To Be Unbroken

by Stein Willard

  Maxima held Gemma at arm’s length as she looked into the gentle eyes. “I cannot believe that you still believe in gossip at your age,” she teased. She was surprised how she could still see the little girl inside the woman. “You have no idea how much I missed you, my butterfly.”

  Gemma giggled at the pet name. “I feel more like a dragonfly lately.”

  Maxima brushed over the soft hair. “You will always be my butterfly. Come, let us join the others so I can hear what they have been gossiping about me.” She hooked her arm into Gemma’s as they left the galleria. “How is Fritz?”

  Gemma’s husband Fritz was a retiree, who still at the ripe age of eighty-seven participated actively in the Bells’ global multi-billion dollar company that Andra headed.

  They entered the large sunroom and the family quickly vied for Maxima’s attention. Bruce and Nadia clung to her legs and after promising to take them out to play later; she made her way over to where Fritz sat. The man slowly came to his feet and reached out to kiss Maxima’s cheek.

  “You still look as gorgeous as the first time I had to beg you to take Gemma out for a movie and an ice-cream.” His dark eyes twinkled as he playfully leered at her. “Gemma’s been threatening to leave me if I don’t stop puffing on my cigars. I just wonder if you might be interested in becoming my…what do they call it nowadays…ah…my sugar mommy?”

  Andra giggled as she came to join them, throwing a hand over her grandfather’s shoulder. “Now I understand why Claire believes that I got my charm from you, old man.”

  Fritz grinned. “What’s wrong with a younger man making a move on an older woman? I mean she’s over two thousand years old.”

  “Take this,” Gemma growled playfully at Fritz and handed him a cup of tea, “and keep your mouth busy otherwise you might just end up on the couch tonight.”

  Maxima felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to find a tall, blond man grinning at her. She engulfed him in a bear hug. “Good to see you again, Josh.” She stood back when she saw Mara approaching them. She smiled at the warm glow in the woman’s eyes as her pale blue eyes moved from Maxima to her husband. Like all her female descendants she was amazed by how lucky in love all of them had been. Maxima wondered why Josh and Mara, with so much love between them, decided to only have one child especially with Andra turning out so well.

  Mara kissed Maxima on the cheek before turning to her husband. “Dinner will be ready in ten minutes. Could you get everyone some drinks in the meantime, dear?”

  Josh gave Maxima a slap on the shoulder before going around the room taking drink orders. Maxima’s eyes swept over the room. Tears burned her eyes as they fell on each of them. They were all here, four generations under one roof. They usually had a few people from their extended family over for dinner on Thanksgiving, but the night before Thanksgiving was strictly a family affair. Gemma came over to her and led her to an unoccupied sofa.

  “I heard that you found Anima?” The pale eyes were serious as they looked at her. “Is it true?”

  “Yes. I have encountered Anima’s soul.”

  Gemma clapped her hands together, as she grinned. “To think I actually lived to see this happening! Is she beautiful? Do you like her?”

  Maxima gently cupped Gemma’s cheek. “Slow down with the questions, butterfly.” She smiled when Gemma blushed. “You are still strong enough to live to see me claiming her, maybe even have children.”

  Gemma’s eyes widened. “You like her that much, huh?”

  Sighing deeply, Maxima nodded.

  “What’s troubling you then?”

  Josh came over and handed Maxima a glass of wine and a cup of tea for his mother-in-law. They thanked him and as soon he turned away, Gemma pierced Maxima with a sharp stare. Maxima took a sip from her glass.

  “She knows me as someone else.”

  Gemma frowned. “I don’t understand.”

  “We had been following up on a possible lead. She owns a gallery and the only way to approach her was to loan me to the gallery. Two weeks later we found out that she was Anima, but by then she knew me as Mac.”

  Gemma pursed her lips, her eyes roving over Maxima’s face. “I can see how that could complicate things. Do you have a plan?”

  Maxima shook her head. “I do not think so, at least not yet.”

  Gemma looked down into her cup of tea. The expression on her face was pensive. When she looked up, Maxima saw the shrewd business woman Gemma once was. “Leave it to me. I will come up with something.”

