Complete Indelible Love Series

by Cee, DW

  “Oh...” She wasn’t buying it. “Mom, are we having a party for Dad’s birthday?”

  “Of course we are. We always have parties for his birthday.” I hoped their conversation would overtake ours.

  “And I’m going home with you and Dad instead of Donovan because...” Delaney wanted answers but couldn’t exactly demand them at this dinner table.

  “We can’t leave till Wednesday and I’ll need your help getting the party together. We decided to combine parties, so it’ll be a bigger production than I originally planned.” Thank God for mothers! That sounded like a fine answer. We could all tell Delaney had more questions, but she let it go. Hallelujah!

  The rest of the trip was Bennington-free! We enjoyed another round of golf and I surrounded us with family so I wouldn’t get any more probing questions. And at night, I exhausted her with enough orgasms to put her straight to sleep. It was hard work pleasing my woman.

  We got back home and I immediately went into meeting mode. This fancy-cut pink diamond and selling AAP were top priorities, and Delaney’s poutiness couldn’t distract me. This was critical to our future.

  “Why can’t I come with you on your business trip this time?”

  I paused to gather my resolve and looked away from those adorably brooding lips.

  “I have to cover a lot of clients in all different cities. I won’t be able to do anything fun with you, and I’ll probably worry about you getting lost or kidnapped.”

  “You are so lame. I can take care of myself. You don’t have to babysit me...I’d really like to be with you...”

  I’m sorry, Baby. I promise to make it worth your while. I’ll bring home a diamond to top all the Reid diamonds.

  “You are needed in LA. Your parents want you home with them for a while. It’ll only be a few days, Princess. I’ll be back on Saturday at the latest.”

  “Will Kate be with you at all these meetings?”

  My sour girlfriend was testing me, asking for a fight. “She will be at some, possibly all, depending upon how the meetings fare.”

  “Got it,” she answered sadly.

  Damn! It broke my heart to see her upset.

  I did my best to finish meeting preparations early and offered to take Delaney out to dinner but she refused. After dinner at home while I played a round of chess with the chief, Delaney had gone upstairs and fallen asleep without me.

  “Princess,” I shook her awake. She didn’t budge. “Princess,” I called once more and she still stayed asleep. Either she was sleeping like the dead or she was pissed. I thought about getting her up the way she liked to be woken up but decided against it. We’d see each other soon enough, and once this trip was done, we’d be engaged to be man and wife.

  “I’ll miss you, Princess.” It hadn’t escaped me that my soon-to-be fiancée was still in a dour mood. I knew she was upset because I was leaving her back home, but this trip could not be helped. As interested as the Eggleston group appeared, I needed to court another buyer so they would get into a bidding war for the firm. I also needed to find the perfect diamond and I didn’t have much time.

  “I’ll miss you too.” She answered with such sadness I was tempted to take her with me but I reasoned that a week was not a long time. I would see her soon enough.

  I tried to bring humor into this morning but nothing worked. “That’s all I get? ‘I’ll miss you too?’ There are no acts of love for me?”

  “You can love yourself plenty all alone in Germany. I’ll see you whenever you get to LA.” She walked off like a brat.

  I finished all my work at the office and stopped by home to try coaxing Delaney out of her crabbiness before I left for the airport. As it was, leaving without her was difficult. Her visible displeasure made it that much more of a task.

  “Hi Emily. I don’t see Delaney. Do you know where she went?”

  “You’re back early.”

  “Yeah. Delaney was so bummed this morning I thought I would have lunch with her and take her with me to the airport.”

  “She left right after you did this morning and I haven’t heard from her. Have you tried calling her?”

  “I tried but she’s not answering.” Now I was a little worried that I had made the wrong decision. “Should I have taken her with me this week? She’s taking this separation a little hard.”

