by Wanda Edmond
Her eyes never left Devin’s, “I-I love you, Devin Cooper”, she professed. She closed her eyes still sobbing. She jumped when a shot rang out, after which she hear a thud behind her Eyes tightly shut she, she waited. Was she dead? She cautiously opened one eye, and saw Devin running to her, gun in hand. She remained kneeling on the ground, partly in confusion and partly in shock. She looked to her left to see the masked man lying motionless on the ground, blood pooling around him.
In the split second, when Mary Lou’s capture had glanced down at her, ready to pull the trigger, Devin had whipped out the gun hidden in his waist and shot the man squarely in the chest. He had dropped instantly, gun still in hand. Devin was well experience with a gun. Growing up he had always accompanied his father to the shooting range, he had kept up the practice after his father had passed. He had a keen eye and rarely missed a target.
“Mary Lou, are you alright?” He asked reaching her side. He pulled her to her feet, catching her when her knees gave way.
“Devin”, was all she could whisper, still in shock of how close she had come to dying.
He grabbed her up into his arms, shuddering at the thought of how close he had come to losing her. I love you Devin Cooper. Her words rang n his head and his heart swelled. Before he could tell her that he loved her too, siren blared close by and half a dozen police cars pulled up. Police officers flooded the scene in a flurry of activities. Officer Nate ran up to them followed by Brian. He took in the scene quickly, the overturned police vehicle and the seemingly dead masked man on the ground. “Are you two alright?” he asked.
All Devin could do was nodded, clutching the woman in his arms as if she were his life-line. He quickly explained the events that had taken place. Nate and Brian rushed over to the overturned police car calling out their colleagues’ names. Other officers ran over to assist with taking the bodies out of the vehicle.
Brian walked back over to the couple still in each other’s embrace, his eyes filled with sorrow. Devin shot him an apologetic glance “I’m sorry man”.
Brian gave a stiff nod, “I’m glad you two are alright, when got your call, we were afraid we would be too late. It’s my fault” he continued running his fingers through his hair, “I should have made sure that more experienced officers accompanied you.”
“You can’t blame yourself Brian”, Devin protested “you couldn’t have know those criminals would come after us like this, and so fast.”
Mary got over her shock, after witnessing Brian’s grief, sympathy for the officer forcing her out of her silent stupor. “Devin is right; Brian there is now way you could possibly be blamed for this. There is nothing you could have done. No matter who you sent, those men would have still come after u and people, would have still gotten hurt. Please don’t blame yourself for any of this.” She waved her hands encompassing the entire morbid scene.
Brian sighed, “I suppose you’re right” he said sadly.
Devin squeezed her lightly, silently thanking her for trying to comfort Brian.
Nate joined them a few minutes later. Devin asked him “Is this finally over? Can we go home now?”
“You can go home, but this is far from over. I just got word that a van fitting the description you gave was pulled over and four men were apprehended. They had in their possession black masks and guns; they are definitely the men responsible for your attack. Now that we have them in custody, we will need the two of you as the only witnesses to testify against them.”
Mary Lou stiffened in Devin’s arms. He sighed at Nate’s words. “Fine but I will be the only one testifying, Mary Lou is going back to Michigan, I don’t want her out of this mess. Do you hear me? That is the only way you will get your testimony.”
Mary Lou pulled him aside, “Devin, what are you doing? I’m going to testify, anything that I can do to put those criminals away, I’m going to do it.”
Devin grabbed her arms and gave her a gentle shake, wanting her to see sense. “Mary this is your opportunity to walk away, take it damn it. Go back to Detroit and live your life, safely. You don’t need to be dragged through any more of this chaos; it could take months to be over with.”
“I’m not letting you do this alone, Devin.”
He was tempted to give in, so that he could have her here with him for as long as possible. He had been ready to profess his love to her and somehow convince her to stay before she left at the end of the week, but thinking back on everything that had transpired, he was now thinking clearly. If he really cared about her, convincing her to leave was the right thing to do. He wanted her safe and she was being damn stubborn, he knew what he had to do.
“Damn it Miss Carpenter, open your eyes. You don’t need to stay. I don’t want you to stay, you’ll probably end up being more trouble than you’re worth” he said harshly.
Mary Lou couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Why was he talking to her like this? “You open your eyes Devin, a stupid trial isn’t the real reason I want to stay. It’s you, I now you hear me say I love you.” She stared at him nervously waiting for him to respond to those three fateful words.
“I heard you, but I don’t feel the same way about you. The only thing we had between us was just sex.”
