All My Life

by Prescott Lane

  My heart starts to thunder against my chest. This is exactly what Garrett didn’t want to happen. Add my mother glaring at me, and I’m about to have a coronary. I always thought if I had a heart condition, it would be because of my love for anything made from dough, not because of my love of the male species. “Not sure what you’re talking about,” I say. “Has Garrett been off? He’s not sick or anything?”

  Trudy smiles. “So it’s a coincidence that you two have been off the same days, and the day he comes back to work, you do, too?”

  “I worked yesterday,” I say, knowing it was only for a few hours, but hoping it shuts her the hell up.

  “I must have been mistaken,” Trudy says, giving my mother another hug.

  Hell almighty, I walk to the back, needing a minute. Placing my hands on the counter, my head is spinning. I’ve got to warn Garrett. He’s going to go apeshit crazy.

  “I told Trudy to keep her crazy theories to herself,” my mother says, startling me.

  Gripping the edge of the counter, I try to steady myself, feeling sure I’m sweating. I swear, I’m going to get Botox under my arms, just so I can look innocent when I’m guilty as sin. “Thanks, Mom, I’m not sure . . .”

  “Please don’t lie to my face, Devlyn. I raised you better than that.”

  She also raised me not to have premarital sex. Guess she failed on both fronts. “Do you think Trudy will keep her mouth shut?”

  “She will because I asked her to,” my mom says.

  “Thank you,” I say, looking down at my white knuckles.

  “What are you doing?” she says. “Is this why you broke up with Scott?”

  I can’t answer her. I couldn’t marry Scott because I didn’t love him. I didn’t love him because my heart has always belonged to Garrett.

  She sighs deeply. “You’re wasting your time with Garrett.”

  “Mom,” I say, my voice as hard as I’ve ever heard it.

  “Your clock is ticking. I’d like to have grandchildren. It’s time to find a husband, not be . . .” she waves her hand in the air.

  “We aren’t just,” I say, waving my hand back at her.

  “Then why is it a big secret?” she asks.

  “We haven’t told Mia yet.”

  “Ah, yes, Mia,” she says.

  “What the hell does that mean, Mother?” I snap.

  “It means that Garrett Hollis has no intention of telling Mia anything. She’s been the excuse all these years, right? The reason he didn’t notice you, date you, have any interest at all. The reason you had to help him, stick around, let him use you, string you along.”

  My eyes well up in angry tears. “He didn’t do that. It was my choice to help, to be there for him and Mia. I wouldn’t change that.”

  “Not even to have your own child?” All the air leaves my chest. My mother releases a deep breath, stepping toward me, her hand landing on top of mine. “I’m sorry, Devlyn. It’s just, I’ve seen you cry over him too many times. It needs to stop.” I look up at her, knowing she loves me. Her head shakes. “I’m wasting my breath.”

  “You are,” I say.

  My phone dings again, but I don’t reach for it. She raises a knowing eyebrow then says, “Better go find your father.”

  I nod but don’t immediately follow her. My mother is exhausting. Is that some kind of rule of motherhood? All mothers have to exhaust their daughters? She’s wrong. Garrett wouldn’t use me, if for no other reason than we are friends. Unless he doesn’t even know he’s doing it? Like all those times he hurt me before. He didn’t realize it.

  I shake my head. I’m not going to let my mother plant little seeds of doubt because if I do, pretty soon they will turn into big weeds. Nothing is going to ruin this. Walking back out into the diner, I smile at a few customers before my eyes find my mother standing by the town gazebo with her finger in Garrett’s face.

  From the looks of things, whatever she’s giving him, he’s giving it right back. If we want to keep things private for a few more days, everyone better calm down. Not wanting to make it worse, I stay inside my diner, making small talk with my customers, trying to keep them from noticing my mom and Garrett, but every few seconds my eyes go back outside. I’m sure it was just a few minutes, but it seemed like hours. Finally, my mother walks off, leaving Garrett standing alone, his hands stuffed in the front pocket of his jeans.

