“The responsible one, eh?” Dorothy shook her head at Devin’s defense of his brother. “Well, you certainly wouldn’t know it by his recent behavior.” She glanced at her youngest child. “Krystle thinks there’s a girl involved.”
Krystle, disappearing into the kitchen, called out, “What else would make him so secretive about missing Thanksgiving? He’s never missed any occasion before. Only a woman could make Evan miss Mom’s cooking.”
Devin grinned despite himself. “There very well might be a ‘girl’ involved.” Several, as a matter of fact, including one very small one. But for the time being, he couldn’t comment any further than that. That was for Evan to do when the time was right.
Dorothy’s eyes shifted to her son. Her expression suggested that she knew he was hiding something, but she wasn’t going to push him.
Still, for the benefit of her audience, she continued being the slighted mother. “I always thought both my boys would bring home the girls they planned to share a life with.” She ended her sentence by smiling warmly at Blair.
Krystle caught her tongue between her teeth to keep from mimicking the expression, but no such compunction stopped Paige.
It was obvious that all three women had made up their minds about her, Devin thought. Time to ride to Blair’s rescue. Besides, it was getting late and he’d promised to have Blair somewhere by five.
“We’ve got to be going, Ma. We’ve got another stop to make.”
“We do?” Blair turned around to look at him. This was the first she’d heard. Was he just saying that to get them out?
“We do,” he assured her, deliberately avoiding her eyes. If he looked at her, he was afraid that she would be able to piece together what he was up to.
Blair still didn’t know if he was being serious. “But I’d like to stay and help clean up.”
“Oh, she’s a good one,” Krystle cooed.
“She’s got my vote.” So saying, Paige handed Blair her towel.
Devin took the towel from Blair and gave it back to his sister. “Ma says guests don’t have to clean up.” His eyes met his mother’s for confirmation. Dorothy nodded. “Stay here,” he told Blair. “I’ll go get our things.”
Although she’d been hesitant to intrude, Blair now found herself even more reluctant to leave this warm place.
It reminded her a great deal of what she’d thought she once had. And, at least for the time being, it made the lack a little easier to endure.
“You’ll come again?” Dorothy urged Blair.
“She will if you don’t scare her away.” Krystle edged her mother to one side.
Of Devin’s two younger sisters, Krystle was the one most like him, both in manners and in looks. So much so that they could have actually been twins, Blair thought. What was her own twin like? she wondered. Would they find that they had things in common despite the separation, or would Claire be totally different, with different tastes and habits? She just had to find out. She wished Devin could locate Claire more quickly.
Krystle slipped her arm around Blair. “Listen, it was really wonderful meeting you. And I just love your jewelry.” She had been eyeing Blair’s silver necklace and matching earrings since she had walked in the door. “Devin said you designed it yourself.”
Paige was at, her other side before Blair had a chance to answer. “Could I ask you to make a pair of those earrings for me? I’d pay you, of course,” she said quickly. “They’re really breathtaking. You have a wonderful eye for symmetry and balance.”
“She likes to show off her artistic acumen,” Krystle put in. Paige stuck out her tongue, only to be tweaked by her sister. Both women laughed.
Moved by something she couldn’t quite name, Blair took off her earrings and handed them to a very surprised Paige. “There’s no need to pay me,” Blair said. “Consider them a gift”
Paige stared at Blair, speechless, then impulsively hugged her. “I don’t know what to say.”
“You just said it,” Blair told her. Stepping back, Krystle’s comment about her sister came back to her. “You did the painting,” she suddenly realized. “In Devin’s office. My mother painted.” She forced a smile to her lips, banishing the quick surge of sorrow. “I love the colors.”
Paige glowed at the genuine enthusiasm in Blair’s voice. “Do you? Maybe you could come by my loft someday and I can show you a few of my other paintings.” “Show her?” Krystle laughed as she thought of her sister’s living accommodations. “You can’t move around that place without tripping over a painting, either in progress or finished and waiting to be framed.”
“Now who’s scaring her off, hmm?” Dorothy looked from one daughter to the other, her hand on Blair’s shoulder. Gently, she extricated her from their midst. “You feel free to come by any time,” she instructed Blair. “There’s always a pot of tea on. Devin said you liked tea.”
“I do.” It amazed her that such a small detail would be remembered and related. And that it meant so much to her.
Blair felt her wrap being dropped around her shoulders. The sigh that escaped her lips was one not so much of relief as contentment. Devin was behind her. She found herself reaching up to briefly touch his hand before he withdrew it.
Devin lightly squeezed her shoulder before dropping his hand to his side. This part had gone better than he’d dreamed.
“Time to go.”
At his announcement, she suddenly found herself swaddled in hugs and murmured promises of getting in touch very soon.
With the trained adroitness of someone accustomed to weaving his way through a crowd, Devin maneuvered Blair out the front door with a minimum of effort.
He figured his family had done their part. Time for phase two. He only hoped things would work out the way he’d planned. It probably meant his head if they didn’t, but it was worth the risk.
