“Not for a few more weeks.”
“I know. I’ll try not to think about it.”
She was getting good at that—clearing her mind and living in the moment. After the wedding, she’d stretched out on the big bed, thinking she would never sleep. When next she’d surfaced, it had been after midnight and she’d still been in her white dress. She’d showered, washed off her makeup, then crawled into bed where she’d zonked out until nearly eight.
They’d shared a quiet breakfast in one of the cafes, then had flown home at noon. Now they were going by to tell her family the news and pick up several suitcases and return to his house.
Easy enough, as long as she didn’t actually think about doing any of it.
Before she’d figured out exactly what she was going to say to her parents, Dev pulled up in front of the house. Noelle got out, then smoothed the front of her cotton skirt and forced herself to smile as she led the way to the door.
“Hi, Mom,” she yelled as she entered.
Unlike the previous weekend, this time the house was quiet. All of her sisters were off with friends. But Noelle had called ahead and knew her parents were home.
“Hi, honey,” her mom said, stepping out of the kitchen. “Are you hungry? Did you want me to—” She spotted Dev. “Oh, hello. I didn’t know you were with Noelle today.” She smiled, then yelled. “Bob, Noelle and Dev are here.” She looked back at them. “Your father’s in his study. He preached from Romans today and you know how he gets.”
Noelle turned to Dev. “He goes over his sermons after he gives them and looks at ways he could have done things better.”
Her father walked down the hall toward them. “We didn’t expect to see you until later.” He held out his hand to Dev. “Good to see you again.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Dev glanced at her, which she knew was her cue. Noelle drew in a deep breath.
“Mom, Dad, I didn’t spend the night at Crissy’s last night. Dev and I flew to Las Vegas and got married.”
Both her parents stared at her in open-mouthed shock. She cleared her throat, then added, “I’m sorry I lied.”
Dev stepped into the uncomfortable silence. “It was all my idea,” he said quickly. “Please don’t blame your daughter. I was doing my best to sweep her off her feet and all the time she kept talking about how she didn’t want to disappoint you. I hope you’ll understand and lay the blame where it belongs.”
Noelle appreciated the support and the fact that Dev wasn’t technically lying about anything.
Her mother surfaced first. “Married?” she asked in a shaky voice. “One of my babies is married?”
Noelle held out the ring. Her mother glanced at it, then at Dev. “Okay, yeah, for that I might have married you, too.” She gave a laugh, then pulled Noelle close. “Is this what you want? Are you happy?”
Noelle was grateful that the tight hug meant her only response could be a nod.
Her father glared at Dev. “You’re sure about this? You’re prepared to take on the responsibility for my daughter?”
“Of course,” Dev said confidently. “Mr. Stevenson, I know how much your daughter means to you. I would never hurt her in any way. She will be taken care of and safe for as long as I draw breath.”
Noelle waited for her father’s response. Once again Dev had managed to speak the truth. She wondered if anyone would notice that he hadn’t promised to love her.
Her father continued to study Dev for a few more seconds, then held out his hand again. “Then welcome to the family.”
“Thank you, sir.”
The next few minutes passed in a blur. Her parents ushered them into the family room. Her mother produced lemonade and cookies, then wished they had champagne in the house.
“I didn’t think we’d need it so soon,” she said, touching Noelle’s hand. “Tell me everything about the wedding. I wish we could have been there. Oh, my. There are so many people to tell. We’ll have to have a party, won’t we, Bob? Maybe something in the garden.”
Dev listened to Jane Stevenson talk about the wedding. There were tears in her eyes as she realized all she’d missed of her oldest daughter’s big day. He felt bad for having to deceive her and her husband, but it was better this way. Better that they not know the truth about the baby. They were the sort of people who would insist on helping and he didn’t want to have to argue against their pride and love for their daughter.
Noelle was holding up better than he’d expected. She answered lots of questions about the Bellagio and even surprised him by admitting she’d already packed most of her things.
When they were finally ready to leave, he braced himself for a one-on-one with Noelle’s father. He figured he owed the man, so he wouldn’t try to duck out of the conversation. But instead it was Jane who cornered him as Noelle’s father loaded her luggage in the car.
“Please take care of my little girl,” she said, tears filling her eyes. “I know she’s the oldest, but I still think of her as my baby. My firstborn. Oh, Dev, I know you’re a good man, but this is difficult.”
He touched her arm. “I promise I’ll take care of her.”
She smiled through her tears. “I know she’ll never want for anything, which is lovely, but there’s so much more to a marriage than not worrying about bills. Noelle is special. I guess I don’t have to tell you that, but I’m going to, anyway. She’s smart and responsible and caring. And that’s what I worry about the most. Her heart.”
She paused and wiped away the single tear that had escaped. “She thinks she’s tough, but she bruises so easily. She leads with her heart. Be careful of that. Be tender.”
“I will,” he said, knowing it was a safe promise. Noelle’s heart didn’t enter into their agreement.
“As long as you love each other fully, you can get through anything,” Jane said. “That’s my best advice. Love each other.”
He nodded without speaking, then walked toward the car.
Love. Romantic love. He didn’t believe in it. Not anymore. He’d tried it once, while he’d been raising Jimmy, only the woman in question had refused to deal with a difficult teenager. He’d let her walk away because he hadn’t known how to keep her. The loss had devastated him.
Since then, he’d avoided the emotion and found he got along quite fine. Love was for the weak. He’d always been strong. Nothing about that was going to change.
Since Dev was able to carry about five times as much luggage as Noelle, they carried everything inside in two trips.
“I told you about the two bedrooms down here,” he said as he showed her a large, airy bedroom decorated in pale blue and beige. A queen-size bed sat against one wall, with a big armoire opposite. A long desk filled the space under the window.
“I ordered the desk last week and had it put here,” he said. “I thought you might like to look out while you studied.”
He’d done that for her? “Thank you,” she said as she glanced out at the beautiful yard. She could see flowers, a tree and one end of the pool. Talk about a great way to take a break. “It was very thoughtful.”
“You’re welcome. Bookcases,” he said, pointing to the ends of the desk.
She bent down and saw there was a good-sized bookcase at each end. On both sides of the comfy looking leather chair were deep file drawers.
The closet was equally impressive. A big walk-in had been finished by some expert who had put in angled shelves for shoes, straight shelves for folded items,