  I want to run out to him, hug him, tell him to ignore her, but I can’t. Pulling out my phone, I see his last text to me. He’s wondering if I need to cancel our last night together, telling me he’ll understand if I have to because my parents are here, but letting me know how much he’s going to miss me.

  When I look back up from my phone, Garrett’s staring at me from the gazebo. He’s a smart guy, he knows he’s not my mom’s favorite person. I’m just hoping he doesn’t give stock to any of her concerns that he’s not good for me. Quickly, I type a reply.

  Later.

  It’s vague, but I need a little time to figure out what to do about my parents. I can’t exactly say I’m going to have crazy mind-blowing sex with Garrett, so feel free to make yourselves at home! I’ll see you in the morning if I can walk!

  I look up, hoping Garrett understands. He gives me a little nod before turning and walking away.

  *

  Eden Valley has a lot of charm going for it, but there is nothing charming about the summer heat. Pulling a wagon, I step onto the wooden walkway that leads to the Falls. I look back at the jugs of water, lemonade, tea, and plastic cups I have packed, hoping the ice hasn’t evaporated already. I know Garrett and his crew must be hot as hell out working in the blazing sun, so I packed a little refreshment for them. It gives me a good excuse to come see Garrett.

  The wheels of the wagon make a steady beat as they bump against the wood, almost like a heartbeat. The sun beats down against my pale skin. Thank God, I’d put on sunscreen in anticipation of our date today. Otherwise, this short trek to the Falls would’ve fried me. That’s about the only thing that’s gone right today.

  The mayor, Trudy, my mother—it’s one big disaster waiting to happen, and I’ve got to tell Garrett our little secret could be the town’s next headline. I doubt sweet tea and lemonade are going to soothe that blow.

  Hearing hammers, I come through the trees and stop. There’s a half dozen men out here, but my eyes find Garrett. Like my whole life, I only have eyes for him. If there were a supermarket of men, the only aisle I’d visit would be his.

  His shirt is drenched in sweat, clinging to the muscles of his back. He’s helping to carry a long, very heavy looking piece of wood, braced up on his shoulder. To be that wood, to have him throw me over his shoulder, swat my booty, and take me to bed. A bead of sweat slowly rolls down my neck, as suddenly it’s even hotter.

  One of the other guys nods in my direction. Garrett looks over his shoulder, a huge, sexy grin on his face. I roll the wagon out a little further as a few of the guys come over, and I start pouring them each something cold to drink. Garrett hangs back until the others have their drinks and find spots in the shade to relax a minute.

  He walks toward me, lifting his shirt up a little to wipe his face. I lick my lips at the glimpse of the muscles of his abs, my legs clenching together. “Got a beer in there?” he asks, motioning to my wagon. My head shakes, unable to speak at the sight of him all sweating and tan and sexy as hell. He bends down, grabbing a cup and pouring some lemonade for himself. I realize I poured drinks for everyone else and not him, and I take the pitcher from him, finishing up. He grins at me. “Thanks for this,” he glances around, lowering his voice a little. “You’re very sweet.”

  The way he says it, the look in his eyes, we both know he’s referring to something naughtier. I feel the heat rise to my cheeks. “It looks good,” I say, eyeing the piles of wood, then feeling stupid because they just got started, and it’s basically a floor at this point. I really need to learn how to act around him in public now. He doesn’t make it easy when he’s co
nstantly looking at me like he can’t wait to rip my clothes off. He glances over his shoulder then raises an eyebrow to me. “My mom knows.”

  “Yeah, I got that while she was screaming at me earlier.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t know they were coming,” I say, looking at my feet. “Trudy suspects, too.”

  “Your mom told me that, too.”

  My eyes dart up. “Crap, she’s got a big mouth.” He nods in agreement. “My mom doesn’t think she’ll say anything.”

  “I think she’s right,” he says. “Trudy’s nosy, always in everyone’s business, but she’s never spread any gossip to me about anyone else.”

  “Come to think of it, me, either. Damn, can you imagine what she knows?”

  He grins a little. “It’s just a few days until Mia’s birthday, and then I’ll tell her about us.”

