Lucky Devil

by Cat Miller

  Dean finished his speech and rose quietly from the table. He refilled his coffee cup and ambled out the back door toward the barn.

  Tears rolled down Everly’s cheeks. She was stunned by her father’s tale and the sage advice that came along with it. When she turned around, both Kennedy and Mills were gone. They’d left her to her thoughts.

  Everly just sat there considering her father’s words. He was right. She wanted to give her marriage and Luc one more try. She had to. Her heart demanded it. Luc loved her. She’d believed him when he said it. He wasn’t the kind of man to tell you what you wanted to hear.

  Luc was afraid. Loving another person made you vulnerable. It made you weak in some ways, but real love made you strong in so many other ways.

  She would go see Luc, but she wouldn’t settle for less than the marriage she’d dreamed of when she stood before him and said ‘I do.’ She had the divorce papers he’d sent. She was going to hand deliver them to Luc. If he still felt the same way, still believed she somehow swindled him into marriage for his money, then she would sign the papers and go home. He could have his divorce and all of his money. She didn’t want the damn alimony he promised her, but she would gladly retain her family business for future generations of prosperous Parkers.

  The next morning, Everly was up before dawn and loaded a single carry-on bag into the truck. She had an early flight to Vegas. She’d barely slept the night before. She laid awake most of the night thinking about her time with Luc like she did most nights, and she always came to the same conclusion. She had no regrets.

  Even now, with her heart bloodied and battered, she would do it all again. She loved him that much the day she married him, and she still loved him just as deeply, no matter what he’d said to chase her away. That’s why she knew she needed to speak with Luc one more time before she signed those damn papers.

  Seeing Luc again would be hard, especially if he rejected her again. The mourning process would have to begin all over again. Still, Everly believed she had reason to at least try. She still loved him. That was reason enough. If he still loved her too, they might have a chance.

  After the confrontation with Charlie, Luc’s father, things had seemed different than just hours before when he’d tossed her out on her ass. For a moment, she’d believed that he might have reconsidered. He seemed to have something to say to her, but he said nothing.

  He’d apologized for getting her entangled in his sordid family business. He assured her it wouldn’t happen again. That was it. She wasn’t his family was what she’d taken away from his apology. His family business had nothing to do with her and it never would.

  Mills was now sulking in the driver seat. He didn’t like the idea of Everly “crawling back to that prick after he treated her like a tissue he used and threw away.” Or so he’d told her the night before.

  Ouch. That had hurt, but she couldn’t argue with Mills. That was exactly how she felt. Hearing it in such unflattering terms made her cheeks burn with shame. Mills had wrapped her in his arms and said he was sorry. It was just that the way Luc had done her made him mad enough to chew nails and spit out bullets.

  Now Mills was quiet and contemplative. She knew he was done trying to talk her out of going to Vegas. She was just waiting for it to begin.

  “Are you sure, absolutely sure, you want that idiot back? Maybe you need to think about this for another day or two,” he finally asked.

  Everly loved her brother for wanting to protect her.

  “I’m sure, Mills. I love him. I won’t be able to move on with my life until I know there’s no hope for us. I can’t give up on my husband or our marriage without giving it one last try,” she explained for the hundredth time.

  “Some husband he is,” Mills grumbled.

  There was a moment of silence where Everly was struggling to find a way to help Mills come to grips with her decision. She loved her brother so much, and she feared she’d lose some of their closeness if by some chance she and Luc were able to patch things up.

  Maybe if she confided that they would be keeping the entirety of business and the land, Mills would ease off a bit. He was angry. He felt that she been used. She could understand that. But in the end, she’d saved the family legacy. That was worth the heartache she was feeling.

  “Who the hell could that be at this time of morning?” Mills pondered aloud.

  Everly looked up to see the lights of another vehicle approaching them from off in the distance. It was three in the morning. Ranchers were early risers, but not that early. None of the cowboys would be rolling in for a few more hours.

  As the car drew nearer, Mills stopped in the middle of the road. The car pulled to a stop off to the side. Everly couldn’t see who was driving in the darkness, and she was partially blinded by the car’s headlights.

  Mills opened his door and stepped out to investigate. “You stay in the truck,” he directed her before closing the door.

  As Mills approached the other vehicle, the door opened, and a familiar, tall, dark figure climbed out. Mills’ whole body went rigid. Everly jumped down out of the truck with her heart in her throat. She didn’t want Mills and Luc fighting.

  She couldn’t see his face well in the darkness, but she knew without a doubt that it was her husband standing on her land.

  She sprinted around the truck and stepped in front of Mills. Mills wrapped his hands around Everly’s shoulders and pulled her back against him. He probably knew she needed his support. It was also a show of manly proprietorship. Everly was his family. He would protect her.

