One Woman's Heart (Finding Love Book 7), page 3
He startled as if his thoughts were far away. “No, and they don’t want me out there, either. I usually end up hitting the ball on someone else’s fairway.”
“I’ve never played, but I’ve been told it’s harder than it looks.”
“Like many things in life. Ironically enough, my first job was at a golf course. I went around after the course closed and gathered up all the lost balls.”
“That must have been tedious.”
“I didn’t mind. I got to drive a golf cart, and it was a great place to bring a girl. It was just me, her, and the moon.”
Holly smiled. “A romantic setting that didn’t cost you a dime.”
“It wasn’t very romantic when the other guy who worked with me set off the sprinkler system. My date’s father wasn’t too pleased when I brought her back home soaked to the skin. She wasn’t allowed to go out with me again.”
“I guess not. Why are you standing out here?”
“I’m waiting for Jordan. One of his friends called him. Knowing how loud he can get, I told him to go outside.”
“I meant to tell him that a man came into the shop yesterday with a big box of video games. Most of them are for PlayStation, but there are a few for Xbox. I’ve got them at the house so he can look through them.”
“He’ll love that, but if he wants any, he’s going to pay for them.”
“I’d much rather have him help me clean out the gutters on my house.”
“He can do that and still pay for the games. He needs to learn that friends and neighbors do things for each other without expecting anything in return.”
“If you say so, but I’m sure he knows that already. I’ve never seen someone his age so eager to help.”
Devon’s smile grew. “Don’t take this wrong, but the fact that you’re young and very pretty has a lot to do with his eagerness to help.”
Holly knew she was blushing, but was powerless to stop it. “I don’t think that has anything to do with it.”
“We’ll agree to disagree. As for your gutters, Jordan should have time tomorrow afternoon if you’re free.”
“That would be great.”
“I’ll send him over after we get back from taking my mother to lunch. She and my dad used to go out to eat every Sunday after church. Since he died, Jordan and I have kept up the tradition.”
“It’s nice of you to do that. How long has it been since he passed?”
“Almost two years.”
“I lost my mom four years ago. I thought it would get easier, but I miss her now more than ever. It sounds silly, but I still talk to her. I know she can’t hear me, but it’s my way of keeping her involved in my life.”
“Everyone handles loss in their own way. Where are Summer and Garrett going on their honeymoon?”
“Jamaica.”
“Good choice. It’s a lot warmer there right now.” He pushed back the sleeve of his coat and looked at the sports watch on his wrist. “It’s later than I thought. I’ve got another wedding to attend today. My commanding officer is getting married at four-thirty.”
“Poor Jordan. He’ll have to stay in his suit even longer.”
“Save your sympathy for me. Jordan is getting dropped off at a friend’s house to spend the night.”
“Don’t let all that freedom go to your head.”
He rolled his eyes. “Not a problem. I’ll probably be in bed before he will.”
“You sound like me. I’m not much for staying out late. My boyfriend is always making fun of me about that. Last weekend, I fell asleep in the theater.”
“I’ve done that a few times myself.”
“I should probably get back inside. They’ll be cutting the cake soon.”
“My first wife told me that if I smashed cake in her face, I’d be honeymooning alone. She was worrying over nothing; I wouldn’t have done it anyway. My second wife wasn’t so reserved; she thoroughly enjoyed coating my face with icing.”
Holly felt a stirring of sympathy for him. He’d been married twice and was still raising his son alone. “There’s no telling what Summer might do. She’s capable of anything.”
He walked over and opened one of the double doors leading into the ballroom. “I’m going to say my goodbyes to the happy couple and get ready for round 2.”
Later when Holly stood with everyone else and watched Summer and Garrett run through a shower of bird seed, their faces bright with happiness, she couldn’t help but smile. On a day like this, when everything was so perfect, it was easy to believe that love was a force to be reckoned with; a stalwart fortress standing tall against any and all enemies. Something one would earnestly seek and fight vigorously to preserve. Something that made life worth living.
But would it be like that on all the other days? When everything wasn’t perfect?
The romantic side of her wanted it to be so, but then again, her ideas about love had been gleaned from the pages of books and the movies she spent too much time watching. Other than Scott, Holly didn’t have a lot of practical experience with it. By the time she was old enough to date, the realities of her mother’s illness overshadowed such trivial things as boyfriends. Her life revolved around maintaining some semblance of normalcy in a world that was quickly turning into a nightmare.
It wasn’t until after her mother’s death that she realized how isolated from everything and everyone she’d become. Running into a girl she’d known in high school changed all that. Like the season after which she was named, Summer brought an infusion of sunlight into the winter that had become Holly’s lonely existence. In addition to giving Holly her first exposure to the inner workings of a large family, she also pushed her to reenter the social scene she’d left behind.
This process hadn’t been without its growing pains. The years spent taking care of her only parent had matured Holly beyond her years, making it difficult to fit in with others her age. In Scott (who was five years older), she found someone who shared her more serious outlook. With him, she felt the first stirrings of what she thought must be love. When he confessed that he shared her feelings, her joy was complete.
