Indelible Love - Emily's Story (39 page)

By the end of the conversation,
everyone had a to-do list. Once the wedding dress and tuxedo were
taken care of here, we’d fly back with Gram and finish up the rest
of the wedding preparation.

Gram’s driver took us shopping the
rest of the day. Gram and I walked into a designer wedding dress
shop while she sent Jake over to get fitted for his tuxedo. As soon
as we walked in, Gram and I instantly gravitated toward the same
wedding dress. The silk organza gown that hung on the first rack
called my name. This was the gown for me.

“Emily, go try it on,” Gram
urged.

The sales lady led me to a suite-sized
dressing room and helped me into my dream wedding gown.

The gown fit as though it was made
expressly for me. The slightly puffed sleeves naturally fell off my
shoulders and the clean bodice hugged my waistline. The skirt was
also a clean sheet of pure silk organza. It had no lace, no
beading, and no details—just the simplicity I wanted. There was a
semi long train and a bow that tied beautifully in the back. I felt
like Cinderella going to her ball.

“Gram, I love this dress.”

“Emily, I think we are done looking.
You look gorgeous,” she exclaimed with an approving nod. “Let’s buy
this dress.”

“Gram, Jake and I will pay for this
dress. I don’t want you to spend any more money on us. Your ring is
present enough.”

“Nonsense. Don’t you know that I’m the
richest person in this family?” She probably wasn’t
kidding.

“Thank you, again, Gram!” I said while
hugging her.

“Emily, you’ve made my favorite
grandson a very happy man. I hope you two will love each as much as
his grandfather and I loved each other.”

“We will,” I promised. “We
will.”

The sales lady agreed to ship the
dress to their Los Angeles store overnight, and I would have my
final fittings over there. We walked over to Jake, and he was
finishing up with the tailor. I was overcome with emotion thinking
of Jake standing at the altar. He looked so handsome.

“Why are you back so soon?”

“We’re done.” I was
beaming.

“Jakey, your bride is going to be
stunning in her dress!”

“She’s always stunning, Gram.” He was
delighted.

The tailor put the last touches on
Jake’s tuxedo and we walked to Harvey Nichols Department Store and
had a bowl of noodles for dinner. I hoped we were done for the day,
but Gram wanted to buy a few more items for the wedding.

“Jakey, you go look around by yourself
in the department store and I’m going to take Emily up to
lingerie.”

My face turned red at the thought of
buying lingerie with Jake’s grandmother.

“Gram, I’m coming with you,” he
absolutely insisted. “I should have a say in this. It’s really more
for me than it is for her.”

I was mortified at the thought of both
of them arguing over which lingerie would look better on me. I
hoped Gram would not allow Jake to follow us. Without a doubt, Jake
won this battle. He practically ran to the lingerie department with
a silly grin the whole way up. Gram and Jake enjoyed picking out
lingerie while I stood there flustered. Jake, of course, picked out
the skimpiest outfits. Gram picked out classic and demure ones I
felt more comfortable looking at.

Jake feverishly summoned me with a
continuous curling of his hand and suggested, “Emily, try these on.
I can come in and help you if you like.”

Gram and I both slapped him on the
arm. Jake was having a ball.

Luckily, Gram didn’t make
me try on any of the pieces but she purchased them
all
.

“Gram, I don’t think I need so many
outfits,” I said, trying to sway her from buying me too
much.

“Emily, a girl can never have too many
diamonds or lingerie.” With time, I could get used to this
adage.

“Amen!” Jake added.

We got back to the flat exhausted. The
maid set up our rooms while I helped Gram up to her room. I noticed
that she had two twin beds in her room and I asked if I could sleep
with her in the unused twin bed.

“Would you mind, Gram? I’d love to
hear stories about Jake’s grandpa if you’re not too
tired.”

“That would be lovely, Emily. This bed
hasn’t been used since my husband died two years ago. I’ll have the
maid get it ready for you.”

“Thank you, Gram.”

Jake and I got ready for bed, and we
said our good nights by his door. He watched me walk up to Gram’s
room and curiously followed me in. When he realized that we were
sleeping in the same room, he insisted on sleeping with
us.

I tried to send him away.

“Jake, there’s no room in here for
you. Where will you sleep?”

“Gram, I can’t believe you let Emi in
here, but not your favorite grandson. Either I bring my own
mattress and sleep between you two or Emi has to move back to the
guest room. That’s not fair,” he whined.

“How old are you? You sound like a
five-year-old.” I pretended to scold. But, Gram and I both couldn’t
resist him. We gave in to his tantrum.

Jake and the butler brought in the
mattress and the box spring and placed it between Gram and
myself.

“What, no bed frame?” I
asked.

“I was tempted, but the butler looked
annoyed with me so I thought I’d stop here.”

So here we were—Gram, Jake, and me
sleeping next to one another on three separate beds. It was a Kodak
moment.

I asked Gram to tell me stories about
Jake’s late grandfather, and she started and ended about the same
time. She was so exhausted from the day, she fell right asleep.
Jake swiftly jumped onto my twin-size mattress and cuddled
me.

“I knew this would happen. The minute
her head hits the pillow, Gram is out. We finally get some alone
time. I don’t think I’ve touched you since we got to
London.”

“Is this why you wanted to sleep in
this room? I’m still upset with you for your indiscrete confession
about my lack of experience. I told you I’m not letting you touch
me till we get married.”

He paid no attention. “We can change…”
his lips started on the hollow of my neck, “your lack of experience
status…” I became immobilized by his mouth devouring every inch,
“right now if you like.”

“Are…you…nuts…?” I said talking
slowly, breathing heavily. “Gram is five feet away from us.” And
yet, I didn’t refuse him. “You can stay here for a bit but you need
to move back down to your bed.”

