“Yes, what?”
She smiled, her heart filling with a feeling of such intense joy she didn’t think there was a way it could hold it all. “Yes, I’ll marry you, Cole Davis. And I don’t want another ring. This one is perfect.”
Though it defied biology, her heartbeat increased even more as Cole slipped the ring he’d fashioned onto her finger. She took it as a good sign that it fit perfectly. Then he stood slowly and framed her face with both of his hands.
“I love you, Devon. Don’t ever doubt it.”
“I love you, too, so much.”
She squealed when he lifted her in his arms and swung her around. “Don’t hurt your back!”
He didn’t return her to the ground. “Sweetheart, if you were going to hurt my back, it was going to happen last night.”
A fierce blush rushed up her neck into her entire face.
Cole chuckled then kissed her like a man in love.
Devon was on the verge of dragging him back to bed when the sound of a vehicle slowing down on the road pulled her out of her lust-filled haze.
When she recognized her parents’ expensive black SUV, she dropped her head against Cole’s chest and groaned. Why did her mother have to show up and ruin this moment, the single best day of Devon’s life?
Cole rubbed up and down her back. “I’ll take care of it.”
She lifted her forehead from his chest. “No, I’ll do it. She’s my mother.”
But when Devon turned to face the vehicle, it wasn’t her mother who stepped out but her father. Graham Newberry was six-foot-four of “get things done.” Devon always equated her father with work, whether that meant he was schmoozing while wearing an expensive suit, overseeing work at the Diamond Ranch Western Wear facilities, or in the saddle surveying his tens of thousands of acres of ranchland. He wasn’t a harsh man, but he wasn’t the warm and fuzzy type, either. Because he was always busy was the reason Devon had spent so much more time with her mother while growing up.
Her dad was already sizing up Cole before he stepped out of the SUV, before his five-hundred-dollar boots hit the driveway. Had her mother really felt the need to send her dad out here as a second wave of attack? How had her mom even known she was home? Devon thought back to the time when Cole had asked her why she’d stuck around Blue Falls. Now she was asking herself the same question again.
“Hello, Dad,” she said as her father approached. She admittedly didn’t put a lot of warmth and welcome into the greeting.
“Devon.” He shifted his steely gaze to Cole. “Mr. Davis.”
“Mr. Newberry.” Cole placed his arm around Devon’s shoulders and tugged her gently to his side.
“Before you think your mother sent me here to do her bidding,” her dad said, ever astute, “I want you to know that she won’t be butting her nose into your business anymore.”
Devon couldn’t have heard him correctly. “Has hell frozen over and I didn’t hear about it?”
Well, she hadn’t intended that to pop out, but something about having Cole’s reassuring presence next to her gave her an added boost of courage.
“Not the last I heard, but I did let her know in no uncertain terms that it was time she let you live your life as you see fit.”
“And she agreed?”
“Let’s say she’s not happy about it, but then she also thought she would get my support when she asked me to come ‘talk some sense into you.’”
Devon’s world felt as if it had been tossed inside the spin cycle of a washing machine that happened to be tumbling down the side of a mountain at the same time. She couldn’t recall her father ever stepping in on her behalf with her mother.
He took a couple of steps toward her, and she felt compelled to meet his gaze.
“I’m sorry that I’ve never done this for you before. And I don’t have an excuse. I guess I always told myself that you were strong enough to stand up for yourself and you didn’t need your daddy to do it for you.”
“She is strong,” Cole said before Devon could speak. “The strongest woman I’ve ever met. And the kindest.”
“But that doesn’t mean she didn’t need the support of her father.” Her dad nodded once at the understanding that seemed to be passing between him and Cole. “Is it true? Do you love my daughter?”
“I do, very much.” No hesitation, none at all.
“Good. Devon deserves to have someone to love her unconditionally, someone who won’t be so consumed with other things that her needs are overlooked.”
“That won’t happen. And just so you know, I’ve asked her to be my wife and she’s accepted.”
Her father stared at Cole for such an endless moment that Devon’s insides knotted until they cramped. Cole’s revelation filled her to bursting with love for him, but she wondered how her father would take it. Would he expect Cole to ask his permission?
Instead, her dad shifted his focus to her. “Are you happy?”
“Yes.”
He nodded again. “That’s good enough for me.” He extended his hand to Cole, who accepted it in a firm shake. “Your father was a good man, so I have no doubt that you are, as well. I’m sorry if my wife made you feel otherwise.”
When he released Cole’s hand, her dad came closer to her and gripped her shoulders. “I want to apologize for how your mother and I have failed you.”
Out of some instinct to make others feel better, she started to speak, but her father beat her to it.
“We both got too caught up in other things and neglected what was really important, getting to know our child and making sure she was not only cared for but also happy. That ends today.” He glanced at Cole, then back to her. “And I promise you that if you have children, they will know their grandparents love them. But they will be yours to raise as you see fit.”
