyone going to make this easy for me? “Yes, Chief. I will love her, take care of her, and treat her like my princess for the rest of our lives. Now do I have your permission?”
“You do, Son. Welcome to the family.” My future family gave me a group hug.
Next was my grovel / apology to Gram, and after listening to her berate me for almost an hour, I escaped to Jake and Emily’s.
“Damn! I’ve never had such a difficult day as I did today. I got an earful from the entire family.”
“Why?” Emily asked.
“Because I’ve decided to move to London and court my future wife, princess, love of my life—feel free to choose the correct title as you see fit.”
Emily threw herself at me to Jake’s chagrin. Jake of course came over and peeled his wife away.
“Love, it doesn’t make me happy to see you touching any man, not even my best friend.”
She then came back over and kissed me on the cheek. “If my husband weren’t here, I’d kiss you on both cheeks and the lips, you make me so happy.”
“Let’s not get carried away.” My buddy was really unhappy now.
“You all right with me going out there?” I addressed Emily. “Please tell me, give me hope, Emily. If anyone knows Delaney’s heart, it’s you. Do I have a fighting chance?”
“I think you have better than a fighting chance. Go. Find her. Court her. Show her how much you will love her the rest of your lives!”
“Yes Ma’am!”
With that last bit of encouragement, I picked up and left the comforts of home to go after my princess.
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br /> (Max) August 5, 2013 Birthday Surprises
“You, to my left,” Jake pointed at me, “and you, to my right,” he pointed at Donovan and to our respective seats. After dropping off Jane at home, Jake took us to a swanky speakeasy bar.
“It’s all good now, Jake. I’m not going to punch your best friend in the nose again.”
“When the hell did that happen?”
“Last Friday when Donovan was making the rounds getting everybody’s approval, going through his ten-steps to a better human being process.”
