"Oh, baby!" Janet Marlowe put her hands on Dev's cheeks. "I'm so glad you're home." She frowned when she got an up close look at the fading scar on her daughter's face. "Are you really okay?"
"Mom, I'm fine. You know me, too stubborn to..." Dev stopped when she realized what she was about to say. She remained prudently silent while her mother stepped back and examined her from head to toe. "I swear to you, Mom. I'm totally intact."
"I'll be the judge of that, young lady," Janet snapped peevishly. But her eyes instantly softened. "You looked so tired when we called. I don't know why you wouldn't let us come up there and let me take care of you."
"I have a whole house full of people who-"
"They are not your mother," the small woman huffed, poking the President in the chest.
Lauren tried to stifle a giggle but failed.
Janet looked over and made eye contact with Lauren. Ah, the infamous Lauren Strayer. She lifted a brow.
So that's where Devlyn gets it. Lauren tried to look properly castigated as she lowered her eyes.
"Ah, Mom, Dad, you remember Emma and Amy." Dev directed her parents to their other guests. The greetings were quick and everyone's attention was soon back on Lauren. The younger woman began to visibly squirm under Janet and Frank's appraising, parental stares. She turned pleading eyes on the President that screamed, ‘help!'
Dev almost smiled at the look of unveiled panic on Lauren's face. "And this," Dev extended her hand to the writer and tugged her forward, "is Lauren Strayer. She's writing my biography, as you know. She's going to want to interview you both. So could you try not to tell her all of my embarrassing stories at once please?"
"But I wouldn't mind a few," Lauren jumped in.
"Oh, I'm sure I could come up with a thing or two about Stinky here," Frank offered with a wink. "Nice to meet you, Ms. Strayer. Welcome to our home."
"Please call me Lauren. And thank you, Mr. Marlowe." The writer was just dying to know where in the hell ‘Stinky' fit in here. She was definitely going to set aside some time to hear that story.
"Then you, young lady, should call me Frank." He smiled charmingly.
Lauren nodded and grinned back. Frank's Southern accent was even more pronounced than her own. "Thank you." She took a deep breath and faced the one she knew really counted here. "It's very nice to meet you, Mrs. Marlowe. Devlyn has told me a lot about you."
"It's nice to meet you, Lauren." The small woman took the writer's proffered hand. Lauren just knew she was being sized up and she straightened her shoulders and made sure she gave a proper handshake. Nothing wimpy would do for Janet Marlowe. "And call me Janet. Mrs. Marlowe was my mother-in-law. God rest that evil bi-"
"Mom," Dev gritted out.
Janet smiled innocently. "God rest her soul."
* * *
David, his wife Beth, and Lauren were simply howling with laughter. Tears were streaming down their faces as their eyes darted between Dev's flaming cheeks and Frank's shit eatin' grin. Janet was trying not to burst into laughter by busying herself with the coffeepot that had just been placed on the dinner table. But her slender shoulders were shaking.
Frank Marlowe looked properly satisfied as he leaned back in his chair. He had done every father's duty and regaled his audience with the time that Dev took off her diaper in the middle of a family dinner party.
Devlyn narrowed her eyes at her father and mumbled something from behind the napkin that she was holding firmly against her face. Lauren wasn't sure, but she thought she heard the words ‘air strike'.
"So," Lauren sipped her water when her laughter finally died down. She fanned her cheeks. "Tell me, where did Stinky come from?"
Dev looked up, her eyes wide, and she clamped a hand over Lauren's mouth. She eyed her father warily. "You did not hear that. She did not ask that question. You did not hear that."
Lauren licked the offending palm, causing Dev to jerk it free. The writer nodded wildly before Dev could recover from yelling ‘ewwwww' and wiping her hand on her jeans. "Yes, he did!"
Frank laughed low and evil. "Well, Devil here, was about, oh, fifteen I think..."
"OMIGOD! Kill me now, he's gonna tell her." Dev slumped in her chair and began to moan for mercy.
Frank snorted and then happily ignored his daughter. "Anyhow, she went out on this camping trip with a bunch of her friends. Seems our little Devil and a young lady friend of hers decided to go skinny-dipping in the pond."
Lauren's eyebrows nearly launched up off her forehead. She turned to Devlyn. "Skinny dipping? Oh my, Madam President. Who knew you had such a naughty streak?"
Dev glared at her father. "Well, if this makes it into my biography, the entire world will!"
Lauren patted Dev's knee and refocused on Frank and made a quick gesture with her hands. "Go on. Go on."
"Apparently, everything was going along pretty well until one of the chaperones heard them splashing around and giggling in the pond and decided to check it out. The girls must have seen the flashlight, because they got out of the water, grabbed up their clothes, and started back to the camp, running buck nekkid through the woods...."