Then December arrived and their seemingly perfect relationship began to show signs of strain. In desperation, she did something she’d come to regret. Something that hadn’t made any difference. They’d been in a sort of situational limbo ever since. Would they be able to recapture the magic of those early weeks together? Or had her dreams of a happily ever after with Scott been just that?
Chapter Four
Devon didn’t have to wonder how Holly was spending her first evening in the house without Summer. The black SUV sitting next to her car answered that question. When he hadn’t seen Scott at the reception, he wondered if things had cooled off between them. All through his second wedding of the day he occupied himself exploring the ramifications of a Holly who didn’t have a boyfriend. His conjecture had netted him a whole lot of nothing. Even if Scott was out of the picture (which he obviously wasn’t), Devon hadn’t suddenly become twenty-five again or found a way to get rid of his emotional baggage.
Bella came running to greet him when he walked through the front door. At least someone was glad to see him. He chuckled at this. That sounded like something Jordan would say. His thoughts definitely needed a new direction.
“Hey, girl. Give me a few minutes to get out of these very uncomfortable clothes, and we’ll go for a walk.”
The night air was cool, but Devon didn’t mind. It was a welcome change from being cooped up in overheated rooms all day. His companion evidently agreed. She almost pulled him down in her eagerness to check out every sight and sound. After two circuits of the neighborhood, Bella was finally tired enough to go home. She followed Devon into the kitchen and looked at him expectantly. He laughed as he reached for a dog biscuit.
“You don’t forget anything, do you?”
Not in the mood to watch television, he grabbed a bottle of water and went to sit on the deck. Bella followed a few seconds later, taking up her usual position underneath his chair. Light poured from the windows of the house next door. Through the half-open blinds, he could see two shadows moving around inside. Before he forced himself to look away, the two figures merged together. A grim smile came and went on his face. It didn’t require a genius to know what that meant. Even in his backyard, he couldn’t escape reminders of his solitary state.
He wasn’t usually so sensitive about it, but he’d spent the greater part of the day in the rarefied air of the newly married. Such exposure couldn’t help but conjure memories of his own wedding day with Beth and regenerate the feelings of loss and loneliness he kept buried deep inside. Being a father was a fulfilling role, but it couldn’t replace the inherent desire for love and companionship. Devon had been to the other side. He knew what he was missing.
He also knew what it was like to break someone’s heart.
Even after three years that knowledge continued to eat away at his soul. Whether from shame, self-reproach, or cowardice, he hadn’t ventured anywhere close to a relationship since.
He must have made some sound because Bella raised her head and licked the hand dangling from the armrest. “Reliving past mistakes doesn’t do any good, does it, girl? As my father used to say, the best cure for restlessness is activity. Let’s go see what we can do with that accumulation of junk taking up space in the spare bedroom.”
Devon bypassed the boxes on the top shelf of the closet. They contained personal items that had belonged to Beth as well as their wedding album and pictures from their honeymoon. He turned his attention to the totes stacked up on the floor. One held the clothes and shoes Jordan had outgrown in the last year. He went through the pile quickly, separating the items in decent enough shape to be donated to the rescue mission from those he needed to throw out.
A shoebox overflowing with Jordan’s school papers was next. Devon was reading an essay about Fort Sumter when Bella made a whining sound in her throat. This was followed a few seconds later by the ringing of the doorbell. Putting down the paper, he strolled into the living room and looked through the spyhole. Holly stood there alone; her hands twisting together and her usual smile missing.
He undid the lock and opened the door. “Hey, Holly.”
“I hate to bother you like this, but I’ve got a problem. There’s a bat flying around in my house. When I tried to shoo it outside with the broom, it flew at me, and I ran away screaming like a crazy person.”
The bleakness in her eyes and tense set to her jaw seemed more indicative of annoyance than fear. A quick glance in the direction of her driveway confirmed Scott’s absence. It was barely nine. Why would he leave so early?
“Come inside and talk to Bella. I’ll return your flying friend from whence he came.”
“I’m sorry for interrupting your evening.”
“No problem. I wasn’t doing anything important. Let me get my bat removal equipment.” He went out to the garage and grabbed a pair of work gloves, an old towel and a bucket. Bats were known to carry rabies. He wasn’t going to take any chances in case he got bit.
When he came back through the house, Holly was sitting on the floor next to the couch. Sprawled across her lap was Bella. The irony of the situation had him laughing inwardly. Devon was doing all the work, and his dog was getting all the attention. “I’ll be back shortly.”
As he searched Holly’s house for her nocturnal visitor, he was reminded of the time a mouse got into the apartment he and Beth lived in when they first got married. He came home one evening to find his hysterical wife standing on a chair in the dining room wielding a mop like a Samurai. Even after he caught the mouse, Beth had to be coaxed to the ground.
Not surprising, Holly's little friend had migrated to the darkest part of the house: the hallway. Devon threw the towel over it, lifted it into the bucket and took it outside. The whole process took less than ten minutes.
“Did you find it?” Holly asked anxiously before he even got the door closed.
