Complete Indelible Love Series

by Cee, DW

  It wasn’t that I didn’t understand where she was coming from; I felt the exact same way. “Can we hang out today? I have a car. The duke’s place isn’t far from the beach. I was told there are some great restaurants along the ocean. How about brunch?”

  She took herself back into her room and reappeared a short ten minutes later. “I’m ready,” she answered with an unexpected smile.

  Southern California was stunning! Coming from gloomy weather and crowded streets, I appreciated the drive on the Pacific Coast Highway to a quaint area called Malibu Country Mart. We happened upon this place accidentally, but I knew by Chloe’s big brown excited eyes that we needed to stop.

  From bathing suit stores to coffee shops to restaurants, to even a park—this place had it all. The country, laid-back beach feel was unlike anything in London. Chloe couldn’t keep her head on straight, her eyes jumped from store to store.

  “Food, first?” I asked and hoped. “I haven’t eaten yet, Chloe Darcy. I waited for you to finish your beauty sleep.”

  She laughed. We decided upon a taqueria, a missing restaurant-type in the UK.

  “I always loved this concept of mashing an avocado with several other ingredients and eating it with chips. Who was the genius that came up with this?” Who would have known Chloe was so into chips and guacamole?

  “It’s not hard to make. We could easily do this at the flat.”

  She shook her head no. “Too dangerous. I’d get even chunkier.”

  Now I laughed. This woman was perfect in my eyes. “Save some room for the enchilada you ordered.”

  “No worries. I haven’t eaten since lunch yesterday. I have plenty of room in the tummy.”

  “How come you skipped dinner?” If I wanted any more chip and dip, I needed to stop talking. They were going fast. “And while you’re at it, tell me about the wedding.”

  “The wedding was over-the-top gorgeous. The bride, the groom, the setting, the entire wedding party—all picture perfect. Michael and I both left feeling inadequate and unloved after experiencing Max and Jane’s affections, Jake and Emily’s bond, Donovan and Laney’s chemistry, just to mention a few couples.”

  “Tell me a little about this Laney who dumped Michael.”

  “If you ever wondered what the perfect couple looked like—look no further than Laney and her husband. They’re both gorgeous. When I say gorgeous, I’m talking Hollywood perfection. They’re going to have some seriously good-looking kids.”

  “OK, so she’s perfect on the outside, but what about the inside?” Chloe stopped chomping on the chips and stared. Her head slightly tilted right, and her eyes blinked a few times before she went back to the munching. “What. Was. That?”

  “You surprised me with your question.”

  “Which one?”

  “The one where you asked about inside of a woman.”

  Now I did a bit of the head-tilting action. “First of all, that sounds a little dirty. Second, why was my question a surprise?”

  “In my mind, when a man is told a woman is stunning, that’s all he’ll focus on. He shouldn’t ask if she’s nice, too.” Now that the chips were done, Chloe expounded. “Laney was as beautiful on the inside as on the outside. Like I said, all that love made us depressed for not ever having experienced it.”

  “You don’t think you’ll ever reach that height of love and euphoria?” I asked in all seriousness.

  She didn’t answer flippantly. “Isn’t that the end goal for all of us? I hope I’ll get there, but I’m not positive that I will.”

  “What if I asked you to work on getting there with me?” Chloe had a scared bunny look. This woman was adorable. “I don’t know what it is about you, but I don’t want to let go. Being five thousand miles apart and on two different continents isn’t going to be easy, but I believe we can do it. Won’t you try with me?”

  Silence…

  Chloe: Hell of a Decision

  When a beautiful man brings you to a charming seaside location and asks you to walk with him toward holy, blessed matrimony, what is there to say? How do you contradict hope? I was stuck between making a bad decision and possibly choosing a worse one.

  “Well?” Brendan asked after waiting a good long while.

  “How do you see this working? Do you have the logistics down in your head? If so, will you share them with me?”

  “Your job is flexible. My job requires me to travel often. I will have to report to my boss in Paris at least quarterly. If you’re willing to fly, I thought we could meet in places like this,” he pointed to the tranquil ocean surroundings, “or in Paris, or back in London.”

  “How often would we see each other?”

  “Once a month? Every three weeks? I’m not sure yet; I’ll know better when I’m situated here.”

  “So you’ve pretty much decided this is where you’ll be, come summer?”

  “The company told me they’d pay for my lodging and give me daily stipends for food. The office isn’t far from here. I already spotted a small home on the beach I’d like to lease. My mind is pretty made up. The only part that puts this entire plan to a halt is you.”

  “I have a hard time grasping the fact that you are so sure of me, of us. We only just started dating.”

  “In full disclosure, I don’t know that I’m as sure of us as I sound. I just know I’d like to make this a possibility and if I don’t try, I won’t know.” He placed his hand on my face and sweetly explained, “I’d really, really like for us to try.”