“I doubt Mom will be happy about that.”
“She will either accept things as they are or continue to be miserable. It’s her choice.”
Her mother was miserable? But as her father’s words sank into Devon’s brain like water through a sponge, they made a depressing kind of sense. When was the last time she’d seen her mother actually happy? Oh, she was good at pasting on a smile and playing the role of executive wife, but Devon realized she hadn’t a clue what would make her mother happy. Not just satisfied with appearances but truly happy. Devon had been so focused on how her mother treated her that she’d been totally unaware that there might be a deeper reason for why her mother acted the way she did.
Her dad surprised her by leaning forward and planting a kiss on Devon’s forehead. “I’m happy for you.”
As he walked back to the SUV and drove away, Devon watched and marveled that at least one of her parents was happy about her relationship with Cole. But she was left with a nagging feeling that in order to truly move forward and find that forever kind of happiness that she’d long dreamed about, she had to find a way for her mother to claim her own.
Chapter Sixteen
“Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you?” Cole asked.
Devon stood on the driver’s side of her car with the door open and looked up into the face she loved more every day.
“No, this is something I need to do on my own.” She’d taken a week after her father’s appearance at her house to think through several scenarios, knowing she’d likely have only one chance to get this right.
“Call if you need me.”
“Thank you.” She pushed up onto her toes and kissed him where he stood on the other side of the door.
But as she drove to the small winery at the edge of the county, her stomach churned with anxiety. She hadn’t had a lot of success throughout the years of having conversations with her mother that didn’t end with some level of disagreement. To minimize the chances of any conversation blowing
up, she’d arranged to meet her mom on neutral but public ground. The cozy eatery housed at the Wild Blooms Winery would afford them a semblance of privacy to talk but without it being so private the conversation was doomed to fail. And Devon was determined that it wouldn’t, if at all possible. Everything in her life was truly wonderful now, all except the strained relationship with her mother.
She didn’t want her life with Cole to be periodically torpedoed by something her mother did or said. And the more she thought about it, the more she believed her mother must be truly unhappy to behave the way she did. The problem would be getting her mother to admit it, convincing her to open up and change. Though Devon felt deeply that this was the right thing to do, for both of them, she didn’t look forward to the process.
She wanted to luxuriate in the fact that Cole really loved her, that he was willing to take a third chance at marriage because of that love. Each morning since he’d proposed, she’d awakened afraid it had all been a dream. But when she either saw Cole next to her or received a flirty text from him, she’d relax and marvel that she’d gotten so lucky.
Devon made her way up the entrance road, momentarily struck by how lovely the stone winery and the vineyards stretching out in the distance were. The atmosphere was posh enough to satisfy her mother but peaceful and beautiful as Devon preferred.
She was glad to see it wasn’t very busy when she pulled into the parking area. Her mother’s car was parked in the first slot, and as Devon walked toward the building, she saw her mom sitting on the patio with a glass of wine.
“You’re late.”
Devon resisted the urge to meet the barb with one of her own. She knew good and well she was on time, that her mother had arrived early, but she let it go. Instead, she slipped into the seat opposite her mother and ordered her own glass of wine along with some bruschetta.
“Your father tells me you’re engaged, so no need to tell me if that’s why you’ve called me here.”
Her mother certainly wasn’t going to make this easy, but Devon marshaled her determination to see her plan through.
“I am. He’s a good man, Mom. I love him and he loves me.”
“I thought it was all pretending just to spite me.”
“Initially, but not to spite you. I just wanted a little peace from our disagreements. But the pretending gave way to real affection, then love. I’m happy, and I want you to be happy for me.”
Her mother gave her a look of surprise, her forehead crinkling and her head tilting slightly to the side.
On instinct, Devon reached across the table and placed her hand atop her mother’s well-manicured one. “I know we have rarely seen eye to eye, but I do love you, Mom. I want us to have a better relationship, and... I want you to be happy, too.”
“I find that hard to believe since you balk at every suggestion I make.”
Devon shook her head slowly. “I don’t think having me follow in your footsteps will make you happy.”
“And I suppose you think you know what will.”
“No, but I’d like for you to find it. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, and the more I think about it the more I believe something in the past made you really unhappy and you haven’t let go of it.”
Her mother looked at her as if she thought Devon had been body snatched. Before she could say anything, however, Devon continued.
“I can’t remember ever seeing you really happy. Maybe something bordering on content, but not true happiness, not like what I feel when I’m with Cole.” Devon hesitated for a moment, bracing herself for what was sure to be an explosive response from her mother. “Are you and Dad not happy together?”
The response Devon had expected didn’t come. Instead, her mother slowly turned her head to stare off toward the vineyard and the ribbon of river snaking through the countryside beyond it. Devon didn’t press her mom to respond, instead remaining quiet and still.
