Complete Indelible Love Series

by Cee, DW

  Where did you go off to so early in the morning?

  I’m golfing.

  Of course my brother had to check up on me even though we said we were off on our own today. Though his attention irked me at times, I was grateful he took care of me in his bizarre way.

  You want to go to the northern-most point and swim at a black sand beach?

  Thanks, but I can’t. I’m already in a foursome and can’t get out.

  You playing with Nolan?

  No. I just grouped with a random threesome. I’ve got to go. Have a great time.

  Bye.

  Purposely, I set out for a 5:07am tee time, so I wouldn’t have to hang out with anyone. I didn’t want to bother Max and Jane, who were definitely in a zone of their own. Jake and Emily needed their rest. Josh, as nice as he was, showed a wee-bit too much interest in me, and that made me uncomfortable. The rest of the guys could go do guy stuff without having me hold them back, and as for Donovan...I stayed away all together from him. He didn’t explain why Kate left, but I felt responsible. It wasn’t as if I was important enough in his life to cause any serious rift between them, but it was no secret she didn’t like me in her room the other night.

  The golf course was fairly empty so our foursome finished a little past noon. The three elderly players invited me to have lunch with them, but with a polite decline, I dined alone at a restaurant on the beach. The surroundings were incredible, and knowing this was my last day, I wanted to enjoy all that the resort had to offer.

  To my annoyance, a random hand grabbed a bunch of my french fries and said, “You eating all that food by yourself?”

  “Yes, Mr. Taylor. I’ve expended a lot of energy this morning.”

  “Golf is hardly a strenuous sport. I don’t think you’ve expended that much energy.” He noshed on more of my fries and the other half of my burger I’d cut up.

  “I just played 18-holes, I walked the entire course, and carried my own bag.” I started on my salad before he gunned for that as well.

  “What idiot walks the entire 18-holes when you can ride a golf cart? Any why the hell would you carry your clubs?”

  I shrugged my shoulders. “The course is beautiful, and I wanted to walk through it and experience it. And though they had golf clubs to lend, they didn’t have any push carts—so I carried them the entire way.”

  “Why didn’t you just buy a cart?”

  “Mr. Taylor, unlike you, I don’t have $200 to throw around. Plus, it’ll cost me another $100 in baggage fees to take it back with me.” He looked at me as though I was a nut. “Why aren’t you out with everyone?”

  “I should’ve had you room with me instead of those frat boys. They had a serious all-night party. The noise kept me awake till dawn. I told them they were sleeping on the lanai tonight if they woke me up this morning.”

  I laughed as I finished off the salad.

  “Are you done? I need to shower, change, then catch the shuttle.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “I’m going to do some window shopping at the shops in Waikoloa. The hotel shuttle leaves every hour. I need to hurry.”

  Donovan gave his characteristic quirking of the head when he didn’t understand something. “You’re going to get on a hotel shuttle and go window shopping?”

  “Yes. See you later.” With a nervous gait, I practically ran back to my room. Donovan Taylor was the last person I expected to see today. After the other morning, I just wasn’t ready to talk to him.

  I changed into a cute Hawaiian sarong and walked over to the valet area to catch the shuttle. I waved to the elderly golf-threesome and walked toward the open door of my ride when I heard, “Delaney.” Donovan, Jake and Emily rode up in a jeep convertible. “Get in.”

  I followed his directions and sat next to Emily, who gave me a kiss on the cheek.

  “What have you been up to? I haven’t seen you all day.” Emily greeted me.

  “I played golf with an elderly threesome and had lunch.”

  “By yourself? Nolan wasn’t available?”

  “I didn’t ask.”

  “Why didn’t you go with everyone to the black sand beach? Didn’t you get invited?” Emily sounded slightly upset.

  “Doug asked but I was almost 9-holes into my game already. Plus, I needed my...” I didn’t need to divulge further information so I changed the topic. “What did you and Jake do? And please, I only want the rated G version.” I grinned.

