by Maggie Marr
“—it becomes a crazy chaotic race to the finish?”
Ilana nodded. When Amelia got going and was in the zone with a new collection, especially the final few pieces, she became frenzied. She forgot to eat, she forgot to sleep, and sometimes she forgot to shower.
“I think Sasha filling in more as I get closer to the end is a good plan.”
“Is your mom coming back?”
“Two weeks. That gives me time to really get into what I’m doing. She’ll be here for the end, too. Make sure I don’t leave the house with a candle burning or forget to pay the light bill. Seriously, it’s like I’m a toddler when I get to the last two pieces.”
“What are you thinking about doing? Anything popping into your head?”
“I can’t”—Amelia glanced over at Ilana—“I can’t talk about it yet.”
“No problem.” Also part of Amelia’s process. Just as she was a crazed work machine near the completion of a collection, she was closed off and unable to communicate her artistic vision at the beginning.
“This is amazing news.” Ilana turned onto Washington. “I’m glad you went.”
“I was hoping for some movement in my career, but I didn’t expect all of this. Now tell me about you. What’d I miss?”
How to start? Ilana took a deep breath. Best to just dive in. “You know how my dad is in jail?”
“Mmhmm.” Amelia’s eyes widened. Ilana never spoke of her father, so this had to be the last topic of conversation she expected.
“I found out he has a brother.”
“What?
“With a wife.”
“Are you kidding me?”
Ilana shook her head. “Not kidding. And I have cousins. Four of them.”
“No.” Amelia’s mouth dropped open. “No. Way. You have…you have family?”
Ilana nodded. “And they’re here. Guess where they live?”
Amelia opened her hands wide and lifted her shoulders. “No idea. Where?”
“Malibu.”
Amelia’s hand flew to her mouth. Malibu to Venice in Los Angeles was like saying someone was your next-door neighbor.
“But how? How is this possible? Did your mom—”
“Not a word.” How could Ilana reconcile her memories of the mother who loved her with the mother who had known all along that Ilana’s uncle and aunt and cousins lived fifteen miles away and never told Ilana of their existence? Hadn’t even left a note when she knew she was dying?
Amelia pursed her lips and squinted. “Why do you think…why didn’t she tell you before—”
“I don’t know. I kind of understand why she didn’t say anything when I was little. I guess she and my uncle decided it was best to protect me from my dad, but once I got older? When I was in college? I would’ve thought she would’ve told me.”
Amelia nodded. “Unless there was a reason.”
“Maybe.” Ilana shrugged. She’d never know whether her mother had a legitimate reason or not. And now Ilana knew of her father’s family.
“That’s a lot. Anything else?” Amelia glanced at her phone and scrolled. “How are things with Devon?”
Heat crept into Ilana’s cheeks. She concentrated on the road as she tried to figure out how to say it. Could words really express what she felt for Devon? Ilana felt Amelia’s gaze on her as the pause grew.
“That good, eh? You’re turning red.”
“He’s amazing.”
“So things are getting serious?”
They were getting serious…they were serious. Ilana stopped the car at a red light and looked over at Amelia. “I’m completely in love with him.”
“Wow.” Amelia smiled. “I’ve never heard those words come out of your mouth quite like that before. Not even when you were serious with a guy.” Amelia put her hand on Ilana’s arm and squeezed. “I’m so so so happy for you. You deserve all this…you know that, right? You deserve to have a family, to be in love, to be happy. All of it.”
Amelia knew Ilana so well. Knew Ilana’s life and Ilana’s feelings better than anyone else. After all, they’d grown up like sisters, and Ilana didn’t let many people into her life. She understood Ilana’s secret fears.
“He knows about everything,” Ilana whispered. The light turned green and she turned toward the ocean.
“That’s saying a lot. You told him about everything? Including your dad?”
“Especially about my dad. Devon said he’d go with him to see him, if I wanted to go.”
“To see your dad?”
“He’s sick. Dying, actually. My uncle suggested I go, and one of my cousins thinks I should—”
“Ah, now I get why your mom thought you shouldn’t meet your father’s family.”
“What, why?”
“I can’t imagine Natalie ever thinking a relationship with your father would be healthy for you.”
“But he’s in prison now, and he’s dying. I won’t be having a relationship so much as getting closure.”
“I get that.” Amelia nodded. “And maybe if your mom was alive now and heard all this, she’d have told you about your father’s family. But that wasn’t how things were when you mom was sick.”
“No,” Ilana said slowly. “No, it wasn’t.” She was beginning to find some clarity as to why Mama hadn’t told her about her family. “She was trying to protect me. So he couldn’t hurt me. And as far as she knew, my father was still dangerous.”
“Probably. She was nearly as tough as my mom, you know.”
“Nearly.” Ilana smiled. “Regina gets back in August?”
“I’m starting to miss her. I know she likes Portugal, but I’m ready for her to come home.”
Ilana pulled into her parking space behind the Enrichment Center.
“So this is the new reality?” Amelia asked.
“This is the new reality, not too much different than the old one.”
“Just a little. You with a boyfriend and a family. Me with a real art career.” Amelia glanced out the windshield. “Us with a grown-up business and clients.” She looked over at Ilana. “We’ll get used to it?”
