by Susan Meier
“Did you ever stop to think that maybe my good mood over the past two months has been the result of finally being free of you guys?”
Finn and Cade gaped at him. “What?”
“Right before Mom got married, it hit me that I don’t have to worry about you guys anymore. Not even Mom. And it was really great.”
Finn studied him. “So you’re saying that while you were fooling around with Isabelle you were really happy, and you think that’s because you finally realized you didn’t have any more family responsibility—”
“Except the money.”
Cade shifted on his seat. “Which Isabelle was helping you with.”
Not understanding, Devon raised his hands helplessly.
Finn put his elbow on the arm of his chair and his chin on his closed fist and just stared at Devon.
“What!”
Cade shook his head. “You can’t really be this thick. Isabelle was the first person who got you to trust her with some of your work. You were happy while she was here. Now she’s gone and you’re nuts.” He motioned with his arm. “Look around. You miss her.”
“I don’t.”
“You do,” Finn countered. “And I’ll tell you something else. You love her.”
Cade said, “Yeah. And from what Piper told me, she loves you.”
Suddenly tired, Devon swallowed. He wouldn’t let himself even think about Isabelle, but now that his brothers had pushed, it hurt to remember how good they’d been together. Especially when he was such a pain in the ass to her. “Why would she love me?”
“Because she’s nice? Because she’s got a good heart? Because she loves you just as you are?”
He sniffed in derision. “Why would she love me just as I am?”
“Because you love her. The biggest turn on for a woman is having someone who adores her. And the way you deferred to her, stared at her, hung on her every word—she knew you loved her. And she fell for you.”
He shook his head. “Because I love her?”
“Yes,” Cade said. “You don’t want freedom. That two months of happiness wasn’t the result of being free. It was you falling in love. And you’re going to tell Isabelle and get married and finally see what you really wanted is to be free from Dad. Not free from everybody.” He rose from the conference table and patted Devon’s back. “Once you let yourself admit you’re in love, you can tell her everything about our life with Dad and you’ll see it’s irrelevant. And once you let yourself have your own family, you’ll never look back.”
Devon said, “Humph.”
“Don’t wait too long to admit it, Devon, because intelligent women don’t stop their lives because of a guy. They move on. You have to get her back before she’s so far away you won’t be able to talk her back.”
Cade took his seat at the table and Devon gave reports on his projects and then Isabelle’s but as he spoke, he remembered the way she’d worked. She might have come to him inexperienced, but she’d caught on quickly. And she was intelligent. Really intelligent. Somebody else was going to snatch her up if he didn’t do something.
He remembered how he’d felt the day he’d realized she was gone. How his heart had hurt that day and every day since. How loud the silence of this big house was. How lonely he’d been. Finn was right. He hadn’t fallen in love with his new life. He’d fallen in love with Isabelle.
He closed his file, rose from his seat. “You know what? This can wait. I think I’m driving to Myrtle Beach today.”
Come hell or high water, he was getting her back.
Chapter Nineteen
Isabelle sat at the desk in the office of the real estate agent who would officially be putting in the offer her parents were making on Snap Dragon by the Sea Florals. They’d gone back and forth about the price, but they’d come to terms the night before. Her parents were golfing, but that was fine. She was totally prepared to handle the business end of the florist shop. Totally prepared to take her old life back. Except this time it would be by the beach.
Ginger Lydick breezed into her office on a cloud of perfume. Dressed in skinny jeans and a big shirt, with her hair cut short and her big blue eyes making her look like a waif, Ginger rounded her big mahogany desk and took her seat.
“Someone is here to see you.”
Isabelle’s face scrunched. “Here? To see me?”
Ginger leaned across the desk and whispered, “There’s a cameraman with him. Are you being interviewed for TV?”
Rising from her seat, Isabelle laughed. There was absolutely no one who would have tracked her down here. “No. I’m not being interviewed for TV. I’m guessing it’s a mistake.”
Ginger shook her head. “They very clearly said they wanted to see you. Isabelle Cooper.”
“But why? Never mind. I’ll go out and see what’s up.”
The lining of her black pencil skirt swished as she walked. It was the skirt from the suit she’d worn to San Diego. She’d recognized she couldn’t toss away all the clothes she’d bought to work for Donovan, Inc. And the sooner she wore them, the sooner she’d create new associations to them and stop thinking about Devon sliding her blouse off as he kissed her shoulder. Or unzipping her skirt and letting it puddle to the floor.
Today she’d only had four thoughts like that. She knew she was making progress with her work clothes. She just would probably never be able to wear her yellow bikini again.
She stopped at her doorway, shifted her skirt into place, and straightened her blouse before pasting her professional smile on her face. She walked to the reception area ready to explain the mistake to whoever was here to see her, but when he turned, she stopped walking.
Devon said, “Hey.”
Dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, he looked adorable, approachable. Which was exactly the problem. He always looked approachable to her. And God knew she was done misinterpreting things he said or did.
She faced the receptionist. “These people aren’t here to see me.” She turned and walked back into Ginger’s office.
“No! Wait! Isabelle!”
