Barbara, our grief counselor, is here with her wife, Corinne. And to say she’s thrilled is an understatement. She said she had a “feeling” and boy was she right. Dee and I had lunch with her and Corinne earlier this week to tell them our story. She’s the reason all this started in the first place and we didn’t want to blindside her. She deserves more than that. She deserves everything.
Barbara and Corinne, who also promised not to spill our secret, are currently in a corner, laughing with George Mitchell, the man who saved Josh’s life both figuratively and literally. We’ve gotten to know him through Josh. They’re exceptionally close and he’s come to several of the same events Dani and I have been at. I can see why he did what he did; he’s just that kind of person.
Jayden and his wife, Camille, are also talking with them. I’ve become very close to him over the years. Austin House is very important to me and I’m happy they could be here to share in my special day.
Dee’s friends Beth and Sandi came up from San Diego with their husbands, Michael and Adam, and their daughters, who Chloe was beyond thrilled to see. The girls are currently being watched at my house, no doubt having the time of their lives. Dee’s mother didn’t come but that’s a story for another day. I hate how sad Dee gets every time her mom lets her down. But, like I did through texts, I continue to comfort her with humor, friendship, and love.
Dee and I are standing by the fireplace in her living room. We asked everyone to come inside and when I see that everybody has their food and are settled down, I tap my bottle of beer to her wine glass to get their attention.
Clink, clink, clink.
Everyone stops talking to look up at us.
“Can I have everybody’s attention?”
Once the room is quiet, I continue. “I’d first like to thank all of you for coming here tonight. Dani and I have quite a story to share with you.” I stop and laugh because we’re about to blow their minds. “It’s actually more of a mind-fuck. But trust us, it has a very happing ending.”
I look at Dee and see she’s failing miserably at hiding her shit-eating grin. I casually nudge her and find I’m having an equally hard time hiding the exact same thing.
“One year ago, a very insightful woman forced Dani and me to communicate with one another.” I go on to explain what Barbara did and the rules of our relationship. “Our angel, Barbara,” I tip my drink in her direction and give her a wink, “put her career on the line to help two shattered souls. I never planned on texting Dani but with all hope and the will to live gone, I reached out to her and it was the best thing I could ever have done.” I then start talking about our early texts and how we started saving each other. Reliving this brings up a lot of sad memories and I bring Dee in close to absorb some of her strength.
“We cried, grieved, and raged. We listened to each other, comforted each other, and rescued each other at the same time.” I continue after nods of understanding. “I forgot how to smile, I forgot how to live, and even bigger than that, I forgot me. Dani, as Dee, showed me how to laugh again through her words, taught me how to live through her wisdom, and allowed me to find myself again through her spirit and strength.”
I turn to Dee, catching the tears falling down her beautiful face with my thumb, and give her a gentle kiss on her forehead. “Do you think you can take it from here?” I ask her softly, while looking into her teary, yet still beautiful eyes. She nods. I give her another gentle kiss, put my arm around her, and wait for her to continue our story.
“Phew!” Dee exhales a shuddered breath and fans herself with her free hand before she continues. “Ean, as E, was the only person who truly knew what I was going through and the same thing applied to him. Like he said, we cried, commiserated, screamed, and grieved. Then we started comparing all the things that were being said to us out of pity and for the first time in what felt like forever, we smiled. Very soon thereafter we became each other’s lifeline, best friend, and other half.”
I take over explaining what we achieved, how we achieved it, and how we would never have survived any of it without each other. But, with one another, we not only survived, we thrived.
She gently wipes the tears that are now falling down my face with her delicate finger sharing the pain we both felt. We hear sniffles around the room and Dee continues through her tears. “Our relationship kept growing. We laughed, joked, and debated about which one of us was the wiser.” I point the neck of my bottle to myself and she rolls her eyes and groans, which gets a watery chuckle out of everyone.
