Stealing Cupid's Bow (21 page)

She looked down and took a deep breath before continuing and Alexander could see that she was holding herself together by a thread. She wasn’t just making a speech. She was saying good-bye to her parents, to the end of all new memories for them, and it tore at his heart.

“It’s the little things that form the glue that hold a marriage together, you know? To this day, my father still holds doors open for my mother and pulls her chair out for her. I often joke that my mother hasn’t touched a door handle or a chair back in years.” The crowd chuckled. “Every other week, without fail, my mother makes my father’s favorite dish. Spaghetti and meatballs with extra-garlicky bread. And every Christmas they have a special gift exchange, just the two of them, at night with candlelight when they think I am in bed sleeping.”

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “And to this day my parents still hold hands when they are out together. I must have millions of memories like those, and I wish I could share them all with you. But that’s not the point. The point is that I realized something about those small gestures that we all forget. I realized that it all happens because of love. They are the unconscious expression of your deepest feelings.

“And my parents sure do love each other. A lot. They will forever be role models to all of us as what it is like to truly love another person.”

Her parents were looking at each other now from their opposing tables. The crowd was silent, watching her. At the front of the room Alexander could see Raine glowing with her deep love for her parents. It was strong. She was surrounded by a pulsating cloud the color of a fine cabernet.

Raine continued her speech, “So everyone please raise your glass in this toast to my parents. Happy anniversary, Mom and Dad. I love you both with all my heart.” All hands raised glasses and drank to the toast and then they started to clap and cheer.

From behind him, Jane whispered, “Where’s the music? The music is supposed to start and they’re supposed to dance.” She looked around in concern but there was no waiter handy for her to speak to. “I’d better speak to the manager,” she said stepping back out the door.

Cole and Donovan were watching him, waiting to see what orders he would give now. The arrows of indifference had been discharged. There was nothing more for them to do here.

But he couldn’t leave yet. He turned back to look at Raine. She was standing there at the front of the room all by herself, looking very small, with a brave smile on her face as she tried to hide her sorrow. And he decided it wouldn’t be right for her to smooth things over all alone. Not when there was something so simple he could do. Lifting his hand, he snapped his fingers and music began to play, not just any music but her parents’ special song. The one that had played the night he’d seen them dancing together in the living room after Raine’s father had proposed.

He hoped it would be enough. It was all he could think to do for Raine and her parents now. To give them a couple more memorable seconds before it all came apart.

Each of them stood and walked to the center of the dance floor. All the anger was gone now and some confusion was evident but as they came closer a light of remembrance sparked in their eyes and they began to dance.

Alexander could see the sadness in Raine’s eyes. He could tell she knew it was the last time she would see them together in this way. His shoulders drooped and he turned to leave. One more disappointment to mark against his bow. He raised a hand to push the door open but Donovan’s clapped a hand on his shoulder and stayed him.

“Boss, look,” he said. His eyes were locked on something across the room. Cole was looking too, the same surprised expression on his face. “Whoa,” he said.

Alexander turned.

The large field of energy that Raine had been emitting was no longer with Raine. It was now moving, floating across the dance floor by itself. When it reached her parents, it enfolded them into its vibrating depths.

Alexander could not remember ever seeing such a phenomenon. Auras gave off energy, yes, but he’d never seen one act in such a way before. He was mystified. It wasn’t dissipating. It was as if her love had taken on a life all its own.

The dancing couple began to speak to each other and he used his control of the air to bring the words to him so he could hear them as well.

“Well, guess this is it,” Mr. Daniels said.

“I suppose so,” said Mrs. Daniels.

But neither of them looked as though they could recall the reason why. To Alexander’s surprise the aura energy was now penetrating and infusing their auras. The indifference he had injected them with was diffusing and giving way to the red cloud.

No more words were said for a moment as they continued to sway to the music and he saw new expressions coming over their faces. It was very subtle but Alexander was shocked to see an awareness coming back to them, as if they were waking up. The redness continued to merge and blend and penetrate until he could barely see the indifference anymore.

Mrs. Daniels hesitantly looked at her husband. “You know, it’s actually going to be a very big change not being together anymore. Separate doesn’t necessarily mean better off.”

“Huh. It’s going to be expensive, too,” Mr. Daniels grunted.

They were silent for another few beats and then Mr. Daniels took a deep breath and said, “You know, I don’t even know how things got so out of hand. I know things have been rough since I retired but isn’t that usually just a phase? How did everything escalate this far?”

“I don’t know,” she said with wonder.

“Truthfully, Mary, I just want things to be the way they were. I recall a lot of good times between us. Don’t you?”

“I do remember.” They were gazing at each other, their eyes shining.

“Remember when I pulled your wedding dress out of the closet while I was painting and got paint all over the skirt? We got over that.”

She nodded. “And the time I accidentally flushed the ring your grandmother gave you down the toilet? You forgave me for that.”

“So why is everything so different now? I know we’ve been angry, Mary, and it’s been building for a while now but, I hate to say this, I can’t even remember what we’re
really
fighting about. Do you remember why so much animosity built between us?” he asked.

She looked at him and considered. “I…why? I don’t know why.”

They both started to laugh and Alexander could see something that he never expected to see. There was a flicker, a slight burst and then he distinctly saw a spark of love come from each of them, from their own auras, not from the energy surrounding them.

“What do you make of that, boss?” Donovan asked.

Alexander had no idea what to answer for he’d never seen anything like it. He was witnessing love fighting its way through the indifference, somewhere he’d never thought it could return. It struggled from inside both of them to break through like the flickering embers of a fire trying to ignite. Raine’s love and her words must have caused an override of some kind in the power of the indifference.

