Devil in a Dark Blue Suit

by Robyn Grady

  ‘What happened to men having the monopoly on that phobia?’

  Nate clapped Devlin’s back. ‘The steep price of equality, my friend.’

  Devlin had to admit, ‘Marriage is scary enough when there are only adults involved. It’s near petrifying when you bring a baby into the mix.’

  Moving into the plush waiting lounge, Nate held Devlin’s shoulder. ‘You’re a great brother. I have no doubt you’ll be a great father.’

  ‘Dad might’ve thought the same when our mother was pregnant.’

  Eden was right to turn him down. What if he showed the same indifference towards his child that his father had to him? He wouldn’t risk his own boy, or girl, enduring that kind of torment…feeling sorry for his mother, losing respect for his father, as well as for himself for being powerless to make things right.

  The thought of hurting a kid like that made him physically ill.

  He’d told Eden he’d find a solution to their predicament, but he hadn’t come up with an answer yet. Still, one must exist. Even if he couldn’t quite grasp it, he felt it hovering like a mist on the edges of his consciousness. He just needed a little more time for the curling fog to lift.

  Nate indicated a chair in a quiet corner. ‘Take a seat while I check in.’

  Five minutes later, Devlin was gazing blindly at an opened sports magazine, an ankle resting atop the opposite knee, when Nate returned with a surprise guest.

  Setting the magazine aside, Devlin pushed to his feet and rushed a hand through his hair. ‘Sabrina? Nate didn’t say you’d be here.’ He brushed a brotherly kiss against her cheek.

  Sabrina’s lashes lowered, almost coy. ‘I thought I’d surprise him and we could go for coffee afterward.’

  Shrugging, Devlin looked to Nate. ‘You know what they say. Two’s company.’

  He wasn’t in the mood for a hit anyway. He wasn’t in the mood for anything other than mulling over his problem. He wanted to be the best father a man could be. The idea he might be emotionally detached from his children was a crushing notion and had haunted him for years. Could the apple land that close to the tree?

  ‘I’d like you to stay,’ Nate said to Devlin, ‘if that’s okay.’

  Feeling like a fifth wheel, but wanting to support Nate if he could, Devlin cocked his head. ‘Sure.’ A thought made his pulse spike ten clicks. ‘This is standard, right?’ There wasn’t anything they weren’t telling him?

  An awkward pause followed where Sabrina muttered something unintelligible at the floor and Nate threw an arm around Devlin’s shoulders and urged him towards a room.

  ‘Everything’ll be fine,’ Nate assured him. ‘You have my word.’

  Then why did he feel as if he were about to be fed to the lions?

  When he entered the private room, Devlin’s blood pressure exploded and he cursed under his breath.

  Of all the brainless, gullible…

  Why hadn’t he guessed? The excuse to get him here, the fact Sabrina had happened to show up, those pregnant women in the reception lounge…

  His hands went to his hips. ‘What a small world.’

  Eden lay on a gurney, face towards a blank screen monitor, a blue sheet over her trunk and legs. The instant she heard his voice, she gasped and sat bolt upright.

  ‘Devlin?’ Her eyes, round with shock, slowly narrowed. ‘You showing up out the blue can’t be coincidence. Not twice in one week.’ Her gaze slid to Sabrina. ‘Did you set this up?’

  ‘It was my idea,’ Nate cut in, stepping up to stand beside his girl. ‘Devlin needs to be here today, and it was obvious that wasn’t going to happen without a little friendly intervention.’

  Sheepish, Sabrina manufactured a short laugh and shrugged. ‘The things we do for love.’

  Exhaling, Devlin dusted his hands and moved forward. Now he was here, no use pretending he wasn’t interested. Wasn’t every day he walked in on the woman who shrank from the idea of marrying him but who was also about to undergo an ultrasound of his firstborn.

  He lifted his chin at the monitor. ‘I take it this is a routine procedure?’

