Indelible Love Series + Entwined Bundle

by DW Cee

  “Why were you separated?” Now the man turned towards Emily and put the mic in front of her for an answer.

  “Um...well...” Emily stuttered for an answer. “We kind of had a disagreement and I thought it best I leave.”

  “What happened?” I could see that the emcee would not leave Emily alone. I was all good with the story until now, since Max could be dragged into this scenario. I could see where this was headed and it wasn’t headed in the right direction.

  Jake covered Emily’s bumbling explanation with, “her ex-boyfriend proposed marriage to my wife, my girlfriend at the time, and that’s what caused our break-up.” Jake not only chuckled at Emily’s, Max’s, and my discomfort, but he also threw my boyfriend a karma’s a bitch look.

  “That’s quite a story.” This damn emcee wouldn’t leave. “But what I really want to know is why you looked over to this gentleman over here when you said those words. What does this gentleman have to do with your separation?” Now the emcee was just playing coy knowing he was about to go for a kill. “If I were a betting man, and trust me I’m a betting man, I’d say this guy,” he pointed over to Max, “is the infamous ex-boyfriend who proposed to a girl who already had a boyfriend.”

  The audience gasped with Jake’s comment, then roared with the emcee’s comment.

  “Did I win the bet?”

  With full admission of his guilt, Max held up both hands, as charged.

  “So obviously everything worked out well for you two, seeing as how you have a baby together and I assume this is your baby?” He look piercingly at my brother, while the audience roared again.

  “He sure is mine, and we have a set of twins as well.”

  “How old are the twins? And where are they tonight?”

  “The twins are sixteen months old,” all the women in the state stadium gasped in horror. “And they are with my family right now.”

  “You don’t waste time do you?” All the gentlemen around gave my brother a round of applause.

  What I forgot to mention was that some time ago, this conversation became so interesting a female interpreter started following the emcee and relaying my brother’s story in Italian to those people who did not speak English. We could tell it was time for the concert to begin, but the emcee would not let go of our story.

  “Let’s get back to this love triangle. Who are you?” He pointed at me.

  “I’m Jane,” was all I was going to answer. Shoot, I wasn’t a lawyer for nothing.

  “What are you doing here, why are you holding this man’s hand, and how are you related to everybody here? Or are you related to anybody here?”

  Damn. I forgot that we were holding hands. I guess I had to give the audience an answer. “My name is Jane. I am his sister,” I pointed to my brother, “and his girlfriend,” I pointed to Max.

  “Oh! Mio! Dio! Ava Maria! Madonna!” He called anybody and everybody in the spiritual realm. That needed no Italian or English translation. The audience loved it. And they wanted more.

  Comically, Andrea Bocelli actually had to cough to get everyone’s attention back to him. “Gino,” he said in his beautiful Italian accent. “I’m ready to continue. You going to let me sing?”

  “Andrea, uno minuti. Let’s finish sharing this story, because I think there’s more to uncover.”

  Mr. Bocelli put up his hand and nodded his consent. The audience clapped in appreciation.

  “So you,” he pointed at Max, “tried to steal his,” he pointed at Jake, “girlfriend, and now you’re dating his,” he pointed at Jake again, “sister? Did I get the story straight?”

  Max and Jake both chuckled. “Yes, you got the story right.” Max agreed.

  “And you are okay with this?”

  Jake spoke again. “Emily and I are more than okay with the two of them dating. In fact, we would welcome Max into the family if they chose to go that route.” Jake once again got a round of applause.

  The emcee wasn’t done. “Now for you,” he pointed back and forth between Donovan and Laney. “Now if I was a betting man, and trust me I’m a betting man,” he said again, “I am going to bet that you two have an interesting story as well, and it’s somehow related to the four of them.” He pointed his fingers back and forth to us.

  Jake and Max busted up laughing again. Neither Donovan nor Laney would say a word.

  The emcee and the audience alike got impatient. “Okay if you don’t want to talk then I’m gonna talk to somebody who will talk. Who are they?” he asked the four of us.

  Jake spoke. “That’s our cousin Laney, and the man next to her is my best friend, Donovan.”

  “Hmmmm...” He made a most nefarious hmmm and tried to figure out their relationship.

  “Laney?”

  She looked at him and the camera panned in on my cousin. Seeing her larger than life on the jumbo screen, I could see why so many men were attracted to her. She was one beautiful woman.

  “At some point in your life, did you date him?” He pointed to Max and the audience roared at our expense.

  She shook her head no.