  Luc was there in Colorado. He’d come to her home. It was so surreal to see him standing there on the private road to her family home. It was like her two worlds had somehow collided.

  She tucked her hand into her jacket pocket. She was still wearing her wedding band. She’d never taken it off. She’d been so sad when the price tag finally fell off.

  Everly wordlessly stared up at the man who owned her heart. His face was hard. There was no expression. This was his business face, and there was no way to read him. She was grateful when Mills spoke up.

  “What do you want, Christianson?” Mills asked.

  Luc never took his cool eyes off of Everly when he answered.

  “I came for the divorce papers,” he stated in his monotone business voice.

  Everly was glad her brother was holding onto her, because she felt like the weight of the world had just crushed her, and she couldn’t hold it up. For a fleeting moment, she’d thought maybe Luc had come for her. Hope had swelled in her chest. Now she felt that chest caving in again.

  “You couldn’t send a courier? You had to come all the way out here in the middle of the night to insult my sister in person? I feel sure this is coercion or harassment,” Mills snarled. “I’ll check with our lawyers in the morning.”

  Mills knew Everly was crumbling. He could surely feel her trembling under his hands. She gave his hand a pat to let him know she was alright. She wasn’t, but that didn’t matter now. She would pick up the pieces later.

  Everly put some steel in her spine and pulled away from her brother. The story their father had told her the night before came back to her then. If Luc didn’t want to be her man, she couldn’t make him, and she shouldn’t have to. He should love her enough to want to work for their future. She deserved better than a man who wouldn’t adore her as much she did him. She might never recover from the heartbreak, but she wouldn’t let him see her cry again.

  “I have the papers. I’ll get them for you,” Everly finally spoke, and she was proud that she sounded so steady.

  Everly woodenly returned to the truck. She opened the driver’s door and climbed in to retrieve her bag from the rear seat. She opened the suitcase there on the seat and dug out the envelope that been delivered a week ago.

  She had read them over and over. Every word was like a knife to her heart. It was a generous settlement considering they’d only been married for about six hours before Luc had broken her
heart. She didn’t want the alimony he offered, but she wouldn’t argue with him now. The last thing she wanted was his fucking money. If he’d gone through the trouble of traveling all the way to Colorado he must be in a hurry to have the deed done.

  She would send the payments back to him if they started coming. Or she would contact the lawyer and instruct him not to set up payments at all. She could figure that out later. Now, she just wanted this nightmare over with so she could return to her bed and fall apart in peace.

  Everly returned to the men. Mills was glaring a hole through Luc. Luc was looking unimpressed and bored.

  “I don’t have a pen. If you have one I’ll sign them now. Or we’ll have to ride back to the house,” she told Luc. She really didn’t want the ghost of his presence in her home to haunt her. She much preferred he never set foot in her family home.

  “You had them on you?” Luc asked.

  “Yeah.” She didn’t elaborate. He didn’t need to know why she had them in the truck with her at three in the morning.

  “You didn’t sign them yet?”

  “No.” Again, she wouldn’t admit that she’d been hoping to save their joke of a marriage.

  Luc held out his hand for the documents.

  “I said, they aren’t signed.”

  “I know. You’ve just eloquently explained that to me, Fury. Give me the papers.” He held out his hand.

  Hearing his nickname for her was another painful slap. At first, she’d been offended by it, but it had become a term of affection. He thought she was a force to be reckoned with. An avenging fury.

  Standing there in the light provided by the two vehicles, the rest of the world was blackness around them. It somehow felt like a fitting scene for the end of this crazy story. The last several months of her life had been stranger than fiction. You just couldn’t make this stuff up.

  Everly took a step closer and extended her hand. Luc took the envelope and pulled out the papers.

  “I don’t want the alimony. You can keep your money. If you’d like to have it revised, I’ll sign new papers to that effect.”

  She felt the need to explain that. He likely wouldn’t want to wait for his high priced lawyer to draw up new papers. That was his choice.

  Luc looked at her and smiled. She was dying inside, and he smiled at her. Did his cruelty know no end?

  Luc held up the papers between them and ripped them in half. Everly’s mouth fell open. Luc ripped them again and again until they were much smaller pieces. He turned back to his car and tossed the pile of divorce confetti inside.

  When he turned back to Everly, he had his business face on again.

  “I refuse to divorce you, Everly Christianson. If you want a divorce, you’ll have to sue me for it, and I’ll fight you. I’ll drag it out in court for years if I have to. I won’t quit until you give me at least one chance to make things right between us.” His dark eyes blazed with intensity. He wasn’t willing to negotiate.

  “What are you talking about?” Everly was so confused. Her heart was trying to rise in her chest, but she held it down. “Y-You said I was a manipulative gold digger. You said you never would have married me if you’d been sober. Not that I believe you were drunk.”

