Love's Battle (True Blue Trilogy) (7 page)

Looking away from her I took in the third blonde sitting alone on my right. Like the previous blonde, her eyes were also blue and green, only they were a mirror reversal. And her hair was much shorter, cut and curled like a young Elizabeth Taylor, leaving her pale neck exposed, highlighting her slashing cheekbones.

All three looked at me with the same expectant expression. It was mind blowing, identical triplets, and all of them were wearing shirts that kept their backs covered. What was I supposed to do now? I couldn’t tell which one she was.

“Oh, um, excuse me. I thought I saw someone I recognized.”

“That’s okay. We get that all the time. I‘m Hope,” The one on my right said. “My sisters, Faith and Love.”

Throwing up hands as they introduced themselves, I was left with no other choice but to introduce myself as well. “Danton DeAngelo.”

“Well Danton DeAngelo it’s nice to meet you, but we really should be going. It’s getting pretty crowded and I’m sure someone could use the booth.” The one named Hope smiled as she rose from her seat to stand in front of me.

“Oh, right. Sorry to interrupt. Nice to meet you.”

“No problem. Next time you’ll have to join us.”

“Okay.” I stammered, standing to the side so they could leave. Triplets, I couldn’t believe it.

Shaking my head I went back to my friends at the bar. She was one of them, I knew it. The eyes would be the key. I just wasn’t sure which color she was.

“Hey man, nice ladies.” Jon said with an interesting smile.

“Triplets, would you believe it?”

“No way.” Jon’s admiration was evident.

“Identical, except for the eyes.”

“And their hair.” Rich grumbled.

“Huh?” Jon grunted, sounding as dumbfounded as I felt.

Sensing the makings of an audience in need of some higher educating Rich perked up. Taking another sip of his beer he continued to impart a lesson he himself had learned the hard way.

“A woman’s hair can be changed as often as their g-strings. It can become a very critical point in a marriage, as I have learned. One that can make or break late night events, if you know what I mean.

“My wife has changed her hair ten times in the first year alone. They dye it, streak it, curl it, cut it, extend it. Don’t even get me started on highlight and lowlights. There is no end to the viscous cycle of what I’ve come to call Beauty Parlor Pandemonium. I even keep a book detailing the old lady’s appointments and pay her hairdresser and extra twenty to call and give me a heads up on any changes just to keep me out of the dog house.”

“And off the couch.” Jon laughed.

“That too.”

“Doesn’t look like it helped this time.”

“Nah, this is something different.” Rich disagreed, refusing to elaborate on the stresses of his marital life.

I was intrigued. This could be the way to determine who the wedding crasher was.

“Tell me what your well trained eye saw Rich.” I encouraged.

“Three beautiful blondes scattered across the board. Waist length, old fashioned and not seen as much except for celebrities and those who can afford extensions.”

“That would be Faith.”

“The charming pixie cut mixed with curls, showing off facial features to their best, time consuming unless it’s permed or natural- high maintenance. I‘d go with natural since the one before her had curls also.”

“Hope.”

“Then you have the classic layers, an easy was to look elegant and carefree at the same time. A look that can be worn in a variety of way.”

“Love.” I ended, much the wiser.

By the time Rich was through with his description of the female hair, Jon was hooting with laughter.

“Keep laughing Buddy, just you wait until it’s your turn. You’ll come back to ol’ Rich for advice it the war they call marriage.” Rich predicted, downing the last of his beer. “Why are you so interested?” He asked me.

“One of them crashed Melanie’s wedding.”

Chapter 9

…Moe

Love

“That was close.” I breathed when we were outside, an entire building between myself and the best man.

“It’s about to get even closer.” Faith smiled, making me instantly wary. I knew what was coming. She’d seen it. They both had

“What do you mean?” I asked, playing dumb.

“Look at him again and you tell us.” Hope challenged.

Dutifully I opened the door. Keeping to the shadows I stepped inside, just enough to get another look at Danton DeAngelo. There he was laughing with his friends, what a beautiful sight. Male perfection bathed in the same powder blue light that all souls gave off when they were destined to be together. Blowing out a breath I closed the door and faced my sisters. “He’s blue.”

