by Cee, DW
“I understand, but somehow, I feel as if you think last night was my fault.”
He was quiet for too long. That pissed me off. “While I don’t believe it was your fault, I want to understand some things about you and Nolan.” What? What was there to understand? “How do you know him?”
“I don’t know him.” I refused to be bullied into an explanation. Either my fiancé believed me or he didn’t—in which case, he shouldn’t be my fiancé.
“How can you say you don’t know him, when a man felt confident enough to barge into our celebration and make such a bold claim?”
“I met Nolan once—no, twice. Once, he came to our house when we were five. The next time, we were at Uncle Michael and Auntie Chloe’s wedding.”
“I was at that wedding, too, and I have no recollection of seeing you. How can Nolan remember you to the extent that he believes you’ll be man and wife one day? You must have said something to him when you were younger. I’ve known him for several years now and though he’s a crazy genius, he’s not a lunatic.”
“So what exactly are you saying?”
“I’m asking what happened between you two? What was promised?”
That was it. I was done. “All right. The truth—I told Nolan, at age FIVE, that I’d give him my virginity and hand in marriage, while we were on the monkey bars. After you and I parted last night, he and I had a secret rendezvous in my bedroom, with my entire family occupying all four floors of the Belgravia mansion, and I am now no longer a virgin. Our engagement, yours and mine,” I pointed to Rhys as well as myself for effect, “is now voided because I come to you as soiled goods. It was nice knowing you Rhys Kent.” Rather than stalking away, I ran. Tears fell with each step.
“Lilah!” I didn’t give a damn that he kept calling my name. His slight hesitation in coming after me gave me just enough room to run home. I told my mother that I never wanted to see Rhys Kent ever again, and locked my door. “Lilah.” The knocking and beseeching happened sooner than expected.
“Go away. I’m engaged to be married to another man. You no longer have the right to stand outside my door.”
I could hear him chuckling, which made me want to kick his ass. Did he think I was joking?
“I’m going to wait out here until you come out, my fair lady.”
“You’re going to be waiting a long time then.”
“It’s all right. I’ll be here.” Whatever! “I guess the way I came off wasn’t the best. I didn’t think I was accusing you of anything but...”
I heard no more. What Rhys didn’t know was that there were secret passageways throughout this old house, probably created for naughty assignations. I opened my “built-in” bookcase and traveled the tunnel into Ellie’s room.
“Hey, Cuz!” I called out to Elizabeth Reid’s shock.
“WTF Lilah. Where the hell did you come from?”
Hehehe! As if I knew all the secrets of this mysterious home? “You wanna go out for tea? I was told they do a mean tea at the Berkeley Hotel.”
That’s how I ended up laughing it up with my cousin while Rhys was outside my door performing his English monologue.
Nolan: #TBH
I was feeling pretty stellar this morning until the phone calls happened. First, Robbie Kent called asking to meet. Next, Donovan Taylor called demanding to meet. Damn. Couldn’t they all just allow me to bask in my glory and stay smug? Neither party would take no for an answer. Being the smart man that I was, I decided to meet Robbie first. He was the lesser evil of the two, I figured.
Wrong! What I hadn’t figured was that four of the five Kents decided to have a pow-wow with me. Shit!
Ainsley, Beaumont, Gerhardt, and Ron all looked pissed. It was a good thing I suggested we meet at the café inside our hotel. At least there’d be witnesses to my pummeling.
“Please sit, Nole.” Ron was civil. The three other brothers were close to killing me with their bare hands. I chose to sit as far away from the Kents as possible in this tiny place. “The four of us would like to ask you a few questions. We thought we’d come now while Rhys was with Lilah.”
The idea of Rhys with Delilah angered me, but I knew that was a different battle for later.
“Go ahead and ask.”
Ron continued, “We’ve always considered you a friend and my parents have always treated you like family whenever you visited London. We just don’t understand what happened last night. From what we could tell, Lilah had no idea who you were. Is that true? Was she lying? Were you lying? What the hell is going on, Nole? Give us some answers!”
“Listen. I apologize about the disruption. It wasn’t my intention to make such a huge deal, but when I saw my Delilah with Rhys, I kind of lost it.”
“Your Delilah?” Ainsley growled. “I believe she’s engaged to be a Kent.”
“She was,” I answered to a pissed-off crowd.
“What the fuck does ‘she was’ mean?” Beaumont, the burliest one of the five Kent brothers, shouted. “She’s still engaged to be married to a Kent.”
