Iris made it home and into Grams’s hug. She had to recount the entire story before Grams let her go take a bath and figure out how to face the day. Grams surprised her by bringing her cottage cheese with sliced peaches and raspberries, her favorite breakfast, and telling her she was going to man the resort and Cat and Iris were to rest or do whatever they wanted with the day.
She tried to rest but couldn’t fall back asleep. As the hours slowly passed with no word whatsoever from Devon, Iris wished she was at work so she could at least be busy. She called and texted Devon numerous times with no results. The calls went straight to voicemail, and the texts didn’t pop up as received or read. Was his phone dead? Was he? She felt disoriented and alone. Could he leave her and never come back?
She got up, went on a long walk, and then made dinner for her and Grams. Dinner was spent talking about the crazy kidnapping again and of course Devon. Grams was sure he would be back for her soon. Iris wasn’t so certain. Was he okay? Where had he been all day?
She went to bed early and slept fitfully. The next morning, she went on a run, searching around every corner for Devon. When she got back home, Grams was all dressed to go man the resort again.
“No, Grams,” Iris insisted. “I need work, need to stay busy.”
Grams eyed her up and down and shook her head. “Nope. It was fun for me to work yesterday, and I think you need to spend some time praying and finding yourself. Then when your handsome man comes, you’ll be ready for him.”
Iris argued, but of course Grams won in the end. She took a long bath, and then she focused on reading her scriptures and praying for help.
A rap on her bedroom door pulled her head up. “Devon?” she asked quietly, hoping, praying. Please let this be the answer to her nonstop prayers. “Come in,” she called louder, standing by her bed and straightening her comfortable cotton dress.
“Hey.” The door swung open, revealing Cat.
“Oh, hey.” Iris let out a pent-up breath and squeezed her eyes shut so she wouldn’t cry. Devon. Where was he? She told herself to stop stressing for the hundredth time. He’d been part of a criminal takedown. He probably had paperwork or something like that to deal with before he could come back. She could see him pointing at her and calling, “I’ll be back for you, Iris Chadwick.” The tears squeezed out as she remembered that she didn’t even know his last name. How could she find him if he didn’t come back for her? Was she brave enough to go find him? She was sick of fighting these fears of leaving her safety net. Her dad had never really acted as if he wanted Iris to go to him. Did Devon? It’d been over twenty-four hours now, and she hadn’t heard one word. Couldn’t he at least have texted or called?
Cat hurried across the room and held her close. “You love him, don’t you?”
“Yes,” Iris admitted miserably. “So much. He was incredible.”
“‘Was’? Stop that. It’s been, like, twenty-eight hours. I saw the way he looked at you. How he plunged into battle to rescue you.” Cat pumped her eyebrows and grinned. “So stinking sexy.”
“He said he’d come back for me.”
“Of course he will.” Cat tugged on Iris’s hand. “I tried to go to work this morning, but Grams found me and kicked me out to come check on you. Let’s walk through the trails to town and get lunch and an ice cream, check on Meredith.”
“Okay.” Iris didn’t want food or ice cream—she wanted Devon—but sitting around here wasn’t helping any. She pocketed her phone, resisting the impulse to call one more time or check if any of her texts had been read, and slid into some Tevas.
“Do you really think Cruz and Meredith are just ‘friends’?” Cat asked as they walked out of Iris’s room and down the wide staircase.
“She got pretty heated quickly.” Iris appreciated something to distract her brain.
“Exactly! If they’re only ‘friends,’ she wouldn’t have been so upset. Plus you remember how those two were together, sparks flying and teasing all the time. He brought out such a fun side of Meredith, and she settled him down a little bit.” She sighed. “They’re perfect for each other.”
They walked out of the closest French doors and onto the wide porch. It was after noon now, and the day was warming but still a beautiful seventy degrees. Iris tried to focus on the beauty surrounding her and the conversation with her cousin, but she could hardly pull her brain from Devon, even for a few moments. Please let him be okay, Lord. Please bring him back.