From the way Devon’s words got louder, she knew he’d followed her. Just when she would have closed the door, he stuck his foot in it.
“We need to talk.”
She noticed the cameraman behind Devon and shook her head with disgust. “And you wanted to get the discussion on film? Still afraid of a sexual harassment suit?”
“No. Listen. I botched everything—”
She tried to close Ginger’s office door again. “Yes, you did. ‘Botched’ being past tense. Get out.”
“Look, you were so upset about me keeping us a secret that I decided you were right. We needed to go public. So I asked Ellie and she recommended Ted here”—the man behind the camera waved at her—“to record everything we say. And it’s streaming live on YouTube.”
She gaped at him. “What?”
“I figured go big or go home. I know I ruined everything between us because I kept us a secret. So I decided that the best way to show you that I’ll never keep anything about us a secret again is for the whole town to see me apologize.”
Her face fell. “The whole town?”
He turned and pointed at the camera. “We told Alice Lenosky to tell her friends to watch on YouTube today and Finn said it was totally around town by noon. Rumor has it Katie brought her computer to the diner and they rigged it to the big screen above the counter.”
She stood frozen, staring at the camera, then shifted her gaze to him.
“You’re right. I was falling in love with you.”
Her heart stuttered, even as the light from the camera over Devon’s shoulder winked and about blinded her.
“I was afraid of relationships. I’d been taking care of my family for so long that I didn’t want any more complications.”
She crossed her arms on her chest. “And falling in love with me was a complication.”
He shook his head. “No. Falling in love with you was a step.”
She fou
ght the urge to throw herself into his arms. She loved hearing that he used the word love, but he had a long way to go before she’d believe he was ready for all that entailed. “A step?”
“I didn’t tell you everything about my dad.”
“So you said.” She looked at the camera over his shoulder. Was he going to tell her now? To admit the worst part of his life to the whole town?
“But we’ll need a private conversation for that.”
She breathed a sigh of relief, but her worry over him exposing his whole life to the town had flipped her stomach. Hurt her heart. And she knew her long week of telling herself she’d been a fool to love him had been wasted time. He’d suffered. He was broken. He needed her. He always had.
“You’re the best thing that ever happened to me. Yet I kept telling myself it was right to keep my distance. But according to Finn and Cade, I didn’t do a very good job of hiding how I felt. I deferred to you on business deals. I hung on your every word. I gave you work that I wouldn’t even let them touch…and it’s their money we’re investing.”
She laughed. Her heart lightened a bit. “I am smart.”
“And educated.”
“My parents will be glad to hear their MBA money wasn’t wasted.”
“That actually brings me to my second point.” He reached into his pocket, pulled out a set of keys. “These are to your parents’ house.”
Her eyebrows rose. “I know you’ve got connections, but I think my parents aren’t going to be happy that you finagled keys to their house.”
“I bought their house.”
Her breath froze. Why would he want her parents’ house? “You did?”
“Furniture and all.” He caught her gaze. “For us.”
She glanced over his shoulder at the camera. If all this was about them going back to their secret affair at her parents’ house, he was going to be very disappointed. And she didn’t want the whole town to see.
“All right. This was fun, but”—she pointed at the camera—“I think we should turn that off?”
At the diner, Barbara Beth smiled. That’s right, sweetie. Take control.
Katie, the waitress, said, “Shhhhh. He hasn’t turned off the camera yet! I want to hear.”
Alice Lenosky elbowed her way to the front. “I want to see!”
Charlene Simmons said, “You’re so nosey.” But she followed Alice to the front.
Barbara Beth put her hands on her hips as she looked out over the crowd. “Seriously? Is this all you people have to do all day?”
“Please,” Charlene said. “This is better than my soaps.”
“And lucky Isabelle,” Mary Louise said, sliding herself closer to the counter where the crowd had gathered around the computer. “All that money.”
Katie swatted her. “Shame on you. Our Izzy doesn’t care about money.”
Cade walked in with Piper on his heels. “She doesn’t.”
Everybody got quiet.
“That’s right,” Piper said. “Everybody just settle down so we can see the end of this.”
“I’ve got five dollars that says she tosses him out on his ear,” Petie from Petie’s Pub said.
Barbara Beth pulled out a twenty. “You’re nuts. She loves him. One little spat isn’t going to make her throw away what she’s always wanted.”
Four people put fives on the counter. Barbara Beth just laughed.
Devon said, “I’ll tell him to turn it off in one more minute.” He handed her the keys to her parents’ house and rummaged in another pocket, pulling out a jeweler’s box. He got down on one knee and opened it.
“Will you marry me? Make us a home in the craftsman?”
Tears came to her eyes. He gazed at her so earnestly, so honestly that her throat tightened.
Unfortunately, he hadn’t said the words she needed to hear.
“Devon, I—”
“I know I screwed up. I loved you from our first week together—”
Her breathing stuttered. “What? Wait. Go back. Say that again.”
“I loved you from—”
“You love me?”