  “And if this doesn’t work?” I hated sounding so pessimistic.

  “Then it doesn’t work. What can we do? We can’t go any further if we know we’re not good for one another. For now, it’s working for me, and for you too, I thought?”

  He frazzled my thoughts when he leaned in for a kiss. I wanted to stay as far away from him in the physical realm because I didn’t want my body responding to him if I had to separate myself emotionally.

  “I don’t know if I can make a decision any time soon.”

  “Just don’t close the door on us until the very last minute. We have a few months to hang out and get to know each other better. If in the end you decide I’m not worth the twelve-hour flight, we’ll part on good terms.”

  “You sure you want to explore this with me?”

  “Absolutely positive!”

  We finished lunch, walked the beach, and talked about nothing in particular. During this time, I decided to give this a go for the next two months and develop a relationship with Brendan. Like he said, if in the end a relationship didn’t seem possible, we’d part—simple as that.

  “What’s on your agenda while you’re here?”

  “Every morning, I’ll be in the office getting to know the people and finish around noon. Today, if you’re willing, I’d like to show you the home I want to lease. Maybe we can do a little shopping for all the furniture I’ll need for the house? Considering that’s your field of expertise, I’d like to use your talents.”

  “I’m all for spending someone else’s money. Let’s go.”

  Signing documents for a quaint little beach house in Malibu took longer than expected. There were many back and forth concerning the property. When finally all documents were agreed upon and Brendan was happy with the results, we went on a shopping binge.

  “You sure I’ll need all that?” Now that he saw the bill mounting, he was having second thoughts.

  I loved what I did. Decorating people’s homes gave me a thrill like no other—except maybe planning weddings.

  “Your new home is small but completely empty. You need everything.”

  “What we haven’t purchased yet is a bed. When’s that happening? I think I’ll need the biggest one out there. We can’t be uncomfortable when you’re visiting.”

  Though we lived in the same flat, we hadn’t gotten that far in the “relationship” yet. With all the pressures of continuing a very long-distance relationship, I’
d leave sex out of this equation for now. I didn’t need my judgment clouded any further. If Brendan’s physique alone spoke in decibels, we’d all be deaf.

  “Excuse me.” The perfect way to get out of this conversation. My phone rang. “Hey, Grandpa Harry. How can I help you?”

  “I have someone I’d like for you to meet. Are you busy right now?”

  “Is it urgent or can we meet a little later?”

  “An hour is fine. I’ll send you their address. Come to Estelle and Roland’s.” OK…I guess we needed to leave, like…now.

  “Brendan’s here in LA and we’re together right now.”

  There was a short but noticeable silence. “We’ll see you both for an early dinner.”

  “Where are we off to? I assume the duke wants to see you?”

  “He says there’s someone he’d like for me to meet and we’re to report to Estelle and Roland’s home. I think that is where Laney Taylor lives.”

  “She and her husband live with her grandparents?”

  “If I remember correctly, there are like six or seven houses on a cul-de-sac and different Reids live in different homes. With the kids getting married and having kids of their own, the cul-de-sac must be multigenerational. I wish Emily and her family were there.”

  “They live there too? I’d love to see Ellie Reid.” Brendan chuckled. “Is it wrong to be enamored with a toddler who’s not related to me?”

  I chuckled with him. “Normally I’d say yes. But with Emily and Jake’s children, I think it’s expected.”

  “Shall we go see what the big man wants?”

  The drive took long, but with a portion of it being alongside the ocean, we were content. It was when we hit gridlock on something called the 405 freeway, we knew there had to be a catch to all this good weather.

  “Are you sure you want to live in a place where cars don’t move?” I asked.

  Brendan showed very little frustration compared to the amount of traffic we hit. “I’ll just stay on the beachside. My office is ten minutes away from the house and walking distance from the beach. When you come visit, we will stay away from this damn highway.”

  When we arrived at Reid Place, I looked around at all the stunning homes on this block. Each one had its own unique character and each one was humongous. After wondering which ones Emily and Laney lived in, I knocked on the door of Estelle’s home.

  “What took you so long? I thought you were about an hour away?” The duke greeted me.

  “That’s what we thought, too. Who knew there’d be so many cars on the road? Is it always like this in LA?”

  “I don’t know. I try not to come out here too often. Why anyone would choose this city over London is beyond me.”

  We heard Estelle let out a “ladylike” snort. “Stop badgering the poor girl, Harry. Come in, Chloe.”

  I quickly introduced Brendan. “May I introduce my…”

  Before I knew how to describe him, Brendan answered, “Boyfriend. Nice to meet you all,” and went around the room greeting everyone.

  “Since when?” Grandpa Harry asked.

