Love's Battle (True Blue Trilogy) (20 page)

“I’d be honored to.” Tossing my gloves on the cart I took Avelbane by the arm. “Then you can tell me why you’re here.”

“I am here to see you and your museum.”

“Right. But what motives bring you here to see my museum and I? You usually only visit when I‘m home.”

“Change is coming.”

“Change is always coming.” I pointed to a clothing display as an example. “Year by year things evolve until it no longer resembles its original source.” Much like human Avelbane compared to banshee Avelbane. “Nothing is constant.”

“True, and that is why you do so well. Why I worry about you least. You are not so constant as to find yourself stuck in a rut. Unlike your sisters.

“Faith lives her life waiting for Cinaed. Sure she goes through the motions, lives the life she’s been reborn into, but she doesn’t truly enjoy it until she finds him again. Though with the way their life force is tied together I can understand. She is living with only half of herself until they are joined again.

“But Hope,” Avelbane paused, shaking her head, “There is no cause for her sullen ways.”

“Tell me about it.” I snorted, “Faith and I have talked to her until we’re blue in the face, but she doesn’t hear anything we say.”

“Her self blame is too loud.” Avelbane mentioned, making me think she and Hope had been talking.

“Exactly. The only thing that seems to wake her up is our childish challenges. It wouldn’t do to have the youngest beat her at everything.”

“And that Love, is something that is going to have to be modified. Already the threads of fate are so tangled I am unsure they can ever be straightened. A knotted mess, the future is uncertain.

“Changes are coming, big ones, none like we’ve been through since your conception. Your lives are at a crossroads. Many decisions need to be made and not all of them can be made by your and your sisters.”

“That doesn’t sound good.” I joked, an attempt to alleviate the seriousness of the situation.

“Right you are.” Avelbane agreed, unwilling to discuss the situation any further. “Now, enough of this doom and gloom- as you would put it. Please, show me your museum.”

Chapter 40

Dumping Grounds

Danton

“What’s eating at you man? Last week you were all happy go lucky. This week you’re all down in the dumps. Is it a woman?” Rich asked Monday as we were getting an after work drink.

I hadn’t seen Love for two days and it was like going through withdraw. I saw her in every face, heard her harmonious laughter in every sound, could smell her delicate floral sense in every fragrance. Trouble didn’t even come close to describing my woman problems, but I nodded anyway.

What Love believed herself to be was unimaginable; there could be no truth to her story. Things like she described just didn’t happen. Or did they? I asked myself. Looking back, I tried to remember everything I could about our time together.

I was convinced that from the first, she knew what we were to each other. That she’d tried to tell me, without directly telling me. It was there in her vague answers, her leading questions, the way she lived her life. It was all there and I never saw it. I was afraid I never could.

“The same one from the wedding?” Rich’s nagging question pulled me back into the conversation.

“Yeah.”

“Bummer.”

“Yep.” I agreed. “Did you ever figure out what was wrong with Carrie?” I asked, ready to drown myself in someone else’s problem.

“Yeah, I did.” He smiled.

“Woman trouble must be in the water.”

Rich laughed, “Man you better hope it’s not. Not unless you were planning on marrying the girl. We found out last week Carrie’s pregnant. A couple of people had been telling her they thought she was. We took a test and… they were right.”

I froze, images of Love‘s slim body heavy with my child flashing unbidden in my mind. “Really? Man, that’s great. Congratulations.”

“Thanks. So what’s the problem?” Rich asked, continuing with the interrogation.

I couldn’t very well tell him Love believed she and her sisters were reincarnated Cupid’s, so I improvised.

“She told me some things about her past that I can’t come to terms with.”

“Hmmm.”

“Got any advice on that one?” I asked, turning the tables.

Rich threw up his hands. “Not a thing man. That’s one’s all yours.”

For a moment we sat there in compatible silence, the noise around the room filling in the gap until Rich asked a question I’d been afraid to ask myself. “Do you love her?”

“What kind of a question is that? Do I love her? I barely know her!” I protested.

“Well if you don’t, than it doesn’t matter.”

“And if I do?” I asked, afraid of the answer.