  “Yeah, she is. You have to understand, she’s been with you every day for the past several weeks and you didn’t really have a good reason for not taking her so…” Emily was at a loss for how to continue. “We will make sure she’s all right Donovan. Don’t worry. It’s not as though you can go ring shopping with her in tow.”

  “You’re right Emily. It’s just I hate seeing her upset, and I hate having her think I don’t want her with me.”

  “She’ll be all right Donovan. I promise.” Emily’s words soothed my worry, somewhat. “Once all is revealed, she’ll be happier that she didn’t go with you. Have you decided how you’re going to propose?”

  “I’m unsure. Ideally, I’d like to take her back to Giverny, and propose to her on the Japanese Bridge in Monet’s Garden. However, with the ring in my possession, I might be tempted to propose in LA if the perfect opportunity arises. Otherwise I will bring her back to France and do it the way I envisioned.”

  “That sounds beautiful, Donovan. Jake and I will try and be there with you so we can capture your moment from afar.”

  “Thank you Emily, for everything. I will leave my beloved in your good hands?” With the assurance that Emily would take good care of my girlfriend, I left for what would be a very long journey to securing our future.

  Germany was a cool respite from London’s humidity. I didn’t feel the need to change clothes midway through the day like I had in London. As soon as I got settled in my hotel, I tried Delaney again and hoped she’d pick up her line.

  “Hello?” she answered nonchalantly as though she had no idea who was calling.

  “Hi Princess.”

  She gave me a shy “hi.”

  “I missed you at home. Where were you?”

  “I’m with Ruby right now at dinner.” It didn’t go unnoticed that she evaded my question and answered a different one. She would’ve made a fine lawyer.

  “Ruby?”

  “She’s here, alone. I’m going to hang out with her tonight and spend the night at her place.”

  “No Michael?”

  “No Michael.”

  “You know that I’m only on a business trip?”

  “I know.” She still didn’t like it and let me know.

  “And you know I love you?”

  “I know.” The attitude didn’t get any better.

  “I’ll see you soon.”

  “I’ll see you soon,” she sighed.

  Damn. This was going to be a long week.

  Once separated, it wasn’t easy keeping in touch. I was on thin ice as it was with my almost-fiancée and I was sure it didn’t go unnoticed that I didn’t call her last night or this morning. Little did she know my meeting finished in the early hours of this morning, and after shutting my eyes for a couple of hours I hopped on a flight to Vienna, only to head straight into a meeting. At the first sign of a break, I called my girlfriend and hoped her mood had changed.

  “Hello?” Why she sounded surprised to hear from me, I had no idea.

  “Hello my sweet lady.”

  “Hi.” Now, she was shy. What was wrong today?

  “It’s hard to see a beautiful place and not be reminded of my beautiful woman.”

  “Where are you?”

  “In Vienna. I start here, then go to Budapest for a dinner meeting, and then to Prague for a breakfast meeting. I’ll be in Germany all day Wednesday. You ready to leave for LA?”

  “Yes. I packed my belongings when you packed yours. How long are we staying in LA?”

  “Not sure, yet. Rachel and Derek are coming for the celebration, and Becky and Al, as well as Ama
nda and her family are coming. So we may hang out with the family till they all leave.”

  “You don’t need to be back for work?”

  “I have a few LA-based clients I need to check in with, so I’ll still be working.”

  “Oh...”

  “Where are you, and what are you up to?”

  “I am on the road to Stonehenge with Ruby, Michael, and Niles. After that, Bath is next on the agenda before coming home.”

  I seriously had to count to ten before continuing this conversation.

  “Delaney.” This was not a laughing matter to me.

  “Don’t.” She wasn’t about to back down, either.

  I should have listened to my instinct and let it go, but I still hadn’t learned my lesson. I couldn’t let it go. “If you can’t do it for me, your boyfriend, then do it for the guy who can’t seem to get it out of his brains that you are not his anymore, and let him go. You’re not doing either of us a favor. I know you were pissed that I didn’t bring you with me, but there was a good reason. Stop screwing around with Michael and with me.” I didn’t feel smart about what I’d said, but I got it off my chest and felt better.

