Chapter Four
A week had passed since the New Year’s Eve debacle, and Gabe still hadn’t seen Devlin. Devlin . Sometimes he said her name out loud, in the quiet of his car, in the office of the bar, while lying awake late at night in his bed. It seemed so foreign to him, to have a name to put to the face that had haunted him. There it is again, a haunting . What else would you call it? For the last year her blurred countenance had inhabited his mind, unbidden and unwelcome. Now that he knew she was mere feet away from him all day long, he’d become clumsy and distracted, over-pouring beer, knocking over bowls of pretzels, forgetting orders. Even now, with his good friend Annabelle seated across from him, he couldn’t seem to hold on to the thread of their conversation. In his defense, both Annabelle and Sebastian had come in separately for lunch and sat at opposite ends of the bar pretending the other person wasn’t there but butting into each other’s conversation. Everything was getting confusing.
“…seriously can’t believe you haven’t gone over there yet, Gabe,” Annabelle was in the middle of saying. “How can you not go and talk to her?”
“I—” Gabe tried to answer.
“She doesn’t want to see him, Winters,” Sebastian cut him off. “In fact, she went so far as to lie to you about the whole thing. Like I said before—”
“Before?” Gabe asked, doing the interrupting this time. “I gather you’ve both talked about this at length?”
“I wouldn’t call it talking.” Annabelle sounded sheepish. “But yes, we’ve gone over the facts a few times.”
“I don’t know if this has escaped your notice”—Gabe looked at each of them in turn—“but she hasn’t been knocking down my door to have a heart to heart.”
“It hasn’t escaped mine,” Sebastian muttered into his beer.
“Now listen here—” Annabelle started.
Gabe held up his hand to cut her off. “Don’t push this, Annabelle. In fact, both of you listen to me. I need to come to terms with her living in my city in my own time, and you need to let me approach her when I’m ready. It will happen. We will talk, I promise you both, although I owe nothing to either of you regarding this.”
“She’s my friend, Gabe.” Annabelle’s tone softened, showing a side of her that he knew came out only on rare occasions. “She opened up a little bit and I think you should hear her out. A simple conversation will take care of the whole thing.”
Gabe opened his mouth to answer when the door chimed and Prudence and Greyson walked in, hand in hand. They took in the separation between Annabelle and Sebastian and the frustration on Gabe’s face, looked at each other and headed to opposite corners, Prudence to Annabelle’s side and Greyson to Sebastian’s.
“We’re having The Talk,” Annabelle explained to Prudence as she sat.
“Ah,” Greyson responded. “How’s it going, little brother?”
“About as well as it can with these two offering sage advice I didn’t ask for.”
“Hey, my advice is rock solid,” Sebastian insisted. “As for Winters, I wouldn’t listen to a word she has to say.”
Greyson elbowed Sebastian and took a handful of fries from his plate. “We haven’t said anything since New Year’s but you and Devlin ignoring each other is starting to get a little weird, I have to admit.”
Gabe scowled and put a pint in front of Greyson. “As I was just telling Woodward and Bernstein here, she hasn’t exactly been knocking down my door to have a heart to heart. I don’t understand why I’m the one who needs to make the first move. So far, she’s admitted to knowing about me for over a year and not doing anything about it. She lied to AB and Pru about the whole thing.”
He turned around to the till, opened it and started organizing the bills, a habit he had when he needed a moment. He could still see the look of surprise turned horror on Devlin’s face, a comical change of expression that would be funny in any other circumstance but in this case, it just made him sick. He’d replayed the moment, over and over, so many times that he was sure the outcome would be different. In his mind, instead of freezing, he’d put his hand on hers to still her, stopping her from running away. She’d entwine her fingers with his and squeeze, understanding what he wanted to say without him having to speak any words.