Mary Lou inhaled sharply turning her head away from him as if he had just slapped her in the face. Tears welled up in her eyes and spilled over, “Devin, I don’t understand. I thought-she shook her head unable to finish her statement. She took a moment to compose herself, “Do you really mean that?, she asked softly.
Of course not he thought. He steeled himself against the hurt in her wide eyes and the tears streaming down her face. He wanted to take her back into his arms and tell her everything he just said to her is bullshit. But instead he lied “Yes.” He swallowed, finding it difficult to continue, “Different people, different feelings” he shrugged. “I’m sorry if I led you on Miss Carpenter.” He could no longer look at her, it was too painful. He walked away and headed over to Nate, “Please, take her back to the ranch.”
Devin returned to the ranch hours later, to find a few of the employers present. Well look who finally decided to show up, he thought outright annoyed. When asked if their guest was being tended to proper, he was informed that she had come, packed up her things and left with the same police officer, she had arrived with. He called Nate and inquired. She had to leave to go and take care of an “urgent matter” back home.
Devin stood, paralyzed. Every breath he took was a painful effort. Had he done the right thing, pushing Mary Lou away? Just like that, the woman he loved was gone.
Chapter Eight
Mary Lou lay curled up in ball on her bed, her head resting in her best friend’s lap, bawling her eyes out. She had arrived back in Detroit in the early hours of the morning. After she had left after her excruciating confrontation with Devin yesterday, Officer Nate had driven her back to the ranch. During the drive, she had borrowed his phone and called the airline, begging to get on a flight back to Detroit that same day. Her ticket was booked for Friday so she had to pay a huge fee to have it changed.
She had begged Nate to wait for her while she quickly packed and he gave her a lift to the airport. She knew that he was aware the she and Devin had some kind of fight, because he would eye her sympathetically every few minutes. She was grateful to him for not asking her any questions. Then she had fed him a half-assed story about needing to get back to Michigan right away because of an urgent matter with her job; a story she was sure he didn’t buy for one minute.
Mary Lou had waited to call Yvonne at reasonable hour that morning. Hearing how distressed her friend was over the phone, she didn’t press her for information. Instead she had showed up at Mary Lou’s door with a tub of her favourite strawberry cheese cake ice cream. Yvonne had waited patiently for Mary Lou start talking; and once she had started she could stop, sharing the erotic moments she had shared with Devin and every sordid detail of the mess they had gotten involved in, followed by their painful last conversation.
Yvonne sat stroking her friend’s hair, a shocked expression still on her face. Everything Mary Lou had told her was insane. “Damn girl and that was only three days, imagine the possibilities if you had stayed until Friday.” You know when I told you that you needed a little fun; I didn’t mean all of that.”
Mary Lou’s body shudder as she sobbed even harder. “Oh honey, I’m so sorry.” Yvonne held her until she slipped into a fitful slumber, her dreams filled with the man who had ripped her heart out.
Four months later, Mary Lou’s life had almost gotten back to normal. Almost she thought glancing down at her growing belly as she waited for the elevator to reach her floor. She had spent another long, boring day at work and was anxious to reach her apartment; soak in the tub, then did into the tub of ice cream she held in grocery bag. Her precious little one was craving something sweet and delicious this evening. When she walked through the door to her apartment a wave of sadness hit her, as it usually did when she got home to the empty apartment. It made her think of Devin, and how she wished she was coming home to him every day. She still loved him with everything she had. When she found out she was pregnant two months ago, she had picked up the phone to call him many times, but could never muster the courage to make the call. He had a right, to know about his unborn child, but she wasn’t ready to face him, face the fact that he didn’t love and never would.
Mary Lou luxuriated for about thirty minutes in the tub, hoping the warm water would relieve the nagging pain in her back, a discomfort she had to put up with along with the morning sickness; which by the way came any damn time of the day. After her bath she threw an old T-shirt that was now too tight, her growing belly evident under the shirt. She glanced at the clock, Yvonne said she would stop by at six-fifteen. Probably to try and convince her to call Devin again, Mary Lou rolled her eyes; the woman was relentless.
At six-thirty, a knock sounded at her door. She threw it open “You’re late missy—
Mary Lou’s breath caught in her throat. Was this another one of her dreams? Standing before her was Devin Cooper. She blinked twice to make sure she wasn’t having some kind of weird hallucination. Who knew, hallucinations could and unconfirmed symptom of pregnancy. Her mouth opened and closed several time, but nothing came out. Mary Lou just stood before him in nothing but her T-shirt and panty, forgetting that she had her door wide open and anyone could pass and see her.
