by Mary May
“What?” he asked when she continued to look at him like she had never seen him before.
“Tell the president of what that you’re sorry?” He got up and started packing everything back into the leather duffle.
“What do you think?”
“The President…President? As in the President of the United States?” she squeaked out. After tossing the duffle back into the top of the closet, he turned and faced her.
“I said it went higher than Jeb, honey. I got a call from the FBI. They asked for my help on a case that has been on the FBI’s Most Wanted list for two years. They had the guy cornered in Reno and lost him. He killed three agents and he needs to be caught pronto.” Sabrina looked at him, her eyes huge in her pale face.
“I stand by what I said earlier, Devon. Let someone else go, someone who doesn’t have a baby on the way.” He walked over and swept back the curtains, looking out across the vast lawn of the estate. The leaves were just starting to change colors and it would soon be three years since he had worked. He had put away a good chunk of money, but it wouldn’t last forever.
“Sabrina, I have to go work eventually. Bounty hunting is all I know.” He watched her face in the dark reflection of the window. She looked puzzled.
“Why? We have money, Devon. Neither of us will ever have to work; you know that.” Letting the curtain fall back into place, he turned and walked back over to where Sabrina sat cross-legged on the bed. He sat down beside her; picking up her left hand, he played with the tips of her fingers.
“Sweetheart, I don’t want to be a kept man. I won’t have people saying that about me. I want to earn my way in life. I always have. I’m glad that Sherrilyn left you the money and the estate. It means that you will never have to want for anything. That is truly a blessing that I thank God for on a daily basis, but I have to do something for myself. Does that make sense? We never really talked about money, I guess because of the inheritance that she left you, but I won’t touch that, not for myself. That’s for you and Charlie and the baby.”
“Devon, that’s ridiculous, and, no, I’m sorry. It doesn’t make sense to me. Sherrilyn would have wanted you to use the money, too! If you had been around when she died, she would have left it to you instead of me, I’m sure of it.” Sabrina immediately regretted her words when she saw Devon wince in pain at the mention of his not being there at his sister’s time of death. She knew it was a painful memory for him and one he wished he could change.
“Honey, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that like it sounded…” Sabrina tried to apologize. But Devon just got to his feet and left the room, shutting the door with a soft click.
Sabrina fell back on the bed, staring at the ceiling, silently calling herself a fool ten different ways.
“Lord, I didn’t mean to hurt his feelings by bringing up painful memories. I just don’t understand his need to do everything on his own. Why can’t he accept help from anyone? Being self-sufficient is a good thing, but I feel like he takes it too far. Help me to understand him and to be supportive in what he needs and, more than anything, help me to keep guard over my mouth!” Rolling off the bed, she went in search of her husband. She found Cleo sitting at the kitchen table reading her Bible.
“Cleo, have you seen Devon?”
“Yes ma’am he came through here a few minutes ago looking like he done lost his best friend; then he went out the front door.” She looked closer at Sabrina.
“You look a little that way yourself.” Sabrina headed in the direction that Cleo had indicated, but Cleo stopped her.
“Sabrina, I heard his truck start up; he isn’t here.” Sabrina stopped and turned around, her feet dragging as she pulled out a chair and dropped down into it. She sat there picking at her nails until Cleo reached over and covered them with her hands.
“Child, you’re gonna pick your nails right off the tips of your fingers. What’s the matter? Did you and Mr. Devon have a spat?”
Sabrina huffed out a breath. “Yes…no…I don’t know! I opened my big mouth and hurt his feelings; then when I tried to apologize, he left.” Cleo eyed her with speculation as she considered her words.
“Seems like it would have to be more to it than that to make him leave the house like that. You sure that’s was all that was said?” Sabrina filled Cleo in on everything about the job offer to her begging him not go back to work to Devon walking out of the door. When she finished, Cleo nodded and smiled.
“Ah, now, that makes a mite more sense to me. Sabrina, you have got to understand that Devon is a prideful man.”
