Second Chance at the Orchard Inn, page 35
He climbed back into his truck and slammed the door shut behind him. He put the key in the ignition, and the engine roared to life.
From the other side of the window, Bryce shouted, “My dad is going to destroy you. One word from me and you can kiss this job goodbye. That little piece of land you’ve been saving up for? You can forget it. My father—”
Terrell appeared behind Bryce, two security officers in tow. “Oh, shut up already, Bryce.”
One corner of Devin’s lips curled up. They’d all been tiptoeing around Bryce forever, but a dam had just broken.
He should have told Bryce off years ago. It hadn’t even taken a punch or a shove. Just evidence and words and an unwillingness to be pushed around anymore.
But he didn’t have any more energy to waste on that guy now.
Arthur was in trouble. Zoe was reeling. Han was on his way.
The most important people in his life were waiting for him.
And he’d do anything for them.
Anything.
Chapter Twelve
Ok, class is covered, Han’s here, be there in 20
The text from Lian allowed Zoe to let out a sigh of relief.
Drive safe, she replied. She trusted her brother and all, but the look in his eyes as he’d taken off to go get their sister had shaken her.
It was the same look he’d had after their father died. Devastated. Determined. Hard.
She put her phone away, only to pull it back out again two seconds later. She couldn’t focus on anything. The waiting room wasn’t big enough for her to properly pace, and if she drank another cup of stale coffee, she’d shake right out of her skin.
The elevator at the other end of the room dinged, and she looked up. This was getting ridiculous. She’d been snapping her gaze to see who was arriving every time, but inevitably it was a group of doctors or nurses. Maybe another worried family with food from the cafeteria, a bouquet of flowers, or balloons.
Except this time, when the doors slid open, they finally revealed the face she’d been waiting for.
She leaped to her feet as Devin scanned the area. He spotted her immediately. Their gazes connected, and something inside her broke down. He ate up the space with huge strides and pulled her right into his arms.
A sob erupted from her. She clung to him, which was stupid—everyone could see.
When she started to pull away, he only held her tighter, though, and she couldn’t help herself.
She’d been trying to keep it together since the moment the phone had rung.
Uncle Arthur was in his sixties. He had high blood pressure. He was fit enough, but he never stopped, never took care of himself. Others always came first.
“Shh, I got you,” Devin murmured.
Tears were leaking down her face. She breathed through them. “He’s fine. He’s going to be fine.”
So why was she losing it like this?
Maybe it was because she finally had the option to.
On the way to the hospital, she’d had to be the one to drive. Her mother had been even more of a wreck than her, so Zoe had been strong. It made sense. Uncle Arthur was her mother’s big brother, after all. They’d been through so much together.
Devin rocked her back and forth, whispering reassurances into her ear the entire time, and she melted into him.
It seemed like it took forever, but Devin’s steady strength slowly seeped into her. The tears ebbed. She pulled away, reaching into her purse for yet more Kleenex. Dabbing at her eyes, she shook her head. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be.”
She blew her nose, but her mouth started wobbling all over again. He was being so nice to her, when he must be all shaken up, too.
Sitting back down, she beckoned him to take the seat beside her.
“What happened?”
“Heart attack. Partial, they said?” She gestured at the door her mother had disappeared behind a few minutes before. “They let my mom go see him before he heads up to surgery. They’re doing that—that balloon thing.” Angioplasty? “And a stent. They think his prognosis is good.” She waved her hands at herself. “I don’t know why I’m freaking out.”
“Hey, hey.” He grabbed her hand out of the air and squeezed it. “It’s okay.”
“I just—” She forced herself to stop and take a few deep breaths. As she stared up into his eyes, an unshakable sense of safety wrapped around her. It made her mist up all over again, but it was better this time. Shaky, she buried her face in his shoulder. “I’m just really glad you’re here.”
Too glad. Good grief. She needed to pull herself together. Han would be back with Lian soon. Her mother would be coming out before she knew it. The moment any of them returned, Devin would pull away. The idea of having him so close but unwilling to actually touch her made a fresh wave of misery crash across her chest.
“Come on.” He held her close, rubbing her back. “You said it yourself. He’s going to be okay.”
“I know,” she said, but the reassurances rang hollow. The only thing that helped was him holding her, so she clung to him, trying to soak in his strength while she could.
Far too soon, the elevator let out another chime. When she looked toward the opening doors, a different sort of nerves stole over her.
There they were. Han and Lian. Ten minutes ago, she would have been trembling with relief.
Ha.
She dropped her face into Devin’s neck for one last breath. Then she tore herself away, and it actually hurt. She met his concerned gaze, and she hated having to do it, but she nodded toward her brother and sister.
Devin glanced in the direction of the elevator. He had to see them, but he didn’t let go. Instead, he turned to Zoe. He stared deep into her eyes. A dozen emotions flashed across his face.
But the last one—the one that remained…
It was resolve.
Enough.
It was the same feeling that had come over Devin back at the construction site. When he’d been pushed too far, and he finally pushed back. He’d made himself heard.
And it had worked.
A strange, ringing silence eclipsed the riot of voices in his head.