He slammed the till shut. That shit only happened in romance novels. Telepathy was an underused form of communication in real life. In real life you had to talk and argue, be right or be wrong. Then, when you figure out what side you fall on, be willing to be the bigger person by either forgiving or groveling. He’d lain in bed for so many nights thinking about her that he had a hard time processing how close they’d been to each other. He felt like he should have sensed her, a disturbance, her life force connected to his in such a powerful manner after one night that they should’ve been drawn together as soon as they were in the same zip code.
In the last week, he’d started second-guessing what had happened in Boston. Had it meant so little to her that she was unfazed by his presence? How could she know they were neighbors and not want to bust his door down to shout that it was her—she was here! —and they could reconnect like no time had passed? It stung to know that not only this wasn’t the case, but she’d lied to her friends about it. They’d never talked, no Amber Falls Accord had been drawn up so they could peacefully coexist in the same place.
“Gabe, we’re not passing any judgment on you,” Prudence called from behind him when he didn’t turn back around. “We just want everyone to get along, and that can only happen if you guys talk.”
He turned, all eyes focused on him, waiting for what, he didn’t know. He’d said all he needed to, so he’d say it again. “I will talk to her.”
Silence settled over everyone. Even Sebastian and Annabelle appeared to have nothing to say to each other, the quiet only broken when Leo, the chef for the bar, came out from the kitchen.
“Woah.” Leo saw the somber group. “Who died?”
Annabelle laughed, breaking the tension that had taken over the room. “No one, Leo. We’re just having a discussion.”
“Ooh, is it about Devlin?” he asked.
Gabe turned to him with his hands up. “What the hell, Leo?”
“You’ve been moping about her for longer than you realize, man. I’m just pointing out the facts.” He looked at Greyson and Prudence. “You guys want any lunch? I just took some ribs out of the smoker.” They both agreed that it sounded perfect, and Leo left to plate it.
“In fact,” Gabe decided with a suddenness that gave him whiplash, ready for it all to be over so they could go back to their regularly scheduled lives, “I’ll be the bigger person here and talk to her today.”
He ignored the surprise on their faces at his words. He could do it. He was an adult. He’d pull his big boy pants up, go over there and talk to her.
Long after his friends had left and he was bundling up to go and shovel the sidewalk, the thought crept into his head that when he went to Devlin, they’d once again be sharing the same space. The same air . But a promise was a promise, and he told them he’d talk to her today. Why did he think he needed more than courage to approach her?
* * * *
It had been over a week of blistering wind and seemingly endless flurries. Devlin shoveled a fresh blanket of snow from the sidewalk in front of her shop. She hadn’t expected him to come running the next day to proclaim his undying love for her, but some sort of acknowledgment would’ve been nice. She supposed she could’ve gone over there too, but…well…she hadn’t.
She heard a jangle from the doorbell two doors down and out walked the man she was trying so hard not to think about. He emerged from the bar door, a shovel in one hand and a bag of sidewalk salt in the other. Turning in her direction, his eyes widened just a fraction when he saw her. Devlin tried not to look; she tried not to pay attention as he started to shovel, his movements graceful as he heaved the snow into an increasing pile. She couldn’t stop staring and had stepped an inch toward him when her movement was broken by a group of men carrying items out of the building between theirs. She resumed her shoveling, the movers creating an invisible line that couldn’t be broached as long they were there, watching each other with wary eyes.
The middle shop had indeed gone for sale like Annabelle had told her it would, but the way the township bylaws were written, the town council had to approve the sale. Tonight was the town council meeting where she’d present her bank approval and put in her official offer. When she’d bought Books and Beans, she’d given a quick informal presentation in front of the council, and they’d approved her purchase right away. She had no reason to see why tonight would be any different.
She was excited, with so many ideas and plans, and seeing the movers empty the space out made everything seem real. She’d been able to view it a few times with her realtor but couldn’t help wanting to know what it looked like empty.
Devlin approached the men. She could sense Gabe’s attention was on them despite him being turned away from her. “Hey, guys, do you mind if I take a quick peek inside?”
Gabe’s head turned to the side, a sharp movement as if a noise had startled him. She saw his perfect profile come into stark relief against the low winter sun that shone down the street, his breath white puffs, sharp and heavy.