I could hear Jake’s silent laugh. He
knew I wanted his lips to stay on my body the entire night if
possible. I feigned a white flag and allowed Jake to stay with me
the rest of the night. I had the best night’s rest since we got to
Europe.

We left for Heathrow early in the
morning but Gram chose not to fly back with us. She had too many
loose ends to tie up before coming to the States. She promised to
come in two weeks. On our way to the airport, Jake brought up a
thought that was on the forefront of my mind.

“Emi? When do you want to go see your
parents? Don’t you think I should meet them before we get
married?”

I instantly started to cry.

“Love, why are you crying?”

“Because I missed them so much when I
was in Japan. I almost flew to Texas one of the weekends to
apologize to them. Last time I was there, I said a lot of hurtful
things and was really mean to them. Those words have haunted me for
months.”

“What did you say to them?” With his
arms around me, I tried to feel comforted.

“I ranted like a child about them
being happily together while leaving me by myself, miserable. I
apologized in the end, but I’m sure my parents were up in heaven
crying with me.”

“Let’s go make things right, and I
need to apologize as well. I’m sure they’re not too happy with me
since I’m the one who made you cry. Can we postpone New York and
stop by Texas instead? From there we will go home.”

“Thank you, Jake. I would love
that.”

“There’s nothing to thank me for.
Remember, we are a family now. Just like you treat my parents as
your own, I will do the same with your parents.”

Chapter 19
Texas Revisited

Before we got to the gravesite, we
picked up some yellow Gerbera daisies and I prepared my heart to
see Mom and Dad again. Coming here always brought joy and sorrow.
When I stood before my parents’ graves, I could feel their warmth
around me. This warmth surrounded me and loved me almost as acutely
as if they were standing right next to me. But, after the initial
joy, I was all too aware that my parents were not with me anymore,
and nothing I did or felt would bring them back. I wondered what it
would be like seeing them with Jake—my comfort, my future
husband.

“You are in such deep thought. What
are you musing over?” We were almost where my parents
lay.

“Even with you by my side, I was
wondering whether I would still be sad when I saw them.”

“Why would you be sad?” Not having
lost a parent, this was a part of me Jake could never fully
understand.

“I’m usually elated to be with them,
but sometime during the visit, I get sad knowing I have to leave
them here. They can never go back with me. I can’t ever bring them
back to life.”

A compassionate expression and a
loving embrace was his answer to my pain.

“Jake,” I turned to him as we stood
before my parents, “these are my parents. Mom. Dad. I want to
introduce you to Jake. This is the man I want to spend the rest of
my life with.”

Jake started talking to Mom and Dad,
and it looked like he was going to tell them about our entire
courtship.

“Hello Mr. and Mrs. Logan. My name is
Jake Reid and I am late, but here to ask you for Emily’s hand in
marriage. I’m sorry I didn’t come earlier to ask for your
permission. I should have been here back on New Year’s Day with
Emily but I was a fool. I’ve hurt Emily a lot since Christmas, but
I promise you I will love your daughter as much as you love her if
you’ll allow me to marry her. I’ll take care of her and protect her
from any harm. I’ll make sure to love her so fully and completely
that when she comes to see you in the future, she won’t leave sad,
missing your love. Thank you for bringing her up so beautifully.
Emily has an incredible warmth and sincerity I’m sure she learned
from both of you.”

Momma. Daddy. Isn’t he
wonderful? Thank you for helping me get Jake back in my life, and
I’m sorry I was so mean to you the last time I was here. You don’t
know how much I regretted my words. I know you both only want the
best for me, and I know it hurts you to see me alone. What do you
think of Jake? Isn’t he handsome, Momma? I wish you could both be
here and experience this joy with me. Oh, Daddy…who will walk me
down the aisle?

Jake stopped talking to my parents as
soon as he heard me cry.

“What’s the matter, Emi?” He hugged
me. “I really should carry a pack of tissues around with me. You
cry way too easily.” He lightly chuckled and kissed my
forehead.

“I was just asking my dad who will
walk me down the aisle.” How ironic that I would feel so sad about
walking down the aisle—a walk that would begin my forever with
Jake.

“You know my dad would love to walk
you down. You can also walk down on your own, and that would make a
beautiful statement of how strong you have been, coming this far on
your own. We have a few weeks. Let’s think about it. You
interrupted my conversation with your parents. I finished telling
them how we met and I was getting to our botched weekend in
Bacara.”

He turned to talk to them some more. I
heard him talking but went into my own thoughts.

“So, Mom, I was wondering when Emily
developed such a foodie taste bud? Has she always liked food this
much? I sent her to Le Bernardin when she was in New York, and you
wouldn’t believe the texts I got from her. She sent me a whole blog
of every item she ate.”

Do you like him, Momma?
After I left you here, I went to Japan and spent four months
teaching. Alone but grateful to experience another culture, I
traveled throughout the country. Can you believe I did this by
myself? I also ate some delicious food. Oh, I didn’t tell you.
Sarah and Charlie finally got married a few weeks ago. They are in
a state of bliss.

“After many months of searching for
her,” I heard Jake ramble, “I finally got help from Max—yes,
Max—and found your daughter hidden away in Japan. She was, of
course, at a restaurant ready to eat another ten-plus course meal.
I honestly don’t know where she hides all those calories. I know
the beauty comes from Mom, but where does that metabolism come
from?”

I laughed to myself. Jake was sitting
right in between both of my parents’ graves explaining our entire
seventh-month dating / broken-up days.

Almost an hour later, I heard Jake
say, “I’m going to assume you love me like my parents love Emily
and are giving us your blessing to get married. I know it broke
your heart to leave her so early, but I promise to make up for your
absence. I will take good care of her. Thank you for Emily, and I
love you both.”