Chapter Nineteen
Devon fought with a fog and lost time and time again. He heard voices and felt people poking and prodding him, someone holding his hand, someone crying, someone else praying. He couldn’t get out of the fog.
Finally, finally, he pried his eyes open and croaked out, “Iris?”
“Devon!” His mom’s voice. She clung tighter to his hand but also smoothed his brow with her other hand. “Oh, sweet boy. My Devon.”
He focused on her face. Dad was just over her shoulder, smiling anxiously at him. “Hey, bud. You okay?”
Devon felt like a little boy. He remembered breaking his arm from jumping off a bridge with his bike and his parents hovering over him, so concerned and patient, always there for him. Iris’s parents couldn’t and wouldn’t be there for her. He needed to be there for her. He struggled to sit up, but he felt hands push him back down.
His parents’ faces went from happy and anxious to concerned. “Calm down, son,” his dad cautioned.
“No, I need to go!”
“Boys,” his dad called.
He felt enormous pressure on his legs and torso and saw his brothers-in-law holding him down and his sisters watching over their shoulders, exclaiming all sweet and annoying, “Devon!”
“Please,” he begged. “I’ve got to get to Iris. Please!”
“Who is Iris?” asked his sister, Shelly.
“Iris?” Jaynee repeated. “Ooh, yeah, little brother finally fell in love! Who’s Iris? Where is she? How’d you meet?”
He was going to suffocate from the combined weight of his brothers-in-law, but he was nowhere close to done fighting.
“Jaynee,” his mom reprimanded, still clinging to his hand and hovering over him protectively. “He’s just coming out of a coma. Leave him alone for one second.”
“A medically induced coma.” Jaynee rolled her eyes. “I need some dirt on this Iris.”
Devon struggled to sit up again.
“Dude!” said his enormous brother-in-law, Jake. “I’m almost three hundred pounds, and I can’t hold you. Calm down.” Jake was a bodybuilder, but nobody had the right to hold Devon back from Iris. Sadly, his head was aching and still cloudy, and he felt weaker than a baby in his mom’s arms and he needed to catch a full breath.
“Jake, Gary. Get off of me, please. I promise I won’t try to leave … yet.”
His brothers-in-law complied and went to stand next to their wives.
Looking to his mom, Devon had to make sure she knew something. “Mom, I’m so sorry I got hurt, and I’m sorry for the stress you go through for me. Thank you all for always being there for me. It means more than I can ever express. I love you.”
His mom’s blue eyes filled with tears, and she tenderly kissed his cheek. “I love you so much.”
He knew his career stressed his mom, but she always supported him. Iris didn’t have anybody loving her like this. She had Grams, Cat, and Uncle Jay, but Devon wanted to show her more love.
“Tell us about Iris,” Jaynee demanded. She was the oldest and such a boss, but he loved how invested she was in him. For the first time, he was grateful for her bossy attitude. Even with all he’d seen, all he’d been through, he’d never fully appreciated these wonderful people enough.
“I fell in love on my last job,” he admitted.
Jaynee squealed, and Shelly clapped her hands together and looked up at Jake with a huge smile. His mom got tears in her eyes again. His brothers-in-law both pumped fists in the air. “Finally,” Gary muttered. “I’ve been hearing
about how you need to settle down for years.”
Jaynee elbowed him.
“She has some trust issues because her mom died and her dad deserted her,” he said. Then he realized that maybe he shouldn’t have shared that, as everyone’s eyes widened with concern and his mom looked like she was going to cry again. “Where’s my phone?” he asked.
“Probably at the bottom of that river you almost died in,” Jake offered.
“Oh, yeah.” It rushed back, and he had to ask, “Who pulled me out?”
“Highway patrol and some pretty impressive EMTs saved your life. Luckily, the cold water slowed down your vitals, so you’re not brain-dead,” Jaynee said. “Well, not any more brain-dead than you were before.”
He nodded, too focused on Iris to rise to her teasing. “How long have I been out? How did you all get here so fast?”
“It wasn’t that fast,” Shelly said.
“The CIA had our contact info and called us about eight yesterday morning. Your dad chartered a jet, and we got here yesterday afternoon,” his mom explained. “We left the boys with Granny Sue.”