“Seriously?!” she says, rolling her eyes again. I shrug one shoulder as if to say, “Well yeah,” and she continues. “We covered all our favorites. Everything from movies to books to colors to food and so much more.”
At this point, Dee and I turn to one another, laughing and sharing inside jokes. When we stop, I look up and see a room full of confused smiles. Dee notices it too and continues. “This relationship right here…” she points her wine glass back and forth between us, “…this has been our relationship for the past year, as Dee and E. And for the past six months…” she points her wine glass back and forth between us once again, “…this has been our relationship as Dani and Ean.” She looks at me and smiles. “Our friendship turned to love somewhere along the line, and that love made us stronger in the end.”
“Before Dani left for San Diego, we texted a lot,” I say, continuing our story. “At that point in our lives, change was scary for both of us but things were too difficult for her here and we knew a change of scenery would do both her and Chloe a world of good.”
“We also both agreed on when and why I came home,” Dee adds and then continues with our story. “Around the six-month mark, Ean and I met. But when we met, we didn’t know we were meeting the person we were texting and we didn’t meet under good circumstances. As most of you know, I hit Po with my car.” Dee shakes her head at the memory, looks up to the sky to stop her impending tears, lets out another shuddered breath, and tells everybody about that day. “That was really hard. It hit too close to home, for both of us.”
She pauses and I squeeze her shoulder in a silent show of support and add, “Dani as Dee didn’t know I had a dog and I, as E, didn’t know she had a cat. You have to remember, we never shared any personal details so I also never knew what kind of car she drove, where she lived, or that she bought a new car the same day she hit Po.
“Two weeks after Po was hit, I was on the beach with him, throwing around a ball when he, once again turned and bolted,” I say, continuing this part of our story. “I chased him to find he had stopped and was madly licking the face of this amazingly beautiful woman who was crouched down by the ocean petting him.”
I smile, remembering the day I saw her on the beach playing with a very happy Po. “I still think he has a crush on you,” I tell her in a whispered voice and then I add, “I do too.” Because I really do!
I go on to tell them about how I acted the day of the accident and how I quickly apologized for my god-awful behavior. I share how easy the conversation was, how I felt like I’d known her forever even though we’d just met and how, after I said my goodbyes, I noticed that she was following us, heading home too. “Turned out, Dani was my next-door neighbor. Living next door to one another was the very first of the many connections that Dani and I share.”
On that note, Dee and I stop our story to give everyone a chance to use the bathroom and refill their drinks. Everybody has questions but we make them wait because we have so much more to reveal.
IT’S BEEN TWO WEEKS SINCE we met and it still feels like a dream; an amazingly beautiful dream. I can’t believe I was so afraid to meet him because we’re so much stronger together than we were alone. Being with E is as easy as breathing while, at the same time, so exhilarating that I’m left breathless. I’m still completely amazed we never connected the dots. Looking back, some things were so obvious I have to wonder where our heads were. But none of that matters. E and I were meant to be together, of that I’m abso
lutely sure. We cherish what we have and we never plan on being apart, ever again.
The way E and I are telling our story is exactly the way we are with one another. The way we always have been and the way we always will be. We complete each other’s thoughts, finish each other’s sentences and feed off each other’s energy. We are one, in every way; a strong river that ebbs and flows in all the right places.
Our friends ask plenty of questions and many laughs are shared. When everyone is once again settled, we continue our story.
“We never met or tried to communicate in any form other than text message because we were both too afraid of breaking our emotional connection,” I tell our friends and then go on to talk about the fairs that we went to together—through texts, and how it was our compromise to be together without actually meeting. We tell everybody about our antics at the fair and when we lapse into our “hippie talk,” everybody laughs.
“I needed to breathe the same air she was breathing,” E tells our friends and puts his arm around me.
I start to feel somber when we talk about clearing out our houses and visiting the cemetery. As always, E senses my sorrow and takes over.