Rich shrugged, “Then you’ll have to find a way to deal.” Standing up, Rich pulled out his wallet, tossed money on the table. “That’s it for me. Carrie’s not been feeling well. Morning sickness and all that.”

“It’s evening.” I pointed out.

“Tell me about it. Turns out ‘morning sickness’ is more of a relative term. She’s sick all the time.”

Rich sounded so down right gleeful about it, I had to issue him a friendly warning. “Don’t let her hear you talking like that.”

Hand at his lips, Rich mimed turning the lock and throwing away the key. “You don’t have to tell me twice. See you tomorrow.”

“See ya.” I waved.

Rich’s leaving, left me alone with the inner workings of my mind. How was I supposed to deal with something this off the wall? Accept it, accept her. Deny it, deny her. Could I accept her and deny it? I had no idea. I needed someone to talk to. I needed an expert at ignoring the obvious.

I needed my cousin, Melanie DeAngelo, Queen of Denial.

****

An hour later I was on Melanie’s front step, the porch light casting a halo around her dark hair.

“Well, Danton. This is quite a surprise.”

“Is this a good time?” I asked, noticing a pile of luggage setting just inside her door.

“Um, yeah, now is perfect. Come on in.” She opened the door wider and stepped aside.

“Thanks.” I shuffled in, hands in my pockets.

“So what brings you by?” She asked, closing the door behind me.

“I was wondering if we could talk.”

“Sounds serious.”

“Sort of.”

“Chanton told me you were seeing someone. Problems in paradise?”

“You could say that.”

We sat in Melanie’s living room. Walls of pewter gray, a white sectional sofa, and what few accessories there were, were red or black. Lackluster. After seeing all the vibrancy and color Love’s place had to offer, this felt like the Shadowlands; bleak and colorless. It matched my mood perfectly.

“I don’t know how much help I can be. You see how my wedding turned out!”

“That’s kind of what I wanted to talk to you about. Do you mind?”

“No, not really. I was stupid.”

“Why? I mean. You had to know. Why didn’t you stop it before it got so out of control?”

“I was in love with the idea of being married, starting a family. I’ll be thirty next month Danton. My clock was starting to tick and it was getting louder. Stephen seemed to be everything I needed to make that happen.”

“Enough so that you were able to ignore his infidelity?”

“It’s easy to ignore when deep down, you really don’t care. And that’s the real problem Danton. I didn’t care. I don’t care.” My cousin admitted.

“And if you did care?”

Melanie laughed, “You find a way to make it work. Like I did. Come on in Everett, met my cousin.”

I looked up to see the opposite of Stephen Giles walk in. This man was confident without being cocky, dressed in nice clothes- but not one’s that screamed brand names, and he looked at my cousin as if she were the center of his whole world. The same way Love looked at me.

“Everett, my cousin Danton. Danton, my husband Everett Smith.” Melanie held out her left hand, a thin gold band on her ring finger. “We just got back from Vegas. You’re the first to know.”

I was speechless. Melanie laughed again, wrapping her arms around her new husband. She was happier than I’d seen her in a long time. I was beginning to see that Love was responsible for that.

“I can see this girl you’re worrying about is something special. No female has ever tied you into the knot you’re in now, so I’ll give you the best advice I’ve ever gotten.” Melanie smiled up at Everett. “I’m going to dare you. Dare you to take the one step that will make your world complete. I dare you to ignore the past and accept what the future has in store for you.” Looking back at me with love filled eyes, Melanie smiled. “You deserve true love Danton. Now get out. I‘m still on my honeymoon. Go work it out with your girl!”

Did I? Did I really deserve what Love had to offer me? Could I take the step that would give me everything I’ve ever wanted and ignore the rest?

So many questions, I wasn’t sure I’d ever find the answers.

Chapter 41

Mother Knows Best

Love

It’s been an agonizing ten days since I revealed the truth to Danton. Two hundred and forty painstaking hours in which I evaluated and revaluated my decision to tell him. Maybe I could have done it differently, dropped more casual hints instead of hitting him with it right out of the blue. Oh, who was I kidding? It would have come as a shock either way.

