Cherished

by Lauren Dane

  “Speaking of wives, how is it that we’ve been together for nearly two months and I have to hear about this wife of yours from everyone but you?”

  “I don’t have any plans to do this on a public sidewalk. If you want to talk about all this, let’s do it in private. My car is at the ferry dock. Let’s catch the ferry and talk about it when we get back.”

  “Whatever.” She turned and kept walking.

  And voila, she was 100 percent, magnificent, pissed-off woman. He stood there stunned for long moments and then hurried to catch up.

  “That’s our first whatever. What’s the present for that?”

  Her brows flew up and he knew he’d missed the joke mark by a mile with the present comment.

  “I don’t need your presents! I’m not with you for presents.”

  The ferry had a line of cars, but luckily the walk on lane was empty and so no one was around to watch him realize it had been a long time since he’d dealt with a pissed-off woman who wasn’t his mother or someone else he just ignored. How this woman felt was important.

  “Do you think this is news to me?” He guided her to a pair of seats at the back of the ferry, near the windows. “I’m trying to lighten the conversation up. Just teasing. Why let a person like Gwen ruin our night?”

  “It’s not about her. Not entirely. You duck the subject when it comes up. You hold back with me.”

  “Just because I don’t want to fight in public like a television cop show doesn’t mean I hold back. There’s a time and place for this stuff.”

  She looked out the windows, her body shifting away from his.

  “We were having a good time before that mess happened. I already told you I don’t agree with a single thing she said. I’ll be talking to my brother tomorrow about this.”

  “You make me irrational,” she muttered. “I’m not irrational. But you make me irrational.”

  He tried not to smile. “I don’t make you irrational.”

  “Fuck off.”

  He couldn’t help it; that made him laugh.

  Then his phone rang and when he looked he noted his mother’s number and sighed, putting it back in his pocket.

  “Are you cold?” He took his overcoat off and draped it over her shoulders.

  She wanted to cry.

  It was stupid to be mad, she knew. But she was mad anyway. Because of his stupid sister-in-law and his stupid past he never wanted to tell her. Up until that moment, she’d been awash with her feelings for him.

  She’d gone and fallen in love with Levi Warner and then that horrid woman went and ruined it all.

  Because she couldn’t pretend anymore. Couldn’t pretend she didn’t want to meet his family because he wanted her to. No more pretending that he wasn’t avoiding the subject.

  Oh, she understood that he didn’t want to do this in public. She didn’t either. He made her irrational plain and simple. She needed to talk to her friends about it, to work it through.

  But the big alpha male at her back wasn’t going to let her walk away with all this unsettled between them.

  She didn’t say anything else as they made their way toward Bainbridge. She texted Mary, but knew he could see over her shoulder.

  I just finally met some of Levi’s family.

  Mary replied nearly instantly. Oh yeah, how was it?

  One of them was nice. His wife was a vicious bitch who seemed quite alarmed by a young Mexican clearly whoring herself to get Levi’s money and family power.

  He growled behind her. “You know that’s bullshit.”

  “Then stop reading my texts.”

  Oh no, she did not! Do you need me to bail you out of jail?

  She laughed. Thank goodness for Mary.

  He put his chin on her shoulder.

  I’ll call you later to tell you the whole story.

  At least tell me he defended you. If not, you need to kick him to the curb.

  He made a sound and she was torn between shrugging him off her shoulder and turning around to reassure him.

  He did. Sort of.

  “Not sort of. You know that.”

  “Why are you reading over my shoulder if you get pissy about what I’m saying?”

  “My life used to be simple.”

  “And now you have a twenty-four-year-old in your bed. Women come with complications, Levi. We don’t just animate the moment you decide to notice us.”

  “I never said any such thing.”

  Sort of?

  He’s reading over my shoulder now. She made all this shrill noise about how I wasn’t their kind and all that shit. He told her she was wrong. He said it multiple times. She brought up the wife. She doesn’t think I’m like her either.