“After one year, I insisted Dee and I physically meet. Our emotional connection was stronger than ever and even though we were both still scared shitless, the need to meet was greater.” He goes on to tell them how the hostess asked if she could help us and how, when we answered, we both instantly knew.
I stop E with a kiss. He smiles and winks; knowing exactly what I’m thinking and continues.
“When we finally met, we stayed up all night talking and started connecting the dots. We learned a lot about each other, all the things that we couldn’t talk about as Dee and E and all the things we didn’t want to talk about as Dani and Ean. But the single biggest thing I discovered that night was that her husband was Scott Adams.” I see the exact minute it clicks for Justin and Chance. Justin becomes pale and Chance completely stops breathing. It was the exact same reaction his parents, sister, and Beverly and Rodger had when we told them our story at brunch last weekend.
“Scott had been a good friend and teammate of mine in high school.” He goes on, telling this part to our friends who don’t know their connection. “Sadly, we lost touch after he moved to San Diego for college and I’m both sad and embarrassed to say I never knew he died.”
E turns to me, kisses my tear-streaked face, and whispers, “I’m so sorry about that, babe.” He’s already apologized but it isn’t necessary or even wanted. He’s been there for me in more ways than he could ever imagine.
Our friends, once again, bombard us with questions, talking about how crazy and unfathomable this whole story is. E and I still question each other as to how we didn’t see it, picking apart both relationships in search of clues. When E says, “Talk shows would have a field day with this one,” everybody laughs.
I turn to everyone and continue. “E and I never broke Barbara’s rule. We said things to one another when we texted but never gave away any personal details. Ean and I talked all the time, but never about anything personal. It seemed like each time we got close to a touchy subject, we were either interrupted or one of us turned the conversation in a different direction.” I stop and take a sip of my wine to process all this insanity and continue. “We can see everything now, but then? We didn’t have a single clue.”
E and I take turns talking about all our missed connections, and there were many. “Ean and I became friends, then best friends. We did a lot of things together but whenever he paid with a credit card, or showed his driver’s license, I never looked. And the only times during the months I knew him, that his name was actually written on paper, it was written by me and I used an ‘I’ instead of an ‘E.’ And when I entered him into my contact list, I spelled it I-A-N.” The normal way to spell it, but I keep that part to myself.
I start rambling about the insanity of the whole situation, explaining Heather’s reasoning for not spelling his name in the traditional way. I tell our friends how that was the most obvious connection and not having that tidbit of information made connecting the dots virtually impossible. When I finish with, “And thank you for that, Heather!” and she responds with, “You’re welcome, sweetheart!” everybody, once again, cracks up.
Before I can continue, E cuts in with a protest of his own. He tells everybody about how he gave the first letter of my first name a “nickname” and began calling me Dee. How over time, that became my name to him. “It’s because of this,” he tells everyone, “that I didn’t make the connection.” I remember the day he did that. I loved it then but I love it even more now that I know him. Everybody laughs! E’s really grasping at straws and we all know it. Nobody says a word…yet. He’s going to be ribbed like nobody’s business and I can’t wait!
I then continue. “Ean and I hung out together all the time, much of that time, here in my house. But I didn’t have any pictures of Scott displayed on my walls. It was just too painful.” I look across the room and see Scott’s beautiful face smiling back at me. It doesn’t cripple me to see him anymore. Since we’ve met, E’s encouraged me to bring all his pictures back out saying, “We need to honor his memory.” I did the same for him. I had never been in his house and when I finally was inside, I saw his walls were also bare, so when he moved in with me, we also hung pictures of Alyssa and Alex. I notice him glance at their picture and squeeze his hand in a show of support. I also notice Justin and Chance looking at Scott’s picture and wonder how they didn’t notice it earlier in the evening.
I then go on to explain all of this, sharing how E would have immediately recognized him and how it was things like that, that made connecting the dots virtually impossible. After taking a sip of wine, I continue. “I can’t tell you why we never discussed these significant things. We can’t even figure it out. Maybe it was Barbara’s rule or maybe we just weren’t ready. That and the fact that we had the special cell phones for Dee and E helped keep the mystery going. I truly believe we were never meant to make that connection before it was time.”