  Eden blinked several times and her face seemed to pale more. ‘Pretty much.’

  Devlin glanced between the three culpable faces—Eden, Nate, Sabrina—and all sorts of cruddy notions went through his mind, such as he wasn’t the father of Eden’s baby after all and this was their weird way of breaking the news. Then, piggybacking on an earlier thought, another idea descended and his chest tightened so much that he flinched.

  ‘Is there something wrong with…?’

  The last words stuck in his throat. His heart was pounding, a thumping roar against his ribs. Good Lord, and he’d thought he knew all there was to know about stress.

  His plea came out a husky croak. ‘Eden…tell me.’

  ‘I had some spotting last week,’ Eden admitted, her cheeks flaming more. ‘It’s not so uncommon. Women have scans at twelve weeks anyway. Everything’ll be okay.’

  The backs of his knees caved in. Devlin fell into a chair near her bed and, elbows on knees, cradled his forehead. After a few moments he got out, ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’

  ‘I didn’t want you to worry.’

  ‘So you took all the worry on yourself?’

  ‘I know he’ll be all right.’

  Devlin took her cool hand and, assuring her with his eyes, squeezed. ‘I know it too.’

  Gathering himself, he straightened and cleared his throat. He’d meant what he’d said. Everything would be fine. They should focus on practicalities. Be positive.

  ‘Is there anything else you need?’ he asked. ‘There must be medical expenses.’

  Her eyes glistened as she softly smiled. ‘We have time to sort that out.’

  A tall woman with a dark bob strolled in. ‘Morning.’ She nodded at Eden. ‘I’m the sonographer taking care of you this morning. Are you ready to see some amazing pictures?’

  Sabrina bent to kiss Eden’s cheek. ‘Time we bowed out.’

  Nate shook Devlin’s hand. ‘Good luck, mate.’

  The ultrasound technician sat on a stool near equipment that looked very much like a home computer system—a monitor, keyboard and hard drive. She acknowledged Devlin with a cheery smile. ‘You’re the lucky dad?’

  He nodded firmly. ‘That would be me.’

  ‘Well, mum-to-be,’ the woman said to Eden, ‘let’s get started.’

  After lowering the sheet and applying gel to Eden’s exposed skin, the woman slid a sensor firmly over her patient’s lower abdominal area. A black-and-white image flickered onto the screen. Pulse beating high in his throat, Devlin edged closer at the same time his jaw unhinged.

  Amazing was right.

  The sonographer explained, ‘Ultrasounds use high-frequency sound waves and their echoes to create three-dimensional images which are constantly updated, so the scan shows your baby’s movements. We can check the position of the placenta and the gestational age too.’

  A head swam onto the screen, the little body, legs, arms, even fingers!

  ‘That’s him?’ Devlin asked, overcome by a surreal sensation that left him tingling.

  ‘Or her,’ Eden pointed out in a dreamy voice.

  ‘It’s a little early to predict gender,’ the woman let them know. ‘I don’t want to disappoint anyone.’

  He and Eden said together, ‘We won’t be disappointed.’

  They shared a glance, smiled, and Devlin held her hand in both of his.

  ‘Is that the heartbeat?’ he asked, focusing on a small pulsing light.

  The woman held the sensor still. ‘Certainly is. And performing exactly how it should. Great news. I’ll just take some measurements now, but everything’s looking good.’

  For the next few wondrous moments, they studied the incredible moving images while the woman measured and pinpointed dates.

  Some time during the examination, Devlin’s gaze wandered from the monitor to the mother of his child. So vulnerable and beautiful and totally commi
tted to the image on the screen—to his baby…their family.

  A sweeping emotion spiralled up through him, something acute he’d never felt before. It was like feeling responsible for the sun rising on a perfectly clear day, or suddenly being able to reach out and touch the moon.

