by Cee, DW
The two men squabbled enough for Delaney to cut them off and to tell them she’d help both. “I’ll meet both you men at the club in exactly two hours. I can help you till 4:00pm, then I need to get some work done before I go out tonight.”
I asked, “Where are you going?” Did she have another damn date?
“Laney?” Dad asked. “Where are you going?” Yes! I knew Chief would get some answers for me.
She answered with a groan. “A group of us are going to a UFC fight tonight.”
“And?”
“And what?” she asked.
“Who’s coming to pick you up?”
“No one. I’m meeting everyone at the fight.”
“How many boys, how many girls?”
This line of questioning continued, and I loved it! I jumped into the conversation and suggested that we all go golf in the afternoon. By the way Al and Bee shook their heads at me, it was no secret I said this to keep Delaney from going out with another guy. I was convincing enough where both the chief and my father laid the guilt heavily on Delaney. She finally acquiesced, but with some parting words of her own.
“Why do you do this?” She looked me dead in the eye; it freaked the shit out of me. “It’s not like you’re ever going to take me out on a date. Why do you stop anyone else from wanting to go out with me?” Her words wiped the victor’s smile off my face. She got up and left abruptly.
“Shit, Bro’. She called you out. You gonna step up and be a man?”
Shit was right. Al challenged me to be a man and I wanted to, but I was afraid to go out with this girl. She was the Chief’s daughter, Jake’s twenty-two-year-old cousin, and the girl who constantly brought back memories of pigtails and braces, jumping on my back in the pool. She was two-thirds my age. What the hell would I do with someone that young? What was this crazy interest? Delaney walked away from all of us, hurt that I’d ruined another date. I didn’t want to date her, but I sure as hell didn’t want anyone else to date her either. Fuck! I was so messed up in the head.
“You gonna take her out, Donny? You did ruin her date tonight. Why don’t you join her and her friends at this fight?”
“Pa, I don’t want to be with a bunch of twenty-two-year-olds at an MMA fight.”
“Then do something special for her. She’s such a sweet gal, and so beautiful. Your Ma and I are crazy about her. We’ve decided she’s the girl you need to marry.”
“Pa. She’s twenty-two. She’s a decade younger than I am.”
“What the hell does that matter? She’s beautiful on the inside, the outside, and she’s a Reid. I thought Jake and Kelley would join our families together but I guess it’ll be up to you and Laney, now.”
“Let’s not get me to the altar yet. I’ve no thoughts of marrying Delaney Reid.”
“And what’s wrong with my daughter?” the chief bellowed.
Hell and damn! There was not one single thing wrong with her—and that was what was wrong with her. Where had Delaney come from, how did she get so deeply lodged into my heart, and why couldn’t I send her back?
“Chief, I don’t think Delaney is interested in me, either. Most of the times we piss each other off. I don’t think that’s conducive to a good relationship.”
“Makes for great make-up sex,” my stupid-ass brother-in-law added, but just quietly enough so the chief didn’t jump out of the phone and kick his balls to the curb.
“Well, Son. You pissed her off just now,” the chief said. “Actually, you made my little girl very sad. You make it up to her.”
“Goodbye, Chief. I’ll see you in a couple of hours.” I hung up the phone before he said much else to me. “And I’ll see the rest of you later, as well.”
“You taking her out?” Ma yelled across the restaurant, but I only waved her off.
After sitting in the car thinking through my dilemma, I did a little research on my phone, and then called Bee. “Is Delaney gone?”
“Yeah. You just missed her.”
“I’ll be at your place in a couple of minutes.”
“All right.” My aunt laughed at me.
Bee always had a weakness for Haagen Dazs ice cream, so I stopped by the nearest convenience store and picked up a pack of her favorite bars.
“You are the best, Nephew.” She kissed my cheek in appreciation. “How’d you know I was craving these?”
“You’re always craving these.” We each opened up a bar and sat on the chair. “I have a favor to ask of you.”