  “What are you going to do?” Maxima didn’t know if she should be worried or relieved. Gemma was not someone who beat around the bush. Her forthrightness was legendary.

  The elder woman smiled as she watched Maxima over the rim of her cup. Maxima hid a shudder at the mischievousness of the smile. “I will make sure that you get the girl, my dear. Is that not the desired outcome?”

  Maxima nodded and quickly drained her glass. She signaled Josh for a refill. Things would definitely be shaken up with Gemma onboard. She just wasn’t sure how it would affect her in the end.

  ***

  For the umpteenth time Andra took a peek through the window. Where is she? She rubbed the back of her neck, a sign of nervousness. She said she would be here.

  “You’ll have to relax, honey. If she said she would be here then she will.” Claire circled Andra’s waist from behind and rested her cheek against the strong back. “You worry too much.”

  “What if she doesn’t come? What do we do then?”

  Claire ducked under Andra’s left arm and moved to stand before her. “There will be many other opportunities to get them together.”

  Andra shook her head. “I will not see Maxima endure one more Thanksgiving alone…not with Anima so close.” She kissed Claire’s upturned face. “I want this to be the most memorable Thanksgiving ever for her. She deserves it.”

  “I know. Okay, what do you want me to do? Shall I call her again to confirm?”

  Andra rubbed the back of her neck again. “I don’t know. Would she not suspect something?”

  “I don’t think so,” Claire murmured as she pressed a kiss on Andra’s cheek. “But we have to do something before you cave in from stress, hon.” Claire reached in her jeans pocket for her phone. “Here goes…”

  Just as Claire pressed the dial button, Andra saw a black Porsche come up the driveway. “She’s here…I think.”

  Claire quickly hung up and came to peer through the widow too. They both sighed in relief when Sara got out, taking her time to look around the estate.

  “I’ll go and get her.”

  Andra took a deep breath, straightened her shoulders and went in search of Maxima. She found the warrior and her grandmother sitting together talking softy. She hesitated to interrupt. Maxima shared a deeper link with her grandmother than with anyone else. It was evident in the adoring way the two looked at each other. Two pairs of identical pale blue eyes suddenly shifted to her.

  She blushed slightly at having been caught staring at them. “Our guest has arrived.”

  Gemma frowned. “I thought this was just going to be a family gathering tonight?”

  “It is,” Andra said softly, her eyes shifting to Maxima. “We’ve invited Sara for dinner.”

  The reaction was miniscule, but Andra could immediately see Maxima tense up. The warrior slowly came to her feet.

  “Where is she?”

  “Claire went to meet her.”

  Without another word, Maxima left the room.

  “Is that your plan?”

  Andra looked at her grandmother with wide eyes. “Plan?”

  “To get them together?”

  Andra shrugged. “I guess.”

  Gemma took a sip of her tea. “I want in on it.”

  Andra took a seat next to her grandmother, a small frown between her eyes. “Now, Grandma, I know you mean well, but I think I’ll be able to handle this.”

  Gemma placed her cup and saucer on the small table next to the so
fa before she turned narrowed eyes on Andra. “At the rate you’re going, I doubt poor Maxi is going to get laid anytime soon.”

  “Grandma!” Andra was horrified. This was exactly why she didn’t want her grandmother involved. Gemma forthrightness could scare Sara off. The pale eyes twinkled as they looked at Andra.

  “Don’t tell me you’ve turned into a prude now that you’re married, honey. As a youngster you were eager to find Anima so that Maxima could get…what did you call it again…a piece of tail.”

  Andra blushed furiously. She remembered making that statement to a very shocked Gemma. By then she had just discovered her own sexuality and was sleeping her way through Boston’s debutantes. A sudden hush fell over the room and Andra turned to the entrance to find Claire and Sara standing there. Sara looked a little uncomfortable at the stares and Andra quickly made her way over to their guest.

  “You made it,” she said after greeting Sara with a kiss on the cheek. “Let me introduce you to the rest of the Bells clan.”

