Indelible Love - Emily's Story (14 page)

“None of those are too hard to
accomplish, except for those two items toward the end.”

“I’m a simple girl,” I answered. “Can
we go shopping today? I still haven’t bought your mom a gift. I
can’t show up to your house for Christmas dinner without a gift for
her, especially not after she takes me to Hawaii. You have to help
me buy something for her.”

We walked through the flea market,
attempting to find Sandy a clock. Jake told me his mom collected
clocks from around the world. It took many hours to leisurely walk
through the entire flea market, but I finally found the perfect
gift.

At dinner, Jake continued to ask about
my pre-Jake years.

“Emily, what did you and your family
do during the holidays? Do you have a lot of family?”

“No. I don’t think I have much luck
when it comes to family. Both my parents were only children and my
paternal grandparents passed away when I was young. They were old
when they had my father. We didn’t know each other very well,” I
replied while trying to decide between eating the uni or amaebi
sushi.

“When my parents were both alive, we
used to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas at home, and my maternal
grandparents would visit us. After my dad died, the four of us
spent holidays together in LA. It wasn’t too festive, as you can
imagine, cooking a Thanksgiving meal for four people.”

We must have been hungry from the
three-mile hike today. We plowed through a dozen orders of sushi
and were already on to coffee and dessert.

“Green tea flan and a café con leche,
please,” I asked the server. Jake just ordered a cup of
coffee.

“So after your mom and grandparents
died, who did you spend your holidays with?”

I could see where Jake was taking this
conversation. That same sadness in his eyes that I had seen during
our weekend away, when I told him about my parents dying, made an
appearance again. He wanted to share in my sorrow. He felt my every
pain. Deep in my heart I knew I loved this man as much as he loved
me. How could I not? He was already so much a part of
me.

“I spent a few holidays with Max’s
family, and a few with Sarah’s family. One Christmas, both Max and
Sarah were out of town visiting relatives so I spent it alone. That
was a sad Christmas.” I tried to smile, not wanting Jake to feel
this loneliness that had suddenly landed back in my heart. “I sound
so pathetic, huh?” I grinned and fed him a bite of my
dessert.

“Why didn’t you go with Max to visit
his relatives? Were you not invited?” Empathy caressed his
voice.

“Are you seriously asking me why I
didn’t go on a trip with my boyfriend at the time? Shouldn’t you be
thrilled that we never went away together? Well, I guess there were
a few group trips.” I made a concerted effort to lighten this
conversation. “To answer your question, Dr. Reid, I didn’t go with
Max because I never felt completely accepted by his family. They
were very nice to me, but I always felt like an outsider. I
couldn’t break into their family bond. No matter, obviously I was
not meant to be a Davis.”

Jake reached over and caressed my
hand. I didn’t think I needed comforting, but I accepted his
touch.

“Oh, my sweet Emily…my love…” Jake
murmured. “I hate thinking about you being alone. Why couldn’t we
have met earlier? I would’ve filled your void. I won’t ever let you
be alone again.”

With all my heart I wanted to believe
Jake.

Chapter 6
Paradise

I met Jake’s parents for the first
time at LAX. Sandy, a fairly tall, slightly round woman in her late
fifties, gave me a hug and welcomed me with a warm smile. Bobby, a
tall, light-skinned and very handsome man in his midsixties, also
greeted me with a family-style bear hug and kiss on the cheek. Nick
was also there with a brotherly smile that made me feel very
welcomed into the Reid family. Nick took our bags, whispered
something in Jake’s ear, and checked them in with the rest of the
family’s. Jake stood just steps away, grinning.

“Where’s Jane?” Jake put his arms
around my waist and kissed my cheek in the middle of my
question.

“She’s still in San Francisco. She
will meet us in Hawaii around the same time we get in.”

Turning to Sandy and Bobby, I
expressed my appreciation. “Thank you very much for inviting me on
your family trip. I couldn’t sleep last night thinking about
getting to know all of you.”

Sandy beamed a tender look only a
mother could give. “I’m so glad we finally get to meet. All Jake
does is talk about you.”

“I hope he only tells you the nice
things about me.”

“According to my son, there’s nothing
bad about you.”

My cheeks went red, and Jake led me to
the boarding area. The only other time I rode in first class was
when Jake upgraded my seat when I flew out to New York to meet
Sarah. Because I’d slept the whole way there, I didn’t fully
appreciate the comfort of the plane ride.

Today, I realized this was way better
than my first experience. It almost felt illegal to experience such
comfort while others were cramped in coach. The seats were double
the size of what I was used to, with one attendant to every five
passengers. I was thoroughly spoiled.

“I don’t know if I can ever fly again
in my usual economy seats,” I lamented.

“Stick with me and you’ll never sit
back there with the masses again.” His tone was more arrogant than
I’d ever heard, but I knew what he was saying was more for my sake
than for his ego.

Laughing, I turned to talk to Jake
about Hawaii, when out of nowhere his lips attacked mine. Jake
refused to let me pull back, though he saw my extreme discomfort
with his family sitting right in front of us.

“Excuse me, Dr. Reid,” the flight
attendant interrupted apologetically. “We need you and Ms. Logan to
return your seats to their upright position, as the plane is about
to take off.”

Mortified, my face turned bright red
as I heard giggles from his parents and brother.

“What are you doing? You can’t make
out with me on the plane in front of ten people. You have to
stop.”

Jake laughed at me, rose up the
armrest and pulled my body close to his. Separating our two bodies
was not an option. To my delight, he showed no mercy.

We landed in Maui at 8:00 a.m. and
rented two cars—one for us, and another for the rest of the family.
We met Jane at the hotel, got checked in, and left for our first
activity. We drove to a helipad where a helicopter waited to take
us on a scenic tour. We flew over the Haleakala National Park and
Crater, the Hana Rainforest Preserve, the largest rainforest in
America, and through countless number of waterfalls.