The color was not just the color of alignment between two auras. It was pure, true love struggling on its own to exist like a newly hatched chick. And with its struggle Alexander felt something flicker within him as well, something he hadn’t felt in a long time. Hope.

Another flicker, another flare popped up. The red cloud haze was beginning to dissipate and turn pick as it diffused and began to fade away.

In that moment Alexander knew he had to make a decision, a very important decision,
the most
important decision of his life, and finally he decided…
to believe
.

With swift and sure hands he raised his bow and loaded two gold-tipped arrows onto it. There was no time to waste. Cole and Donovan stepped back in astonishment. He paused for the barest moment to watch with a sharp, discerning eye for exactly the right moment to release. How he knew he couldn’t exactly say but only an expert, a god such as he, would even have any hope of making this shot and righting all the distortion that had taken place.

Time seemed to slow into fractions of a second and there was no hesitation within him when the moment came. He released as he detected the very beginning of a spark in them both. The arrows went streaking across the room to meet them and they embedded themselves in each parent with flawless timing. It was like flames meeting oxygen. The two flickers roared at once to full strength and engulfed them in full body auras from head to toe.

True love.

They bent their heads together to kiss and the whole room gave a great shout. The clapping and cheering of the onlookers reached a new height.

Alexander stepped back in wonder. The beautiful sight filled his soul with passion and life. His bow warmed and vibrated in his hands with a new vitality. Both of his men exclaimed as their crossbows hummed on their backs, too. This was the job that he’d been created for, what he had been born to do. The rightness of it surged within him.

Looking back at the years he’d wasted in denial filled him with remorse. How many people had lived and died in that time never knowing the glory of love? Hundreds. Thousands. No, millions. It couldn’t happen anymore. Raine had been right all along. It was all connected with him. He was filled with a new sense of purpose and determination that things would change starting now.

“Amazing,” Cole said. His eyes were wide as he took in the dancing couple and then looked at his crossbow.

“Good work, boss,” Donovan said thumping him on the back.

“When do we get our chance to put together a match like that?” Cole asked.

Alexander could see the eagerness in his eyes. Had it always been there in his men and he’d never noticed? He felt sorry now that he’d been depriving his men of their true purpose. It had gone on for much too long.

“Soon,” he told them. He meant it. His business was about to undertake a massive restructuring. No longer would they patch couples together. From now on they would deal only in true love.

Jane stepped back into the room. “What happened? Did they get the music on?” And then she caught sight of the couple dancing on the floor. She clasped her hands to her chest and smiled.

“May I have this dance?” Cole asked extending a hand to her.

“Sure,” Jane said. Her gray eyes filled with surprise.

Cole tucked her hand under his arm and led her to the dance floor. It looked like there would be more than one happy ending tonight. Other couples began making their way to the floor as well.

Alexander’s gaze found Raine. She was no longer standing up front at the microphone. She’d moved to the side of the room and was staring at him. Had she seen him draw on her parents again? Did she understand what had been done? Could she ever understand how he had been changed by her? He made his way over to her through the crowd. There was confusion in her eyes.

The song had changed and other couples were moving out to the dance floor. “Dance with me,” he said and pulled her by the hand to the middle of the dance floor. She followed him limply.

“What happened?” she asked him with tortured eyes. “Did they need a second indifference arrow to fix what I did?”

“No they didn’t.”

“Then…was it arrows of hate?”

He shook his head and brought her closer. “No.” He slid her arms around his neck and smiled down at her.

“Love?” she guessed again with disbelief.

He nodded.

“But I thought you said there was no fix after indifference.”

“It turns out I was wrong.”

“You were?” Her mouth dropped open.

“It all started with you. Your love for them…had an effect. Your parents, as well, have something very special. Between the three of you fighting against it, the indifference didn’t even have a chance. I just helped things along at the end.”

She whooped and hugged him close. “Alexander, you don’t know what this means to me! Thank you so much! Thank you!” Joy suffused her being. She smiled the biggest, most beautiful smile he’d ever seen and he was glad that he’d been the one to help place it there.

She spared a glance at her parents and he looked, too. They were in their own private world dancing close and talking in low voices. He didn’t bother to bring their words to his ear. It was a private moment.

Raine turned back to him, her smile transitioning to puzzlement. “But why? Why did you finally help me? You said from the beginning that you wouldn’t.”

He tightened his arms around her. She was a treasure that he never wanted to part with. Not only was she beautiful but she had the most loving, compassionate heart he’d ever encountered.

“That’s where I have you to thank,” he said.

“For what?”

“For bringing me back to myself. For having faith. You were right.”

“I was? About which part?”

“About all of it. I was jaded and cynical about love. I have been for…well, a long time. But you and your parents proved me wrong. Tonight I saw something I thought I would never see. Love struggling to survive on its own. It was there before me as clear as anything and it’s a truth I can no longer deny. That’s why I shot those last arrows. Your parents belong together.” He pulled her closer and lightly kissed her lips. “And so do we,” he whispered. Her eyes lit with pleasure from his words. He lowered his mouth to hers once more and engaged her in a mind numbing bliss that promised more to come.

From a young age, Jewel Quinlan has had an abundant imagination and strong desire to write novels.  She particularly enjoys writing paranormal and fantasy romance. An avid traveler, she has visited fifteen countries so far (which she enjoys using as settings in her novels) and has plans to see more of the world. She has a particular fondness for Bavaria and studies the German language as one of her hobbies. During the day, she works as a pharmaceutical sales representative and, at night, she writes romance. She currently lives in Orange County, California with her two dogs; Shimmer and Penny.

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