His grandmother was as with it as Iris’s grams. His four wild nephews were in good hands. But … yesterday? He’d lost an entire day. Would Iris think he’d deserted her? Was she okay? “What time is it now?” he asked.
“Twelve-thirty.”
Devon wondered where Iris was, both physically and emotionally. She should’ve been fine with CIA ops on the scene when he left and the other women holding the weapons, but what if something crazy had happened and one of those men had a hidden gun and had shot Iris and … He forced himself to stop thinking worst-case scenarios and looked to his closest sister in age and relationship. “Shelly, I need you to get ahold of Iris Chadwick. She owns and manages the Mystical Lake Resort in Mystical Lake, Montana. Where am I now?”
“Missoula,” his dad supplied.
“Why Shelly?” Jaynee planted her hands on her hips.
Devon really wanted some medicine to calm his head and a nap, but he also needed this time with his family, and he had to let Iris know he was coming for her as soon as they released him. “Because you’d scare her away,” he explained to his oldest sister.
Jaynee cried out in protest. Everyone else laughed, and Shelly leaned forward. “Of course, bro. I’ll get her here soon.”
“No.” Devon held up a hand. Shelly had to understand this—it was important—but he was so cloudy. “Tell her I’ll come to her. Don’t pressure her to come here. Please, Shelly.”
“Why?”
Devon tried to think of how to explain it without giving away too much, but his head was only running at about twenty percent capacity. “Please don’t, Shell. I can’t explain.”
Shelly’s brow wrinkled, and everyone stared at him.
“Devon,” his dad said patiently. “You had a bad head injury and almost drowned. You’ve been in a medically induced coma for over twenty-four hours. They’re not going to let you out of here today, maybe not tomorrow. Why couldn’t she drive an hour to you?”
He shook his head, even the slight movement hurt. “I can’t tell you the story, but she went through something traumatic. I have to go to her.”
“But if you love her, of course she loves you.” Jaynee jutted out her chin. “She’ll want to be with you. I would run to Gary. I’d run miles if he was injured.” That was a big deal, since Jaynee hated to run.
Gary bent and gave her a swift kiss. “Thank you, love. I’d swim through shark-infested waters to get to you.” Gary hated the ocean and had an irrational fear of sharks. Too many Jaws movies as a kid.
Devon rolled his eyes. “It’s not about how much she loves me.” Though they hadn’t even said those words, he thought he knew how much Iris cared for him. “It’s that I won’t ask that of her. I can wait.”
His family looked at him like he was missing the point, but they didn’t understand. He loved Iris enough to wait until he could get to her. All that mattered was that she knew he was coming and didn’t think that he’d deserted her. It didn’t matter that he wanted her here, surrounded by his loving family and in his arms. He could be patient, because he knew it wasn’t fair to ask her to leave her valley.
Iris had choked down some fish and chips from Chips and Whips, the best restaurant in their small town, but she knew she couldn’t stomach ice cream. She waited in line with Cat for their turn. Meredith looked exhausted, but she still had a smile on her beautiful face as she served everyone. They finally got to the counter, and she let out a sigh and her shoulders relaxed. “Girls! How are you both?”
“As tired as you look,” Cat said, grinning. “I mean, you’re gorgeous, but you look dead on your feet. Can you take a break?”
Meredith looked to her teenage helper, who pushed at her arm and said, “Go. I’m fine.”
Meredith grabbed them each a Diet Coke from the fridge, and they walked out into the sunshine. They wandered down to the lakeside and sat on a bench facing the water. Iris sipped her Coke and listened to them chat. Meredith and Cat had always liked each other, but something about this morning’s experience had strengthened their bond. Cat wisely didn’t bring up Cruz again.
“Any word from our handsome rescuer?” Meredith asked, turning to Iris.
Iris held up her phone and shook her head. “Nope.”