  ***

  Sara was nervous. Not only was she in the presence of Boston royalty so to speak, but all the Bells women had one thing in common—they all resembled Mac. It took great effort to chat with them and not drown into those gorgeous pale eyes. She wondered where Mac was. She wanted—no—needed to thank the archaeologist for the flowers. Her gaze fell on a painting on the wall and drawn to it, she discreetly made her way over. This wasn’t here the last time she came to visit the Bells mansion. With a practiced eye she studied the painting. It was an original—a very old original. Her eyes travelled over the subject of the painting, her heart thumping in her chest.

  “My great-great-grandmother commissioned that painting,” a voice said behind her and with a shocked gasp, Sara turned to find Gemma standing behind her. The Bells matriarch’s sharp eyes studied her closely before moving to the painting behind her. “She approached Kallyvokas to do it.”

  Sara was well acquainted with the work of the 19th century Greek painter. She even had a few of his lesser known pieces in her gallery. The Bells ancestor made a great choice in Kallyvokas. His style and skill was such that it gave an almost lifelike quality to his work. It was more evident in this piece of… Who was this? Probably another Bells ancestor from the trademark raven hair and ice blue eyes. But were women wearing pants back then? She looked at Gemma and was startled to find the woman studying her closely. She remembered how Andra used to do the same to her in the beginning. It must be hereditary. She cleared her throat softly.

  “Who is this?”

  Gemma’s eyes softened perceptibly as they looked from her to the painting. “That, my dear, is Commander Maxima Kodon. Kodon means ‘bell’ in Greek. We’ve been using the translated version of her surname for over six hundred years now.”

  “Oh my…” Sara gasped as she stepped closer to study the painting. It was like looking at a picture of Mac. She was dressed in black leather with a sword on her hip. “This is Maxima the Magnificent? She’s…” Sara shook her head. “She’s gorgeous.” When her brain registered what she’d said, she blushed deeply. When she braved a look at Gemma, it was to find the older woman smiling broadly. “You all look like her.”

  “The oldest daughter always gets the looks. I didn’t have any other siblings, but my grandmother did and they were all dark-haired and dark eyed. Grandmother was the only one who had blue eyes.” She chuckled softly. “Maxima would’ve liked you too, you know. She loved the fairer sex just like my Andra.”

  Sara was convinced that she had never blushed so much in her life before. Gemma placed a hand on her arm.

  “I want you to do me a favor, dear.”

  Intrigued, Sara leaned closer. “Surely, if I can.”

  Those pale eyes stared deeply into hers. “I want you to meet me in the galleria after dinner. I want to introduce you to Maxima.”

  Sara smiled. “I’ve met her already. Andra loaned her to my gallery for six weeks.” Sara frowned when Gemma shook her head.

  “I don’t think you’ve been properly introduced. Another favor though.”

  “Yes?” This whole secrecy stuff was a little unnerving.

  “Let’s keep this between us,” Gemma said somberly, her eyes almost hypnotic as she stared at her. Sara couldn’t help but wonder if the woman was trying to hypnotize her into agreeing.

  Before she could answer the woman, Sara felt a slight frisson running down her spine. She knew instantly that Mac had entered the room. She turned away from Gemma and swallowed as her eyes fell on the woman. Mac was dressed in a black pantsuit with an electric blue shirt, which accentuated the color of her eyes. The short dark hair was still damp from a shower and styled so that a lock fell over her forehead. She looked absolutely magnificent. She didn’t know how it happened but she suddenly seemed to find herself halfway to Mac. The dark women towered over her as they smiled at each other.

  “Hello,” Sara said, unexpectedly shy and more than ever aware of the other pairs of eyes on them. She reached out and placed a hand on Mac’s arm. She just couldn’t resist touching the woman. “Thank you for the flowers. They were beautiful.”

  “Not as beautiful as you though,” the deep contralto murmured and Sara’s stomach did a flip flop. Mesmerized by Mac’s eyes she couldn’t look away. The soft clearing of a throat, made them look up to find Andra standing there.

  “Dinner is ready.”

  Sara noticed several pairs of eyes hastily look away as her eyes swept the room. She looked at Mac and found her staring down at her. What’s with these people and the way they looked at her? Mac held her arm out.

  “Shall we?”