Idly I saved the current changes to my bothersome dissertation, swiveled from side to side in my desk chair, edgy and impatient. I couldn’t wait another fourteen thousand and four hundred minutes for Danton to make up his mind and come to his senses. Sitting on my idle hands had my butt going numb. It might work for Hope, but this just wasn’t me. I couldn’t just sit around and do nothing but send little gifts and trinkets. I was thankful they weren’t being returned to sender, but that wasn’t enough, I had to do something proactive. I wasn’t someone who could walk around the proverbial rock and go on my way unchanged by it as Hope theorized. No, I was someone who would take that rock and use it to pound some sense into Danton‘s head. Not one to back down from a fight worth fighting, I realized it was time to call in the heavy hitters.

Hopping up to snag the phone I paced the width of my living room, waiting for an answer.

“True Blue.”

“Hey, it’s me. I need Chanton’s number.”

“Why?”

“Why?” That stopped me cold, what a stupid question. “Uh, let me think about that. The man I love is giving me the cold shoulder and I could use a bit of leverage to get him to come around. What is it with you?” I demanded. “I thought you’d want to help, so are you going to give me the number or not?”

“Not. It still remains to be seen if she’ll be your mother-in-law and until then, she’s still my client.”

“You’re not her attorney Hope. There is no client privilege between the two of you. I need to talk to her.”

“Fine. I’ll arrange a lunch meeting for tomorrow and call you with the details.”

“Bitch.” I cursed as I slammed the phone back on its base. I really needed to find my sister a man. Someone else for her to drive mad.

****

“Thank you for seeing me on such short notice.” I told Chanton as the waiter went off to place our order with the chef. Ma Mere Maison is one of my favorite French restaurants.

“I’m glad to finally meet you. I must confess that I was absolutely delighted when Hope called yesterday to suggest we get together for lunch.”

“It was such short notice, I hope you didn’t have to go through any trouble.”

“Oh dear, it was no trouble at all. Although a little birdie has made it known that you have been seeing quite a bit of my son until recently.”

“I have and I take it you’ve been talking to Hope.” She was the only little birdie I knew with a big fat mouth.

“Please don’t take offense. I’ve known your sister for a number of years. I believe I was one of her first clients when she opened True Blue,” Chanton chuckled. “It was right after the divorce from my second husband was settled. I trust her judgment inexplicably. She’s yet to be wrong. Every man I’ve married against her advice has proven to be a dud. If she says you’re the one for my son, so be it.”

“And you’d like to help?” I considered, putting two and two together.

“Would that make me a bad mother in law?”

“No!” And I would know. I’ve had a doozie or two in my time. “That would mean you love your son and were willing enough to help him find happiness. A most admirable quality to be found in a mother in law nowadays.”

Chanton regarded me with shrewd eyes, making sure her instinct and Hope’s were spot on.

I resisted the urge to squirm, my posture ingrained from centuries before- my back lance straight, hands politely clasped in my lap, legs crossed at the ankles- asher eyes raked over my red and yellow hibiscus print shift dress with cap sleeves. Underneath the table, unseen, my toes curled inside my red Dior peep toe pumps.

“Are you sure that I’m what you want for him?” I asked when she was done.

“I like what I see so far. You’re bright enough to drive the shadows from his eyes -they’ve been there too long. You have your own money- so you’re not after his or what his family can offer. You’re settled- not many women in their early twenties can make that claim. From what I hear, you and he are well matched, ideal for each other. You have a car that he drools over and a body to make him weak in the knees. You’ll give his father and me beautiful grandbabies to spoil.” Chanton paused as her last words hit her. “Mon Dieu, is that were this is headed? Am I to be a grandmother before I’m fifty-five?”

I laughed as she sipped her water, composing herself. “I’ll do my best.”

“Yes, yes I believe you will.” Chanton said, laughing at my assurance. “There’s an old air about you. Your sister has it too. I find it quiet charming.”

“It’s also part of the problem.”

I could tell Chanton was confused at my words. “Do tell.”

And tell I did over salads and main courses of coq au vin and civet de cerf, repeating what I told Danton the night of the ball game. Chanton was the first would- be mother-in-law who would know the whole truth of who I was.

It felt good to be able to talk to someone who knew Danton so well, someone who could give me some insight on how to approach him. Despite that, my worry that he would never come back increased with every minute that passed.