“They are something else, aren’t they?” Laughing, Devin got into his side of the car.
That they were, she thought, sitting back in her seat. It was going to be a week before she was hungry again. She felt full both physically and emotionally. Just as she had after celebrating an occasion with her own family.
A haunted pang accompanied the thought, the memory of better times.
“They’re all very nice.”
The note in her voice alerted him. He was on the right track.
“Homesick?” He turned down the next street. It wasn’t that far from here, he thought, and was grateful for the proximity.
“No.” The denial was on her lips so quickly, it surprised her. Then she relented. There didn’t seem to be much point in lying to him, or to herself. She was homesick for her family. Even if she couldn’t forgive them, she still missed what there once had been. “How did you know?”
He smiled. They were making great progress. “I’m getting pretty tuned in to you these days.”
“Oh?” Amusement played with the corners of her mouth as she turned to look at him. The car eased to a stop at a red light. She was so wrapped up in the feeling she was savoring, she wasn’t even aware of her surroundings. “So what am I thinking now?”
Even in the graying light, he could see the sparkle in her eyes. “Something that could get us arrested if we did it in the car in the intersection.”
Blair laughed self—consciously. “I am not, and your mother and sisters are right. You are impossible.”
The idea of doing something with him that was outrageous and would stop traffic was not without its appeal. She couldn’t stop smiling and didn’t want to.
All in all, it had been a wonderful afternoon. Blair settled back in her seat, contentment washing over her again, wave after wonderful wave. “Thank you for insisting that I come.”
“Hey, I really wanted you there.”
Did he? she wondered. Did he really? And was what his mother said true? Had she been the first woman he’d ever brought to her table? The thought pulsed through her, making her glow.
“I should thank you for coming and for p
utting up with them.” He knew it couldn’t have been as easy for her as she made it seem. Another woman might have bolted at the close scrutiny. “They can get pretty pushy at times.”
Maybe, but it was pushy in the nicest possible sense. They’d welcomed her into their midst without any verbal declaration that she was someone of importance to Devin. They seemed to sense it.
Were they right? Was she?
Did she want to be?
She wasn’t completely sure, all she knew was that the idea excited her.
Blair glanced toward him. “Must run in the family.”
“Oh, I don’t know.” He pretended to think over her comment. “Evan can be laid—back when he wants to.”
She didn’t mean Evan and he knew it. She’d never met Evan. It was hard to believe that there could be two men with that face.
“I was talking about present company, as if you didn’t know.” She turned to look at the road, but didn’t really see it. There was too much going on inside of her for her to concentrate on something as mundane as scenery. “So where are we going?”
“Home.”
It was all he said. This time, she was sure that he was taking her to his house. Maybe it was because she was full of good will and good food, but this time, she didn’t protest, not even in her own mind.
That was why, when he turned onto the winding road that led up to her Aunt Beth’s house, she suddenly sat up, as rigid as a board. Shock waves resounded through her.
She could see cars lining the end of the cu-de-sac just up ahead. Though only streetlights illuminated the darkness, the shapes were familiar. They were here, they were all here. Her family. Her estranged, adopted family.
“What are you doing?” she demanded. “Why are we here?”
Devin parked across the street from her aunt’s house and turned off the engine. “I told you we were going home. Your home. Where you belong.”
He was wrong. She didn’t belong here. Not anymore. “Take me back, Devin.”
The keys remained in his hand. “You said you were homesick.”
He couldn’t use that against her. “It’s only natural, after being around your family, but—”
Devin shook his head. He had no intention of going anywhere with her but through that front door. He’d already spoken to her aunt, was assured that everyone was waiting to welcome her back with eager arms. And he knew Blair wanted to be welcomed back. All she had to do was stop letting something as small and sniveling as misplaced pride get in the way.
“No buts, Blair. This is where you belong and you know it.” His voice was gentle, but firm. “You’re not going to have any peace of mind until you make peace with them. They all love you.”
She glared at him, refusing to budge. How could he do this to her? “If they loved me—”
He didn’t want to hear any protests. Life was too short to mess up this way. And he knew that he was never going to have a chance of making anything work between them unless she came to terms with her feelings of betrayal. She couldn’t give him her trust if she had none to give. And it was all wrapped up with her family.
“Hey, they’re human. Last I noticed, so were you.” When she turned her head away, he caught her by the shoulders, forcing her to look at him as he spoke. “Blair, maybe your bloodlines are different, but that doesn’t change the fact that they took care of you, cared about you and they love you as much as if you were one of their own.”
Didn’t he get it yet? “But I’m not one of them. It’s not the same thing.”
How did he make her see that it was? “How do you feel about your uncle John?” he asked.
“Well, I love him, of course,” she said. “But what does he have to do with anything?”
“He’s not a blood relative, and you still love him. Don’t you understand? That’s the bottom line. It’s how you feel about a person, not how they came into your life that counts.”
She bit her lower lip, hating him for being right. “You’re right.”
