Page 71 of Forever Yours
“You must be the girl,” he stated after saying hi to Gabe.
Devlin gave Gabe a quizzical look and he just grinned back at Joe. “She’s the girl.”
“I’m very happy to hear it.” He put his arm around Mrs. Crenshaw. “And here’s mine. Agatha, these are the two I was telling you about.”
“Hi, Agatha. How are you doing?” Gabe asked.
“That’s Mrs. Crenshaw to you, young man.”
Gabe was secretly happy at this set down, it felt strange to call her by her first name.
“I’m glad I ran into you, Gabe,” Joe said. “I’m not sure if you know it, but I own the building on the other side of Finnegan’s.”
Gabe’s eyes widened. The building had always been closed, but never run-down, taken care of enough that Gabe never gave it a second thought.
“I’m ready to sell it,” Joe continued. “The old family property hasn’t gotten any use in the last twenty or so years. I’m hoping to move somewhere warm soon, if I can convince Agatha that sunshine is the real fountain of youth.”
“I’m far too wise now to want my youth back,” Mrs. Crenshaw admitted. “I’ll take you just as you are.”
“I’m glad to hear that, dear. I was hoping that there would be someone who wanted to buy it and I wouldn’t have to go through the hassle of listing it. If I make the deal with you, the town council will approve, I’ve already talked to them.”
Devlin squealed with excitement. “Gabe, that’s perfect!”
He agreed. Perfect was exactly how he’d describe it.
“Joe, I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything yet. We can look at the building next week, and if it suits your needs, and your price point, it’s yours. Now you two go and have a good rest of your night.” He shook Gabe’s hand and Mrs. Crenshaw led him over to the display of prize-winning jams, for which she’d won the grand prize.
Everything was falling into place, and he was going to ask Devlin to move in with him tonight. They’d been fixing up his house in their spare time and he felt now that the house was just as much hers as it was his. She’d taken over the design job, a job Prudence had given up gladly so she could spend more time with Greyson. Gabe trusted Devlin’s aesthetic and it felt wrong now when he went home and she wasn’t there. He was nervous and didn’t want to wait until later, so he just spit it out.
“Will you move in with me, Devlin?”
“Yes!” came her immediate reply.
“The house has turned—wait, yes?” It took him off guard, though he wasn’t sure why he thought he’d have to convince her to give up her loft.
“I’d love to move in with you, Gabe! I’ve come to love that house so much. I’m glad you feel the same way I do. In fact, I’ve been hinting to Emma that if she needs a new place, I might have the loft available for rent this summer.”
Gabe’s heart soared. He was truly the happiest he’d been, and he couldn’t wait to start this next chapter of his and Devlin’s lives together and maybe he’d get to use his grandma’s ring after all.
He shared the good news as soon as they reached the group.
“Devlin’s going to move in with me,” Gabe announced.
“That’s great. I’ve got my truck if you need help moving,” Sebastian offered.
“Thanks, Seb,” Devlin said. “It won’t be much, I’m going to leave a lot there and rent it out, maybe to Emma.”
“That makes sense, business-wise,” Sebastian agreed.
“With the renovations and expansion, you’re going to want to get away from that place at some point,” Greyson added. “Otherwise it’ll take over everything.”
Gabe started to lead Devlin away when Prudence stopped them.
“Wait, before you go, I can’t forget to tell you. Grey and I are going to fly out to L.A. in a few weeks for the Passel awards. The writer’s strike has moved the show back so many times, but they finally picked June. Grey is begging me to come with him. He said that if I’m there, the paparazzi will be nicer to him and that I can crack the whip on anyone who tries to take advantage of him, Nadia included.”
“They all think she’s some sort of dominatrix that holds all the cards and they’d have to go through her to get to me,” Greyson confirmed. “Plus, Nadia is scared of Pru, so hopefully she’ll leave me alone.”