  Charmed, she hooked onto the offered arm.

  CHAPTER 9

  Dinner was a very pleasant affair, enlivened with quirky tales and lots of laughter. Sara sat next to Mac and was surprised to find that almost everyone around the table made eye contact with the quiet woman on more than one occasion. It was almost as if they were reassuring themselves of her presence.

  Mac obviously means a lot to the family, but how does the archaeologist fit in? Andra introduced her as a cousin, but from what Gemma had said earlier, she was an only child. Gemma’s daughter, Mara was an only child and so was Andra. She looked up from her plate and found all eyes on her. She swallowed her mouthful quickly and washed it down with a sip of water.

  “I’m sorry, did I miss anything?”

  She turned to look at Mac, who was looking at her with a peculiar expression in her eyes.

  “Mara asked how much you know about Maxima.”

  “Oh,” Sara exclaimed and smiled. “Not much. Andra filled me in a bit and Claire had some really interesting documents about Maxima.”

  Mara smiled as she cut into her meat. “Then you know about the curse?”

  “Yes, I know about the curse. It states that Maxima will only become human again if someone could fall in love with her again or make her fall in love with them…a soul mate of some sort.”

  Seated as the head of the table, Gemma held up her hand. “Ah, not just anybody, my dear.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Gemma took a sip from her water glass and dapped at her lips with her napkin. “Over the years our ancestors have looked everywhere for ways to reverse the curse. In the 12th century a blind sorceress gave the only clue as to how to reverse the spell. In the case of Maxima she can only be human again when she meets Anima, her soul mate, and the woman who broke her heart in the first place. Their love would complete the circle and reverse the curse.”

  “But if I remember correctly, Anima killed herself shortly after what happened to Maxima. How could she be found again?” Sara looked around the table and was surprised to find that no one seemed to think that the blind sorcerer might’ve been spinning them a fine tale. She was no expert, but with Anima dead, there’s no way Maxima or anybody else for that matter would find Anima.

  “A great love like that settles in the soul, the very core of a human being. Even after the body depart
s this world, it remains, waiting to reconnect with its other half. Such a soul will wander the earth searching for eternity until it has found what it is looking for.”

  Sara looked at Mac. The woman had spoken without lifting her eyes from her dinner plate. Without thinking about it, she reached out and pushed a wayward strand of hair behind Mac’s ear. A dead silence fell over the table and she quickly dropped her hand and reached for her wine glass. After taking a sip she raised her eyes again to find everyone still looking at her.

  “I personally believe in the concept of soul mates,” she began, trying hard not to look at Mac. She couldn’t think straight when she looked into those beautiful eyes. “But with Maxima cast in stone and Anima’s soul wandering the globe, how will they ever meet?”

  “Each and every descendant inherited the responsibility to help with the search for Anima.” Claire said as she scooped a spoonful of peas into her daughter’s mouth. With the short genetic background Gemma had given her earlier, Sara noticed for the first time that Nadia had in fact inherited the classic Bells features. She was going to be a stunner one day if her mother’s looks were anything to go by. Claire dabbed at her daughter’s mouth with a napkin. “And before you question whether Anima really exists, she does.”

  “You sound very sure of it,” Sara said. She was curious, very curious.

  “Yes, because—ˮ

  There was a commotion at the head of the table and looking over; Sara was surprised to find that Mac’s chair was empty and the tall woman bending over Gemma. She also surged to her feet.

  “Gemma?”

  Now cradled in a somber-looking Mac’s arms, the older woman smiled weakly. “I’m fine. It’s been a rather long day for me. I think I’ll just go lie down for a few minutes.” Mac briskly carried the frail-looking matriarch out of the room.

  No one seemed worried by what had just transpired, making Sara wonder at the indifference the family showed regarding Gemma’s health. She turned to Andra and almost rolled her eyes when she found the woman looking at her. Dinner resumed, although more sedately and soon afterwards everyone deserted the dinner table, except for Claire who valiantly tried to coax more vegetables into her daughter. Bruce, on the other hand, joined his grandfather and great-grandfather in the den to watch a sports program. Still worried about Gemma, Sara sought out Andra.