“He’s not the only one honey.” Hope smiled, holding out a compact mirror she had pulled from her purse.

Snatching it from her I peered into the reflecting glass. There was my image, the one I’d spent twenty-five years looking at, the one I saw mirrored in the face of my sisters. Except, unlike yesterday, I could now see a tell tale blue glow around my face. Faint at first but growing stronger with every second. Closing the compact I could see the glow encompassing my hands. I looked down and around. Like a bad rash, it was all over me.

“I’m blue!” I declared, pointing out the obvious.

“True blue, true love. YOU are the future Mrs. Danton DeAngelo.” Hope gloated taking her compact back.

“Ah damn!” I whined.

Chapter 10

Time to Party

Love

“You figure I’d be used to this sort of thing by now, meeting my own true love and all. It’s not like this is the first time this has happened, or even the second, and something tells me it won’t be the last. But you know as well as I do that this type of thing isn’t set in stone exactly. For example, there are no step by step instructions to follow- meet, fall in love, get married, live happily ever after- those are more like guidelines, right? I mean, it’s not that easy even in the fairy tales!” I cocked my head sideways imitating the lopsided tilt of the baby’s head as she ate from the diminishing mound of Cheerio’s I held hidden in my palm.

Around us people of all ages feasted on cake and ice cream. Children, their faces smeared with icing squealed as a painted clown twisted balloons into animal shapes.

When the munchkin I was feeding pinned me with an expectant glare, letting out a high pitched squeal of her own I emptied the last of the remaining circles onto the tray of her highchair. “Okay, okay, here’s some more, but that’s it. I’m all tapped out. I guess you still have a few more years before this makes sense to you, huh!”

The birthday girl protested the lack of supply by banging her tiny fists on the tray hard enough to jostle what was left of her snack.

“Tell you what,” I leaned in closer, just us girls talking. “I’ll make it a whole lot easier for you, cutie. You see the lady over there talking to your mom? The one who looks fairly nauseous, pale, clammy, and totally out of place surrounded by all these offspring running around her like crazy. Well, she’s the one who will be delivering your true love seven months from now.”

The wide eyed toothy grin of my infantile audience let me know that she was absorbing everything I was saying. She was so cute I couldn’t resist tapping her little button nose.

“He’ll be perfect for you in every way. Something so natural that you’ll slide right into love with him without a single thought. Effortless.” I sighed, envious. Dealing with love this go round would not be as easy for me.

“What are you doing?!” Hope demanded.

I looked up from my chair beside the birthday girl to glare up at Hope. Killjoy.

“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m giving her advice.”

“On her love life? She’s one.” Hope exclaimed in a terse whisper.

I turned up my nose. “It’s never too early for female guidance.”

Hope just shook her head. “Are you ready?”

“Yep.” I got up, pressed a kiss to the downy head of chestnut curls. “Bye Claire Bear. Happy Birthday.”

“I’ll stay with her. You go tell Roberta we’re leaving.”

Hope didn’t fool me for a second. The moment my back was turned she would have Claire in her arms. Even the most staid person usually had a little room in their heart for baby love. I was hopeful that this life would prove different than the last two. Hope was born to be a mother. She couldn’t go on denying herself that particular pleasure for much longer.

“Hey there,” I interrupted when there was a break in conversation between Claire’s mother and her daughter’s future mother in law. “Hope and I are heading out.”

“Oh, Love. Let me introduce you to Sarah, we work together. Sarah Harrington, Love Howard. Her sisters and I used to go to school together.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” Sarah smiled.

“Likewise. When are you due, April? It’ll be nice having your kids so close together. Built in best friends.” I gushed.

Sarah exchanged a nervous glance with Roberta. “Oh no, I’m not, I’m not pregnant.”

“That’s strange.” Roberta commented, “Hope asked her the same thing.”

“You know those triplet brains, thinking alike and all. Must be your natural glow then.” Boy was Sarah in for a surprise. “Oh well,” I shrugged. “Thanks for inviting us. Claire sure takes after her mom. She’s absolutely beautiful.”

Roberta hugged my neck. “Thanks for coming. Tell Faith I missed her.”

“I’ll do that. Oh look, here comes Hope with the birthday girl now.” I knew it. The minute my back was turned, she snatched her up.