  “We slept, ate a late breakfast, then sat on our lanai and drank lemonade and watched the waves crashing into the ocean. Exciting, huh?”

  “That’s about as exciting as my day. Where are we going, by the way?”

  “Didn’t you say you wanted to go shopping? I thought it’d be a good idea to get these two out of their room and see other parts of the Big Island. Emily also needs to buy gifts for the family.”

  So Donovan Taylor rented a car to take me shopping? Noooooo! He rented a car, or perhaps Jake rented a car, but Donovan was driving it, and we were all tagging along. That latter idea sounded more plausible.

  We started at a jewelry store where Jake bought Emily a new watch when he spotted the perfect watch in a window. Then we walked into the Louis Vuitton store and to Emily’s huge protest, Jake bought her a darling pink diaper bag. I’d never seen anything so cute in my life. It was hideously expensive, but he bought it regardless of Emily’s threats and refusal of the gift. Then Jake led us to a shoe store, and he bought Emily another pair of walking shoes because her feet had swollen, and he didn’t want her to be uncomfortable in the shoes she was currently wearing. Emily sat on a bench while Jake was down on his knees, pulling out the holder in the new shoes, and gently tugging at her ankles to replace the old ones with the new pair.

  This beautiful sight made me grapple with that funny, heart-splitting feel—that one where it tingled, pinched, poked, pressed, and made a girl sad enough to tear up without warning. I walked out for air, hoping to discover a way to stop this unwanted sensation. As happy as I was for my cousin and his wife, I couldn’t help wondering when I’d find a man—any man—who’d care for my every well-being. Who would worry about my swollen feet and change out the shoes of my sand-ridden feet? My feelings for Donovan aside, that kind of love didn’t loom anywhere on my horizon.

  “Why’d you leave the shoe store?” Donovan followed me out.

  “I saw a cute bathing suit. I thought I’d take a look.” I lied.

  “You going to buy it?”

  I shook my head no.

  “Why not? Aren’t you the original shopaholic on your cul-de-sac? You don’t shop pretending to be Barbara Reid anymore?”

  We got a good chuckle out of my younger-year misdemeanors.

  “No. Mom was quite relieved when I stopped doing that. I still shop more than I should. I need to save up all the money I can before going to London.”

  “One bathing suit going to set you back that much? Doug said you earn good money from your part-time job.”

  “Even with your kindness—buying me a plane ticket and allowing me to use your room—I’ve spent way more money on this trip than I should. And I don’t need any more bathing suits.” Donovan stayed unusually quiet. “Would it be all right if I strayed a bit and looked at some stores on my own? I’ll meet you at that coffee shop,” I pointed to the one at the back of the mall, “in about thirty minutes?”

  He nodded his head yes, and let me go without a fight. This was nothing new, but it still hurt the same.

  April 12, 2013 Beeautiful!

  Donovan had called in the morning asking if I’d do him and Jane a favor. He explained the situation and told me—apologetically, I might add—that his Taiwanese clients wanted one last dinner and they had requested I attend. After what happened at the volcanoes, I wasn’t thrilled about having dinner with the two guys, or with Donovan. But since I wouldn’t have been in Hawaii without the generosity of all three men, I thought this was the
least I could do. As it turned out, it was indeed the worst night ever. Josh stopped by to see Doug as I was about to leave, and convinced me to ride with him to the Westside. The entire ride was me avoiding Josh’s invitations to hang out with him. I didn’t know how many more ways I could say no without being an outright bitch. The dinner, too, was a disaster! After saying no to Josh for the past hour, I thought I was done with that word. Weston could give Josh lessons on aggressive behavior.

  “If I sent you my plane, would you come visit me in Hong Kong?” Seriously?

  “Thank you for the invitation, Weston, but I’m going to London as soon as I graduate.”

  “Why London? What’s in London?” Even before I could come up with a proper answer, he added, “I do actually have a home in London because business takes me there often. Where are you staying? If you don’t have a place to stay, I’d be happy to let out a room to you.”

