Page 28 of The Marriage Auction 2: Part 3

“Ohhhhh I’ll get it! Do we want the cheap stuff in the garage fridge we use for birthdays or the dusty one in the fancy glass cabinet we’re not allowed to open?” Paris asked, and I had to hold back my laughter because I didn’t want to be rude.

“This is a momentous occasion, Paris. Bring out the Don Perignon your Uncle Tyrell got us for our twentieth anniversary,” Leon hollered.

“So the dusty bottle?” she clarified, and I lost my ability to hold off the laughter. I also made a mental note for Memphis and me to send them a new Dom to store for another special occasion.

Robin and Odessa collected champagne glasses and Leon opened the bottle and poured a glass for each of us, including just a sip for the girls under twenty-one.

Memphis and I cuddled together as Leon lifted his glass, standing next to his wife.

“To our son Memphis and his fiancée Naomi. May you have as many beautiful years as I have had with the love of my life, and as many as my father and mother.” I glanced at his mom who dabbed at her teary eyes with a handkerchief. “And may you love one another until you take your last breath.”

“To Memphis and Naomi.” He held his glass aloft.

“Cheers!” everyone cried out and we sipped the sweet champagne and then heard the telltale tinkling of silverware on glass.

Memphis grinned devilishly. “I think they want us to kiss.”

“I think you’re right. Come here soon-to-be-husband.”

He looped his arms around me, and I put mine around his shoulders, both of us holding our glasses loosely. “Come here wife-to-be.”

We kissed to the roar of the Taylor family clapping and cheering.

I’d never felt more accepted, nor had I been happier in my entire life.

Episode 67

Not in a Million Years

RHODES

The few days after we told Emily about our engagement were some of the greatest. My daughter flourished under Maia’s and Alana’s attention. It was as if my bratty teen was turning into a mature young lady right before my eyes. I couldn’t have been more grateful or surprised at the turn of events. Something about committing to Maia, and sharing that happiness with Emily, made her feel more content and secure within her place in the family unit. Not that I’d ever given her any reason to feel she wasn’t accepted, but perhaps years of her mother’s selfish antics had taken a larger toll on her than I had realized.

Emily was a new person. The surliness and angst was all but gone. Now we were gifted with big smiles, laughter, and more hugs in a few days than I’d gotten from her in a year. The summer adventure I’d planned had gone completely sideways, yet my daughter rolled with all the changes beautifully. She was coming out of her shell, sharing her thoughts and feelings, and I had Maia and Alana to thank for it.

“Dad! Daaaaaaad!” Emily called from the other side of the room.

I left the painting I was studying and went over to her.

“Em, don’t yell like that in the Louvre. You’re supposed to be quietly observing the art,” I gently chastised.

Her expression went blank as she looked around, leaned forward and whispered, “We’re in a museum not a library, Dad.”

I couldn’t hide a chuckle. “Touché, honey. Still, people are observing, some studying pieces, possibly for school, and we don’t want to be rude, do we?”

“No, I guess not. I’ll keep it down,” she agreed, proving yet again that she was changing and maturing before my eyes. “Look at that woman. Doesn’t she look a lot like Katie Holmes?” She pointed to a woman wearing a yellow dress and a cardigan. Her brown hair was cut into a simple bob, and she did look exactly like the actress. In fact, the security team following a short distance away suggested the same.

“Yes, actually that does look like her.”

“I ran right into her, and we looked at one another as if both of us recognized something important. Me because I realized she was a famous actress; her I think because she doesn’t want anyone to know she’s here. Should I ask her for a selfie?” She bounced up and down while squeezing my hands. My daughter was about five seconds from losing her mind. The excitement of running into a celebrity was obliterating all levels of intelligent thought processes.

“No Em, you shouldn’t.” I held her hand and moved her farther away.

“But…” She kept looking back at the woman.

Once I got her closer to where Alana and Christophe were quietly discussing a piece, I turned her away from the woman. “Em, I know it seems like an exciting moment, but that actress is just a woman trying to have an experience enjoying art. If you make a scene, she’s going to have to leave, and that isn’t fair, is it?”

“But she’sKatie Holmes,” she breathed.

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