“So why should this have any different effect on your relationship? Finding out you have different genes may be upsetting, but it’s something you can get over, Blair,” he insisted. “Otherwise, you’re hurting not only your whole family—your real family in every sense that word is intended—but yourself, too. Those people in there are people you’ve loved all your life. In my book, you all deserve better than this.”
She let out a shaky sigh as she looked at the house. It was a huge, custom—built house standing at the top of the hill, overseeing the houses that lined the road like an benevolent ruler. There were lights in almost all the windows. If she listened, she thought she could hear Uncle John laughing at one of Uncle Al’s stories. Uncle Al always had stories. Different stories. Funny stories. How she missed hearing them. Missed being in there with everyone.
She felt her lashes moisten as she turned her head to look at Devin. “Sure you didn’t major in psychology, not just minor in it?”
He shook his head in reply, knowing he had won the round. Now all he had to do was hope the war would be called off. “Nope.”
Devin got out of the car, then walked around to her side and opened the door. Silently, he put out his hand to her and waited.
After a minute, she took it. “All right,” she whispered. “Since we’re here, we might as well go in.”
“Might as well,” he agreed.
9
Devin knew he had done the right thing the moment Blair walked into the house.
He could see it in her face. The relief washing away the doubt, the joy of homecoming melting away the anxiety of uncertainty. Standing apart, allowing her family clear access to her, Devin folded his arms and breathed a silent sigh of relief.
While he gave each case that he took on his full attention and the benefit of his ever—growing experience and skill, Devin, as a rule, always reserved a piece of himself, keeping it in abeyance, away from what was going on. An investigator couldn’t afford to get emotionally involved in his work.
If he did, the time would quickly come when there would be nothing left of him to give.
Besides, emotions tended to color the facts and lead the brain astray. When he had first started out in this business, he’d made himself a promise that there would always be a distance, however short, between him and the people whose cases he was working on.
With Blair, it was different.
He’d broken the promise almost from the get—go. He hadn’t meant it to happen that way, but he had gotten himself completely entangled in this woman’s life. In this woman’s eyes. And it really mattered to him that she was happy. Mattered far beyond the usual ramifications of knowing that a job was well done.
The sound of her laughter as it resounded around the room warmed him. She was meant to be like this, in the midst of her family. Seeing her being embraced by different members and embracing them in turn, he knew that just this once, getting personally involved was all right.
It was more than all right. It was great. He felt as if he’d just found half of a winning lottery ticket. Blair held the other half.
It had been only a little more than a month since Blair had been in their company, yet it felt as if it were centuries. She hadn’t realized just how much she needed them until she was here, surrounded by her family, listening to the greetings, feeling the brief brush of lips against her cheek that went so far in comforting her, in supporting her.
The hurt she’d felt before had given way to the stronger need she had to be a part of their lives and to have them a part of hers.
The past month had been a bitter one, spent in confusion; it had been a month in which she hadn’t recognized herself. In searching for her identity, in trying to redefine who and what she was in light of the new information that had been thrust at her, Blair had ultimately discovered the same person again. A person who was not meant to go through life an emotional loner.
This was who she was, what she was meant to be. Jack and Ellen Stephens’s dau
ghter. And a link in this human chain called Family.
Aunt Beth, normally so soft—spoken, raised her voice to be heard above the din. It wasn’t easy with this crowd. “And here is the man responsible for it all.”
Taking Devin’s arm, Beth pulled him away from the sidelines and into what could only be described as a group hug that, perforce, was being done in shifts. A small woman, Beth Wilson was hardly as tall as Blair and only came up to Devin’s shoulder.
Her small stature did not in any way affect the size or wattage of her smile as she looked up at Devin before continuing.
“I can’t tell you how surprised I was to hear from him yesterday, asking if it was all right if he brought you by today. All right?” Beth echoed her own words as if she found them every bit as incredible now as she had when she’d first heard them. “I told him that if he managed to do that, he could consider himself a permanent member of the family.” Her eyes danced as she looked back at Devin. “So I guess this makes it official.” On her toes, she brushed a kiss on his check. “Welcome to the family, Devin. Thank you for bringing our Blair back to us.”
“We’ve missed you, kiddo.” Uncle Al edged his younger sister out of the way to get next to Blair. He cupped Blair’s face in his hand the way he had when she was a little girl. Though there was a smile on his lips, his eyes were serious. “Welcome back.”
Alicia, her cousin Hal’s daughter, all of six, managed to weave her way through the sea of adult legs and tugged on the hem of Blair’s dress. When Blair looked down at her, Alicia reinforced what they all felt in words of childish simplicity.
“Yeah, it just wasn’t the same without you, Blair. Were you mad at us?” Her eyebrows touched as the corners of her mouth drooped at the thought. “I’ve been good. Daddy said so.”
“I know you have.” Blair caught Hal’s eye and knew she would be eternally grateful to him for having forced Devin’s card on her. Without that, she might not be here right now. She tousled the little girl’s short, raven—black hair. “And I wasn’t mad at you, honey. Really. I was just…”
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