  “Thank you for the unsolicited advice because it was so necessary. And now let me give you my response.” Fuck! She was pissed.

  “Princess...” I needed to stop her before she went on her rampage.

  I didn’t have a prayer. “I will no longer be your on-call travel partner. When I go back to LA on Wednesday, I will have most of my stuff packed and I will be attending medical school this fall. I am not attending medical school this year because of you, as previously stated, but because this sorry situation of mine as a lady-in-waiting is pissing me off. I will not wait around for your charity and I will not hope for you to take me places when it’s convenient for you.”

  “Delaney!” An attempt at intimidating her didn’t work. I was so screwed.

  “I understand you are working. But, if you want me to put my life on hold so we can travel, I don’t want to be left behind. And, as for your unsolicited warning and lack of trust, I know what I will not be doing, but if you so choose to do so with Kate, be my guest. You have my permission! Good! Bye!”

  Fucking hell! Why was it so impossibly difficult to contain one woman?

  Aargh!!!

  What was I to do now? Delaney completely misunderstood my intention and she was going to mess up my plans. Why couldn’t she just go along with the program?

  “Mom?” Desperate, I called Delaney’s mom and pleaded for help. “Delaney just told me she was going home with you for good. Do you know anything about this?”

  “No, Donovan. Why would she say that? Did something happen between you two?”

  “I got somewhat upset with her for going on a trip with Michael and his family and that upset her enough to tell me she was leaving me, again. Why do I keep making the same mistakes? Where do I keep going wrong?”

  Mom laughed at me. I could hear the chief taking over the call. “What’s the problem, Son?”

  I explained the conversation that had transpired between us and he clucked his tongue. “Why is your daughter so difficult?”

  “You know she’s stubborn.”

  “But Chief, I moved here to woo her and now she’s moving back home because of one thing I said. Can you stop her? I’d like to stay out here until the deal is done. We could travel and enjoy our time. This kind of luxury will never happen again.”

  The chief sighed. “Let me see what I can do. Once she makes up her mind, it’s not easy to talk her out of it. She was quite upset when you left without her.”

  “Well I couldn’t exactly take her with me,” I complained.

  “Calm down. Babs and I will do what we can. I’m sure Mom and Roland will help.”

  “Thank you. I’ll trust you to get me out of this mess while I try and sell this company and find a diamond ring.”

  “Don’t be too greedy, Son. She only wants to marry you. She doesn’t need a grand house or a big diamond on her finger.”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  How did men ever marry when women were this difficult?

  The entire day was one big blur and Wednesday proved to be even harder. The meetings in Prague ran late, ran cantankerous, and time ran away from me. I needed desperately to speak with Delaney before she got on that plane bound for LA.

  Last night, the chief called to tell me that my stubborn girlfriend insisted on going home and starting med school. Her mind was made up and there was no changing it. The chief also wanted to ask my “permission” to enroll Delaney in med school this year. “Look at it this way, Donovan. She’ll enroll as my daughter, which means you’ll save yourself a hell of a lot of money on med school,” he stated trying to comfort me.

  I would have taken six months of living in Europe with my girlfriend over free tuition. According to Roland, Delaney was “packed and ready to leave. You’ll just have to work a little harder to sell my company,” were the final “encouraging” words.

  During a quick break, I took out my phone to call Delaney and found a sweet text waiting for me.

  Going to LA. Though you’ve yet to call, I’ve decided to forgive you for your lack of trust. And though I gave you a bye, I’m hoping you didn’t take me up on it...

  Oh my sweet bride, what am I to do with you?

  Her phone was already turned off by the time I dialed it, but I knew my father-in-law wouldn’t fail me. Without saying a word to me, he called his daughter to the phone.

  “How can you possibly think I could be with anyone else after having been with you, Princess? Thank you for forgiving my idiotic behavior. I love you and have a safe trip home.”