  “It will be okay,” I say, looking around at the other guys getting back to work, and reach down for the handle of the wagon, knowing our time is running out. “I should probably spend the night with my parents,” I say, not even trying to hide my disappointment.

  He nods. “I invited them over for dinner.”

  “You what?” I cry out too loudly, noticing we’re attracting some stares.

  “I thought if I invited them over, if they saw us together, it might help calm your mom down.”

  Garrett is my own personal sun, making me hot and melting my heart. “That’s a great idea. I can cook or maybe we could grill something.”

  His head shakes. “She turned me down.” A lump forms in my throat, my eyes watering. His hand reaches out, but quickly he pulls back.

  “Why would she do that?” I ask.

  “To her, I will always be the teenage boy who knocked some girl up. Not good enough for her daughter.”

  There’s something about his voice that scares me. He can’t possibly believe there’s one ounce of truth to that.

  He glances around. “I’ve got to get back.”

  “Sure,” I say. “I understand.”

  That’s the thing about me and Garrett. I always understand. I understood when he fell for Sheena. Every guy in town was in love with her. I hated it, but I understood. I understood when she got pregnant, and he stepped up. It broke my heart, but I understood. I understood all those years why we were just friends. He had Mia to take care of. And now, I understand he can’t talk, get into it all.

  I understand so hard it hurts.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  GARRETT

  Is it breaking and entering if you slept with the woman last night? Devlyn didn’t technically invite me over, and I don’t plan on staying. I know her parents are in town, but I wanted to do something special for her. I helped myself to the key she keeps hidden under the pot in her front flowerbed and came inside to leave her a little surprise.

  Yellow and purple wildflowers from the Falls and a bottle of wine. We might have missed our trip to the wineries, but that doesn’t mean she can’t still have a little taste. I look back at her coffee table where I have everything set up, hoping it makes her smile since she looked so upset over the argument with her mother.

  At some point, I’ve got to fix things with her mother. The only way I know to do that is to take good care of Devlyn and hope that once Mrs. Drake sees that, she’ll remove the stick from up her ass. She’s not my favorite person, but for Devlyn’s sake, I have to try.

  I hear the front door open. Not wanting to scare her, I walk to the doorway of the den. I have every intention of calling out to her, but she walks through the front door, drops her purse on a foyer table then does this weird thing and whips her bra out from the sleeve of her shirt, twirling it around.

  Instead of saying hello, I bust out laughing. She jumps a little and throws her bra at me like it’s a weapon of mass destruction. I only laugh harder. “What if I was a burglar? Your bra is going to stop me?”

  She giggles, swatting at me. “What are you doing here? You scared me half to death.”

  “What were you doing?” I ask, motioning behind my back and tugging at my shirtsleeve like she did. “Do all women rip their bras off first thing when walking through the door?”

  “Yes,” she laughs. “You try wearing one of these damn things in the dead of summer. Torture.”

  I pull her to me, kissing her, not caring that I’m still sweaty from my workday. She doesn’t care either, kissing me back. She reaches for my face. “What are you doing here?” I move us a little, angling her toward the den so she can look inside. She leaves my arms, walking toward her surprise, her fingers lightly touching the petals of the flowers.

  “Since our date got cancelled,” I say, shrugging a little. “I wasn’t planning on staying. I know you need to spend time with your mom and dad. I was just going to leave them and go.”

  She turns back to me, her bottom lip pulled between her teeth. She loves my little surprise. There is nothing high maintenance about Devlyn. The smallest, simplest things make her happy. Makes it easy on us guys, but the thing is, it just makes me want to do more for her. She takes my hand, leading me down the hallway toward her bedroom. Of course, I’m hoping to head straight to her bed, but instead she takes me into her master bathroom, turning on the shower.

  Like the rest of her house, her bathroom has vintage touches—white and black marble floor, subway tile, a clawfoot tub. For a second, I wonder where her parents are, but if she’s not worried about it, then I’m not going to, either. Without a word, she reaches for the bottom of my shirt. I help her, lifting it over my head, and she drops it to the floor. Then she does the same with her shirt. Soon all our clothes are beside each other on the marble. I’m sure I’ve never stopped and noticed that before. Our clothes all twisted together, like that’s the way they were designed to be.