  Had he consciously fought it? He wasn’t certain. All he knew was he couldn’t deny it. Here was the answer. He wanted this, more than air he wanted to be part of what he had here and felt now—every day, every hour for the rest of his life.

  His throat thick, he moved closer until his lips brushed the shell of her ear.

  ‘God, I love you.’

  Eden swung her attention from the screen to Devlin and mentally shook her head. She hadn’t heard right. She couldn’t have done.

  ‘What did you say?’

  His eyes were uncommonly soft. ‘I love you.’

  She blinked rapidly.

  Eden, don’t get excited. Clearly this was an adjunct to the other night. He’d been about to say those same words after he’d proposed. I love you was just another way to work his charm and get what he wanted. To get her back in his bed and also have his child under his roof, for better or for worse.

  Her voice lowered. She didn’t want the sonographer to hear. ‘We’ve been through this.’

  ‘I don’t think we have.’ His smile was almost boyish. ‘At least I haven’t.’

  She inspected his brow for signs of fever. ‘Are you feeling okay?’

  ‘I feel…’ he pressed a kiss to her hand ‘…fantastic.’

  Eden looked to the technician who, smiling, waved it off. ‘Visual stimulus is extremely powerful. It sometimes gets new dads this way.’ She rose and moved towards the door. ‘I’ll give you two a moment alone.’

  Devlin shunted his chair closer as Eden sat slowly up.

  ‘The other night,’ he said, ‘when I proposed, you thought I’d asked out of a sense of duty. I won’t lie…there is a sense of duty, but there’s more. There’s a sense of…well, destiny.’

  Eden sucked in a breath.

  This sounded too good. It couldn’t be real. She didn’t want to believe too much, hope too hard.

  Nevertheless, she bit her lip as unshed tears stung behind her nose. ‘Please, don’t say what you don’t mean.’

  ‘But you know that I do mean it. I’d be a raving fool not to face the fact that if I don’t make you my wife, I’ll be miserable for the rest of my life. I want to keep you both safe.’ He stopped, then tilted his head as if something had clicked. ‘The not-so-crazy part is, if you let me do that I think I’ll finally be safe too.’

  Her throat ached with a mix of happiness and fear. ‘But what if you regret it? What about your adventures?’

  But she saw only strength and truth gleaming in his eyes. ‘Do you honestly think that matters any more? Besides, we’ll have our own adventures, the biggest and best raising a family of our own.’

  He held her cheek and spoke close to her lips, his voice deep and determined.

  ‘I’m sure about this. About you and me. I’m not my father. Took me the long way round to realise that. To realise that I won’t be happy, and neither will you, unless we’re together.’

  A happy, hopeful sob bubbled up in her throat. ‘You’re sure?’

  His smile lit his eyes. ‘It’s wonderful knowing for certain. Exciting yet…peaceful.’

  She turned more, set her palm against his chest and felt his heart beat as his eyes searched hers with an earnestness that made her shiver with the purest sense of longing.

  ‘Eden, let us all win this time. Tell me you feel the same way.’

  Her voice was the barest, thankful whisper. ‘You must know that I do.’

  ‘Then you’ll marry me?’

  She searched his beautiful eyes. ‘Yes.’ Oh, yes! ‘I love you, Devlin.’

  I’ll love you till the end of time.

  He gathered her close and held her for a protracted, tender moment, as though he might crush her if he embraced her too tightly or she might disappear if he dared let her go.

  Trembling with unsurpassed joy, she murmured against his jaw, ‘Devlin?’

  He came away. His knuckle and adoring gaze curved her jaw. ‘Yes, love?’

  She smiled and a tear sped down her cheek. ‘We’ve wasted so much time.’

  ‘We’ll make up for it, starting now.’

  When his warm, soft lips covered hers, Eden thought she heard angels sing. And she knew…knew for certain and with all her heart.

  She wrapped her arms around his neck.

  Then she kissed him back.