“We’re done here, I’m just locking it up,” one of the men said.
Devlin batted her eyes at the helpless duo. “What if I promised to lock the door behind me?” At their hesitation, she explained, “I own Books and Beans, right there.” She pointed next door. “You know where to find me if anything is amiss. And your next cup of coffee is on me.”
“All right, but double check to make sure the place is locked tight when you leave.”
Her sexy pout turned into a large grin that fell off her face and she jumped when she heard Finnegan’s door open with a loud bang. Gabe walked inside with an inscrutable expression on his face, but the hard line of his mouth gave away his displeasure.
She shrugged and turned to enter the old art gallery. The winter day was dreary despite the sun hanging on at the horizon, so she flipped on all the overhead lights and let out a sigh of pleasure as she looked on to the bare walls. The brick along one wall was the same as in her shop and she imagined the extension into this room—seamless and perfect.
No more than thirty feet across, the space was smaller than her store. She ran her fingers along the rough brick of the wall and walked the length of one side, planning where she could take down a partial wall. An arched entry, maybe two, would open it up. She pictured bookshelves lining the walls, leather couches and overstuffed chairs welcoming customers to stay and drink coffee while they browsed and sampled books. Long farmhouse tables for the writers to hit their deadlines or students to finish papers. Prudence would be the perfect decorator—her design aesthetic was the ideal fusion of youth and elegance—a tricky blend to pull off, but Prudence did it with an ease Devlin envied.
I can do this . It would be another marker of her journey to Amber Falls, to become successful enough that she’d be able to expand. Getting pre-approval had been easy with the way business was going right now at Books and Beans . She was going to finalize her proposal after work. She picked up a roll of packing tape off the floor left behind by the movers and fiddled with it as she walked to the front of the store, her fingers dancing over the leaded glass detail of the window, then door. What would she do with this entrance? She couldn’t imagine needing two.
“It’s you.” A soft voice broke her from her thoughts. She shrieked and spun around, blindly throwing the packing tape in the direction of the voice. The voice of Gabriel Atwood.
She raised her hand to steady her thumping heart. He’d ducked, and the tape had hit the wall and landed on the floor at his feet.
“It’s you,” she repeated, not knowing what else to state other than the obvious.
They stood there for a long moment, staring at each other. She blinked, her throat tight, and tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. He was there, in front of her, arms motionless at his side except for one finger on his right hand tapping the side of his leg.
“It isn’t polite to sneak up on people like that,” Devlin accused.
“Sorry, I thought you would’ve heard me come in.”
All thoughts fled Devlin’s mind, wiped out by a panic that started to rise from her stomach. If her heart was beating fast a moment ago, it had nothing on the Formula One race now speeding around her chest. Her nostrils flared as she took deep breaths, trying not to betray her state of disquiet. How can he not hear the beating? She turned around to look at the wall behind her, taking the moment she needed to compose herself.
“What are you doing here?”
“I’m going to put an offer in on this place and when I saw you come in here, I decided I’d come take a look.”
She spun around and her panic rose again. “You’re putting an offer in, too?”
“Too?” Gabe looked confused. “Who else is?”
Devlin raised her eyebrows, waiting for understanding to hit him.
“Shit,” he said. “That’s why you’re in here.”
Devlin didn’t know what to say. She didn’t need to confirm what they both now knew.
“Who are you?” she asked.
Gabe wasn’t sure what had propelled him to walk to Devlin, he only knew his feet moved of their own accord and within seconds he was close enough to touch her. He reached his hand out to ease the tension in her shoulders but let it drop back to his side. Taking a deep breath he inhaled her scent. Vanilla . The same scent that had plagued him, a scent he could breathe in again after so long.
“I’m sorry, what?” he asked, not having heard her question.
“Who are you?” she repeated.
