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“Quiet. It’s going to take her a while to get over being pissed at Vera. If she’s anything like me, it will probably happen the day before Mother Dearest takes off again. I swear, the woman has impeccable timing.”
“How are you holding up?”
“Better now with this cannoli. Aren’t you going to have anything?”
I hadn’t even eaten dinner. I’d been a nervous wreck all day, and it felt like I might vomit if I put food in my stomach.
“What is it you wanted to tell me?” Devyn shoveled the rest of the cannoli into her mouth.
I’d spent the day thinking about the right way to tell Devyn how I felt about her, even rehearsing in the damn mirror. But now that she was sitting across from me, I drew a blank. “Uhh…”
Devyn’s face fell. Her hand covered her heart. “Oh my God. You look so serious. What’s wrong? Oh no. Youaredumping me, aren’t you?”
“No…no, no…”
“Then what is it? Are you okay?”
God, I was really blowing this. I shook my head. “I’m fine. I… I guess our talk last night about the paternity testing got me thinking.”
“Okay…” She looked wary. “Are you nervous about it?”
“No. Well, yes, but that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Then what is it?”
I took a deep breath. This was not how I’d envisioned telling Devyn I was in love with her. I didn’t have much experience since I’d never told anyone else. Yet somehow, I’d imagined it would be…I don’t know…less conversational and more from the heart. Maybe there was too much space between us. I pushed my chair back from the table and held out my hand. “Come here.”
“On your lap?”
I nodded. “Please.”
She smiled. “Okay.”
Once we were touching, I felt a heck of a lot calmer. I pushed a lock of her hair behind her ear. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, and I want you to know that I want to be with you, regardless of what the paternity test says. Because…” I looked into her eyes, swallowed the lump of nerves in my throat, and took the biggest leap of faith I’d ever taken in my life. “Because I’m in love with you, Devyn.”
She covered her heart with her hand. “Oh gosh. I wasn’t expecting that.”
“I’m sorry. I know it’s not the most romantic moment to tell you. But your doctor’s appointment is in two days, and with everything going on, I don’t know how much romance we’re going to have time for. But I thought it was important for you to know I’m in for the long haul. I want to be with you, Devyn. I have no clue what that looks like—where you’re going to be living, if the child you’re carrying is mine, or if you’re going to have a baby and two teenagers to raise—but I need you to know that however things turn out, I want to be there.”
Devyn glanced around the room at anything but me. “I…I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything. I just wanted you to know.”
She nodded, averting her eyes. “Okay…um, thank you.”
After thirty awkward seconds, she stood. “I should get going so Heath doesn’t start home without me.” She practically ran to the door. “Thank you for the desserts and, um, talk.”
CHAPTER 24
Devyn
The following morning, more gift-wrapped boxes arrived. Today even looking at them left me overwhelmed. Opening them wasn’t an option anymore, since I had nowhere to hide everything. How the hell would I explain it to the kids if they found baby things? It was bad enough that I’d asked Mia to keep the other stuff Robert had sent so no one suspected anything. But Mia didn’t have room for more. And it wasn’t like I could ask Owen to hang onto Robert’s gifts. So, I piled these newest shipments into the small closet off the living room and prayed no one would notice.
Then I picked up the phone and dialed Robert in Italy.
“Hey, babe,” he answered.
“Youreallyneed to stop sending stuff.”