He wasn’t powerless. He wasn’t unworthy of love or acceptance.
He wasn’t going to hide what he wanted. How he felt. From anyone.
Least of all his best friend.
Least of all when it was going to hurt someone he cared about, someone he…
Well.
For a long moment, he gazed down into Zoe’s deep brown eyes. She was shaking. Just minutes ago, she’d been crying. She’d gone soft in his arms, molding herself to him, leaning into him, and this wasn’t about sex anymore. This wasn’t some game to her. All his doubts about what she was doing with him finally melted away.
He held out his hand to her.
Without hesitation, she slipped her fingers into his palm, her eyes going wide as she sputtered, “But—”
He shook his head and raised his brows.
Her mouth snapped closed.
Like she understood him, she wordlessly rose to stand beside him. Their gazes held, and the rightness in his chest was so hot it burned. He curled an arm around her. Bending down, he pressed his lips first to her forehead. Then to her mouth.
He turned forward.
Lian spotted them first. Her eyes flew wide, and she started to divert Han, but Devin shook his head.
The second Han caught sight of them, he waved. A relieved grin crossed his face, only to fade in the next instant. His pace slowed, his brows furrowing.
A few feet away from them, Han came to a stop. “Devin.” His mouth drew into a frown. “Zoe.”
Zoe fidgeted the way she did when she was nervous, but Devin felt steady as a rock. He gave her fingers a reassuring squeeze.
“Hey there, Han.”
Slowly, deliberately, Han darted his gaze between the two of them and their joined hands. “What’s going on?”
Lian practically bounced up and down.
Maybe that shouldn’t have given him confidence, but it did.
“Before you say anything,” he started.
Han’s complexion darkened. “Say anything like what?”
“We’re in a hospital,” Zoe interjected. “You try to murder us and they’ll fix us up.” She snapped her fingers. “Like that.”
“Devin.”
And Devin was standing his ground. He was refusing to let anyone push him around anymore. He wasn’t going to live in fear of his best friend, and he wasn’t going to hide the way he felt. He couldn’t.
“I didn’t mean for this to happen,” he prefaced.
The vein in Han’s temple started to bulge. “She’s my sister, man. You were supposed to help me protect her.”
“I am,” Devin said helplessly. “I will.” A lump formed in his throat.
Because he would. He’d protect her from anything that could possibly threaten her.
Even Han.
“I don’t need protecting,” Zoe insisted, because of course she’d never step back and let two men argue about her.
In the far reaches of Devin’s brain, he registered the sound of Han laughing, but he couldn’t focus on that right now.
This was Zoe he was talking about. The little girl he’d bickered with as a kid and the feisty, incredible, kind, wonderful woman he’d come to know since. She’d drawn him out of his shell over these past few weeks. She’d helped him let down his guard and see the world beyond the little piece of it he’d carved out for himself.
She made him happy. She made him want things he’d never even considered before.
He wanted them all with her.
“I love her,” he blurted. The pressure behind his ribs popped, and he could breathe again.
Lian squealed, her hands over her mouth. Han looked like he might need heart surgery, too, but they were in a hospital. He’d be fine.
Zoe whipped her head around to gawk at him.
This wasn’t how he’d wanted to tell her. He hadn’t realized he wanted to tell her how he felt in the first place, but now that it was out there, he wouldn’t take it back. Its truth radiated through him.
“I do,” he confessed. “Sorry, but—”
“Oh my God, shut up, I love you, too, you idiot.” Zoe flung herself at him, and if Han murdered them this second, it would be worth it.
Devin caught her in his arms and kissed her hard and deep. All this time, they’d been acting as if they were both okay with being casual, but apparently the only person he’d been fooling had been himself. Nobody made him laugh or turned him on or pulled him out of his head like she did.
For years now, he’d had dreams of building a house in the middle of nowhere, but those dreams had been about running away from the unhappy home he’d grown up in.
He wasn’t running away from anything now.
At the sound of Lian clearing her throat, Devin tore himself away from Zoe. All around them, people cheered. Zoe hid her face in Devin’s shoulder, blushing but happy.
He looked to Han.
The man had been Devin’s best friend since they were in elementary school. They’d been through everything together.
But Devin had never seen Han’s jaw come unhinged like this before.
“Wait—” Han held up a hand in front of himself. “Who said anything about love?”
“This guy.” Zoe jabbed a finger into Devin’s chest.
“Ow.” He caught her hand and brought it to his lips.
He couldn’t quite get a real lungful of air, though. Not while Han was looking at them like this.
“How long has this been going on?” he finally asked.
Devin looked to Zoe, who lifted a brow. “About a month?” he answered.
“Or maybe forever,” Zoe said.
“Uh, but not like creepy forever, right?” Lian asked.
Devin scrunched up his face. “No.”
“No.” Zoe rolled her eyes. “Definitely not ‘creepy forever.’”
He’d never laid a hand on her until this fall. But the truth of what she was saying smacked him upside the head all the same. He’d been looking at her differently since her high school graduation. Every time they’d hung out in the years since, he’d enjoyed her company more and more. The way they felt about each other now—yeah, it had been building for a lot longer than a month.