“Of course we will,” Ilana smiled. “What other choice do we have?”
Chapter 15
“What the hell?” Devon walked up the front steps of his townhouse and hugged his brother. “I can’t believe you’re here. You could warn a guy.”
Leo slapped him on the back. “Nah. I like surprises. Of course, if I had, I wouldn’t have to wait on your doorstep.”
“Your own damn fault for not calling first.” Devon opened the front door and Leo followed him inside.
“Nice digs, little brother.” Leo walked across the living room toward the glass wall that overlooked the ocean. Even though Devon was a grown man, his older brother’s words meant something to him. He’d barely been out of high school when their parents had died, and it’d been his older brothers, especially Leo, who’d helped him find his identity as a man. Still, even now, sometimes Leo felt more like a father figure than a brother to Devon.
“View is the primary reason to live here,” Devon said. He clapped his brother on his shoulder. “How about a beer?”
“Love one.”
Devon walked toward the kitchen. “How long are you in town for?
“Thought I’d stay through the weekend. Head back to New York on Monday.”
Devon grabbed two beers from the refrigerator.
“There’s a company in Burbank we’re thinking of buying. Meeting with the owner tomorrow. Not sure what we’ll do yet. There’s an email with background info for you and the rest of the crew to read.”
“Outside?” Devon handed a beer to Leo and nodded toward the patio.
“Of course.”
They sat down, and Devon put his feet up. “I can’t believe you’re here. Man. I’m happy to see you.”
“Don’t mind me cramping your style through the weekend?”
“Are you kidding?” Devon took a long pull from his beer.
�
�So tell me about this place, the business, and this girl.”
“The girl’s name is Ilana.”
“Ilana? Russian?”
“I don’t know…maybe? Her last name is Reynolds. She doesn’t have a lot of family. Or she didn’t. Her mother died about two years ago. She’s got no relationship with her dad, but she just found out she has an uncle and an aunt and four cousins here in L.A.”
“Just found out? What the hell?”
“Her mother never told her. The dad was bad news, beat her up. All kinds of shit when Ilana was a kid. So they ran to L.A. and never told anyone where they were.”
“That’s some serious shit.” Leo said. His expression clouded over. “You know, most people come with baggage when they deal with all that as a kid.”
Devon sat back in his chair. He was beginning to wonder if he should‘ve told Leo so much about Ilana. Should he have waited until after she and Leo had met before he mentioned her past? Maybe he should even have waited until after they were engaged. Would Leo judge Ilana on the person he met or on her past?
“She’s solid and I…well, she’s important to me.”
“Must be, if you’re taking her to Amalfi.”
Devon stiffened. Was Ilana the real reason Leo was in Los Angeles? Had the family sent him to check up on Devon? To make certain he wasn’t being bamboozled by some woman?
“Wait…why are you here?”
“Because I have a business to look at.”
“Uh-huh. And why are you out here through the weekend?”
“Do I need a reason to see my little brother?”
“Checking up on me?”
“Maybe.” Leo took a slug of his beer. “Okay, yes. Okay? Yes. You’re the youngest Travati, and you came through some tough shit last year, and we want to make sure you’re okay.”
“All of you are in on this?”
“We thought maybe one of us should come out here and make sure that you’re really doing okay in Venice. I mean, you’ve made some major life changes in the last year and now you’re getting serious with this girl that none of us have met.”
“Not all of us can fall for someone that everyone knows.”
“Fair enough. We just want to make sure all is well with our little brother.”
“Aubrey sent you.”
“Let’s just say the self-appointed matriarch and her two minions were concerned with your well-being.”
“Ha! You’ve got that right. Shelly and Gwen and Aubrey? I’m glad I’m three thousand miles away.”
“And yet here I am, so it would seem three thousand miles isn’t quite far enough.”
No kidding,” Devon took another long pull on his beer, torn between being annoyed that his family felt the need to check up on him and feeling grateful because they cared enough about him to actually do it. “Well, you’re here. Get your shit together and get ready.”
“Ready? For what?”
“We’ve got dinner plans, big brother. I mean, if you want to meet the girl then let’s go. I’m taking her to dinner tonight and you’re coming with.”
“Where’s my warning?”
“Warning? Ha, if you wanted warning then you shouldn’t have just shown up on my doorstep. Come on, I’ll show you the building that Travati Financial just bought.”
“A building? We bought a building?” Leo followed Devon toward the front door.
“Actually, we bought three buildings, and we’ve got paperwork on a fourth working its way through our attorneys.”
“Glad to see you’re getting TF West off the ground.”
“You three may think I sit on my ass and luxuriate in sunshine all day, but I put in at least a solid four hours,” Devon teased. Blue sky and an ocean breeze greeted them as they walked outside.
Leo surveyed the sunshine. “Work? I hardly call living in paradise work, but hey, we all have to call it something.”
“Indeed we do.”
“Well, come on.” Leo nodded toward Devon. “Start telling me about this girl. If I’m going to give a comprehensive report, I need some details.”
