by Cee, DW
After looking at her fiancé and perhaps the man who could’ve been her fiancé, she said, “Nolan. Thank you for…everything. I hope we can stay friends.”
“Donovan,” my precious wife said aloud, grasping my hand. We both felt our daughter’s pain. However, in this instance, she did the right thing. If she wanted to pursue a relationship with Nolan, she needed to, first, take care of her relationship with Rhys.
“Our Lilah will be fine, Princess.”
“But…”
“Our daughter has made her decision. Let’s help her live with it.”
“But…” Delaney was at a loss for words. She, too, had developed a soft spot for this boy who wore anguish all over his face. He might be a loser now, but I knew he’d be all right. All three young people in front of me would be fine.
“All right. Are we all done with this nonsense? Do we still have a wedding happening in two years?” I addressed my daughter, mostly.
With tears in her eyes, she nodded yes but couldn’t step away from or take her eyes off Nolan.
“Why don’t we all go outside and enjoy the rest of the party?” My wife gently placed her hand on Nolan’s back and led him out.
He followed while telling Delaney, “I thank you, Dr. Taylor, for all your encouragement and help. I think I’ll head out for now. I don’t wish to be anywhere I’m not wanted.”
“Nolan,” I heard mother and daughter call out.
I chose not to involve myself any further. Instead, I joined Jake and grabbed much needed sustenance.
“So?” Jake inquired.
“Damn. It’s not easy having a daughter. If I were you, I’d lock up Ellie. She, too, doesn’t look happy with that Dr. John. Whatever he just said to her made her cry.” No sooner had the words come out, than Ellie ran out of the party.
“Oh, shit! What the hell is going on today?” Jake wondered. “I suppose Ellie will want her mother over me?”
“If I had answers to questions like that, I wouldn’t be involved in this ménage-a-trois mess.”
“Who’d Lilah choose?”
“Can’t you tell?” I followed a defeated Nolan O’Shaughnessy out of the pool. “Nolan!” I yelled out. “I expect to see you in the office on Monday.” He gave a barely there nod and kept walking with his head down. Nicky kept patting him on the shoulder, cheering him up, but it wasn’t working.
“I thought with all our knowledge, our kids would have it easier. Didn’t we teach them anything?”
“Not a damn thing, apparently. My daughter has two men after her, no different than my wife. Only difference is the fact that I didn’t give up no matter what Delaney said. After all his bravado at the engagement party, I’m surprised Nolan’s given up.”
“Me too. I thought, for sure, he’d come out the victor. Momentum was his ally.”
“I think he got to Delilah, but in the end, she still chose Rhys. This drama is too much for me. Let’s grab our swim trunks and take our wives down those slides like old times. Let the young figure out their own problems.”
Jake stood there and watched John walk out with his head down just like Nolan. It wasn’t a good day for either man.
“Praise the Lord we are married, settled, and on the other side of all that misery!” Jake declared with his hand up.
“Amen, Brother!” I concurred and answered his high-five.
Delilah: I...am screwed!
“Lilah!” an annoying voice continued calling my name. “Lilah!”
“What is it, Rhys?”
“You made the right choice.”
“Then why does it hurt so much?” I thought I said that softly enough for no one to hear, but I was wrong. All hell broke loose, again, after that slip.
“What does that mean? Why would you hurt? Is it because of Nolan? You hurt because you told him to get lost?”
“Oh my gosh, Rhys! Can we just stop? You’ve won. We’re together. What’s your problem, now?”
“You want me to spell out all my problems?” Dear God, there were veins popping out of his forehead. I didn’t need another headache on top of the pounding already happening. “You cheated on me!” My fiancé yelled.
“What?” I yelled back.
“You cheated on me with that bumbling nerd!”
“He’s not a bumbling nerd. You take that back.”
“So you don’t want me to take back the cheating accusation but you want me to rescind my commentary on your precious Nolan?”
“It’s been a seriously long day, already, Rhys. Let me say what I want to say and then let’s end this mistake.”
“End? Mistake?” The veins on this man were seriously unattractive.