  The sick realization that they were going to have to argue when they got in private made her stomach roil. Clearly there were things, she realized as she held back from saying it all, that she had been feeling and burying.

  He helped her up and she allowed him to lead her to where his car was parked.

  “Her name was Kelsey. We were both young. I’d known her practically from childhood. Her mother and mine were friends. We dated and it seemed natural to marry her. To get started on life as an adult. I was just a little older than you now when we got married.”

  She said nothing as he drove to her place.

  “She drank. We all did of course. But she liked it more than I did. It got worse over the years until I would wake up and wonder what the fuck I was doing with my life. She said she wanted kids, but with her drinking, I doubted it could happen. I didn’t think she could give it up for nine months. Her health was on the decline as well. She passed out every night. Started drinking at noon and never stopped until she lost consciousness.”

  He pulled into her driveway and followed her into the house. She hung his coat and toed out of her shoes. Bending to untie his boots because it was what she did.

  “You’re nothing like her.” He caressed her cheek as she straightened. “You’re smart and strong. Compassionate and giving. You’re inherently grounded in who and what you are. She never had that sort of confidence.”

  They moved to her bed and she curled up, readying to listen to the rest. “I wanted a divorce. Nearly ten years we’d been together. My parents urged me to stay and try to work it out. My mother reminded me what it would cost if I moved first.” He shrugged one shoulder and she really hated his mother.

  “Why would your mother say such a thing? You should want your children to be happy.”

  “She’s old school. One simply doesn’t walk away from a marriage. Not without trying to make it right. And in her own way, she was correct about the scandal it could have caused and the price of it. I mean, Jonah, my older brother, went through an ugly, very public split with his wife just last year. She took off, leaving him and their daughter behind. It was a big topic of gossip for months. My mother is averse to such things. To her, a reputation is part of what you own and build. Kelsey came from a good family. To my mother, these things are integral.”

  Which is why Gwen was so horrified by Daisy’s very presence, she wagered. Their kind meant affluent and most likely white.

  He smiled at her but there was sadness at the edges. “So I asked Kelsey to get into therapy.”

  He took her hand, latching his fingers with hers. She wanted to soothe and pet. Wanted to rage about his mother and her selfishness. But she made herself listen because that’s what he needed.

  “It didn’t last very long. It wasn’t even a month before she started missing therapist appointments. I tried to talk to her about rehab, but she dropped her best bombshell yet; she was pregnant.”

  Oh, this got worse and worse. She squeezed his hand.

  “But as I said, we weren’t having sex so it wasn’t mine. A friend does family law and I went to him that next day to get things in motion to file for divorce. Prenup or not, I had to be free of her. I did urge her to quit drinking for the baby’s sake, but she ignored that. Two nights later, she drove the wro
ng way up an off-ramp on the viaduct and hit a car head-on. She was killed instantly as was the baby she was carrying.

  “And then it wasn’t about the shitty excuse for a human being I’d married. Overnight everyone just pretended she was a saint. Pretended she hadn’t been sleeping with so many other men she didn’t know who the father was. Pretended she hadn’t been totally able to kill the person she ran into, though thank God she didn’t. Overnight she was the love of my life and everyone expected me to play along. And I guess I did.”

  “Hence the tattoo.” She understood him so much better now. Understood those words on his arm were his way of making sure he never forgot the truth he lived even when everyone else wanted him to.

  He nodded.

  “I’m so sorry. I’m sorry that instead of supporting you, all you got was grief.”

  “I’m sorry you had to hear about it from someone else. I should have told you myself.”

  “Yes, you should have. But I understand why you didn’t.”

  “I apologize for what you had to deal with tonight. Not everyone in my family thinks like that.”

  “But some do.”

  He shifted uncomfortably. “Yes. Some do. But as time passes, less and less.”