Her earnest look, and quiet voice took Gabe by surprise. For all he knew, his life and his secrets had already been divulged to her by Prudence and Annabelle, and probably Greyson. She’d had plenty of time to find out everything about him and he’d only known who she was for a week. He tamped down his rising frustration, remembering his promise to the group, and did the only thing he could think of. He reached out his hand. “I’m Gabriel Atwood. Nice to meet you.”
“Gabriel,” she sighed out his name and his frustration at the situation was having a hard time competing with how delightful his name sounded coming from her delectable mouth.
“And you are?” he prompted, hoping to prolong this time with her.
“Devlin. Devlin Watkins.”
She’d left his hand hovering in midair and just as he thought she was going to withdraw, she reached out and grasped his hand. Her palm was warm and soft and the jolt of electricity he felt at the contact startled him. He had no explanation for what came next. He pulled her into his arms and brought his mouth to her lips. She sank into him, just as she had that night. They felt so right, matched like two pieces of a puzzle.
He walked Devlin back until she was against the roughness of the brick. He braced one of his hands on the wall and moved his other to run through her short hair. He remembered doing the same when she was a blonde, but the softness he felt now begged him to use both hands this time, to let the silken strands slip through his fingers.
She made a sound, low in her throat, and hiked one leg, pulling him closer. He grabbed her by the ass and lifted her, her legs wrapping around him, held up by his body and the brick wall. Breaking the kiss, he ran his mouth down the side of her neck, inhaling the smell of vanilla that radiated off her, and could feel his day-old scruff scraping on her soft skin.
Gabe staggered when Devlin pulled away, dropping her feet to the ground and ducking out of his embrace.
“I can’t.” She turned to the wall, still breathing hard.
Gabe stood for a moment, surprised at both of their actions.
“I’m so sorry, Devlin,” he apologized. “I don’t know what came over me.”
When she didn’t reply, he went to the door, risking one last look at her. Their eyes met until she dropped her gaze and he turned and walked out.
* * * *
Devlin walked down the street later that day, her feet dragging, and a gust of wind kicked up and blew her skirt into a tangle. She was weighed down by the reality of what was happening tonight. She’d felt light as air since deciding she wanted to buy the old art gallery but her excitement for the town council meeting had been dampened by Gabe’s revelation that he, too, wanted to buy the building in between them. She brought her hand to her mouth, a finger tracing ever so lightly where Gabe’s lips had been mere hours before.
After over a year of remembering and wanting—aching—for him she’d not only seen him but had had a hot make-out session that had been moments away from turning into full-on sex if she hadn’t come to her senses. Why did I come to my senses?
Because this was her fresh start. It had become her mantra that needed repeating. She couldn’t let anyone get in the way of her dream, no matter how scorching his kisses were. There could be no more kisses. No more searing gazes. Just…no more.
Her pace slowed as she approached the community center where the township meetings were held. Her hair had become tousled in the wind, so she smoothed it down and ran her hands over her skirt.
“You look good.”
Startled for a second time today, she whirled around, clutching her saddle bag tight to her. Gabe stood behind her, a slight smile on his lips.
“You’ve got a habit of startling me,” Devlin pointed out.
“Sorry, I thought you heard me this time. I said your name.”
“We’re repeating our conversation from this afternoon.” She felt her face heat, thinking about what else they could repeat from that afternoon.
Gabe coughed. “Yes, well…”
They stood there, looking at each other, the wind carrying away the lightness she felt, then stopping as it did when it changed directions, so it seemed like no wind was blowing. The skirt that had been whipping around Devlin’s legs dropped. She felt this shift and squared her shoulders. There would be no pleasant conversation tonight. Her life and her business were on the line, and she was going to fight for them
Gabe seemed to sense the change in her demeanor. He brushed by her, close enough that she could see the stubble on his face, and a wave of lust rolled over her, remembering that stubble scratching her in much more intimate places. She snapped back to attention when she noticed he was still standing at the door. He motioned her forward with a sweep of his hand.
“After you.”
She walked into the community center, shook the snow from her coat, and stamped her feet, the motion more a habit to shake off the cold. Gabe strode past her and sat in the back row.
