She’d just been saying the words, but as she watched him laugh, she noticed the shape of his mouth and how broad his shoulders were. He wore yet another Hawaiian shirt tucked into khaki shorts, and his lean muscles were clearly displayed.
He was good-looking, she thought in surprise as she felt a faint tingle. And funny and charming and smart and pretty much everything she’d ever wanted. But not for her. Their’s was a marriage of convenience. She was carrying Jimmy’s baby. Having a relationship with his brother was wrong on so many levels. It wasn’t to be, she thought wistfully. Not ever.
Despite the large crowd of teenagers, everyone sat down together to eat. Instead of a table, they sprawled on the lawn in the shade of an old tree, even Noelle’s parents.
Dev found himself surrounded by her sisters and on the receiving end of some serious grilling.
“How long have you and Noelle been going out?” one of the sisters asked. They were all blond-haired, blue-eyed California types and there was no way he could tell them apart.
“Four months,” he said easily, remembering when Jimmy had first gone out with Noelle.
“Do you like how she kisses?” asked the one who was obviously the youngest.
“Tiffany,” Jane said in a warning voice to her daughter.
“It’s a legitimate question,” she said, then sighed. “Fine, what do you like about her? She’s bossy. Did she tell you that? She’s always getting on me to do my homework or clean up my mess in the bathroom.” She inched closer, then spoke in a whisper. “She goes crazy when I leave the sink dirty. Honestly, who really cares about that stuff?”
“I can hear you,” her mother said from across the lawn.
Tiffany sighed. “Fine.”
Dev glanced up and saw Noelle watching him. He winked at her and was pleased when she blushed and smiled.
“You like own the company, right?” one of the other sisters asked.
“It’s been in my family for many years,” Dev told her. “I inherited it from my father.”
“He’s rich,” she whispered to the sister sitting next to her. “Cool.”
Jane groaned. “Obviously I’ve failed miserably with these girls. I apologize, Dev.”
“No need.”
Compared to how he’d screwed up things with Jimmy, she’d been brilliant.
The questions continued, some easy, some more difficult, until the meal was finished. After everyone had tossed their paper plates into the big trash can by the garage, Noelle and her mother went into the kitchen for a couple of minutes, then returned with huge flats of fresh strawberries. Her father stood and faced everyone.
“It’s Sunday,” he said.
There was a collective groan from Noelle’s sisters, although their guests looked more expectant than unhappy. Dev wondered what significance the day of the week held.
Bob glanced at him. “On Sunday, we all talk about something unexpected that happened in our week and how it has changed us for the better. We’ll let you go later so you can see how it’s done.”
Dev looked at Noelle, who mouthed an apology. From her stricken expression he could tell she felt bad for not warning him about this.
He was sure he could come up with something. Noelle could win the prize for unexpected news, but he doubted she would be sharing information about her pregnancy or their engagement. So what would she say?
Bob cleared his throat. “I’ll go first.” He glanced at his wife, who—with Noelle—was slicing ripe strawberries into bowls and setting them out on the table.
“Jane came to me and told me she wanted to take a job outside the church office this week. At first I was angry. I thought she was turning her back on our responsibilities to our community.” He smiled slightly. “As I thought about the situation more, I realized my anger didn’t come from that at all. Jane has never walked away from anything that needed doing. So why was I so upset?”
He paused. “Eventually I realized I was upset because I would miss seeing her all the time. I’ve spent our marriage with the luxury of always being with the woman I love. I know being apart for a few hours a day is something I can endure, but knowing she won’t be there makes me appreciate the time we do have together.”
He raised his bottle of water toward his wife.
Jane smiled. “Thank you, honey.”
“You’re welcome.”
Tiffany groaned. “Please do not kiss. I beg you. It’s gross.”
One of her friends bumped her shoulder. “It’s not gross, it’s romantic. I wish my parents still kissed.”
Tiffany made a gagging noise.
Her father looked at her. “Maybe you’d like to go next.”
Tiffany sighed heavily, then stood and told about a book she’d read that had been on her summer reading list that she’d dreaded and how it had turned out to be really good. Now she knew that maybe she should give books a chance before deciding they were stupid.
And so it went. Even the friends of the sisters stood and talked about something unexpected in their day. Some of them spoke eagerly and Dev wondered if this was the only place they got any positive adult attention.
When it was Noelle’s turn, he wondered what she would say. She stood and smiled at him.
“My boss called me into her office this week,” she began. “I’ve talked about Katherine before. She’s great. I love working for her. Anyway, she knew Dev and I were, ah, dating.”
He hoped he was the only one who noticed the hesitation in her voice before she said the “d” word. He’d mentioned the engagement to Katherine, who hadn’t acted surprised. He wondered if she’d already figured out the truth.
“She told me that sometimes things happen in different ways than we expected and that we should be open to that. Then she told me that Dev is a good man and that I was lucky to have him in my life.”
All eyes shifted to him. He stared at Noelle, intrigued that Katherine had talked to her and that she had chosen that as her story.
“I already knew you were a good man,” she said with a smile, “but it was nice to have it confirmed by an outside source.”
Everyone laughed.
The next person spoke, but Dev kept his attention on Noelle. There were depths to her he hadn’t expected. So far all the discoveries were positive. If they’d met under different circumstances…but they hadn’t. Besides, Noelle was the type to believe in happily-ever-after and he thought romantic love was a crock. He’d seen what “love” had done to his mother.
It had killed her.
“Your