  “There’s got to be some connection here. Did you,” he asked Emily “date your husband’s best friend?”

  Emily broke into laughter, and shook her head no.

  “Then the only other possibility is...” Shit! By the glint in his eyes, I’d say he figured us out. “You and you dated at some point.” His finger waggled between me and Donovan.

  Both of us kept mum.

  “Aha!!! I knew it.” Mr. Emcee jumped up and down in glee. “You all have quite an incestuous relationship going on. Did you know or did we just out these two?” He asked Max.

  “I knew,” Max said in an exasperated tone.

  “Now did you date Jane while you were with Laney?”

  “No.” Donovan denied. “And we didn’t really date. It was one date while both of us were technically single.”

  “Technically single...” He dragged out those two words. “Is that correct, Laney? Was he not a part of your life when he dated your cousin? You know, the camera zoomed in on your face when it was mentioned that the man you’re standing next to dated your cousin...”

  Donovan pulled the mic and clearly stated, “only one date!”

  The emcee took the mic back. “...as I was saying, you looked shocked and hurt when you heard about these two. We all want to know what you’re thinking. You’re the only one who hasn’t weighed in on this soap opera.”

  With hundreds of people expecting an answer and the camera zeroed in on her every move, she didn’t have much of a choice.

  “I just broke up with a good man who told me once that he started living the moment we met, for a man I’ve been in love with since I was ten, only to find out that he recently dated my cousin while pursuing me. Yeah...I’d say I’m shocked and hurt.” Her voice broke and the heart of every woman in the rolling hills of Tuscany cracked in pieces.

  Talk about shocked. She shocked the hell out of all of us with that revelation and she walked off, away from us and away from the limelight. Donovan of course chased after her. He was in for a hell of a night.

  “Oh my gosh. Did you know all this?” I asked Max, Emily and Jake. “She’s crushed on Donovan since she was ten?”

  No one answered me as the lights dimmed and the musicians began lightly playing.

  “Gino, do I have your permission to sing, again?” Mr. Bocelli asked and the audience chuckled.

  “That all depends upon this one big happy family. You have anything else to add?”

  “If I may, Mr. Bocelli?” Surprisingly, it was my boyfriend and not my brother who spoke up.

  “Please...” He gestured. “Be my guest. I’m only here to put on a concert. Who am I to interrupt your family saga?” The audience laughed, again.

  “What never got mentioned during this big reveal is how much we three men love our women.”

  “Well, please, enlighten us. How much do you love your woman?” Andrea Bocelli asked. The spotlight was on
just us as Max began to elaborate.

  “Jane and I have always had a passionate relationship. We are mad with love one day, mad with anger another day, but I’ve always known that I couldn’t live without this woman. I think you and Elvis were singing what was in my heart when you said, ‘Like a river flows surely to the sea, darling so it goes, some things are meant to be, take my hand, take my whole life too, for I can’t help falling in love with you.’” Max turned and addressed me and only me with the spotlight, the camera, and thousands of eyes solely on us. I began shaking when I saw him get on one knee. “My precious Gem. I love you and I can’t live without you. Will you do me the honor of becoming one with me? Will you marry me?”

  “Yes,” I whispered without hesitation.

  I couldn’t exactly tell you what was going on with the audience because Max and I were lost in each other once the ring was placed on my fourth finger. We were both in a daze the rest of the concert. Only later when Emily recounted the congratulations from Andrea Bocelli and the rest of the audience did I remember bits and pieces of the rest of the night.

  “Congratulations!” Donovan and Laney, who had come back after they saw Max’s proposal on the big screen greeted us with sincerity and love. “I’m very happy for you,” Laney said to the both of us.

  Max walked over and gave her a hug and spoke a few words with her. I hoped he was comforting her as well as encouraging her to fall in love again with Donovan.

  “Congrats, my vixen. You and Max are perfect together and I’m sorry I didn’t realize that from the start.”

  “Thanks, Donovan. I wish the same happiness for you and Laney. No matter how long it takes, you’ll get there.”

  “I hope so.” He didn’t sound as deflated as I thought he might. “We had a good talk. I’m hoping to see the light at the end of this very long and dark tunnel, soon.”

  “You will.”

  The rest of the night was a blur. I was sure we got on the bus, we got back to the villa, and Max and I celebrated very quietly since Jake and Emily were in the very next room to us. I wasn’t quite sure what happened to Donovan and Laney but I knew they, too, were somewhere here in the villa.

  Mr. and Mrs. Max Davis. Jane Sydney Davis. Mrs. Davis. It all sounded good!