Dev groaned and slumped a little more. Was it really possible to die of embarrassment? David was pointing at her and laughing hysterically. Yes, she decided, it really was.
Lauren clamped her hand over her mouth. She tried to imagine a Dev wet and naked, running through the woods. Oooooh... How much would I pay to see that? Hell, I'd take out a loan. Her face suddenly colored and she shook her head slightly to clear it of its decidedly lascivious thoughts. "Gotcha. Nekkid," the word slipped out effortlessly, "teenaged Devlyn, streaking through the woods." She waited expectantly for Frank to continue, not sure which she was enjoying more, Frank's yarn, or the mortified look on the President's face. "Is there more?"
"Uh huh." Dev's father nodded. "Her friend made it back okay, and never got caught." He stared at Dev and pursed his lips. "Officially, that is." Then he laughed. "But Devil here, wasn't so lucky. Her nekkid a-" He stopped abruptly and cleared his throat. "Backside, I mean, stumbled into a den. A den containing one very protective Mama skunk and four little baby skunks, all scared witless by the dripping wet human that had woken them. You know what spooked skunks do, Lauren?"
Lauren burst out laughing. Then she wrinkled her nose at Dev. "Oh yuck, Devlyn."
Dev recovered long enough to scratch her cheek and flip Lauren the bird at the same time before she tossed a napkin at her father. "Thanks so much, Dad. There goes any shred of dignity I had left in Lauren's eyes."
David and Beth looked at each other. "We heard you puked on her, Dev. There was no dignity left."
Dev covered her face with her hands. "Was this visit really my idea?" she groaned.
"Yes!" the room chorused.
Frank continued undeterred. "It took two weeks, and thirty gallons of tomato juice, before we could be in the room with her without our eyes watering. And that's where the name Stinky came from."
Lauren felt a pang of sympathy for Dev who was still hiding her face. Once the writer managed to get her laughter under control, she reached out and gently rubbed Dev's back. Lauren leaned over and whispered, "If it makes any difference, I've always thought you smelled great."
Dev whispered back without moving her muscle but Lauren could hear the smile in her words. "It makes a difference."
Sunday, June 13th
Lauren munched on a piece of toast and sipped her juice as she stood on the porch of the house in the morning sun. This was a beautiful place, and the fact that the Secret Service had been ordered to set their perimeter several hundred yards away made it feel cozy and safe. She could only wonder what it would be like in the cabin they would go to later in the day. The writer actually liked the main house.
Dev had let her sleep in this morning. Although to be fair, since the shooting she'd gotten to sleep till 6:30 A.M. while Dev was undergoing her physical therapy. But her daily sessions had been switched to three times per week and Julio
had even given her this week off ‘for good behavior'. Dev thought it was a therapeutic break for her muscles and Lauren decided she didn't need to be enlightened.
She had woken to a soft summer breeze blowing in her window, the sound of children laughing and playing, and the smell of bacon cooking. Oh yeah. Throw in sex and Lauren would swear she was in heaven not Ohio. She let that thought rattle around in her head until she had a dull ache in her lower belly and points more southerly. Lauren imagined Dev leaning over her and... Enough! She forced herself out of bed and padded toward the bathroom. Time for a shower. A very cold shower.
After her shower, Lauren towel-dried her hair and ran a comb through it before brushing her teeth and moving out onto the large back porch. She leaned against the house, watching Dev's mother and father playing with their grandchildren. Gremlin was right in the middle of the chaos, romping, barking, and chasing a stick that Frank would toss out onto the lush green lawn every minute or so. You little flea bag. You'd never fetch for me! Traitor.
Amy and Emma where seated at a picnic table enjoying their breakfast. Lauren smirked. They were gossiping, by the looks of it. She'd catch up with them later.
Lauren had seen David and Beth walking hand in hand toward the woods. The only person that was missing was Dev. She slipped her hand into her pocket of her denim shorts and took another sip of her tangy, fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice.
The blonde woman looked up when she heard a soft clomping sound coming toward her. Her breath left her lungs in a quick whoosh when she got a good look at the noise's source. And who was riding him. Dev was sitting atop a beautiful quarter horse, wearing tight fitting black jeans and chaps that were barely visible because they blended into the dark denim. A loose, light-blue chambray shirt that matched the color of her eyes was tucked into the jeans, and well-worn boots covered her feet. Her thick, ebony hair hung in a single braid that trailed down the middle of her back. Lauren sighed. It was truly enough to make any Tennessee girl swoon. Okay, maybe not any girl. But it did wonders for Lauren. To the writer, the President looked absolutely delicious. I'm gonna need another shower.
Dev rode slowly up to the porch and pulled her horse alongside. "Morning, Ma'am," Dev drawled, sounding very much like her father.
