Lauren Dane - Drawn Together

“This is really not your concern.”

Jonah kept eating. Mal was the youngest. He’d been spoiled more than any of them had been. But he was weaker against his mother than the rest as well. It was only a matter of time before he broke, and everyone in that room knew it.

“Now you know that’s a lie. Of course it’s my concern. It’s all our concern. Your wife is clearly unbalanced. She’s driving a wedge between you and your family and she has been for some time. We love you. We’ve let you go your own way. But this has to stop. At the very least give me your version of events.”

“She hates Daisy.” Mal put his fork down and ran a hand through his hair.

“Whatever for? She’s delightful.”

No one had ever told their parents about the strife that had been between the two women since Gwen had made a rather ugly and pretty blatantly racist scene. Since then Levi hadn’t spoken more than the words it took to warn her to keep her distance from his woman or there’d be hell to pay.

“What else have you all been keeping from me?”

Then Toby spilled. The entire story about the first time Gwen met Daisy when Gwen had accused Daisy of being a gold-digging whore, complete with racist overtones, to the situation on Saturday night.

The other brothers stared at him, mouths open.

“What? Fuck this noise. There is no way Gwen should have gotten away with it for so long. She’s an ugly bitch. I’m sorry, Mal, but she is.”

“Tobias, please limit your use of the word ‘fuck.’” Liesl sighed and looked around the table. “Why you didn’t tell me this, I do not know. There’s no way I would have had her in my home over the last few years if I had known.”

“Which is why they didn’t tell you.” Mal spoke and sounded so tired. “They’ve been protecting me.”

“What is your version of what happened Saturday night?”

“I can tell you Gwen’s version. But I believe Daisy and Raven’s version. Gwen says she wandered into the bathroom and was beset by both women. She was so upset I believed her. Even though in my heart I knew she was lying. I’ve moved out.”

“Jesus, Mal why didn’t you tell one of us? Where are you living? I have extra space. You’re welcome to stay as long as you like.” Jonah felt sick for his brother.

“Or with me. Daisy would be happy to have you with us, too. She doesn’t blame you and neither do I.”

“I’m looking for a house. I’ve got an attorney. We’re filing tomorrow or the next day.”

Liesl leaned close to him. “Darling, we love you. I’m sorry you felt you had to do this alone. Please tell us what you need.”

“Well, that was pretty nice.” He smiled at their mother and then around the table. “I needed to do it on my own. I was licking my wounds. I’ve known for a while that things weren’t going to get better.”

“How long?”

“About two years.”

Jonah snorted. They’d only been married two years as it was.

“I shouldn’t have married her. But I thought we could work it through. That once she got to know Daisy she’d lighten up. But it’s more than that.”

“She’s got a thing for Levi.”

“Subtle, Eli. Well done.” Levi sighed.

“Well, am I lying? I mean come on. The way she is about Daisy is ridiculous. It’s more than racism, though clearly that’s part of it. It’s that she would react that way to anyone with him. It’s Levi, not who he’s with. It’s that Mal isn’t Levi.”

“Sweet Christ.” Levi looked to Mal. “I hope you know I’d never do anything to facilitate this crush, if there is indeed one.”

“There is one. It’s more than that. She’s obsessed with you. She had an affair last year. The guy looked just like you.”

There was an uproar around the table and Jonah rapped several times on the tabletop to shut everyone up. “Okay, so we’re outraged. Let’s not make it worse on Mal. He’s doing what is right.”

“Indeed. Thank heavens for the prenup.”

“Cal Whaley did a great job on it.”

“Honestly I just want to be free of her. She can keep the house. I have no desire to turn her out into the street or anything. She’s got a good job. We have no kids. It could be worse. So much worse.”

“Yes, well.” Jonah agreed wholeheartedly.

“What does she say? Have you told her?”

“We had a very big fight on the way home from the benefit. I moved out that night. She thinks I’m working out my mad. My attorney advised me against telling her I was going to file. She’ll be served at work and I’ll have a moving crew go in and take my stuff at the same time. She can have the furnishings that aren’t Warner antiques. I just want what was mine when we got married. The rest is all hers anyway.”

“Well, there’s some hope for you, darling. Levi and Jonah have done much better on their second choices. Just get this marriage dissolved and move on. We’re behind you all the way.” 

The weeks passed as Seattle moved from the delightful color of early fall to the dreary gray of rainy and cold late November.