Sabrina frowned at her. “Why, Cleo! Devon isn’t prideful! That’s a terrible thing to say!” Cleo chuckled as she waved her hands at a visibly bristling Sabrina.
“Calm down, child…calm down. Now I know what you think I meant, but you’re wrong. I don’t mean the pride that cometh before a fall kind of pride. I’m talking about the pride of a man that stands on his own two feet and supports his own family. Nothing wrong or shameful about that kind of pride, and your Devon is chock full of it. He has always taken care of himself and he always will. Ain’t no sense in asking him to go changing now. He has a need to feel like he is taking care of you and Charlie and now this little one.” Sabrina opened her mouth, but Cleo arched an eyebrow in such a manner that had her closing it again.
“Now I don’t like him chasing after criminals any more than you do, and I don’t think it’s a wise decision to put himself in harm’s way, especially with you in the family way now and ya’ll fixing to move out to the cabin. But I understand his need to find a way to support his family. Even if financially you don’t really need it, he needs it. Do you understand? So my advice to you is this: Pray that the Lord will help him to find something that doesn’t put him in the line of fire. Then you will be happy because he is safe, and he will be happy because he is supporting his family and he can face himself in the mirror each morning.”
Sabrina reached over and gave Cleo a hug. “Thank you, you always know exactly what I need to hear, maybe not what I want to hear…but what I need to hear.”
Sabrina waited for Devon out on the front steps. She sighed a deep sigh of relief when his headlights swept across the front lawn as he pulled into the drive. He killed the engine and then waited a few moments before opening the door. She wondered why he waited. Did he dread getting out? Did he hate seeing her waiting for him? Maybe she should have waited inside? The entire time she had been sitting out here she had been praying for wisdom and guidance, for the Lord to guard her willful tongue and to help her see things from Devon’s point of view. Finally he got out. His long legs carried him to her in just a few quick strides.
“Hey, darlin’, why are sitting out here? It’s pretty chilly.” He shrugged out of his black leather jacket, draping it across her shoulders. He brought the lapels together under her chin then kissed the bridge of her nose before sitting down next to her. Sabrina suddenly felt surrounded by all that was Devon, his warmth, his scent, and his love. The banks of her heart overflowed with love for the man seated beside her, the man that God had provided for her. With no warning she turned and tackled him, knocking him backwards as she kissed him senseless! After a couple minutes she pulled back and smiled down at him.
“Sweetheart, now I’m not complaining, believe me, I’m not, but what brought all of this on?” He gazed up at her with lazy blue eyes that were filled with love and smoky with passion.
“I love you, Devon Lane, and I think you are the most wonderful man on the planet! I’m sorry I hurt your feelings earlier. I would never do that on purpose; please know that…ok? I understand your need to work and to provide for me, and the children. My only request is that we find something that doesn’t have you dodging bullets.”
He gathered her long curls in one hand at the back of her neck so he could see her face as she looked down at him. “Sabrina, I know you didn’t mean to hurt me. It’s not in you to hurt anyone on purpose. That’s one of the things that I love most about you. In truth,
the pain I feel about Sherry’s death is self-inflicted, and I know that. I will always regret not being there for her not only when she died but also when she needed me the most. I think that’s why I need to get back to putting bad guys behind bars. I might save someone else’s sister.” Sabrina rolled off of him so he could sit up. He reached behind him and pulled a piece of paper from his back pocket.
“I may have a solution to your no dodging bullets request.” He held the paper out to her but she just looked at it with amusement.
“Yeah…the last piece of paper you tried to hand me didn’t fare so well; are you sure you trust me with that?” He grinned and handed it to her.
She unfolded the paper and smoothed it out on her leg until she could read what it said in the dim light. By the time she reached the bottom, her smile could outshine the sun. She looked at Devon, who was watching her reaction closely.
“Is this for real? They actually pay people to do this?”
He nodded. “They actually pay people with my particular set of skills to do this. So, no dodging bullets, no fighting, and no car chases. Man, now that I’ve said all of that out loud, I’m kind of bummed.” He grinned as she smacked his arm.