  There was more she should have said. But all she wanted to do was be with him. It made her weak, but it was true either way. So she snuggled into his body and he held her with a sigh of his own as he kissed her temple.

  She didn’t believe he thought the same way his sister-in-law did.

  He said he was sorry for what happened and she believed that totally. He’d never disrespected her.

  So she let it go because she was being irrational and silly and they could talk about the other stuff at another time when she wasn’t tired and on the verge of tears.

  Chapter 13

  “So that’s the story.” She finished up the saga of the stupid fight she’d had with Levi two weeks before. She’d told Mary, but hadn’t filled in all the others so Jules pounced on her right as they’d begun tying their aprons. “We patched things up, but there’s some unspoken stuff between us.”

  Daisy made sure everything on the tray she was getting ready to carry out looked pretty before she shifted it to rest on her arm.

  “I don’t like it. This bitch needs to be punched. How dare she call you names? She doesn’t even know you.” Jules glared at her a moment.

  “She doesn’t. And it’s not like I’ve been at family events for her to get to know me. So there’s that.”

  “There is that.” Jules agreed. “And also, this unspoken stuff. Baby, you know that’s not a good thing, right?”

  “I can’t go into that right now. Let’s get this stuff out there. Then we can complain about my boyfriend and his dumb family when we get back.”

  She cruised through the party, an event she’d actually helped land for Mary. The woman throwing the event was a friend of a friend and when she’d bumped into Daisy at a party in Seattle a month before, the topic of catering and parties had come up. Turns out, her parents were getting ready to celebrate their fortieth wedding anniversary.

  When she’d broached the subject with Mary, Mary had said, “Weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, that’s all catering bread and butter. You better bet your ass I’m thrilled to do this job.”

  She passed around tray after tray of gorgeous food as she visited with the guests. Not inappropriately of course, but people did like to chitchat here and there at a happy event.

  The evening sped by and she was glad tomorrow morning wasn’t a gallery day. She’d have time to work on a new piece she’d been mulling over for the last few months.

  She even had a coffee date with a gallery owner who’d picked up her card at that auction Levi had given them out at. He was interested in talking to Daisy about a possible show in the early fall with two other up-and-coming local artists.

  It was nearing midnight when they’d finally finished cleaning up and getting all the gear packed back into the catering truck. She headed home and discovered Levi had left a few messages for her on her cell.

  He had court first thing in the morning so she’d return his call when she woke up.

  And then she paced. A lot.

  She got dressed again and went for a drive to see if the light was on in Gillian’s office. Mary was out cold, but Gillian often worked late a few nights a week.

  The light was on and she tiptoed up to peek carefully. She didn’t want to barge in on Gillian and Adrian getting hot and heavy. Though it wouldn’t be a chore to see Adrian Brown naked and giving the business to someone. Mmm!

  Feeling a little better, she nearly left before tapping, but did it anyway. Gillian started and looked up from her work. When she recognized Daisy her face lit and she motioned her to the front door.

  “You could have called.” Gillian opened the door to admit her.

  “I didn’t want to wake anyone.”

  Gillian hugged her. “Miles is off with Adrian for some Brown male fest thing. He’s got the rest of this week off from school.”

  “Well, considering how pretty those males are, that’s not a bad place to be.”

  “You know, I met you first when you weren’t even ten yet. I’ve known you a long time. We’ve both done a lot of growing up over the years.” Gillian took her hand and they went to sit on the couch. “You’re the most well-adjusted, emotionally centered twenty-four-year-old I’ve ever met. But you’re upset. I’ve been meaning to ask you and I haven’t because life keeps getting in the way. But you’re always there for me. Tell me.”

  So she poured it all out.

  When Gillian laughed at the end, it was rueful. “I’m so sorry I’ve been so caught up in all this wedding, renovation and life stuff that I’ve neglected to see how upset you are.”