  “I love you too.” She was still sad. “And I’m sorry to have made you move your life to Europe. Once you came, everything fell into place for me, and knowing what I have to do, I need to start now.”

  “I’ll be home soon. We’ll talk then.”

  “OK. Bye.”

  “Bye, Princess.”

  With the way plans had gone this week already, I knew the rest of the week could only get worse. Munich was a disaster, Stuttgart was even worse as I lost a major client, and all seemed doomed until Roland scheduled a meeting for me with his jeweler.

  The week was almost over, and I prayed this man could help me find the perfect ring for Delaney. Especially now with her living in the States, I needed to propose next week with a ring that screamed her name.

  Somebody up above must have been smiling down on me today because I found it! I found the diamond that screamed her name. It was just as Roland called it—a fancy pink diamond. Considered a rare stone, it was almost 3-carats in size, princess in cut, and blindingly brilliant in color and clarity. The price was astronomical. I knew this ring wasn’t going to be cheap but I didn’t think it would rival a down payment on a house. There was no negotiation involved with a stone this rare. It was a take-it-or-I’ll-sell-it-to-my-next-appointment kind of ring.

  I didn’t bother wavering since I knew I’d regret not having purchased the diamond that had Delaney’s name on it. The jeweler said he had uniquely cut white diamonds he’d like to use on the sides of this pink diamond and he’d set it by tomorrow if I could give him a ring size.

  A ring size??? How was I to know what her ring size was? Shit! Why was all this so complicated? I dialed my future mother-in-law.

  “Hi Mom. I’m sorry to call you so early, but I found Delaney’s diamond and I need to know her ring size. How would I go about getting this information?”

  “You did?” Mom was excited. “What’s it like? Can you send pictures?”

  “Mom, time is a bit of the essence right now. Can you get me her ring size?”

  “Oh, of course. She’s the same size as Emily.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “I’ve seen her try on Emily’s ring. Call her and ask.”

  I knew the better person to call would be Jake. �
�Are you busy?”

  “Hey. What’s up? How’s Germany?”

  “It’s sucked up until now. I’ve found my diamond, but I need to know Delaney’s ring size. I’m told it’s the same as Emily’s. I assume you know your wife’s ring size?”

  “5 ½ .” He didn’t even think twice. “Roland says you’re courting another buyer, trying to drive up the price?”

  “I am but nothing is panning out so I may be the only newlywed living apart from his wife.” I truly hoped not!

  “Just don’t be greedy. Your woman is waiting at home for you. She doesn’t need the palatial home on the cul-de-sac.”

  “Easy for you to say when you’ve been gifted one.”

  Jake chuckled. “And you’ll be gifted one too if this deal goes as planned.”

  “If is the operative word.”

  “You’ll get there. I assume you’ll propose while you’re in LA?”

  “I’ll have to now since this hotheaded woman up and left me, again!”

  “Good luck in advance, and call as soon as you’re engaged.”

  “Thanks. I will.”

  Once the sizing was done, the jeweler promised to rush this order and have it ready by tomorrow. Feeling like something was accomplished, I went to my dinner meeting and this was where I found the second buyer who could make my dreams come true. This week might have started on the left foot, but it was absolutely ending on the right foot!

  Friday, I picked up the ring that turned out better than I could’ve designed or imagined. Beside the princess, fancy-cut pink diamond were “bullet” white diamonds that made the pink stand out even brighter. The ring was stunning and would look exquisite on my woman’s finger. The jeweler was so thrilled with his creation, he coined this ring The Delaney. Delaney would love both surprises.

  I made a quick pit stop at Belgravia then hopped on a flight on Saturday to rush home to my future bride. Delaney had started med school and with the craziness of my schedule, we hadn’t spoken much beyond the essentials. I missed her but couldn’t be happier about the ring I had secured and guarded in my inside jacket pocket.