Devlin went to the front of the room and looked around. The seats were almost full—there were more people than she’d expected. She hadn’t thought that a small place like Amber Falls needed to accomplish that much business at its township meetings, but she sure was wrong. Finalizing the Winter Wonderland schedule, permits for various winter related activities and an open comment session for the townspeople were all on the agenda.
She sat, letting her mind wander to listening to one resident ask for a permit to build a small skating rink in their yard. She twitched as an awareness almost like anticipation rushed over her and she slowly turned her head, her eyes meeting Gabe’s, and she couldn’t look away. Her lips tingled and she pursed them together.
“…and I understand we have some new business tonight, is that right, Council President Reardon?”
Devlin snapped to attention, gathering her composure. Stop it, Watkins!
“Yes, thank you, Mr. Campbell.” Janet Reardon continued, “As you know, township bylaws require council approval before any downtown properties are purchased. What we do is issue permits to the winning party then they can go forward with the purchase of the property. We have one property that housed the former Silver Creek Art Gallery that just went for sale. Two parties have expressed interest in the property. Devlin Watkins and Gabriel Atwood. Both own properties downtown already, on either side of the building in question, so they have been approved before. We haven’t had multiple offers on a property since the township law went into effect.”
“Yes, this is an interesting case. What is your recommendation?” the first council person asked.
President Reardon pondered for a moment. “Following Robert’s Rule of Order. we should hear from both of the parties tonight, for a start.” She nodded to Devlin. “Ms. Watkins, would you please come to the microphone and state your reason for wanting to buy the property?”
Devlin stood and walked to the microphone. She cleared her throat before starting. “President Reardon, we live in a college town. College kids need a place to go where they can work on papers and hang out. My coffee shop had brought a space much like this to the Amber Falls downtown, but being able to expand into the new building will give them an additional place to gather and study. Someplace other than their dorm or the college library. My proposal will offer them a place just like this.” She took a breath; confident she’d gotten her vision across.
“Thank you, Ms. Watkins. Mr. Atwood, if you please?”
Devlin sat as Gabe walked to the microphone. He shot a glance at Devlin before starting. “Downtowns are what make a city. You can have as many tree-lined streets, parks or festivals as you want, but the heart is always downtown. We can’t deny that college kids want a place to be themselves. Expanding Finnegan’s Bar to include an all-ages eatery will benefit not only the college crowd, but it’ll bring in families with young children downtown where the hope is they will visit more shops. This is the growth we’re looking for. Thank you.”
Gabe avoided her eyes as he walked back to his seat. Devlin focused on the council people, who were talking in hushed voices, occasionally looking at Devlin and Gabe before President Reardon once again addressed them. “Since this is the first time we’ve had multiple people interested in the same property, we’ve decided that we’d like written proposals from both of you. We’ll adjourn today’s meeting and have a special session four weeks from now. The proposals will be due to us no later than the Friday before this session. Thank you.”
The meeting was over. Devlin stood and turned to see Gabe already walking out of the door, and Annabelle making her way toward her.
“Annabelle, I didn’t see you here.”
“I was in the back, I got here late. His Highness told me to cover the meeting then kept me late at the office. I had to run here, and I do not wear footwear that’s made for running.”
“You heard the end at least?” Devlin asked.
“I did. What you said was good, but your proposal’s gotta be great. You’re going up against a longtime business owner and one of the town’s darling sons.”
“Don’t remind me. He made some damn good points.” Devlin grimaced. “Don’t tell him I said that!”
Annabelle laughed. “I won’t. At least four weeks is long enough to make your proposal perfect.”
“I can’t believe you’re on my side in this.”
“Of course I am, Dev, but I’m not taking sides. A local coffee shop is always on the top of my list.”
“I hope it’s on the top of the town council’s list, too.”
“It will be, I guarantee it. Oh! Pru mentioned having a ladies’ night on Friday, can you make it?”
Emma was going to be opening the shop on Saturday morning and Devlin could think of no better way to spend her Friday night than with her best friends. “You can count me in.”