“I’m not even going to touch that one with a ten-foot pole.” Han scrubbed a hand over his face. Then he let out a rough breath. “You’re both happy.”
“Yeah,” Devin answered, automatic and sure. He glanced down at Zoe, and she nodded.
“Really, really happy,” she promised.
“Well, that’s good enough for me.” Lian broke the tension by swooping in and hugging them both. She whispered something to Zoe that made her blush deeper. Pulling back, she smiled at Devin. “Welcome to the family.”
Oh wow. That part hadn’t even occurred to Devin. He’d been too busy worrying about how pissed Han would be.
His gaze shot to Han. It was too early to be thinking about this stuff, but if he and Zoe worked out…if they went the distance…
They’d be brothers. For real.
Han shook his head. As Lian backed away, he held out his arms. There was still a certain wariness to him, but any fury had left him. “Dude. You’ve always been family.”
With that he came in and awkwardly hugged them, too, and it was like a ten-ton weight suddenly floating off Devin’s chest.
Zoe squirmed away from her brother, leaving Devin and Han in a weird side-to-side bro-hug. Han took advantage of the opportunity to haul Devin down into what Devin was going to choose to assume was a joking headlock. He ruffled Devin’s hair, and yeah. He was definitely playing at the edge between teasing and menacing.
“Seriously, though,” Han muttered under his breath as he let Devin go. “You ever hurt her, and I will kill you.”
Devin straightened up and cleared his throat. Han’s smile was warm, even as he cocked a brow in genuine warning.
Devin looked at Zoe. It was so clichéd, but his heart swelled.
Beautiful, incredible Zoe. Whom he loved and who loved him. He couldn’t help but smile.
Devin bumped his hand against Han’s. “I’m going to hold you to that.”
Something in Han’s gaze shifted. His mouth curled at the corners. He bumped Devin’s hand right back, and even more relief flooded Devin’s chest.
They were going to be okay.
It wasn’t going to be easy, but for the first time since Zoe had arrived back home…Devin was starting to think this all just might work out.
Chapter Thirteen
Read ’em and weep.” Zoe laid her cards down on the table, showing her three of a kind.
“Ugh.” Han tossed his cards aside.
Devin groaned and pushed the impressive pot of five sticks of gum and a half dozen of the wrapped hard candies her mom kept in her purse Zoe’s way.
“Your deal.” Her mom nudged the deck toward Lian. The two of them had been smart enough to fold as soon as Han and Devin started raising each other peppermints. Knowing exactly what she had in her hand, Zoe had stayed quiet and let them bid each other up.
Uncle Arthur had been in surgery for an hour or so now, and they’d had to dig deep into the well of ways to distract themselves—if for no other reason than that their mom was going to get herself kicked out if she bothered the nurses station any more.
As Lian started shuffling, Zoe’s phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out.
Oh crap. “Sorry, gotta take this.”
“Sure, sure,” Han said. “Wipe us out and then walk away.”
“I’ll be right back.”
Devin tilted his head in question, but she shook her head, telling him that everything was okay.
Despite the thread of dread spinning in her gut, she was even pretty sure it was true.
Demonstrating exactly how distracted she was, her mom didn’t even question her retreating toward the elevator bank. Zoe turned away from her family before accepting the call. “Hello?”
“Hi, Zoe. It’s Brad from Pinnacle Accounting again. I just reviewed your file with the team, and we’re excited to get you scheduled for that interview. How does Thursday morning work for you?”
Zoe opened her mouth. All the mumbo-jumbo accountant-drone speak she’d managed to summon to the tip of her tongue while talking to him earlier that morning was right there, ready to come spilling out again.
But she closed her mouth.
She turned, looking back across the waiting room at her mom eyeing the clock, her brother and sister fighting over a couple of Werther’s.
Her Devin, who was holding his cards close to his chest, literally. But figuratively, he was staring right at her with all of them right there for the entire world to see.
Sudden certainty filled her chest.
“Zoe?” Brad asked. “You still there?”
“Yeah, Brad.” She gripped the phone more tightly. “I’m right here.”
Still holding eye contact with Devin across the space, she took a couple of deep breaths.
Every time she’d discussed her job search with him, he’d asked her questions she hadn’t been ready to answer. Questions about what she wanted, what she loved, what had motivated her to go down the roads she’d chosen. She’d answered the best she could, but deep down, she’d known that she’d been hiding the truth, both from him and from herself.
She didn’t care about some big corporate accounting job. She didn’t want to go to Atlanta or Charlotte or Savannah.
She wanted to be here. With him. Working with Arthur and Clay and just living her life. Not the one her mother had charted out for her the second she’d been born.
She may be a dreamer, just like her mom said, but her head wasn’t in the clouds. Her feet were firmly planted on the ground, and she was ready to stand tall.
“I’m sorry, Brad,” she said. “But I’ve decided not to pursue this opportunity after all.”
As she said the words, the rightness of them sank into her bones. There’d be consequences to this decision, but she was prepared to face them.
If Devin could stand up to Han for her, then Zoe could stand up to her mom. She could fight for her own happiness—and for a chance at a future for the both of them, here in Blue Cedar Falls, where they belonged.