  Luc stepped into her space and placed a finger over her trembling lips. As his hand rose, Everly noticed he, too, was still wearing his wedding band.

  Everly heard the truck door slam. Mills had climbed back inside to give them some privacy. That didn’t mean he liked it though.

  “I said a lot of cruel things when I woke that morning, terrified of the power you hold over me, Everly. I broke my own rule. You never bet what you can’t afford to lose. I lost my heart to you, and the possibility of heartbreak is terrifying to me. I was running scared. But you know what? It was far too late. You already owned me. There was no going back.”

  “What changed your mind?” Everly had to know what brought about this sudden change of heart.

  “You said some things to me that started me thinking. I knew I was making a mistake before you even left town. I had my own issues to work out. I just couldn’t stifle my suspicions. You were right. I didn’t think I deserved love. So I couldn’t get my head around the idea that you loved me for me, and no other reason.

  “I also had a visit with Pastor Davis. He shook me up. Told me some hard truths. He changed my perspective so I could see you from a different angle. I want you to know that none of this was you. It was all me.”

  There was no containing the rising in her chest now. Sudden she was floating. Building joy threatened to overcome her. Luc wanted her back.

  “I have problems that I’m working on. I’ve started the paperwork to have my name legally changed to Luc. That’s something my Gran wanted to do but couldn’t afford. I’m doing it for her, as an apology for breaking my promise. And for me. I’m realizing that I don’t deserve my moniker. So I’m going to let it go. I’m also closing down my special contracts department. That’s not to say I’m closing Hell, but there won’t be any more special loans. I’m working on being a better man for both of us. I can make this right if you just give me a chance.”

  “We are so messed up, Luc. This relationship started out so badly. The marriage was even worse.” Everly hadn’t meant to imply she wouldn’t give their marriage a chance. That was why she was on her way to Las Vegas. It had just hit her how much work they’d need to get to a healthy place as a couple.

  Luc didn’t know that though, and he’d taken her statement about the state of their marriage as a rejection. His eyes filled with tears. Everly had never seen anything so heart wrenching in her life. Luc was crying . . . over her.

  “The perfect marriage is just two imperfect people who refuse to give up on each other. I know I fucked up, baby. I’ve done so many things all wrong. I don’t deserve another chance, and I know it, but I want it anyway. Selfish bastard that I am. I want to be the man you need. Don’t give up on me, Everly. Please. I’m begging you. Give me a chance to make this right. Give me a chance to be your man.”

  Luc fell to his knees in the dirt before Everly in his expensive suit and wrapped his arms around her waist.

  “I love you, Everly. Tell me you still love me too. Tell me it’s not too late.”

  Everly got down on her knees so that she and Luc were on the same level again. She didn’t like to see him on his knees in the dust. She wiped the tears from his face with her fingertips. He looked so hopeful. So sincere in his bid to win her back.

  Everly’s mind returned again to the story her father had told her. Like her father, Luc was willing to work to be not just any man, but her man. He wanted to be what she needed. She wanted to be what he needed in return.

  She kissed him, and the world was right again. Luc was correct. They were worth the fight. They could make things right together.

  The truck door opened behind them, and Mills climbed out. He plunked her suitcase down next to them on the road.

  Luc jumped to his feet and helped Everly up.

  “I didn’t feel like driving to the airport anyway. Give us a call when you get to Las Vegas. Kennedy will worry.” Mills kissed her forehead.

  Mills climbed back into the truck. He backed up and did a u-turn to head back to the house. Kennedy would worry, huh? She was sure it was all about Kennedy. Surely Mills wouldn’t worry at all.

  “You were going to the airport?” Luc asked.

  Everly pulled out her printed boarding pass and handed it to Luc. He tilted the page toward his headlights to read it. His eyes widened. Everly smiled. He looked at her with the beginning of a smile in his lips.

  “Vegas?”

  “I was coming to see you. I’m not ready to give up on us either. I love you. I was hoping you might be ready to talk,” she admitted with a sheepish smile.

  Luc swept Everly into his arms and spun her around. Everly squealed. He kissed her senseless before he set her back on her feet.

  “You were coming back to me!” He planted a wet, smacking
kiss on her lips.

  “I never left you, Luc. My heart will always be wherever you are.”

  “I promise to protect it always. I take you, Everly Christianson, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish until death do us part. Thank you for not giving up on me.”

  Everly was crying again. Luc gave her the wedding vows again. This time, they were binding.

  “I love you so much, Luc Christianson.”

  “I know that now, Everly. I feel it. Do you know what else I know?”

  “What do you know, husband of mine?” Everly saw a wicked gleam in his dark eyes.

  “I know that I am one Lucky Devil.”

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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