“So what exactly will you get paid to do?” she questioned.
“Well, I will act as a director of sorts. I’ll call the shots from behind the scenes when they are working a case. I’ll still do the investigation part and I’ll still have to be gone some, but not nearly as much as I would have if I were straight up bounty hunting. I still get to put the bad guys behind bars. I think what we have to call this, darlin’, is an answer to a prayer.”
Sabrina happily agreed then snuggled into him and listened to the strong steady beat of his heart as he wrapped his strong arms around her.
They sat in the dark looking out at the rolling lawn of the estate. The scene was peaceful as the moon slowly rose to cast its pale light over everything: the spruce trees, the gazebo, the swans swimming out in the pond. The night was clear and stars were bright in the night sky. Sabrina blew out a breath and watched as the vapor made a cloud of smoke in the chilly air.
“I’m really going to miss this place,” she whispered just a little sadly. Devon kissed the top of her head then stood up and reached for her hand and, going up the circular steps, they went inside…
Chapter 6
Two years later…
“Mama! Tell Nate that I am big enough to go swimming with him and Emily!” Charlie stood and shot daggers at a now nearly fourteen-year-old Nate who stood at the door of the cabin with a pretty red-headed girl in a bathing suit and cut offs. Sabrina took in the situation pretty quickly and guessed why Nate didn’t want Charlie tagging along on the swimming trip.
“Oh, sweetheart, I think that Nate and Emily would like some privacy this time. I bet they wouldn’t mind if you went next time, would you, Nate?” Catching the hint, Nate shook his dark head.
“Oh, no, ma’am, not at all! We wouldn’t care if little Charlie came next time would we, Emily?” The redhead shook her head and giggled. Which made Charlie frown even harder. Why Nate wanted to hang out with her was beyond Charlie’s understanding. All she ever did was giggle and smile and blink her eyes a lot like she had dust in them or something. They never did anything fun. Going to the creek was the first fun thing that they had done all summer, and suddenly she was too little!
“Never mind, Nate, I’ll have more fun staying here playing with the twins than listening to Emily giggle all afternoon anyway. I bet she won’t even get in the creek,” Charlie grumped.
“Charlie Marie! That was very rude. You tell Emily you’re sorry right now,” Sabrina scolded.
Charlie crossed her arms over her chest and tossed her long curls over her shoulders. “Sorry, Emily,” she said gruffly.
“Oh, it’s ok, Charlie. You will be big one day and then you can come with us and have fun, too. Bye, Miss Sabrina. Let me know if you need help with the twins next weekend.” The screen door slammed shut as the two left to head down to the creek.
“That girl wouldn’t know fun if it bit her on the…”
“Charlie,” her mother warned.
Charlie looked at her mother. “Well, Mama, she wouldn’t! Nate used to be fun, at least a little bit. Now all he wants to do is hang out with Emily. He treats me like I’m as much of a baby as the twins are, and I’m almost ten!” Sabrina reached out and smoothed a stray curl from her daughter’s forehead. She knew that Charlie was going through some growing pains. Nate was nearly four years older than she was and he had recently discovered girls, one girl in particular. So he and Charlie didn’t hang out as much any more. While Charlie was fairly mature for her age, she couldn’t compete with a girl who was four years older and for reasons that she didn’t understand yet had other enticements to keep Nate’s attention.
“Sweetie, you just have to understand that Nate is quite a bit older than you and he is growing up. So is he interested in things that you don’t understand just yet…but you will.”
Charlie shook her head. “Mama, if growing up means that I will start to act as silly as Emily Ross, then I will just stay a kid!” she declared with utmost conviction. They both turned their heads as they heard crying coming from the twins’ bedrooms upstairs. Cleo came out of laundry room and they all three headed up.
Sabrina reached and picked up the blonde-headed little boy whose face was still flush with sleep. He rubbed his blue eyes that were the spitting image of Devon’s. Cleo was cuddling his twin brother, Luke. The toddlers turned two last April and they were a handful. Sabrina didn’t know how in the world she would have managed if she didn’t have Cleo’s help. She kissed the top of DJ’s head as they headed downstairs to fix them a sippy cup. The boys always woke up thirsty after their naps. She would never forget the day that she found out she was having twins. Devon had actually been home to go with her for the ultrasound appointment.