E holds me tightly to his side and continues. “My friendship with Dani turned to love. It was never the kind of love I felt for Dee but it was love just the same. Dani and I never crossed the line of being anything other than really close friends but the feelings I had for her and Chloe were very strong, nonetheless.” We stop talking to kiss each other and he says, directly to me, “I have always loved you.” His declaration takes my breath away and I lean in to kiss him.
After a long embrace, he takes my wine glass and sets our drinks down. Keeping me close to his side, he looks to all the tear-stained faces of our friends and families and says, “So that brings us to where we are today.”
With a quick kiss, a smile, and a wink, he blurts out, “WE’RE GETTING MARRIED!”
He looks at me and reverently whispers, “I’m marrying my Dee!”
“And I’m marrying my E!” I say, radiating all the love and joy we both feel.
We hear a collective gasp.
E takes my bandaged hand in his and starts unwrapping it to show the ring. We told everybody I sprained my wrist to hide it. He kisses my hand over my ring, grabs our drinks and continues.
“We got engaged that very night!” he says to everyone but his eyes are locked on mine. He then turns to the group. “Looking at it from an outsider’s point of view it may seem fast, but Dee and E have known and loved each other for over a year and during that year, we texted constantly, sometimes several times during the day and usually for hours on end. And Dani and Ean have known and loved each other for over six months. We saw each other all the time and were always doing things together. We also talked on the phone when we weren’t physically together. Although we knew each other separately, we individually formed immensely strong connections, and together have forged an unbreakable bond. Dani and I also know how short life is and how love can be taken away in the blink of an eye.” He kisses me again and goes on.
�
�I’ve asked Dani if I could legally adopt Chloe and she agreed. Chloe will always know Scott’s her father. We’re going to be calling him Daddy and I’ll be called Dad. I also told her I want both her and Chloe to keep Scott’s last name before mine, separated by a hyphen. I want to honor him, and Dani has agreed to that too. Both Chloe and Dani will have the last name Adams-Montgomery.”
We gently wipe away each other’s tears, both extremely overwhelmed from having told our story. We spend the next few minutes answering some of the many questions our friends throw at us, and then with our story behind us, we hold up our glasses.
“TO FATE!” we cheer.
“TO FATE!” everyone follows and, at that, we all toast.
The night turned out beautifully. Everyone was shocked and surprised, but truly happy for us. After the last person leaves, E takes me in his arms and tells me how much he loves me. He then gently leads me into our bedroom to show me just how much.
“GRAB YOUR END,” I GRUNT.
“Wrong angle!” Justin complains.
“Justin, man, what good are you?”
“Dude! If you had any strength, I wouldn’t have to carry the whole damn thing.”
“You wanna see strength?” I grab my crotch to show him what real strength is.
“It’s true!” Dee says, laughing as she comes up to my side, wrapping her arms around me while giving me a loving kiss. We see each other daily but we still can’t stand to be apart and when we are together, we can’t stand to not be touching each other.
“It’s magical. Steel can’t even compare,” she brags proudly and I smile. That’s my girl!
“Eeew, Dani!” Justin protests, with what sounds like a combination of a groan and a whine. “TMI! I don’t want to know about Ean’s junk.” We both laugh.
Dee and I are moving into a new rental in Manhattan Beach, not far from my old house while we’re building our new home. I bought the house I was renting and the plans for the rebuild are almost ready to be submitted to the city for approval so we can start the building process. We’re tearing down both houses and combining the plots of land. We plan on having more kids and want more rooms. We drew up all the plans together; every aspect was collaborative. I’d say we fought through it but our tastes have always been so similar and we think so much alike that it was a no-brainer.
Saving Each Other (Saving Series Book 1) Page 16