“I did not cheat on you. I formed a friendship with Nolan, and I felt bad that I turned him down, again, for the umpteenth time. When you and I first met, I thought I was in heaven. You were sweet, gentle, loving, and understanding of all my foibles. After we parted, all we ever did was argue. As much as it kills me to say this, my family was right. We went at this too quickly. I should’ve been cautious about falling head-over-heels for you. You’re a phenomenal catch, but I don’t think you’re my catch, Rhys.” I took my ring off and handed it to an unwilling man. “I’m sorry. Please tell your family I said I’m sorry.”
“Are you doing this so you can run to that Nolan?”
“No, Rhys. I’m doing this because you and I are not right.”
“Once I leave here, I won’t come back. I’m not spineless like your other suitor. If you reject me, I’ll leave for good.”
“Good. Bye.” I walked out wondering where we’d gone so wrong. How could I have thought I could marry this man and live happily-ever-after like my mother?
The entire backyard watched Rhys hightail it out of here. As soon as he was gone, everyone hightailed it to me.
“What happened?” Mom asked.
“I broke off the engagement, Mom.” I said without any tears, surprisingly. “You, Dad, Henry, and Scottie were right. It was too soon. I should’ve dated him first. I feel all kinds of foolish for rushing into marriage.”
“Good thing you learned that before the wedding vows were said,” Auntie Emily spoke with a gentle hug and kiss to my cheek. “Your prince will come…back…” She was now chuckling with all my other aunts.
That reminded me. I perused all the faces and didn’t see the one I expected. “Where’s Nolan? Did he really leave?”
“Gone, but I’m sure he’ll be back if you call him. Now that Rhys is out of the picture, I’m sure he’ll be back too many times for our liking,” my brother, Henry, said.
“I wouldn’t be too sure of that, Lilah. I think you lost your chance with Nolan.”
Scottie refused to believe Nicky. It was sweet the way my older brothers were trying to protect me and make me happy. “The idiot broke up an engagement and swore up and down to us that he was the man for our sister. Why wouldn’t he jump at the chance to court her?”
Nicky was the bearer of bad news. Ugh! “His best friend Cammie—who’s seriously hot in my humble opinion, and has been in love with Lilah’s other man for a while—gave him an ultimatum, her or Lilah. Since Lilah rebuffed her other man, Nolan was heading for her.”
“What the hell, Nicky. In simple English, please.” Dad wanted to know.
“In short, Lilah’s lost Nolan to Cammie Hillhurst. Nolan wasn’t completely against a relationship with his best friend. He thought it’d be a hell of a lot easier than courting someone who didn’t want him. Right before he got in his car, he told me he was headed to her house.”
Damn. I went from no man for twenty-two years of my life, to two men in the past few months, to no man again. What the hell!
“Whatever. I don’t care.” Every pair of eyes was surprised by this statement. “I don’t need a man to make me happy. I don’t need a man to complete my life. Rhys was a mistake and obviously Nolan was too. As of Monday, I’m going to work on my hair serum and I think I might look into going to law school as well. Since no other Tayl
or wants to take over half of Ascot, Ascot, and Pemberley, I’ll be the one.” The smile on Dad’s face was incredible. It must have hurt to smile so big and wide. “Incidentally, Dad, we need to change the name of the firm. Perhaps it should be Ascot, Taylor, and Davis?”
“That’s my girl!” He grinned. “There’s your first project.”
With that, I went to find my cousin, Ellie, to give and receive updates on both our lives. There was plenty of Ben and Jerry’s Pistachio, Pistachio ice cream in our freezer. We could break open a few pints and enjoy our solitude.
It’d be nice to go back to my life of school and family. Who needed a man, anyway? When the time was right, maybe I’d ask Mom or Dad to introduce me to some nice guys. Maybe my brothers could make introductions to a few of their doctor friends. I’d study. I’d work. I’d be the old Delilah Rose Taylor with no social life outside of my family.
I’d be all right without Rhys or Nolan…right?
Author’s Note:
I know what you’re all thinking. How can she do this to us? I have to say, it doesn’t bother me all that much to make you wait to find out how Nolan and Delilah end up getting married.
To be completely honest, I have a lot of ideas on how they’re getting there, but Vol. 2 is nowhere close to done. In fact, it’s only forming in my head; none of my ideas are even on paper, yet. It’ll get there soon.
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