“She made you a present mom.” Hope averted her nose as she held out the drooling form. “Whooo, and I don’t think it’s roses.”

Roberta laughed, “In that case, come on Sarah you can help me change her.”

“I’m not pregnant.” Sarah denied, following dutifully.

“Maybe you should take a test.” Roberta suggested to the totally obvious mother to be. “And if you’re not, well it’s never too early to learn. It’ll give you good practice for when you are. Oooh,” Roberta cooed. “Maybe you’ll have a boy and then he and Claire can get married.

“But you can’t encourage it.” Sarah warned, getting used to the idea. “Tell them no and they’ll do it to spite us.”

“Star crossed lovers, like Romeo and Juliet. The more we say no, the more it’ll encourage them.”

“They won’t know what hit them until after they’ve said, ‘I do’!”

“Come on let’s go.” Hope smirked.

“Right behind you.”

“Hey,” I said later as we buckled ourselves into Hope’s conservative Audi S5. “We’ve got the rest of the afternoon free. How about we thumb our noses at this heat and play a quick round at The Oaks? We haven’t done that in a while.”

“Loser pays for a spa treatment?”

“You got it.”

Hope checked her rearview mirror as she pulled out of the driveway. “Let’s go play some golf.”

I loved playing golf with Hope. She really tapped into my not so hidden competitive side. With her methodical and precise thinking pitted against my where the chips may fall attitude, we were pretty well matched against each other. This was going to be fun.

Chapter 11

Bogey

Danton

“Oh man, shanked it!”

I patted Rich on the back, commiserating with him on his lousy shot. “We’ll play my ball.”

I took the driver seat of the golf cart, waiting for Rich to put his driver away.

“What’s Sarah doing today?” I asked, following the path Rich’s ball had taken.

“Kiddie birthday party.”

“You sound a little too happy about that.”

“PMS is driving me crazy man. Tears one minute then she’s all over me the next. I’m not complaining about that, but really man, thanks for calling today. I needed to be around some extra testosterone.”

“Hold your thanks until after my dad has beaten us.” I warned Rich as he picked up his wayward ball. “By nine tomorrow everyone in the office will know how bad you play.”

Carmine DeAngelo never did anything half way with the exception of his marriage to my mom. He’d learned the hard way board room directives didn’t produce the same results on the home front.

“I can handle it. Changing the subject, did you ever find out who crashed the wedding?”

“No.” Even with Rich’s invaluable advice I still couldn’t decide which one of the three she was, but I had narrowed it down to between the blue and greens. I would have remembered the purple eye, such a unique color like that would’ve stuck out like a sore thumb. I didn’t think I’d ever seen anyone with real eyes that color.

“What are you going to do if you find her?”

Pulling up at my ball, I chose my club, setting down a marker for Rich’s swing.

“I’m not sure.” Taking my stance I took a few practice swings and cranked it. Power flowed through my arms into the head of my club propelling the ball closer toward the green. “Turns out the bastard really was cheating on her, with Natalie.” I sneered, following the balls flight with my eyes.

“Dicey.”

“Tell me about it.” Family reunions would now be avoided like the plague.

I stood silent as Rich made his not so elegant swing, contemplating his question. What would I do when I found out the identity of the wedding crasher? I couldn’t thank her, but then again I couldn’t absolve her of wrong doing. Something as delicate as adultery should have been handled with a touch more finesse and in more private surroundings. I shook my head, laughed as Rich’s ball disappearing into a grove of trees. “You really need some more practice.”

“Hey, I’m just here to get in good with the boss.” Rich joked. “It’s all part of my master plan. When words gets around how bad I am, all the higher up will want me as their opponent. Easy wins. It’s a fast track to the top, courtesy of losing on the green.”

“Everyone likes a kiss ass,” I laughed, doing a double take as a pair of blondes zoomed past me on the cart path. “Was that?” I started to ask Rich, then decided against it. The heat must be getting to me. I was seeing “her” everywhere.

“Seven holes down, eleven to go.”

“Lead on oh mighty leader.”

Chapter 12

The Plot Thickens

Love

I nearly fell out of the speeding golf cart I whipped my head around so fast.