Lauren couldn't stop her grin. She used her hand to shield her eyes as she looked up at Dev and moved to the porch railing. "Good morning."
"Sleep well?"
Lauren nodded slowly, not quite able to tear her eyes from Dev's. "Very well. How about you?"
"Oh, I was doing great until Dad came and got me up to go feed the horses."
The younger woman wrinkled her nose. "Lemme guess. 5:00 A.M.? Is that where you get it?"
"That's where I get it."
"How, by the way," Lauren motioned to the tall, chestnut-colored beast, "did you get up on the tallest horse I have ever seen with your injured hip? You know you're not supposed to-"
Dev held up a forestalling hand. "Before you tear into me, like Mom did," she grumbled, "I used a bale of hay and Dad helped me. I'm fine, I promise."
"It doesn't hurt?" Lauren asked skeptically.
"If I say it does, will you kiss it and make it better?"
Lauren began choking on her juice. "Who are you and what have you done with the President?" she coughed.
"Oh, that's still me. I guess I forgot to mention that I'm just much more relaxed at home." Dev laughed and took pity on her friend by changing the subject. "You get any breakfast?"
"Umm... yeah, the cook actually has a plate in the oven for me whenever I'm ready."
Dev nodded again. "Yup, that's Dottie. Been the family cook since I was a kid. And she's even successful at keeping mom out of the kitchen. Mostly. No one goes hungry in the Marlowe house with Dottie around. If I'm really lucky, she'll make her special Devil cookies while I'm here."
Lauren smiled innocently and ran her hand up and down the rough wooden porch post. "You wanna tell me how you got the nickname Devil or should I ask your Dad?" She allowed her head to come to rest against the post, and took a deep breath of morning air, catching the scent of damp grass, and the horse, and the faint aroma of Dev's soap and shampoo. She felt her knees go a little weak.
Devlyn shrugged. "It just comes from Dev. You know, like DEV-astating," she growled in a sexy voice. She leaned down towards Lauren who was nearly at her level because of the tall porch, her pale eyes sparkling with mischief in the morning sun. "And DEV-oted and DEV-our..." She grinned, giving the writer a truly evil smirk. "Just naturally pop up..."
Lauren's eyes raked over Dev. "Don't forget DEV-ine"
"Like you."
Lauren waited a beat, trying not to smile.
"Hey, that's not spelled right!"
Lauren was undeterred. "Call it artistic license."
Dev mulled that over for a moment. "Huh. Okay, I'll buy that from you. But only ‘cause you're so cute."
My God we're actually flirting with each other. Two more seconds of this and I'm gonna kiss her again. I swear I am. Lauren pushed off the post and leaned towards Dev until she could feel the combined heat of the older woman and her mount. She closed her eyes and their breath mingled...
"Hey, Devil!"
Lauren jumped back at the sound of Frank Marlowe's voice.
"Shit," Dev groaned, straightening in the saddle. "Later, Ms. Strayer." It was promise.
Lauren adjusted her glasses and smiled. "Later, Madam President."
Tuesday, June 15th
Dev walked slowly towards the cabin where she, Lauren, David and Beth would spend the next few days while the kids stayed with their grandparents in a tent out in the back yard.
Lauren had spent a solid day with each of Dev's parents. And the tall woman suspected they now liked Lauren better than they did her. Dev laughed good-naturedly. I guess it was inevitable.
Dev spied several Secret Service agents out of the corner of her eye. They were setting up in campers several hundred yards away. She wanted to give Lauren at least some sense of privacy. With everything that had happened, they all needed some rest.
She glanced down when she felt an arm loop through her own. "Hello, Mother dear."
"Indeed, Devlyn Marlowe."
Dev knew that tone. It was her mom's ‘you are in such big trouble' tone. "What have I done now?" She sighed.
Janet kicked a stick from their path as they walked. "What is going on between you and Lauren?"
"Nothing."
"Don't you lie to your mother." She tugged on Dev's arm. "I've seen the way you two look at each other."
"And that would be exactly how?"
The shorter woman dug in her heels, bringing both of them to an abrupt stop. She reached up and caressed a tan cheek. "You haven't looked at anyone like that since Samantha. Are you sleeping with her?"
"No!" Dev pulled back a little. "You know I would never... I mean, I can't...I mean..."
Janet's blue eyes twinkled and she shook her head at her daughter. They began walking again. "I know. You always were horribly old fashioned like that. You nearly drove Sam crazy. I thought the poor girl was going to spontaneously combust."
"I drove her crazy?"
"Uh huh. Before you two were married, she'd call me and ask me what she was doing wrong and why you weren't trying to get her into bed. Devlyn, in my day your actions would have been considered prudish. Now, it's just downright archaic. You need to chill out a little. It isn't as though one of you is going to end up pregnant." Janet chuckled at her own joke.
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