He rose. “I adore you. Honestly, I hadn’t shaved until this morning. Didn’t eat. Couldn’t sleep.” He lightly squeezed her forearms. “I think I always knew but I was so afraid.”
“That I wouldn’t love you?”
“I thought I’d just dazzled you with my charm and my ability in bed—” He turned to the guy with the camera. “I think your work is done.”
Ted grinned, turned off the camera, and walked away.
Everyone in the diner groaned again. Katie said, “Okay, either order something or get out.”
Barbara Beth waggled her fingers and pointed to her palm. “I’ll take that money now.”
Isabelle wrapped her hands around Devon’s neck and jumped into his arms. “If that really was on YouTube, we’re going to be the talk of the town forever.”
“Oh, please. I think Cade and Piper sealed that deal when the runaway bride married the no-show groom. We’re safe.”
He put his arms around her and nestled her against him. “I’m so sorry.” He nuzzled his nose into her neck. “Honestly, I never knew I could feel so much for one person, and I kept telling myself the feelings were all about me finally not having any responsibility for my family.”
She leaned back. “Just what a girl wants to hear.”
“Finn said all you wanted to hear me say was that I love you.”
She stood on her tiptoes and brushed a kiss across his lips. “Finn’s right.”
“I love you. Come home so I can turn off Good Morning America.”
“Good Morning America?”
“The house rattles without you.”
“Which is why you bought my parents’ house?”
“No. I bought your parents’ house because that’s where we belong. You know that thing has five bedrooms?”
She snuggled against him, so thrilled to feel the warmth of him beneath her palm that she almost couldn’t breathe. “I lived there, remember?”
“Five bedrooms means one master, one guestroom, and bedrooms for three kids.”
Her mouth fell. “Three kids?”
“I think we’ll make beautiful babies. We can turn my current house into the corporate headquarters for Donovan, Inc. Hire eight or ten MBAs. Check in on them once a week. And spend the rest of the time taking our kids to Little League games and dance lessons.”
She laughed. “That’s a plan I never expected to hear from you.”
“You don’t like it?”
She closed her eyes then popped them open again. “Actually, I love it. I don’t want to have an only child. I’d like my kids to have brothers and sisters. There’s just one itty bitty change.”
“What’s that?”
“I think I might want to take back the flower shop.”
He laughed, long and hard. The sound pinged around through her heart, making it realize all this really was happening. She wasn’t making it up in her head.
“Take back the flower shop?”
“Yes. But first we have to build a greenhouse somewhere. I missed working with my parents so I think a greenhouse will entice them back to Harmony Hills from May to January. They can be snowbirds.”
He shook his head, but agreed. “Fine. I like your parents, too.” Then he popped the ring box open and displayed a huge diamond. So huge she’d have assumed it was fake had she not known Devon could afford the real thing. If she had to guess, she’d say it was close to five carats.
“Holy cats.”
“Too big?”
She quickly shook her head. “Just right.”
“You know. We probably could have avoided all of this if I’d just accepted your prom invitation.”
“What?”
“I had the perfect woman right under my nose all along, but never knew it.” He slid the ring on her finger, then kissed her. Bending her over his arm so he could kiss her deeply. Right there. In public. With most of
his proposal on YouTube.
She’d never again question his love. And if she did, all she had to do was click the proposal link and she’d be forever reminded of just how much he cared about her.
“Let’s go home.”
“Now who’s being bossy?”
He laughed. “Both of us. Let’s go be bossy in bed.”
Epilogue
They married the following year in the same church LuAnn and Bob had married. Ellie, Piper, and Barbara Beth were her bridesmaids. But this time the place had central air.
It had been a whirlwind year for Isabelle. She and Devon immediately announced their engagement to her parents and they’d spent two weeks playing golf with Brooke and Reg, going to the beach alone, and making love in the bedroom of the bungalow beach house Devon rented for them.
When they came home, they hired the eight people Finn, Cade, and Devon decided they’d need to manage their fortune. Isabelle returned to the flower shop as manager. Devon became the supervisor for the employees. And they took every afternoon off to get to know Sabrina and Bob a little better.
Devon had told her the worst of his abuse and when it was all out, he saw it for what it was. The rage of a person who hadn’t deserved to have kids, and Devon had let it go with the vow that no one in his family would ever suffer again.
LuAnn became their wedding planner. Barbara Beth had the final say on the gowns. And life became a beautiful journey for Isabelle Cooper.
The groomsmen for the wedding were Finn, Cade, and Jeremy Donovan. Devon, Cade, and Finn hadn’t known they had a half-brother from an affair their father had when Finn was six. But LuAnn hadn’t missed a beat welcoming him into their family. She refused to let her ex-husband ruin another person’s life.
But Barbara Beth didn’t really trust him. Funny how the guy hadn’t shown up until his half-brothers had inherited a fortune.
So as Isabelle and Devon said their vows, sweetly declaring their love, she eyed Jeremy over her bouquet. When Jeremy made a toast, she snorted with derision.
But when he caught the garter belt and she caught the bouquet, she refused, absolutely refused, to consider she’d be the next bride and he’d be the next groom.