“You can’t just stop by to see your auntie and bring her ice cream without always needing something from me?” She said with a mouthful of coffee ice cream, chocolate, and toffee. No sooner had she finished talking, she dropped a large bag by my foot. “On the house—just add shoes.”
I looked through the bag filled with a dress, an oversized scarf, and a helluva lot of lingerie. These were the same kinds Delaney was modeling Friday night, different only by color. The thought of Delaney wearing the garter and sheer stockings made me uncomfortable in every way.
“For Delaney. I assume you’re taking her out tonight after golf and you needed another outfit?”
“How the hell did you come to that assumption?”
“The same way your face fell from smug asshole to human being when Laney accused you of ruining her social life. What’s the deal, Nephew? You like her now? Kate’s out of the picture?”
“Kate hasn’t been in the picture for a while. We only have a working relationship.”
“Then why was she at brunch earlier? She still looks better than any forty-year-old I know.”
“She was dropping me off, and thought she’d come in and say hello to my parents.”
“Well, your parents wanted nothing to do with her. She was ignored by them and told off by Laney. I felt kind of sorry for her.”
Laughter came out automatically when I thought back to the morning where Delaney called my parents Ma and Pa. “Delaney has a comical side to her most people don’t know.”
“So back to my question—you like her? This is the second time you’ve come sniffing around here, after ignoring me for almost a year, buying her clothes. I thought you said buying clothes for a woman was too intimate.”
“I don’t like Delaney. I mean, I like her as the girl that she is, and as Jake’s cousin, and the chief’s daughter, but not as a woman.”
Bee was done with her Haagen Dazs bar and onto a second one. “Why not as a woman? Don’t you see her as a woman?”
“Hell, Bee. Have you not seen her body? Of course I see her as a woman.” This girl had the most alluring body I’ve ever seen. Her breasts were big, perky, and always inviting (me), her Audrey Hepburnish waistline screamed to be held, and her pouty lips asked to be kissed—which I obliged a couple of times.
“Once again, what’s the problem?”
“Number one her age, number two, she’s Jake’s little cousin and the chief’s daughter, number three we don’t like each other.”
“You could’ve fooled me. Just give in. I think she’s great. Your parents love her, the families are close, and you’d have knock-out kids.”
“Yeah.” That thought made me smile. “Our kids would be even better looking than my godchildren.” What the fuck was I thinking? “We are not getting together. I will take her out tonight since she told me off earlier, and that’s it.”
“Whatever. You’re welcome!” She kicked me out, not believing a word I’d said. I didn’t know that I believed what I’d spoken, either.
I got to the club early and hit some golf balls to let out this aggression. Shanking every ball, I was in my own world until someone greeted Delaney who was practicing right next to me.
Looking every bit the golfer in cute khaki shorts and a serious golf shirt, she gave me a begrudging hello. “You’re going to lose badly if you play the way you’ve been practicing. You’re not rotating your hips enough.”
“I’d like to rotate my hips onto y
ours,” was what I wanted to say, but I didn’t. With interference coming from all directions, my thoughts were crazed and loopy.
“Why do you keep shaking your head?” She looked at me as though I was odd.
“Don’t ask.”
We started our round of golf and she kicked my ass from the first hole.
“Donny,” Pa complained, “you’re killing us here, and it’s only the first hole. You can’t get a double-bogey.”
“Maybe you should pair up with Delaney instead?” I said in a tone my father didn’t appreciate.
“Maybe I will.” My dad used a tone I didn’t appreciate.
“The hell you will,” Chief Henry answered. “You stick to your own child.” He laughed at us when he saw my next drive hitting the tree. I pulled a Tiger Woods and banged my club on the grass.
To make matters worse, Delaney didn’t talk to me or anyone else the rest of the afternoon. She answered everything my dad or her dad asked, but offered nothing more. She was still pissed with me.
After posting the worst score of my life, I tried to explain to this girl that I had an evening planned for the two of us, but she walked away without a glance back.