“Ok, I’m just going to spread a little bit of this gel on your tummy, Mrs. Lane. I’m sure you had this done with your first child, right?” The nurse smiled at Sabrina as she smeared the cold gel on her distended belly.
“Yes, although I hope you’re better at reading the results than he was, because he was way off!” she laughed. The nurse laughed and placed the wand on her belly, moving slowly in a small circle.
“Well, I hope so; so far I’m batting one hundred. Let’s see what we got here.” She circled the wand for a few minutes, pointing out a feature here and a feature there; then she frowned.
“What’s wrong?” Sabrina asked, reaching for Devon’s hand. The nurse shook her head.
“Nothing is wrong. Did you guys use any kind of fertility drugs to get pregnant?” Sabrina looked at Devon with a puzzled expression on her face.
“No, we conceived on our own…why do you ask that?”
“Ok, let me ask you another question then. Do twins run in either one of your families by any chance?”
“I was an only child.” Sabrina answered. Then she looked at Devon, who was suddenly looking a little pale.
“Devon? Do you have twins in your family? Honey, are you ok? Devon?” The nurse managed to jump out of the way just in time to keep from getting squashed, but she was able to keep his head from hitting the hard tiled floor as Devon’s long legs buckled. As it turned out, there was a history of twins in his family.
Once they had found out they were having twin boys, Devon had surprised her even more by asking if she would like to name one of the boys Luke. Sabrina’s jaw had dropped, and she had no words to express how she was feeling inside. For him to offer to name one of his sons after Luke was simply beyond anything she ever would have expected of him.
“Devon, that is truly a generous gesture, but you don’t have to do that.” He placed his hand on her tummy that was bulging with life as the twins rolled under his palm.
“Sabrina, I know that a part of you will always love Luke. I not only understand that; I respect it and I would like to honor it as well. I
hate that he didn’t get to see Charlie come into this world and grow into the beautiful little girl that she is today. I hate that he won’t get to grow old with you and watch your grandchildren play in the yard while you talk about all the memories that you made together. Because he was called home, I get to do all of that, and I would like nothing better than to name one of these brand news lives after him in tribute.”
Sabrina couldn’t even answer, but she didn’t need to. He could see it in her eyes as she leaned over as far as her large tummy would allow and wept on his shoulder in gratitude for this wonderful man that God had sent to her. When the boys were born, they were named Devon James Lane Jr., whom they would call DJ, and Luke Ryan Lane. When they were placed in her arms and Charlie had climbed in the bed on one side and Devon had leaned over on the other for their very first family picture, Sabrina knew without a doubt that Luke’s spirit was there with them and she had his blessing and his love forever…
Gideon smiled as the twins grabbed for his feathers. Their guardians frowned fiercely at him as they did each time he played “Catch the Wings” with them, but he did it anyway. Who knew he would ever be such a pushover for babies?
DJ’s guardian was a giant hulking angel with closely shaved head and light brown eyes named Skye who really should have been a warrior, except he was entirely too easy-going most of the time.
“Really, Gideon, you shouldn’t play with them so much; it’s forbidden.”
“You are wasting your breath, Skye. I have told him many times not to interact too much with the children, that it is for their own good, yet he does it anyway.” Gideon flourished his wings one last time then he floated to the ceiling where the other angels stood watching the toddlers play.
“But don’t you ever want to play with them? Have you ever played with them? Even once?” Skye looked guilty enough that Gideon knew that the big angel had caved at least once or twice. He turned to Luke’s guardian, Raphael, a guardian that looked like the poster boy of guardians. Perfect handsome face, perfect windswept golden locks of hair and fluffy white wings. It made Gideon’s stomach hurt to look at all of that perfection sometimes. He knew Raphael’s answer before he gave it.