  EPILOGUE

  Dear Diary,

  I can’t believe last week marked another wonderful wedding anniversary! Devlin and I have been married four thoroughly blissful years. Even better…today Sabrina and Nate were married too.

  Nate looked so proud and confident standing at the head of the church, hands loosely clasped before him as he waited for his beautiful bride to walk down the garland-laced aisle. But, as chief bridesmaid, peeking around the corner seconds before the bridal march began, I couldn’t keep my eyes off the handsome best man, in that dark blue suit, black hair neat, twilight eyes smouldering back at me.

  I was wondering how I could contain my gratitude and love from spilling over into tears when I felt a tug on my skirt and looked down.

  Beside me stood the prettiest, and bravest, flower girl God ever created. The hem of her white organza dress touched her satin slippers while her trademark blond curls cascaded from beneath a ring of pale pink roses. In her slightly trembling hand, she held a long-handled white wicker basket.

  As I kissed her cheek the music started and Lonnie headed off, announcing, ‘Don’t worry, Mummy. I’ll do good.’

  Walking behind her, I held my bouquet and beamed as Lonnie sprinkled petals from her basket just as Sabrina and I had taught her in rehearsal. The guests in the pews sighed and it was clear from the devoted look in her father’s eyes that Devlin, too, prized our little girl more than anything in this world.

  At the wedding reception, Lonnie wanted to dance, so Devlin swung her up and swayed with her to a ballad, chuckling whenever she cupped her sweet dimpled hand around his jaw to kiss his cheek.

  Wanting to join in, I crossed from the overflowing gift table to the dance floor and asked my sparky three-and-a-half-year-old, ‘Do I get to dance with the best man? He is my date, after all.’

  I winked at Devlin, who grinned and winked back.

  ‘Mummy!’ Lonnie cried as she twirled in her father’s arms and saw me. ‘We’ll all dance!’

  But when the cute ring boy scurried past, Lonnie forgot about her parents and kicked to be free. Devlin lowered her carefully then wrapped those same strong arms around me.

  The feeling never changes. Always safe.

  Always loved.

  His adoring gaze held mine as he rocked me gently and his warm fingers brushed my temple.

  ‘It’s a funny thing,’ he said.

  My brows nudged together. ‘What’s funny?’

  ‘I didn’t think I could love you any more than on the day we were married, but it keeps getting stronger. Keeps getting better.’

  Drinking in the wonderful moment, I let my heart answer for me. ‘I know exactly what you mean.’

  He smiled over at the flower girl sitting on the floor with the ring boy near the cake table. ‘Lonnie did good today.’

  I remembered Lonnie’s words before she’d headed off with her basket of petals and I grinned. ‘She’s her father’s daughter.’

  ‘She has her mother’s hair.’

  ‘But your eyes.’

  ‘And your big heart.’ His broad shoulders squared. ‘Let’s have another one.’

  We’d never discussed falling pregnant for a second time. Not wanting to push, willing to wait, I’d wanted Devlin to bring the subject up. Now I was so surprised, and pleased, I almost buckled.

  ‘So, you’re ready to do it now?’ I asked.

  ‘Well, s
ure.’ He rested his forehead upon mine. ‘Could get tricky leaving in the middle of the reception though.’

  I laughed and, laughing too, he spun me around. My husband’s smiles are the only wings I need to fly.

  ‘Where’s your adventurous spirit?’ I teased, dizzy from both our twirl and the depth of my love for him.

  He took my hand and placed it on his chest. ‘Right here, and it’s all yours.’

  Beneath the slow-spinning lights, with other couples dancing nearby, he kissed me and I knew as I’d never known before.

  Devlin Stone and I don’t merely have time…we have the rest of eternity—for our love, for our family—and you can bet Cupid’s arrow we’ll make the most of every minute.

  X O X O

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-4450-8

  DEVIL IN A DARK BLUE SUIT

  First North American Publication 2009.

  Copyright © 2009 by Robyn Grady.

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

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