“I did. Your visitor was as anxious to leave as you were for him to go.”
“Thank goodness! I wouldn’t have slept a wink tonight with that thing in my house.”
“I’m not sure the bat would have slept much either. I was getting ready to make coffee. Would you like some?”
“I’d love some.”
She gave Bella a gentle nudge, but the dog clearly had other ideas. Devon couldn’t blame his stubborn canine for that. He wouldn’t want to move from that spot either.
“Come, Bella,” he said softly, but firmly. The dog rose to her feet, sending him an almost human look of regret. He reached down to help Holly up. The moment his fingers closed around hers, a jolt of something that wasn’t indifference (or anything else it should have been) shot through him. He might have been able to disregard it more readily if it hadn’t already happened earlier when he shook her hand in the receiving line at Summer’s wedding.
“That was impressive,” she said, following him into the kitchen.
Juvenile was more accurate. “Not really. The bat didn’t put up much of a fight.”
She gave him a push in the back. “I was talking about how well Bella obeys you.”
His lips twitched into a grin. “I’m in charge of two hundred soldiers. Training a dog is easy.”
“So that’s what you do at Ft. Benning? Boss people around all day?”
He reached for the container of coffee. “I also push them out of helicopters.”
“For their own good, I suppose?”
“And for the good of everyone else. A regiment is only as strong as its weakest member. Are you going to get another roommate?”
Instead of sitting down at the bar, Holly leaned against the counter next to him. Devon lost track of the amount of coffee he put in the filter and had to start over. Feeling foolish, he stepped around her to get cups out of the cabinet.
“I’ll have to eventually, but it’s not something I’m looking forward to. Summer and I have shared a place for three years. I don’t handle change very well.”
“Me, either. My mother is always telling me that I’m too set in my ways and that I need to try new things.”
“What new things does she want you to try?”
“Anything that will bring me into contact with women. According to her, the sand in my hourglass is about to run out. If I don’t hurry and find someone, I’m going to end up an old, grumpy bachelor.”
“I’m sure your mom doesn’t really think that. She just wants you to be happy.”
“Signing me up for auctions isn’t the way to do it.”
Her lovely eyes got big. “She signed you up? Without asking first?”
“More or less. She asked if I minded coming with her to a charity dinner. I didn’t realize until a few days before that I was taking part in the main event.”
“Summer and I were there that night. I’ve been wondering how your date went.”
“I gave Andrea an evening to remember and not for a good reason.”
“Oh, please. She was lucky to get you.”
She’s just being polite, he told himself. You put her on the spot. What else could she say? To keep from asking her to elaborate on that comment, Devon opened a container of cookies and held it out. He watched as she took little bites around the edge, saving the middle for last. It was cute, but it was also distracting. Looking at her rosebud-shaped mouth was a no-win scenario. “Do you need cream or sugar for your coffee?”
“No, thanks. I drink it black most of the time. Wow! These cookies are fantastic. What are they?”
“They’re called Everything-but-the-Kitchen-Sink. Jordan and I have been able to identify corn flakes, oats, coconut, and pecans along with the chocolate chips. My mom makes them once a month for the girls in her office. When she does, she brings some for us, too.”
“I’ll never want plain old chocolate chip cookies again.”
And he’d never be able to eat them again without thinking about her. “Here’s your coffee.”
* * * * *
When Holly took the cup from Devon, her fingers brushed against his. It was the merest touch, and yet awareness prickled underneath the surface of her skin. Her eyes flew to his face to see if he showed some sign of feeling it, too, but he wasn’t looking at her. He was dunking a cookie with the concentration of a connoisseur.
What was going on with her today? Could worry and lack of sleep be the reason she was acting so strangely? This hadn’t exactly been the calmest of days. Her best friend got married, she had a fight with her boyfriend, and then a bat got into her house.
“I guess you’ll be on your own at the shop until Summer gets back from Jamaica.”
Holly reached for another cookie. “It’s okay. I like being busy, and it’ll keep my mind off the fact that she’s gone. Mondays are the worst, especially in the winter when people are stuck inside. I’ll have ten or twelve people show up with vehicles full of boxes because they spent the weekend cleaning out their closets and garages.”
Devon chuckled. “That’s what I was doing tonight. Other than some of Jordan’s clothes, I didn’t find anything anyone would want.”
“You’d be surprised what people will pay money for.”
“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure?”
“That’s the golden rule of consignment.”
“Have you ever had anyone bring in something really valuable?”
“Last year a woman brought in her husband’s antique model train collection. She was upset because he forgot their thirtieth wedding anniversary. After she left, I told Summer that she’d probably be back once she calmed down. Sure enough, a few hours later she called us in a panic wanting to know if we still had the train set. Apparently, her forgetful husband had come home from work with two dozen roses and a diamond necklace.”
“A dog might be man’s best friend, but flowers and jewelry are his closest allies. They cure a multitude of problems.”
“I suppose that’s true, but I like more practical tokens of affection. For Christmas, Scott gave me a carpet cleaner. Summer was insulted on my behalf, but I loved it.”