“The Travati women do like their comprehensive reports. Okay. Let’s go, but dinner is on you. And it’s going to be expensive, too.”
“That’s fair, little brother. Let’s go.”
*
“Wait, so you’re telling me that Devon didn’t eat anything but macaroni and cheese until he was ten years old?” Ilana sat beside Devon, across from his older brother Leo. The dinner conversation, so far, consisted of embarrassing childhood stories that starred Devon.
“He’d eat ice cream,” Leo smiled at his brother.
“I ate Mom’s tiramisu,” Devon added defensively.
“Right, he did eat that too. But for real food, mac and cheese all the friggin’ time. Used to drive our dad nuts.”
Devon smiled and shook his head. “It did, didn’t it? I completely forgot about that. Dad was convinced that I’d end up four foot two because I wasn’t eating enough meat.”
“I think mom snuck vegetables into your mac and cheese.”
“She tried. That was disgusting. Sometimes she’d wait until I was super hungry and then force me to eat some vegetables.”
“Remember the time when Justin ate all the mac and cheese and then you jumped out the window and he had to go tell mom you’d broken your arm?”
“I do remember that. I also remember how upset Mom was. I think she cried all the way to the emergency room.”
“Because you were the baby.”
“And her favorite.”
Leo laughed. “No! Absolutely not, I was Mom’s favorite. Everyone knows that.”
“No, she used to tell me that she wanted you to believe that you were her favorite so you’d behave, but that I was actually her favorite.”
“I call bullshit,” Leo laughed.
These two really loved each other…how was it possible Devon could be away from his brothers? If she had family that loved her like this and knew her like this, she couldn’t imagine living far away from them.
“Ilana, do you have any brothers and sisters?”
Ilana took a sip of her wine. “No. It was just me and my mom when I was growing up.” Her belly clutched. These were the type of questions that she’d avoided answering as a kid. She had to remind herself that now she was an adult, with a new story. A story that included family, a story that she could tell. “ She didn’t have any siblings, and her parents died before I was born.”
“And your dad?”
Ilana’s throat tightened. She didn’t have to be afraid anymore about the details surrounding her father, but still the resistance sat deep in her gut. She sat taller and glanced at Devon. He smiled encouragingly, and she smiled back. “My parents split when I was about six.”
Devon put his arm stretched around her shoulders. The weight conveyed a firm strength. “Ilana just connected with her aunt and uncle a couple weeks ago. Had no idea they even lived in L.A.”
“Wow. That’s kind of like when Justin found out about Max?”
Ilana turned a questioning face to Devon, her brow furrowed.
“My oldest brother,” Devon explained. “He found out about his son when Max was fifteen.”
“What a shock!”
“For everyone, but especially Justin, because he didn’t think he could have kids.”
“But he can and he did,” Leo said. “Married Max’s mom and now they have two, with another on the way.”
“Wait, what?” Devon swiveled his head toward his brother.
“You didn’t know yet.”
Devon shook his head.
“If it makes you feel better they haven’t told anyone else…well, I’m sure her sister knows, but other than that, no one. I only found out when I did because I was playing racquetball with Justin when he got the call from Aubrey.”
“Right, I get it.”
Ilana felt Devon’s mood shift. He was used to being surrounded by a big family with brothers and sisters-in-law and
nieces and nephews, and now he was out here on the west coast in Venice on his own. This was probably the first big family news that he’d missed. What would it be like, to be that connected to a big family? Would she get to find out with her aunt, uncle, and cousins?
Excitement surged through her. Suddenly her future held the possibility of big holidays and weddings and births—all the events she’d witnessed her friends have with their extended families but she’d never gotten to be a part of because it’d always been just her and mom.
“So dinner, this Sunday?” She looked at Leo. “Will you come with us? Devon is meeting my aunt and uncle, and I’d love for you to be there too.”
“Really?” Leo lifted an eyebrow and shot a doubtful look to Devon. “Not sure…”
Devon nodded. “Come on, it’ll be fun. I’ve never met them either, so we can do it together. Then you can go back and give a full report to the Travati tribe.”
“Full report?” Ilana asked, taking another sip of her wine.
“Mmhmm, they’re checking up on me, on us. Just to make certain that I’m okay after my very tough year.”
“It was a tough year.”
“It was.” Devon pulled Ilana closer to him. “But I made it through all that, and now the rest of my life is going to be amazing because of everything I’ve found in Venice.” He pressed his lips to Ilana’s cheek.
Warmth flooded through Ilana’s body. Lucky. Blessed. Happy. A smile broadened over her face.
“To good fortune and happy years.” Leo lifted his wineglass.
“To good fortune and happy years,” Ilana and Devon repeated in unison. Their glasses clinked together. Ilana said a silent prayer that she and Devon would have both for the rest of their lifetimes.
Chapter 16
That Sunday, Devon pulled his Tesla onto the drive of Ilana’s family’s home. Hmm…he’d been to the house next door the month before he met Ilana, to meet with a developer who owned land he’d wanted to buy. He should’ve done his homework, found out more details about Ilana’s uncle. A man who could afford this kind of estate on the Pacific had to have friends in common with Devon or his brothers.