“Mary Lou” Devin breathed wanting to reach out a touch her. My god it was good to see her, she was a lovely sight, absolutely beautiful... and pregnant? His eyes landed on her protruding belly, he stared at it for what seemed like minutes, his eyes finally flew back to her face. His head tilted, gaze filled with confusion. His breath stopped. Had she found someone else?
“Devin? What are you doing here? How did you find me?” She asked, finally finding her voice. Realizing that they were still standing in the hall way, she stepped back, “Please come in.”
When he entered her apartment, it suddenly felt too small. “Have a seat she”, she offered. “Can I get you anything?” What was she doing, offering politesse to the man who had so callously crushed her heart mere months ago?
“I’m fine” he said, eyes dropping to her belly, once again.
She rolled her eyes, “Yes, Devin, I’m pregnant. You’ve never seen a pregnant woman before?”
He frowned, “Mary, h-have you... found someone else?”
“What, were you expecting me to sit and pine away for you for four months?” she hissed.
Devin’s face fell and his shoulders drooped in disappointment. He really had lost her forever.
Mary Lou rolled her eyes once more, “No Devin, I haven’t found anyone else; you’ve ruined me for life.”
His expression lifted as he came to the realization that the baby was his. He stood up walking toward her “Mary, we’re going to have a baby? Why didn’t you call me?”
She raised an eyebrow, “Really Devin? After the way you practically ran me out of Oklahoma and out of your life?”
He took hold of her hand, that’s what I came to talk to you about. “I got a call from your friend, Yvonne, that’s how I got your address. She told me I need to come and see you right away, that you needed me. Now I know why, you were going to have our baby all by yourself. You weren’t going to call me, were you?”
Mary Lou made a mental note to strangle Yvonne when she saw her. “Of course I was going to call, eventually.”
Devin wasted no more time; he was damn nervous and wanted to get this over with. He rushed into his speech, “Mary Lou, I’m sorry I pushed you away, the things I said to you months ago are unforgivable, but I only said those things so you would come back to Detroit, where you would be safe. I lied to you, I’m helplessly in love with Mary Lou Carpenter, and I loved you back then. Looking you in the eyes and telling you I didn’t love was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do in my life, and letting you go was the hardest.” He took a deep breath and pulled a tiny box from his pocket, he opened it revealing a gorgeous diamond ring. He got down on one knee, “Mary Lou Carpenter, I want you back in my life, I’m miserable without you. I love you, you have to believe me. I’m not taking no for an answer.”
Mary Lou stared down at him as if he had suddenly grown two heads. “You just show up here after four months, and expect me to marry you? Do you take me for a complete idiot Devin?” Tears began to flow down her face; she was so emotion now-a-days. Damn pregnancy hormones. He rose up quickly, staring at her in horror. Shit, I didn’t come here to make her cry. He gave himself a mental kick.
Mary Lou sniffed and continued, “I guess I am an idiot because I want to say yes, I still love you Devin, so much it hurts.”
“Then marry me, say yes.”
She stared into his eyes for what seemed like an eternity and he stared right back into hers “Yes”, she whispered.
Devin let out a howl and grabbed her into his arms, lifting her off the floor; he covered her soft lips with his. Having her in his arms once more, he felt like he had come home.
She looked up at him smiling broadly, “Now, maybe we can go on a real date, you know, without a tent, or criminals chasing us.”
He chuckled, “anything you want darlin’.” He swooped her up into his arms and head for her bedroom.
Epilogue
It had been one month since Devin proposed to Mary Lou. She had finally gotten all her affairs in order, including quitting her job. She was in her apartment packing, still not able to believe how luck she was. She was getting married to the love of her life in two weeks. Devin hadn’t wanted to prolong their engagement; he was anxious to make her his wife.
She was moving to Oklahoma to spend the rest of her life with him and she couldn’t wait. Her mother and Yvonne along with Caroline, her former co-worker were all flying out to Oklahoma to attend the wedding. They were all thrilled that she had found love and could see that she was happy, she exuded it.
She bent to pick up an empty box as Devin walked into the room; he had decided to stay with her in Detroit until she was ready to move. He dashed over to her, “Stop right there, you shouldn’t he lifting anything, little lady.” She chuckled; she couldn’t get enough of sexy western drawl.
“It’s just an empty box Devin” she said smiling.
“I don’t care” he replied pick the box up for her.
He came up behind her and, placing both hands on her belly. “I can’t wait to make you completely mine. I love you, Mary Lou.”
She angled her head for a kiss, “I love you too, Devin” she said as his lips captured hers.
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