  Holding hands, we step into the shower, closing the glass door behind us. It’s just a simple shower, no fancy nozzles or shower heads, but there’s nothing simple about the woman standing before me. This is anything but simple. Today proved that.

  She’s had a hard day.

  I need to take care of her, and not just her pussy. Running my hands down her arms, I kiss her forehead, letting my lips linger. I used to kiss Mia’s bumps and bruises when she was little. I’m hoping my kiss will do the same thing to soothe Devlyn’s mind. Women think too damn much, and I can tell her brain is working overtime.

  She leans her head against my chest, the water cascading down over us. We just stand there, hugging each other. Sometimes that’s all your woman needs—a hug. Her hands grip my shoulders, pulling me tighter.

  I know I’m stabbing her with my dick, but she’s naked and pressed up against me. I can’t really help it. Who am I kidding? I’ve been hard since I walked into her house. Thinking about her gives me a boner these days.

  She breaks the silence. “I like showering with you.”

  I grind into her a little bit. “Me, too.” She smiles, but I can tell she’s not in the mood for sexual innuendo. I know her, and she’s only this quiet for two reasons. Either she’s sad or she’s really mad. If she’s just a little mad, she might throw a cuss word around, but when she’s really pissed off, she goes quiet. I’m betting tonight she’s a little of both.

  The last thing I want is her fighting with her mom over me. “Where are your parents?” I ask, running my fingers through her wet hair.

  “They left,” she says. “It didn’t end well.”

  “Oh, baby,” I say, realizing the water running down her face isn’t all from the shower. “I know how much they mean to you. I’ll call them.”

  “No,” she says. “I just want to crawl into bed with you and not come out until morning.”

  *

  I woke up alone in Devlyn’s bed. Sometimes the diner requires her to go in early, I know that, but I hope she’s feeling better. She was pretty quiet last night. We didn’t have sex. Instead, she curled up beside me in her bed, and I held her. Her dad called her pretty late, telling her they’d arrived home safely.
I overheard Devlyn tell him she loved him, and I assume by the couple tears that rolled down her cheeks, he told her the same.

  I got an early start this morning, too, working at the Falls, wanting to beat the heat. Then I came home to shower and meet my dad and Mia. A car horn alerts me to their arrival. She’s only been gone a couple days, but it’s longer than she’s ever been away before. I’m not sure either one of us is ready for this whole college thing.

  Opening the front door, I see Mia getting out of the car, waving to me. My dad’s a little slower getting out. “That one’s got a lead foot,” my dad says, stretching his back out.

  “I didn’t get a ticket,” Mia says proudly, cocking her chin up.

  “Mia,” I say, trying to put on my tough dad voice, but I just end up hugging her.

  She squeezes me, looking over at my dad. “Tell him,” he says.

  She groans then whispers, “I got pulled over.” My dad clears his throat. “Twice.”

  My dad must see the smoke coming out of my ears because he walks over, placing his hand on my shoulder. “Talked the cop out of the ticket both times.”

  “How’d you manage that?” I ask.

  “I had an elderly, sick grandfather in the car,” she says, smiling.

  My dad fake coughs. “Seriously, Dad? You’re encouraging her! You know what you would’ve done to me when I was her age?”

  He raises an eyebrow to me. “Speeding ticket versus . . .” He motions to Mia, who does a little curtsy. “Now I love my granddaughter, but I do believe you tested my abilities as a father more than a little speeding ticket could.”

  “Fine,” I say, “but no car until after your birthday, and if I catch you driving like that again, there will be hell to pay.”

  She nods, giving my dad a little thank you smile, knowing he saved her ass. I hear another car beep, this one coming from Mia’s friend, Penny. Penny’s out of the car in lightning speed, and they are chatting even faster. I know they talked, Snapchatted, or some shit while she was gone, so I don’t get the urgency in their conversation. It’s not like they haven’t spoken in weeks.