Page 56 of Forever Yours
“It is.” He didn’t say that his degree was helping him to secure the new space for his eatery as he opened the door, thankful they’d just gotten to the library and he didn’t have to continue with the natural flow of her question.
The small one-room building was jam packed. The promise of free food never failed to get people in the door.
“Oh, this is divine,” Devlin said. “Between the warmth and the delicious smell, I could hibernate in here for the rest of winter.”
“Don’t turn into a bear on me yet. You’ve got a job to do, and I want to beat Mrs. Crenshaw.” He gave her butt a small pat. “Now get on over there and do whatever you need to make Finnegan’s chili number one.”
“What happened to winning fair and square?”
“That was before I saw this.” He pointed to Mrs. Crenshaw holding court by her crockpot, wearing all her previous first place ribbons. “Now I’ve got something to prove.”
Annabelle joined them as Gabe finished this statement.
“The only thing you have to prove is that second place is just as good as first place. She’s not going to lose,” Annabelle stated.
“Hey, you know I have my ringer right here. I’ve got this thing in the bag,” Gabe declared.
An hour later, Gabe was holding his second place ribbon, perplexed.
“I tried them all. I tried them all more than once and Leo’s chili was clearly the winner.”
“I’m sorry.” Devlin put an arm around his shoulder. “Leo’s chili was better, but all the other judges liked Mrs. Crenshaw’s. You were a unanimous second place, if that makes you feel better.”
“Somehow I don’t think that will look as good hung up in Finnegan’s. ‘It was unanimously decided that our chili wasn’t the best.’”
“Chin up, Gabe.” Annabelle threw on her coat and walked out of the door with them before veering off in the direction of her condo. “I promise that I’ll give her a run for her money at the peach pie bake-off this summer.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow, AB,” Devlin called and got a wave in response.
“What’s tomorrow?” Gabe asked.
“I’m having a late lunch with AB and Pru. Lots of wine and even better company.”
“I work a double tomorrow. Did you want to keep me company tonight?”
“Emma is opening in the morning, so I’d love to stay over. You’ve got to warm me up after this walk. It’s gotten a lot colder out.”
Gabe gathered her close to him as they walked the rest of the way to his house but couldn’t stop thinking about what conversations Devlin would have with the other ladies tomorrow. He wasn’t sure he’d come up at all and felt a pang of sadness that he might, and was sure it wouldn’t be in the happiest of contexts. They were inching closer to the proposal deadline, and he’d been able to compartmentalize their situation until now, but separating themselves from the proposal was getting harder with each passing day. They’d had conversations where they’d delved into each other’s histories and hopes and dreams. He was having a difficult time separating what they were doing now with what was to come. He didn’t want to think about it, though, so he did what he did best when it came to Devlin and shoved the interfering thoughts into the recesses of his brain.
Chapter Eighteen
“I’ll get details from you, and I’ll get them today,” Annabelle pressured Devlin as they sat at a table in their favorite lunch spot, The Olde Town Eatery, waiting for Prudence.
“I promise you there aren’t any details.”
“I don’t believe you for one second. Neither Pru nor I have heard from you since we’ve been back in town and there must be a reason for that.”
Devlin evaded Annabelle’s accusing stare, toying with the menu in front of her. She did want to share what was happening with Gabe to Annabelle and Prudence, but intuition told her that if she tried to explain the connection between her and Gabe the magic would be gone, and she’d never be able to get it back.
“Ladies, ladies, I’m sorry, I’m here,” breezed Prudence, swooping into a seat and exhaling hard enough to flutter the petals on the flower in the middle of the table. “Greyson—”
“Needs to get a life,” Annabelle interrupted.
“Not fair, AB,” Prudence shot back.
“Oh, I know,” Annabelle soothed. “I was just kidding. For as long as it took for you two to get together, you deserve to be as saccharine as you want to be.”
“Yes, let’s talk about you and Grey,” Devlin insisted, ignoring Annabelle’s accusatory glance as Prudence continued.