“Once Delilah gets to know me, she’ll realize that I am her true love. I’m sorry. This was how fate meant for us to happen. I’m not courting drama. It’s courting me.”
Ron sat his brother down and asked, “Please explain, Nole. I consider you a good friend. Do me a courtesy and tell us what’s going on.”
Fair enough. Ron was a good friend, though probably no longer a business partner. I told him the entire story.
“That’s it?” Beaumont snarled again. “It’s just as you and Lilah said at the party last night? There’s no more than a childhood crush?” I didn’t appreciate the way he belittled my feelings, but I said nothing more. In the end, I’d get the last laugh. I knew that for sure. “Let’s go. We don’t need to waste our time here.” The three older ones left but Ron decided he had more to say.
“Look, Nole...” I knew what he was thinking. Ron understood my tenacity. Whenever I wanted something, he knew I went after it with a vengeance and I always came out a winner. “I’m sorry you’ve lost the girl you believed would be yours. But please,” he begged, “my brother has found the woman of his dreams. Leave the two of them be. They’re happy. They’ve pledged to be with one another the rest of their lives.”
“Not quite yet,” I added.
“Not literally, but they’ll be there soon enough. If it hurts you to lose the girl you liked as a boy, imagine how hard it will be for my brother. They’re engaged, already—to be married. Think of that before you decide Lilah is the girl for you.”
Ron said none of this in anger, but what he spoke made sense. It was mean of me to take someone’s bride-to-be, but my mind and heart were made up. Delilah Rose Taylor was the only girl for me. This many years later, I couldn’t change my heart even if I wanted to alter it.
With that meeting done, I caught a cab and trudged to my next meeting.
If I thought meeting the four Kent brothers was intimidating, meeting the four Reid, Taylor, Davis men scared the shit out of me. These men invented the word, frightening.
“Sit!” Donovan Taylor commanded.
I sat face to face with the big man, and the three uncles stood behind him, mafia-style.
“How can I help you?” I squeaked.
“Explain yourself!” My (maybe) future father-in-law insisted.
“I want to marry your daughter, Sir.” I came out bold. “I’ve known since I was five that she and I were meant to be. She cannot marry Rhys. He is not the man for her. Even if you disagree, I will marry Delilah.” I had no idea where the hell I came across sounding like I owned this woman. The four men gawking at me were thinking the same thought.
After boring a hole into my forehead with their stares, the first uncle laughed. “You mean to tell me that you’ve had a crush on our Lilah since you were a baby?” That was Elizabeth’s father who broke the silence.
“Yes, Sir. Now that I know she’s engaged, it’s going to be a full-on attack. I will not sit in the background a
ny longer.”
Next, Uncle Max asked, “If you were so in love with Lilah, why did you come this late? Where were you all this time?”
“We’re both only twenty-two. I thought I had more time to become something, somebody. I’ve been watching Lilah from afar and I knew she hadn’t and wasn’t dating anyone. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to wait another few years before presenting my case to her.”
“Did it dawn on you that she might fall in love with another man in the interim? According to our Lilah, she had no idea you existed. That’s not the best way to start a marriage, Nolan—as complete strangers.”
“I know, Uncle Nick.” All four men glared at me as soon as the term of endearment slipped out. “Sorry. I thought you might not mind since I’ll be family soon.” Now, they were laughing like pack of hyenas.
“Knowing full well that my daughter is marrying Rhys, you have the balls to still pursue her? She’s technically off the market, Nolan.”
His words, his tone, his attitude—it all shouted like an approved challenge. Hell yes! I was going to pursue her. “Yes! I’m going to make her mine!” I declared.
My future father-in-law turned and silently conveyed some message to his family. They all had stern looks on their faces.
“What if she refuses you?”
“I’m ready to battle, Uncle Jake. My biggest error was miscalculating the time. To be honest, I was cocky and believed Delilah would wait for me.”
“How can she wait for someone she didn’t know existed?” Uncle Max asked.
“My bad. As soon as we get home, I’ll be working overtime to get her back.”
Donovan Taylor, Jake Reid, Max Davis, and Nick Reid neither approved nor disapproved. They spoke a cursory good-bye and left.
I took that as a definite two-thumbs up. If they weren’t going to stop me, then they would eventually support me. I felt like I was on top of the world! With the family behind me, along with my secret weapon, I’d be married to Delilah in no time.
Donovan Taylor: #SMH
“That kid has balls!” Nick spoke with admiration. “I like him. If I were forced to take sides, I’d pick Nolan O’Shaughnessy.”