“Chief? Can you give this to Delaney?”
“What’s this?”
“An outfit for tonight. I didn’t think she’d want to go to the concert in her golf outfit.”
“You taking my baby out?”
“I suppose,” I answered sounding resigned to this “chore.”
The chief didn’t look happy with me. “Do you know how precious this girl is to me? If you’re going to make her feel worse than she already does, I don’t want you taking her anywhere. I don’t like her looking like the life’s been sucked out of her. Today it was all your fault she was unhappy.”
“Well...you did play a part in this golf match as well.” Uncle Henry gave me a loaded look that made me think twice about pushing my luck. “I will treat your daughter with the utmost respect, and show her a good time tonight.” Shit! Those were not the correct things to say to a father of the twenty-two-year-old I was taking out. “You know what I mean.” I answered his nasty look with reassurance.
“Don’t you dare try anything on my baby,” he warned—no, he threatened.
“Chief! She’s younger than my youngest sister. There is no freaking way, I’m going to try anything on Delaney.”
“And why not?” Pa joined the conversation.
“What’s wrong with how young she is? She not attractive enough for you?” The chief asked this ridiculous question.
“I thought you didn’t want me trying anything on your daughter, Chief!”
“I don’t, but I also don’t like you putting down my daughter.”
My dad agreed. “Donny. Laney is golden. Treat her well. Treat her better than you would any of your sisters—but just remember, she’s not your sister. Your Ma and I would like for her to be family, and it’s only through you.”
“Maybe cousin Matt wants to meet her. She can still be family if she marries him.” Why I said that, I had no idea. As I believed earlier, I was going crazy.
“Bite your tongue. Why would we want Matt to date Laney?”
“My daughter is too good for all of you.”
“OK! Enough with the not-funny-at-all Vaudeville act. Will you give this to her or not?” I handed the bag to Uncle Henry. “I need to go to the kitchen and get our meal.”
“Where are you taking my future daughter-in-law?” Pa followed me into the kitchen and asked all kinds of questions I didn’t want to answer.
I, too, showered and meticulously dressed for tonight. I had to admit, I was nervous. We’d gone out and enjoyed ourselves before but tonight felt like a real date—my first date.
When I reached the dining room, I found the rest of the men waiting for me. They’d had a few drinks already waiting for us to come out so they could see us off.
“I feel like I’m sending you off to the prom, Donny-boy,” Al guffawed.
“Fuck off.”
“Language!” Pa said, “There’s a lady present.”
I looked around and found a breathtaking woman walking our way.
“Breathe,” my brother-in-law cautioned in jest, “or she’ll know how you feel about her.” He couldn’t stop laughing at me as I told him to fuck off one more time.
Al wasn’t wrong. I momentarily lost my breath while watching this little-girl-turned-woman approach me with a cautious smile. It bothered me that she was so unsettled with me, but I guess I gave her no other option.
“You look beautiful tonight, Laney.”
“Thank you, Daddy.” Delaney then turned to me to say, “And thank you for the clothes, or is it Bee I need to thank?” She didn’t give me a chance to answer. “Are we dining here tonight, Daddy?”
“Laney, after you and Donovan get married, will you be calling me Daddy as well? My girls stopped calling me Daddy when they were five. I miss it.” Never shy to express what he felt, my father was reaching.
Delaney gave him a stunning and yet slightly forlorn smile. “Mr. Taylor, a girl can only get so lucky. The girl who’ll call you, Daddy will marry into the best family, next to my own. Thank you for always being my champion. I’m glad we got to know one another.” She gave this weird answer and kissed my father on the cheek. It was almost a farewell to him. I couldn’t shake this disturbing feeling after listening to her talk to Dad.
“Grab her, grab her now,” Al pushed me towards Delaney. “You’ll regret this for the rest of your life if you let her leave you. You’ll be miserable, Man. Grab her while you can.”
“Shut up.” I whispered. “It’s not like that with us.”