I wanted to tell Jake how the scenery
took my breath away but didn’t want everyone to hear through the
headsets, so I sat quietly enjoying the view and the warmth of
Jake’s caresses throughout the ride. After lunch, we met up with a
guide and hiked a five-mile trail leading to a dormant volcano. The
end of this hike led to snorkeling, which eventually turned into
scuba lessons for me, as I hadn’t ever been scuba diving. If this
weren’t enough excitement for one day, Sandy and Jane wanted to go
to a late afternoon yoga class to unwind. I honestly just wanted to
go to my room and sleep the rest of the night, but of course, there
was the luau. Who can come to Hawaii and not attend a luau? One
would have thought we were leaving tomorrow with all that was
conquered today. After the last hula dance/fire breathing show, I
got up to say good night, and Jake walked me back to my
room.

“I can go by myself. Why don’t you
stay with your family a bit longer?” I encouraged.

“Are you kidding? I’m just as wiped
out as you are. Nick made me go surfing while you were at
yoga.”

“Not that I’m complaining, but why
does your family feel the need to do everything in one day? I had a
wonderful time, but I am so exhausted, I don’t know how I’m going
to function tomorrow.”

Jake started laughing. “That’s just
how all of our trips are. Go, go, go, go, go!”

As much as I wanted to conk out
immediately, I hopped in the shower while Jake stuck around to use
Jane’s computer. When I got out of the shower, Jake was fast
asleep, snoring on my bed. I’d never seen his sleeping face before.
He looked so sweet! My heart did revolutions thinking about waking
up to this every morning. Then all of a sudden, the insecurities
spun out of control.

Sigh…heartbreak…tears…

I sat down on the edge of
the bed and wiped away my tears.
Jake. I
love you so very much. What am I going to do if you leave me? How
will I piece back my broken heart?
It took
me a few minutes to talk myself back into reality. I didn’t want to
get caught up in this made-up heartbreak, nor this happily ever
after feeling. No matter the myriad of times Jake mentioned forever
with me, I wouldn’t go down that road again till I was literally
walking down the aisle. It hurt too much when fantasies morphed
into an ugly reality. Dry-eyed, I nudged Jake’s shoulders to wake
him up.

He didn’t budge. After a few more
tries, I gently placed my lips on his and kissed him many times
before he realized what was happening. He jostled awake, grabbed me
by my shoulders and pulled me onto the bed with him and continued
our kiss—though not as gently. His arms around me were like a steel
cage.

“Emi.” Jake had a serious expression
on his face. “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing’s the matter—except for the
fact that you’re sleeping in my bed. Please get up and go to bed.”
He didn’t look convinced till I kissed him some more.

“I am in bed,” he murmured between
kisses.

“No, your own bed!”

He pretended to snore. I tried to get
up but his grip around me got even tighter. With his body holding
mine hostage, there wasn’t much I could do.

“Love, let’s just sleep like this,” he
coaxed.

“My hair is still wet and your sister
will be here any minute now.”

“Oh yeah.” Without moving, he easily
freed one hand to reach in his pocket and began texting.

“What are you doing?”

He handed me his phone.

Jane, sleep in my room
tonight. I will sleep here with Emi.

He sent the text before anything could
be done.

“Too late.” He smiled a wicked smile.
“It’s done. Now sleep here with me just the way you are and let’s
talk tomorrow morning. I am very tired.” He showered fading kisses
upon my face, and I knew there was no way out. I fell asleep
comfortably in his arms that night.

The next morning, my body froze from
the shock of pain. Yesterday’s activities had crippled me. Once
again, I’d fallen asleep with Jake holding me. I wondered how I
could give in so easily to spending the night with him when I
wouldn’t give in to Max’s attempts all those years. The only answer
I could come up with was that I was too tired to push him away—but
I knew this wasn’t the whole truth.

Realizing my robe had unraveled itself
in the course of the night, I tried to get up but my aching body
wouldn’t listen. Eventually I managed to tie the robe around
myself, and forced myself out of bed. Jake immediately
complained.

“Emi…come back to bed. It was amazing
being in bed with you the whole night. Let’s stay a little
longer.”

“Jake, we have to meet your family for
breakfast. We might be late already. Oh gosh, what will your family
think?”

“They will think nothing of our night,
and even if they do think something, who cares?”

“I’m hopping in the shower. My hair is
a mess from sleeping with it wet. Go back to your room and get
ready,” I commanded.

“Can I hop in with you?” he dared to
ask.

“No! Go, please,” I begged.

Smiling faces greeted us when we got
to the breakfast table. Everyone seemed to be quietly laughing at a
joke that Jake and I were not privy to. I felt uncomfortable, and
Jake looked smug that he had wormed his way into my bed last
night.

“What’s on the agenda for today?” I
asked trying to change the silent subject.

“We’re going to the Maui invitational
to watch our basketball team play,” Sandy told us.

“Mom, I gotta warn you, Emi’s not a
fan of our school.” Jake’s remark brought on a round of boos for
me.

“Emily, your school’s playing here as
well. We’ll get you tickets to that game. You and Jake can go
together,” Jake’s father offered.

“Thank you, but that’s OK. You don’t
have to bother. I’d like to spend the day with the family, if
that’s all right with you.”

“We would love nothing better!”
exclaimed Sandy. I spied an enormous smile on Jake’s face that
filled my heart with joy.

Tuesday was no different than
Monday—breakfast, basketball game, lunch, scuba, followed by
surfing. Jake dove with me while I was having my hour lesson, then
he and Nick surfed near me while I had another hour lesson. The
Reid children seemed competent in just about every water
sport.