Meredith and Cat both looked sympathetic and maybe empathetic. Was Meredith hiding her love for Cruz? Did Cat have somebody she was longing for as much as Iris longed for Devon? He’d promised to come for her. It was only yesterday morning that he’d run after Antonio. Why was her faith in Devon so low? He’d proven that he was tough and could take on five men by himself. He’d proven that he cared, and he’d promised he would be there for her … right?
The phone rang, and she startled. Glancing quickly at the caller ID, she scowled. “Telemarketer.”
She was going to hang it up, but Cat held out her hand. “I love talking to them,” she said.
Iris shook her head and laughed, handing the phone over. “You would.”
“Hello?” Cat said in a falsely sweet tone. “No, this isn’t Iris; this is her personal assistant. Can I please have your personal number so I can return the favor of this call? I can call you late at night, early in the morning, when you’re having dinner with your family, when you’re at church trying to feel the Spirit … Excuse me?” Her eyes went wide. “This is who?” Cat shoved the phone into Iris’s hands. “Devon’s sister.”
“What?” Iris’s hand trembled as she put the phone to her ear. “H-hello?”
“Iris.” The voice was warm and sweet. “I’m Shelly Keller, Devon’s sister.”
“Hi,” Iris managed, standing and walking to the lakeside as her cousin and friend stared at her. Was Keller his last name, then? He’d said his sisters were married. Was that her married name? It didn’t matter. “Where’s Devon? Is he okay?”
“He’s okay,” Shelly reassured her. “He was in a wreck and almost drowned and is just coming out of a coma, but he’s okay.”
Iris could hardly catch a breath to reply. He had been hurt. Almost drowned? A coma? “No,” she squeaked out. “Oh, Devon.”
“He’s okay, I promise. He lost his phone, so he was insistent that I track you down. Your grams answered at your resort and gave me your cell number.”
“Where is he?” Iris demanded. Maybe that was too strong, but she had to know, had to see him.
“St. Pat— Shoot, I’m not supposed to. He made me promise not to tell you where he is. Listen, he wanted me to tell you that he was fine and to tell you he’s coming for you. He was insistent you not come to him, that he’ll get to you as soon as possible.”
Iris pulled in a loud breath. He was worried about her leaving the valley. He was so understanding and sweet.
“He loves you, Iris. He told all of us.”
“He—he did?” Neither of them had said the word love yet, except when Devon had claimed to be her boyfriend in front of Antonio. Had that b
een just a day and a half ago? She was safe now from Antonio, but she wanted the safety of Devon. Iris had definitely thought of the word love and Devon in the same sentence, in the same phrase, simultaneously. She put a hand to her heart and looked at Cat. “He loves me,” she said aloud.
Cat shrieked, and Meredith clapped her hands together.
“But he doesn’t want me to come?” Iris asked Shelly.
“He said it would be too much to ask of you.”
Iris let out a sigh. It was so thoughtful of him not to ask her to leave her home, but she wondered what kind of a mental case or wimp he and his family must think she was. “That’s very sweet of him. I …” She wished she could say baloney, she needed to know exactly where he was and she would be there in a little over an hour—well, if they hadn’t flown him somewhere far away. Sadly, she couldn’t form the words. “Tell him … thank you.” She didn’t really want to tell him she loved him via his sister; she wanted to tell him in person. Was there any way she could make the journey to him? Would Doc Penrose give her some valium? Would prayer work and calm her like it had at that cabin when they’d been in so much danger?
“Okay.” Shelly sounded uncertain and as if she’d expected more. “Hopefully, we’ll meet you someday soon.”
“Thank you. I hope so too.” There was an awkward pause; then she said simply, “Thanks. Bye.”
“Goodbye.” Shelly ended the call, and Iris felt even more awkward.
Devon was okay. That was all that mattered. Tears pricked at her eyelids, and she wondered if she’d cried this much since the day her mom had died or her dad had left her.
Cat and Meredith were right there, both hugging her. “He loves you and he’s okay?” Cat asked.
“Yes,” she managed, “but he doesn’t want me to come. He said he’d come for me, but he’s injured, and his sister didn’t know how long until they’d release him.” She needed to know where he was. St. Pat … something? St. Patrick’s? Was there a St. Patrick’s in Missoula?
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