  “Don’t apologize for having a life. I love that you’re so busy and happy with all this stuff. Seeing you with Adrian gives me hope. You know? He makes me happy, Gillian. Not Adrian, though he’s nice to look at. Levi.” She buried her face in her hands. “I’m in love with him. And I shouldn’t have allowed it because we are from two different worlds.”

  “Oh, sweetheart, so what? I’m going to marry a rock star. Me.” She took a deep breath. “Different isn’t always bad. You’ll keep him on his toes. I imagine a man like him is used to people just sort of following whatever he says. You won’t do that.”

  She laughed, unable to help herself. “Not in most things, no. The thing is…” She blushed and blushed. “When it comes to sex stuff I do. Obey him and stuff. It’s so hot and it feels right and I know people will think it’s weird and maybe it is. But I like it and he likes it and so whatever.”

  It was Gillian’s turn to blush.

  “I’m sorry for embarrassing you.” Daisy was perilously close to a giggle.

  Gillian laughed then. “Don’t be sorry. We’ve been friends a long time. You didn’t embarrass me. You said you liked it, he likes it too so that’s really all there is to it. You’re both adults. I’m glad you’re happy with your sex life. And I’m thrilled to hear you’re in love.” She smiled at Daisy, squeezing her hands. “But I don’t like that you’re feeling off balance and that maybe he’s hiding you from his family. I don’t want you feeling as if you’re not good enough. That makes me quite cross with your Levi.”

  “The thing is, I know I’m good enough. And you know, we go out in public so it’s not like he’s hiding me really. He actually”—she paused to find the right words—“he makes me feel beautiful. Special. I’m just. God. I’m being irrational. I hate that.”

  “Of all the people I know, the last word I’d use to describe you is irrational. Sometimes when we love someone else it makes us see things differently. Sometimes we second-guess what we know is true and sometimes we’re right. I think you should talk to him about it.”

  This is why she came to Gillian and Daisy said so.

  Gillian grinned at her. “Come on. You’re staying over. Let’s watch something scary, eat na
chos and have margaritas.”

  “Oh, that sounds so good. I don’t have to be up until after ten.”

  Levi walked into his parents’ front entry and narrowed his gaze when he heard Gwen’s voice. He hadn’t spoken with her in person yet about the scene she’d made two weeks before at the Met.

  Mal saw him first and steered him out of the drawing room and into the hall. “I’m sorry for the other week. She’d had a few drinks.”

  Which only made him angrier. “Yeah, been there, done that. I’m not really fond of drunks.”

  “Hey! That’s my wife. She was out of line, but she did it because she cares.”

  “Keep her away from me unless you want me addressing my concerns to her in person.”

  “She’s concerned for our position in the community.”

  “Over what? My having a steak with a friend in a public place? Or is it that my friend isn’t white? We were raised better than this. Don’t feed me your bullshit, Mal. You might be content to listen to your wife, but I’m not.”

  “It has nothing to do with her race.”

  “Really? Because from where I’m standing a different story is being told.”

  “What on earth is going on out here?” Their mother came out, looking back and forth between her sons.

  “Nothing I can’t handle. When’s dinner?”

  She narrowed her gaze and Jonah stepped in, saving him. “Time to eat.” He inserted himself in between their mother and Levi and led the way, holding his arm out for their mother.

  He kept himself away from Gwen, not trusting his tongue. The unfairness, the ugliness of her behavior burned in Levi’s gut. Daisy was one of the finest people he knew. Giving to a fault.

  A person like Gwen had no business judging her.

  His mother kept giving him the eye all through dinner until she finally got around to it. “So guess who I saw yesterday?”

  “Liesl.” His father gave her the eye, which she ignored, and Levi’s stomach tightened, just waiting for whatever was next.

  “Jenny Martrek. She says hello of course. And Dyan, her daughter? The one your age, Levi, I’m sure you remember her. Anyway, she’s moving back here to Seattle. I told Jenny you’d be happy to reacquaint her with the area. I gave her your card and invited them all to dinner Sunday.”