  August 19, 2013 We Are Family

  I woke up in the middle of the night psyched from last night’s excitement. Even in the dark, I stared at the diamond on my ring finger and smiled endlessly like a moron. I was in such bliss while my boyfriend, no...fiancé, was knocked out. We’d made love, talked, made love again, then fell asleep. Rather than nudging Max awake to an extra early morning romp, I put on my robe and went downstairs for a glass of water.

  “Hey.” I had interrupted Donovan and Laney as they were having a drink at the kitchen table. “You guys haven’t gone to bed yet?”

  “Not yet. We’ve been talking.” Donovan confessed with a wide smile. All must have gone well during the talk because he was only smiles now. “Though it is late. You want to head up to bed?” I assumed he meant to separate beds since I didn’t think these two were together, yet.

  “Any chance I could talk to Laney for a bit?”

  “She’s tired, Jane.”

  “I know, Donovan,” I answered in the same pedantic voice. “I won’t keep her long. But I’d like for you to leave.”

  He looked over at Laney and got up slowly from his seat. “Come see me before you go to bed?” He walked over and kissed her on her temple and squeezed her arm. She just nodded an agreement.

  “Everything copacetic between you two?”

  “Not wholly yet, but we’re getting there. We both have a lot to work through and Donovan has a past that keeps creeping up on him.”

  “About Donovan’s past...I’ve been waiting for you to come back to London so we could talk. I’m glad we got to meet up before I went back home. I’ve got a lot of apologizing to do.”

  “You don’t have to apologize to me. As long as you and Max have worked out your relationship, I’m happy for you. Max is up there with Jake in my eyes. He’s perfect for you.”

  “And Donovan is perfect for you.” I could tell Laney didn’t fully believe this statement. “I’ve always been jealous of you, ever since we were young.”

  Laney’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets. “Why would you be jealous of me? You’re the smart one, the beautiful one, everyone’s favorite—well, after Jake of course...”

  “Of course! No one could beat my brother in that category.”

  “I’ve never harbored any ill will against you—well, maybe I did a little when I saw you and Donovan kissing—but I’ve always believed you had everything going for you. Your personality commanded attention, while people thought mine was ‘unique.’ Your looks are exotic, while mine are everyday Americana. You oozed intelligence, while I always got the dumb blonde looks. What on earth would make you jealous of me?”

  Laney really had no clue all that she had going for her. And I guess that’s what people loved about her. She was an understated overachiever. “Laney, you graduated summa cum laude, got into med school and film school, men adore you at every turn, and I don’t know anyone who didn’t think you had an adorable personality. Aside from all that, what I always admired and envied about you was your independent spirit. Whatever you want to do, learn, experience—you go for it. Students generally don’t leave the comforts of a very comfortable home just because they want to experience a new culture. Students also don’t take classes in both spectrums of the major, just because they like it. You’re unconventional and that makes you unique.”

  “I think odd is a more fitting term.” We both giggled. “It’s not like you couldn’t have done all that.”

  “But I didn’t. I found safety in the conventional.” I put my hand over hers and held it, hoping to convey my sincerity. “What makes you truly special is your unconditional love for everyone around you. Even in a difficult situation, you find the good in everybody. And I’m sure that’s one of the reasons why Donovan is head over heels in love with you. When I think back, he’s always given you more attention than the rest of us—and that was another source of envy for me.”

  “Donovan...” Laney chuckled. “Perhaps he’s the root of all evil.” She laughed some more.

  “He’s not and he loves you. I’m sorry I was selfish all this time. It bothered me whenever I thought he had feelings for you and that selfishness almost cost me my relationship with Max.” I sighed heavily. “I was stupid—beyond stupid. I wanted to be the center of everyone’s world, rather than enjoying my relationship with Max. You believe me when I say Donovan and I were really never anything more than friends?”

  “I believe I do. Donovan explained it all to me and I’m not upset with you. I still have some unresolved issues with Donovan’s selfishness, but I meant it when I said I wish you and Max only the best.”

  Laney looked over at my ring and I held out my hand to give her a better look. “Thank you for understanding, and I wish you and Donovan this kind of happiness as well.”

  She gave me a true hug and got up to go to bed. “I appreciate the talk and let me know if I can help you in any way when you prepare for your wedding. I’m sure my mom and yours will be thrilled with the news.”

  “Can we try and be close friends, starting today?” I asked cautiously.

  “Of course. I’m going to go up and sleep a bit. I’ll see you in a few hours.”