  Once again, I was stumped. “Um…”

  “Since a few months ago.” Brendan would not be frightened away by the duke’s questioning.

  “Does Chloe know you’re her boyfriend? This is the first I’m hearing. Does Michael know?”

  “Michael—”

  His Grace immediately cut him off. “I was asking Chloe.” His tone made it loud and clear that he was done talking to Brendan for now.

  “I’ve told Michael I was seeing Brendan. Michael is also seeing someone.”

  “WHO?” Harry Bennington barked. “Why am I hearing all this now?”

  “Can we all sit and eat? Take up your English dilemmas when you’re in England.”

  That earned Sir Roland a scowl from his old-time friend. Sir Roland didn’t care. In fact, the grin told us he liked irritating His Grace.

  As we were about to sit, the doorbell rang. After saying their hellos, Estelle Ascot introduced me to a French family friend who was in attendance at Max and Jane’s wedding.

  “Pierre, this is the young lady you wanted to meet. Chloe, this is Pierre, the man who might make all your dreams come true.” What an intriguing statement.

  Pierre sat next to me and complemented me profusely on the wedding arrangements. “I must say, that was the most romantic wedding I’ve ever attended. You pulled off the wedding of the year.”

  “Thank you, but I think it was the sunset in Tuscany that made it romantic. I didn’t do much.”

  “Estelle, Roland, and Harry told me you pulled off this wedding in eight days?”

  “I suppose, but everything was already in place. Jane only needed someone to point people in the right direction. Honestly, it wasn’t too hard when the duke has such a magical place.”

  Brendan and I waited for the punchline to all the kind words. We both wondered how this man might make my dreams come true, especially since I wasn’t exactly sure what those dreams were to start.

  “Young lady, I’m in the wedding business and when I say this wedding was one of the most perfect weddings, I mean it. I don’t complement weddings, other than my own, too often. Yours might compete with some of the best weddings I’ve pulled off.”

  OK…

  “You’re wondering who the hell Pierre is, aren’t you, Chloe?” Sir Ascot hit it on the nose. I didn’t want to be rude, but an explanation would be nice.

  “Pierre St. John is the premiere wedding planner in Europe,” Estelle explained. “He’s an old friend of Roland’s and attended Jane’s wedding as a guest. Being such good friends, Roland wanted him there as a friend and honorary family member, rather than as a wedding coordinator.” I was still clueless on where this was going. Estelle caught on. “Pierre? Do you want to do the honors?”

  “Without stating the obvious, I am old. We four are the same age and we know our time on this place is almost done.” I stayed silent hoping he’d hurry to the finish line. Curiosity was about to kill this pussycat. “I have coordinated weddings all my life, but have never married myself. After watching you gracefully put together Jane’s wedding, I knew I’d found the heir to my business.” What???

  Grandpa Harry explained further. “What Pierre is trying to say is, if you like planning weddings, he wishes for you to work with him. From what I know, Pierre has never worked with anyone for more than a wedding or two. This is a high honor for him to look at you as his successor.”

  I was still so confused. This was too much information to process.

  “How about we let Chloe decide if she even wants to plan another wedding after the last one. You two can talk again in London. For now, let’s have dinner.” Sir Ascot moved us along and for that, I was very grateful.

  My head spun.

  A wedding planner?

  A long-distance relationship?

  Life was spinning out of control.

  Michael: Traveling Decision

  Have you ever had one of those days where you thought everything was going swimmingly until you found out you were drowning and you didn’t even know it? It’s like you’re a deer grazing the field and there’s a coyote waiting to pounce on you as soon as you turn to face your demise? Today was that day.

  I was minding my own business, taking care of what we dukes-in-training take care of when lo and behold, I ended up at the dinner table with Helene and the Whitman family. What the hell…right?

  I was seriously minding my own business, walking the streets of Kensington, and picking up some flavored meringues for my mother when Helene “ran into” me. Earlier in the morning, I received a call from this lady and we chatted about nothing that mattered. Since she invited me to the art showing, I felt obligated to invite her to dinner. We had planned to meet next week. But, here we were, having a cozy family dinner.

  “We’re so glad you were able to join us for dinner, Michael. Helene has done nothing but talk ab
out you.”

  “Thank you, Mrs. Whitman. It was kind of you to invite me.”

  “Please call me Vivienne. What a coincidence to run into you. Why, we were just saying it’d be nice to meet you, weren’t we, Helene?”

  “Yes, you and Father have mentioned that a few times. I hope we didn’t take you away from anything pressing. I feel like a stalker, running into you and forcing you to sit with us for a meal. I know you told me you had business in Kensington, but I didn’t think I’d see you here. Honest. Mother suggested the restaurant. My sister, Penny, and I just followed directions.” The way she spoke, I felt as if I’d unjustly accused her of marking my every move; now, I felt bad for my silent accusations.