To Raven it used to be the time she hightailed it out of the Northwest and sought out Los Angeles or Hawaii. But she had roots now. Reasons to stick around. One of them currently looked through a book of birthday cakes Jules Lamprey, a friend of Gillian’s and a pretty wonderful baker, had brought over to Erin’s.

His fourth birthday was approaching and Erin was planning his party to coincide with Thanksgiving and their annual football grudge match thing that Raven made a point to miss every year. She usually made it a point to fly in after dinner and right before Alexander’s birthday. She’d never miss that.

But now she’d be coming over to Gillian and Adrian’s place to help with the food prep while they all played their football game outside. Because Erin had asked her to.

But for the time being, Alexander was trying to choose a cake.

“I bet Jules could make a TARDIS cake.”

His eyes widened and Jules laughed. “I could. I’ve never made a TARDIS cake, but it would be lots of fun.”

“Can I have a Dalek cake?”

Raven looked it up quickly and turned her iPad to Jules. “Just in case you didn’t know.”

Jules’s smile was one of those brilliant girl-next-door things that seemed to enrapture males of all ages. Birds sang and mice made clothes. Or something. She was pretty okay though, as people went.

“I’m a huge Doctor Who fan. I think a Dalek cake would be really awesome. I bet we could put mini doughnuts down the sides.”

Raven nodded. “Doughnuts on a cake? Alexander, I definitely think you should have a Dalek cake.”

His eyes were so wide there wasn’t much to do but lean down to kiss his forehead.

“Yes, please. Doughnuts, Daleks and cake!”

“All right then. I’m sort of excited about this one.” Jules closed the book. “I hear you’re both coming out with us tomorrow night. I haven’t been out dancing in so long.”

Jonah had actually craftily conned her into this “group date” thing. His daughter was coming back home for Thanksgiving and he’d be busy with all that stuff so he wanted a fun-filled evening to tide him over. She assured him she wasn’t upset that he wanted to spend time with his kid, for heaven’s sake. He then told her he wanted Raven and Carrie to meet while she was back in town.

No pressure.

When she opened her door at his knock he took a long, meandering look from the toes of her shoes up to her face. He paused at her nipples, of course.

“You wearing it?”

He meant the chain he’d left in a box on her bed before he’d left to go home several nights before. In it was also the dress she currently wore.

“You spoil me.” And she liked it. She’d never been spoiled before.

“Listen, before we go, I want to talk to you about something.”

“Ugh, really? Am I going to want to punch you in the throat after you tell me?”

He laughed and led her to the couch where he pulled her to sit with him. “I hope not. But it’s been on my mind. Up front, I’m telling you this not because I did anything wrong, but because if you heard about it from someone else you might get hurt and I can’t have that.” He brushed a fingertip over her heart, against the curve of her breast. His fingers sought the cool metal of the choker she always wore. For him.

“You better tell me because now I’m getting worried.”

“At the Halloween thing at Gillian’s, Levi asked me if I wanted him to do a background check on you.”

Was that it? She’d frankly expected him to have done it already anyway. “Oh. Well, what did you find out?”

He shook his head. “I said no. Or rather, look, as he was talking Erin overheard and she was really pissed off. She tore a strip off both of us. Her anger was righteous. She did it to defend you. And you deserved defending. But I was about to tell him no, thanks, when she came down and got in my face.”

Erin hadn’t said a word. Still, it made her smile to imagine what Erin had been like. Her usually laid-back and happy friend could really get scary when people she cared about got threatened.

“I expect your brother was concerned about my lack of stability in the past. He’s just trying to protect you. Though if Erin got that mad he probably made a gold digger comment.” Which would hurt her feelings considering she’d never done anything like that, ever. She was used to being misjudged, but it still sucked.

“Charlotte has treated me like an ATM these last years. Hell, pretty much since day one. She came from money so I figured she was used to a certain level of comfort and as her husband it was my job to provide it. And then when she had Carrie she used to use that to get more from me. A few thousand here to go on spa trips. Plastic surgery. New wardrobes. Whatever. Even after the divorce she was like that. He’s sensitive about it because he saw me get hurt by it. It doesn’t excuse any hurt you’d have felt if it had happened in your earshot, and believe me when I tell you that when Erin was finished defending you, Levi felt like complete and utter shit. He likes you. He was just trying to protect me. Anyway, I’m not doing it and he’s never asked again. I was going to let it be once I figured Erin hadn’t told you, but I began to panic about how hurt you might be if you heard it from anyone else but me.”