“Dude, you are blind, deaf, and stupid. Do you not see the look in her eyes when she talks to you? Do you not feel your heart right now? I can feel your heart beating a-mile-a-minute because she’s got you so deeply hooked.”
“You fucking writing a romance novel? Nicholas Sparks, watch out.”
Al shook his head at me as if I were the stupidest man on earth, and went to say good-bye to Delaney.
“Kiss your own damn wife,” I murmured after seeing my brother-in-law kiss Delaney on both cheeks. He slapped me on the back, and gave me another push towards my...date.
“You ready to leave?” I put out my arm hoping she might hold it and we’d be connected again. All day she’d been so distant. Especially after having our bodies tangled in sleep last night, there was a longing for me to have some contact with her. I felt uncharacteristically empty being apart from her.
Damn! She chose not to put her hand on my arm, but instead walked ahead. I wasn’t going to be disregarded. Placing my hand on her back, I felt a quick shiver that she ignored and instead, walked forth. She was going to make me swallow my pride and apologize for being the asshat I’d been to her.
“Why are you taking me out and where?” I couldn’t believe she asked this question with such horror and incredulity. Was I that miserable to be with me? Hell. Why couldn’t this girl let me be the charming Donovan Taylor I was with all the other women?
“What is the matter with you? After you lambast my chivalrous side, you ask why?” Smooth, Donovan. Real smooth...! Just yell at her some more, why don’t you?
“Please just take me home.” Five words. It only took five fucking words to make me feel like a world-class dick. It could never work between us. I know I’d said this in the past, but after tonight, I needed to stay far, far away from her.
Since our destination wasn’t far, I decided not to say any more than necessary. Every time my mouth opened, my foot practically choked it. Tonight, I decided to play the perfect gentleman and date. Opening the car door for her, I grabbed our blanket and our food, and put out my hand so I could grab her hand as well. With an adorably confused look on her face, she held her own hands behind her back and walked along side me. She probably thought I was pulling one hell of a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde routine.
> We were at the observatory at a concert under the stars event. Delaney gazed through several telescopes but her attention span was limited. Her mind seemed elsewhere.
“You hungry?” I asked.
“Yes.” Of course she was. She didn’t eat lunch when we golfed and when I saw her at brunch this morning, she was just starting her meal before I upset her again. Thinking of Delaney at the breakfast table with my family put a smile on my face. Aside from being mildly surprised she was there, I noticed immediately that she fit right in. Kate always stood out like a sore thumb—more fairly stated, a beautiful sore thumb. No one could deny Kate’s beauty. Delaney was not only beautiful, but she also looked like a Taylor, acted like a Taylor, and laughed like a Taylor.
I put my hand out, again, hoping she’d put her hand in my own. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say this girl had no friggin’ clue what to do with my hand. She slapped it like she was giving a low-five, and walked ahead of me. I took that as a challenge and grabbed her hand by “force.” Finger for finger, equally matched, we were completely entwined. I had never felt anything so damn near perfect in my life. It was electrifying, mesmerizing, the most fucking arousing feeling ever. How the hell can I be so aroused by just holding hands? Shit and damnation. I needed to get laid—not with this girl, of course.
“I never understood the concept of cold fried chicken, but this is very yummy,” she said sucking the grease off her forefinger. Hell! This was going to be a long night.
“It is good,” I answered trying to readjust myself. “We have dessert, too.”
“Oh!” Her lips formed a perfect O. “What do we have?”
“A little bird told me you like red velvet cake so I stopped by a bakery and picked one up.”
With an angelic smile, she thanked me. I could get used to waking up to a smile like that. Sigh! This date needed to be done, like yesterday.
With the music starting, I pushed my way against a large tree and watched to see if she would come sit anywhere near me. As expected, she stayed put where she was and sat uncomfortably without her back against anything. Watching her from the side, I couldn’t help thinking she was one beautiful woman. I could really get used to seeing this face every single day.