  Seriously? I was so close to telling this guy off but didn’t want to ruin anything for Donovan and Jane. I politely explained the what, where, why, how, and when’s of my plans, and stayed as quiet as possible.

  “Then, can I come see you in London?”

  This Weston just wouldn’t go away. I looked to Donovan, and though he didn’t have a happy expression, he didn’t step in to protect me from this predator. It was stupid of me to expect any sort of buffer from Donovan, but I did...and when it didn’t come, I felt a splinter in my heart. It didn’t hurt severely but the pain was constant. I needed to get away and just...just...I didn’t know what but I needed to get away from here and these men. Without thinking, I moved the chair back right as the servers were bringing our pasta course, and I caused the server to spill the bowl on my dress.

  The pasta was piping hot, my right thigh burned, and I simply didn’t know how to get away from this mess.

  It was at this point Donovan came over and quickly brushed the pasta with a napkin, into the empty plate. “You OK?”

  No...where’ve you been all this time? Physically, you’re right next to me, but emotionally, you’re not even in the same state.

  This was my chance to leave and regroup. Once the management headed our way, I excused myself to the ladies’ room, and stayed there as long as possible. Deciding eventually that this was not the end of the world, my courage came back and I headed to my table. I had no idea what had happened, but to my relief, both men decided not to speak to me anymore.

  Until, of course, it was time to go home. “Ms. Reid, may I offer you a ride home?” Weston offered me a ride in the black limousine that pulled up.

  “Hell NO!” was on the tip of my tongue, but I seized hold of that tongue, smiled kindly and uttered, “No thank you.”

  “Josh is coming to pick us both up,” Jane announced with the biggest smile that annoyed me. After the harassment tonight, I didn’t need to try and get out of another date.

  “Thanks, but I’m calling a cab.”

  “Who the hell calls a cab in LA? I’ll take you home.” Donovan never asked, he commanded. “I live right by your parents’ home. I can drop you off.”

  “I’d really like some time to myself, and to be myself. I don’t like it when I have to pretend to be happy.” There I went again—diarrhea of the mouth. “...Ok, I’ll go with you if we can leave now, and if you promise NOT to talk to me in the car.”

  “What the...” My annoyed look stopped him from finishing his statement. I took out my phone and searched for a cab company. “All right. Get in. Valet is waiting for us.”

  After apologizing to Jane for leaving her before Josh arrived, I ran to the car and let out a sigh of relief that this night was OVER.

  Donovan looked over at me a few times before he broke his only promise to me for the night.

  “I’m really sorry about your pretty dress, Delaney.” Donovan broke the silence after exactly three minutes into the ride. How did I know? I timed him from the moment he got in the car. I knew he couldn’t and wouldn’t keep his promise. I looked at him, but didn’t answer. “Are we really going to be silent the entire ride back home?”

  I nodded yes.

  “OK…suit yourself…I’m a really fun person to talk to when you get to know me. I’ve been told many times that I’m a stimulating conversationalist. Why, women flock over and talk to me at any gathering I attend. Nobody has ever been this silent with me for this long at any point in my life.” He was babbling on and on, but I kept to my guns and didn’t say a word. However, I did want to laugh at him. “You are one tough audience, Little Girl.”

  I just stared. Then I looked over to the other side and out the window.

  “Aww come on Delaney. I can’t go silent the entire ride home. Show me some mercy and let’s have a little conversation.” I still looked the other way. “You want to go have dessert and a cup of coffee with me somewhere?” He was relentless. I could see why women could not and would not resist him.

  I shook my head no.

  “Did you get new shoes and a purse? A little above your budget there, no? What happened to saving money for London?”

  This question almost broke my code of silence. I desperately wanted to ask him, though it was a stupid question, whether he was the one who bought me these very expensive Louis Vuitton shoes, purse, and a charm. Oddly, after the four of us came back from our Waikoloa shopping trip, Emily dropped off a bag of goodies saying this was from her and Jake. In it was a small charm in the form of a letter “D,” a beautiful patent leather clutch, and these ridiculously sexy suede peep-toe ankle boots with criss-cross leather straps near the ankle—to die for! No matter how hard I refused these three gifts, Emily wouldn’t take no for an answer. She dropped them off and practically ran back to her room.

