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 turn,” Bob said a few minutes later.
Dev stood. “Noelle has talked about her family in glowing terms,” he said. “Mostly I thought it was just that—talk. But now that I’ve met you, I see she was modest in her praise. You are a true family and spending the day with you has given me an idea of what I want for my own family someday.”
He hadn’t planned what he was going to say and it revealed more than he would have liked. Still, it was true. He might not have a lot of faith in the love between a man and a woman but he believed in family. Maybe because his had never been what he wanted.
He saw Bob and Jane exchange a pleased glance, then look at Noelle. Obviously they approved of him for their daughter.
His gut tightened. Until that moment he hadn’t considered that doing the right thing meant deceiving two very decent people. What consequences would Noelle have to face later?
Still, there was no going back. Not with Jimmy’s child on the line.
The following weekend Noelle managed to ignore the reason for the plane trip right up until they stepped off the escalator in the massive baggage claim area and she saw a man in a suit holding a sign that said “Hunter.”
Then reality crashed in and she realized that she was hours away from being Mrs. Hunter.
Married. Was it possible? The need to scream built up inside of her, but before she could decide if she would give in or not, Dev walked over to the man.
“That’s us,” he said, motioning to the sign.
“Mr. Hunter,” the man said with a smile. “I’m Johnson. Do you have any luggage.”
Dev indicated the small wheeled bags they’d carried onto the plane. “This is it.”
“Very good, sir.”
Johnson took her bag and led the way to a large white limo. While the luggage was stowed, Dev opened the rear door and motioned for Noelle to climb in first.
She’d only been in one other limo. That had been a little over a year ago for her senior prom. She’d squeezed in with four other couples and had laughed the entire way to the hotel where the dance had been held. However she didn’t think that was something she should share with Dev.
Instead she sat on the pale leather seat and did her best to keep from passing out.
He glanced at her, then reached for her hand. “Breathe.”
“You tell me that a lot,” she murmured, once again aware of the warmth of his fingers against hers and how being close to him made her feel safe.
“You’ve been panicked a lot lately. We’re fine. We’ll get through this and then the worst will be over.”
She wasn’t sure about that. “I’ve never done anything like this before.”
He grinned. “Run off and get married? It’s a first for me, too.”
She smiled back at him. “It’s not just the running off. It’s everything else.”
“Piece of cake,” he told her. “Pretend it’s just a regular weekend. We’re here to have fun.”
“Regular weekend?” she asked with squeak. “We barely know each other and we’re getting married because I’m pregnant with your late brother’s child. I don’t know what you do for fun, but I tend to avoid situations like this.”
He leaned in and kissed her forehead. “You’ll be fine.”
She wanted to believe him, but wasn’t sure she could. She kept a hold of his hand and studied the sights as they drove from the airport to the Vegas Strip.
Traffic was slow and it took a long time to get down to the Bellagio. Noelle recognized the beautiful lake in front of the massive hotel from scenes in television and the movies.
“I’ve never been here,” she murmured.
“At