“Don’t encourage it, Nick.” Inside, I agreed with my cousin-in-law.
“Hey, I’m Team Nolan, too.” Max would stir up trouble. “Damn! If I had his confidence, I wouldn’t have had all those issues with Jane and this asshole, here.”
“How many years ago was that? You still harping like a chick about that one incestuous embrace between me and your wife?”
“Hell yeah. I’m going to harp on that until we die.” All the men laughed.
We were on our way back home after having met with Nolan O’Shaughnessy, and I didn’t know what to think. Part of me was impressed with the kid. The other, larger, part of me was pissed he was making my baby girl suffer. She was unhappy when I left her in Belgravia.
“How do you think this will play out since this Nolan kid lives in LA and Rhys will be here in London?” Nick wondered.
“This is going to get interesting,” Jake answered with a laugh. “Better you than me, Buddy.”
“Hell! I’m shaking my head at the headaches to come. Let’s change topics for a minute. Whatever happened to our Elizabeth and that twin she was dating? Did you ever get an answer from her?”
Jake shook his head no. “If he isn’t man enough to take care of my girl, good riddance! I don’t need some pansy-assed boy trying to woo my girl. After watching Ellie the past few weeks, I’m pissed enough to rip into him if he comes around again. You think you have issues—Ellie and this twin work together in the hospital under me. I see the way my daughter goes to great lengths to avoid him. They make puppy eyes at one another and yet they stay as far apart as possible.”
“Does James know anything? Aren’t they close friends?”
“Who the hell knows, Max. You’ve seen all of them at the hospital. It’s an ugly scene.”
Max and Nick laughed. “Yeah. Nick and I were having lunch with Ellie at the hospital when the other set of twins walked in. Ellie froze mid-bite. Both brothers stopped and gawked. It was a scene out of the movies—an ugly one at that.”
“Back to the issue at hand,” Jake changed topics. “Are you going to allow this Nolan to hang around the cul-de-sac?”
Damn. I was just wondering that myself. “I don’t know. There’s a part of me that admires a kid who goes after what he wants. However, who he wants is my daughter. If I can’t stand the thought of her marrying Rhys in two years, I don’t know that I like the idea of her being courted by another kid. I’m so damn confused. I might go with whatever the little woman wants. More times than I care to admit, the little woman makes sense. If she says she’s open to poaching season, then I’ll accept it.”
All three guys chuckled. “Let’s go grab a pint of beer before heading back.”
“Best idea you’ve had yet, Max. My treat. Let’s go think about something other than our kids.”
This was going to be a long two years.
Delilah: #LYLAS
“I love this place! Why can’t we have tea houses like this in LA?”
My cousin, the cynical one, answered, “Because we’re Americans and this is England?”
“Pish-posh! Whatever. I could have tea every day. I wish I had been born in the Regency era. Then, I could’ve rung for tea on a daily basis.”
“Unless you’re the scullery maid assembling the tea.”
“Haha, Elizabeth Reid. You’ve become mighty cynical the past weeks. Tell me what’s bothering you. I want to help.”
She considered it, and then decided against whatever she was about to say. “Tell me about you, Rhys, and Nolan. Do you think he’s still outside your door spewing his soliloquy?”
We both giggled. “Who the hell knows? I was so pissed after he accused me of causing last night’s debacle, I decided we wouldn’t talk for a while.”
“You might be upset to hear this, but I found Nolan O’Shaughnessy quite adorable. I wish I had someone that ardent in his pursuit.”
I had to ask, “What happened with the twin?”
“Why do you all call him ‘the twin?’”
“Uh, because you’re a twin and he’s a twin? What else can we call you but the wonder-twin couple?”
“Funny.” The way my cousin spoke, it wasn’t funny to her. “Tell me more about you and your men.”
“Nothing to tell, Cuz. Nolan is a friend from my youth—if we can actually call each other friends. Rhys is on shaky grounds with me for having stupid trust issues. I’m beginning to think Dad was right to make us wait two years before tying the knot.”
“Really?” Ellie was surprised with my statement. “What happened to the undying love and commitment?” I couldn’t tell whether she was teasing me or not. “Wasn’t it Rhys and Delilah or bust?”
I laughed. “I don’t know, Ellie. Why couldn’t life be as sweet as these tea treats we’re consuming? Maybe Dad does know best. What the hell do I know about love and marriage at this age?”
“I hate to agree, but Uncle Donovan might be correct—along with the rest of the busybody uncles and my dad. Maybe it’s time we learn something from their past. None of them had it easy while they were dating.”