“No one’s ever asked me that, not even your father,” her mom said in a voice so small that Devon doubted she’d recognize it if she weren’t staring right at her mother. She sounded far away, as if she were watching a movie of the past in her mind.
“Tell me what happened.”
Her mom seemed to snap back to the present and pulled her hands into her lap. “It’s nothing. I have everything I could ever want.”
Devon wasn’t letting her mom off the hook that easily. “Things, yes, but that’s not what makes life worth living.”
“So you’d be happy without your little farm and your yarn shop?”
“I do love those things and they make me happy, but if they went away and I still had Cole I’d still be overjoyed.”
“He may not feel the same way.”
“He does.” She said it with the conviction she felt. Devon no longer doubted Cole’s feelings for her or his commitment.
“How do you know? Men can make you believe what isn’t true.”
It was Devon’s turn to tilt her head in search of the meaning behind the words. “Did something happen between you and Dad?”
Her mother remained silent as the waitress brought Devon’s wine and bruschetta to the table. But as soon as the young woman was out of earshot, Devon returned her attention to her mom.
“Why are you pressing this?” her mother asked.
“Because I’m going to be married, Mom, and I hope to eventually have kids. I want them to have a good relationship with their grandparents, and that means you and I have to get beyond whatever has always stood between us. I won’t subject my kids to what I’ve gone through.”
“What you’ve gone through? You sound as if we abused you.”
“You did.” Devon hadn’t realized until the words left her mouth that that’s how she’d viewed the way her mother treated her. If she was asking her mother for the truth, she had to give it in return. So everything poured out, how Devon had never felt as if she measured up, how her mother didn’t attempt to understand her and her choices, even how the ache inside her had led to her being overweight and trying to hide it in high school.
When Devon finally finished speaking, her mom looked stunned. Slowly, she retrieved her purse and placed cash on the table.
Devon’s heart hurt that her mother could hear all of what she’d said and then just leave without a response. But instead of heading toward her car, her mother took the stone path that led in the opposite direction, through the vineyards toward a gazebo by the river. Devon watched her mom, completely at a loss at her mother’s reaction and whether she should follow her.
She gave herself a couple of minutes, taking a few sips of the wine but not touching the bruschetta. After dropping her own payment on the table, she stood, took a deep breath and followed the same path.
By the time she caught up, her mom was already standing in the gazebo watching the gentle flow of the river. Devon went to stand beside her. Neither of them spoke for so long that Devon wondered if her mother was going to remain silent until Devon got tired of waiting and left.
“I got lost,” her mom said suddenly, surprising Devon.
She glanced at her mother, whose gaze was still fixed on the river. “What do you mean?”
Her mom let out a long, slow breath, as if that was the last wall to collapse that had been hiding the truth.
“Before your father, I was in love with someone else.” She shook her head. “At least I thought I was. It was...” She hesitated for so long that it seemed she might be reconsidering divulging anything else. “It was Cole’s father.”
Devon couldn’t help the sound of shock that escaped her.
Her mom held up a hand to forestall any questions. “It was well before he married Barbara. We went out, once. I fancied myself in love with him, but he soon fell for Barbara.”
“That’s why the two of you don’t like each other?”
A pit opened up inside Devon. “You didn’t love him? He was just another acquisition?”
To her credit, her mother lowered her head and seemed to shrink. Though Devon couldn’t see her mother’s full expression, she believed it to be one of shame.
“Have you ever loved him?”
“I grew to love him, yes, but...” She brought her palms up to cover her face for a few seconds before lowering them again. “By the time I realized it, I think he’d given up and buried himself in work. And I...I tried to find happiness in other ways without realizing it.”
“So he loved you from the beginning?”
Her mom nodded. “Seems I have developed a track record for disappointing those who love me.”
Part of Devon wanted to comfort her mother, but she was right. “It’s never too late to change.”
“I’m not sure that’s true. It’s been so long since your father and I have even had a real conversation.”
Devon turned her mother to face her. “Do you want to make it work with him?”
Her mom stared at her for a few seconds, as if she could find the answer in Devon’s eyes. Then she slowly nodded. “But I don’t know how.”
In that moment, her mother looked like someone who had to make it to the other side of the river but had no clue how to swim.
“Perhaps you just tell him the truth. It does wonders.” Devon smiled, realizing she couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a smile for her mom.
For her mom’s part, she looked as surprised to see it as Devon was to give it. Devon wished this was the part where she and her mom would hug and all would be well, but things didn’t magically get better that quickly in real life. But she felt as if they’d taken the biggest, most important step toward arriving at that point.
Epilogue
Devon couldn’t stop pacing back and forth across the bedroom that had been hers when she was a child. Halfway through another pass, her mother stepped in front of her, halting her progress.
COWBOY TAKES A WIFE, THE Page 18