  As soon as she left, I tried on the shoes and fell in LOVE! Somehow, she knew my shoe size and preference, and picked the hottest shoes in that store. I didn’t even see these three items when I was in the store, but I sure was glad I’d received them. Inevitably, the guilt ate at me, so I went back to return the gifts to Emily and Jake, but they would not open their door for me. Without much of a choice, I accepted their generosity. Still, something didn’t feel right. It made no sense that my cousin would buy these items for me, but it made even crazier sense to think Donovan would have bought these for me. I decided to accept, be grateful, and enjoy. This was my lotto ticket for the year.

  “Damn you’re a tough cookie. How about…” He was coming up with his next plan of attack. “I know!” He brightened up at his latest idea and flashed his killer smile. “I know what’s going to get you to talk. You just wait and see, Delaney Reid.”

  He made a quick phone call to somebody and asked about some sample and he drove for the next 10 minutes with a smile on his face, but not a word from his lips. He stopped in a building somewhere and told me to get out. I didn’t think this was his home, and I had no idea where I was, but I didn’t want to ask, so I just kept quiet.

  Donovan and some woman enthusiastically greeted each other with a very friendly hug. “I haven’t seen you in months. What brings you here at this late hour? And who is this pretty, but very young lady?” She emphasized the very young heavily.

  “Bee, Delaney Reid. Delaney, Bee Taylor, technically my aunt, but we call each other cousins.”

  This is how he was forcing me to talk. He brought me to a cool loft in downtown LA and this Bee Taylor appeared to be a clothes designer. There were rolling racks of dresses, shirts, pants, jackets, coats, men’s clothes, women’s clothes, all lined up to sell, or to show. I wasn’t quite sure what it was for, but they all looked beautiful.

  “Hi Bee. It’s very nice to meet you,” I said pleasantly to Bee, but gave Donovan a grudging stare. He in turn gave me a smug look knowing he had won this battle.

  “Hey Cuz,” he answered with a loud chuckle bordering on a guffaw, “you have some samples I can buy off of you?”

  “For...?”

  “For this pretty girl here whose dress got ruined bec
ause of me.”

  “Some new Donovan Taylor dating tactic? Ruin a dress so it comes off easier?”

  I was floored at what she said, but it didn’t faze either one of them. They busted up and had a good laugh at my expense.

  “This girl here is younger than Rachel.”

  “So? What does it matter whether she’s older or younger than your youngest sister? You tend to like extremes. First a cougar and now you’re robbing the cradle. Sounds like classic Donovan Taylor to me.”

  “Funny Bee. You always were the comedian in the family.” And Donovan really did find his aunt, cousin, whatever – funny!

  I’m glad somebody was finding this conversation funny because I didn’t find it funny at all. It always bugged me that Donovan saw me as a little girl, and now that he referenced it with the fact that I was younger than his youngest sister; I suppose I had absolutely no chance with him. Why was I thinking there was any chance to begin with, where this man was concerned?

  “Delaney here is Doug’s younger sister and Jake’s cousin.”

  “That’s right, Donovan mentioned that you were a Reid. I don’t see the resemblance between you and Jake. What happened?”

  Since she asked, I had to answer. “That part of the family got all the looks…and the brains…and...I suppose they got everything.” I sounded so juvenile. Bee probably thought I was an absolute moron and it didn’t help that I was a blonde with big boobs. Crap! I was your blonde Betty Boop!

  “You don’t think you got any of the looks?” That sounded more like a statement than a question.

  “No...” I agreed with her. “My cousin Jane is stunning. Jake and Nick are very handsome as well.”

  “I remember your handsome cousin very well.” She did a weird twisting of the mouth that made me think I didn’t want to know what she was talking about, or which brother she was referring to. Jake looked more her age, but who knew with couples nowadays. Case in point, Donovan had or has a girlfriend almost 10 years older than he.