Chapter 35
Rhett
Devon’s mine.
-From Rhett’s Most Important Things note
book, September20th
“I’ve got to start giving you more reasons to wear cocktail dresses,” I say, lingering a step back to admire the way her fitted lace dress hugs her lithe body as we walk up the driveway to her non-surprise surprise party.
“Please do,” Devon smiles at me over her shoulder, her sapphire eyes sparkling with delight.
I asked Allie if we should plan something at a bar, restaurant, or maybe an art museum, and she insisted Devon doesn’t love birthday attention and would rather have everyone at her own house but loves an excuse to dress up. So, I put on a suit, and Devon spent an hour and half doing her hair and makeup cross-legged on the ground in front of a full-length mirror in the trailer, effectively moving our primary bath in the house to the top of my priority list.
Sadie throws open the front door before we can reach it, and Devon’s friends wrap her in their arms, wishing her happy birthday while they ooh and ahh over each other’s appearances. Evidently, Sadie’s hair is pinker than usual, but I hadn’t noticed.
Inside, Devon and Sadie’s house is decorated with fresh flowers and a hand-painted sign that says Happy 29th, Dev. Lights are strung up around the backyard with lanterns floating in the pool, and the kitchen has a spread of veggies, fruits, sweet and savory baked goods. The drink menu consists of all different styles of martinis.
I wouldn’t have known how to plan something like this for her, and I’m grateful she has so many people in her life who care to do it for her. As far as parties go, it’s a small affair, but for a group of people who’ve shown they’d do anything for you? It’s huge.
Allie comes over, wrapping her arm around Devon from the other side. “Hi, you’re not drinking. Do you want a drink? Let’s go get drinks,” and pulls her away to the kitchen.
For the rest of the night, Devon lets loose, the weight of the world finally lifted from her shoulders. She laughs and tell stories, even gets a little buzzed, which is a rarity.
After a couple hours when Luke, Cam and I have gathered around the cooler in the backyard, Betty brushes against my leg. When I reach down to pet her my fingers encounter a massive sand-colored bow tied to her collar. Sort of comical looking on a stocky pit bull.
“Allie insisted the dogs dress up too,” Luke explains, tugging at his own collar and pointing across the yard where Spaghetti and Dandy chase each other, sporting matching bows.
“They don’t mind it?” I ask, releasing Betty’s head, who pushes back into my hand immediately, so I resume petting her.
“Betty doesn’t mind much of anything,” Luke explains, “and the other two have been bribed with treats.”
“I get that,” Cam adds. “I too, can be bribed with treats.”
Luke makes an unamused groan in response.
“Hey, do you live in Palm Springs?” I ask Cam. “I see you around, but I’m never sure.”
“Working on it,” he responds, passing me a fresh beer from the cooler. “Never had a solid home base, at least not as an adult, because I’m on the road so much.” He shrugs, crossing one thoroughly tattooed arm over his chest. “But I like it here. Good friends. Just need to find a place.”
Twisting the top off my beer, I take a sip. Betty walks over to lean against Cam’s legs, who takes over petting her. Pointing through the window into the living room where Devon stands talking with Hector and Brian, I say, “Once I get our house built, Sadie will be needing a roommate, so that’s something to consider.”
Cam’s brows arch up in unmasked interest and Luke shoots him a warning glare. “That’s not a bad idea.”
“Although, I doubt Devon would leave Sadie until she’s found someone she approves of to take her place,” I add. “You’d have to figure that out.”
The tension in Luke’s shoulders loosens, his bearded face pulling into a smile. “Good luck with that.”
“Won’t be a problem,” Cam throws his arms out wide, a splash of beer spilling from the mouth of his bottle. “Everyone loves me. Even Devon.”
Nope. Devon loves me.I smile with the reminder, but don’t say anything to contradict Cam. I’ll let him figure out how to get on her good side on his own.
Devon waves at me through the window to join her, so I excuse myself and head inside.
“You never told her we golf together?” Hector asks, as I’m closing the back door.
I shrug. “Never came up.”
“Hmph,” Hector glares at me, but his words come out with good-natured teasing. “I’ll be holding that against you for at least a day or two.”
“I’ll accept that.” I slide my arm around Devon’s waist.
She looks up at me. “Hector and Brian are finally ready to do the addition on their house we’ve been talking about for years.”
“I’ve been trying to talk him into it for years,” Hector adds, pointing a thumb at his husband’s chest. “And one day last week he was just ready.”
Brian flashes me a conspiratorial smile.
“Congratulations, you guys. That’s a big deal.” I pull Devon in close to my side, the words meant more for her than anyone else.
“In two days, when I forgive you, we’ll have to talk about custom woodwork. I’m told you’re the best in town,” Hector says.
“I’ll schedule a tee time,” I answer.
“Oh, so you do admit we golf together?” he laughs.
“He doesn’t mean anything by it,” Brian says. “But we have to get going. Wanted to make sure to talk to you both about this before we left though.”
Devon thanks them for coming, and they leave to make their rounds and say goodbye.
“This is perfect for you.” I say quietly as soon as they’re out of earshot. “An addition, a hotel, a restaurant. It’s all coming together for you, mama.”
She closes her eyes on a deep breath in, then releases it with a broad smile. “It really is.”
Hours later, as the night’s winding down we gather in Devon and Sadie’s living room, the same combination of people that were here the night Devon found out about the blog, plus Cam.
But tonight has the opposite energy. No one’s stressed or scared or deeply focused on avoiding a disaster. Everyone’s laughing and lounging against each other in their cocktail attire, sneaking snacks to all three dogs when they think Luke isn’t looking.
Devon comes back from the kitchen with a fresh martini and sits on my lap without spilling a drop. She leans back against my chest, and I drape a blanket across her bare legs as she folds them across me.
“So, when exactly did this adorable development, develop?” Cam asks, pointing between Devon and I.
“Well, my friends kidnapped me,” Devon’s explanation is cut off by a chorus of objections from her friends.
Sadie leans from her place on the couch across the coffee table, explaining to Cam, who sits on the ground with his legs stretched long in front of him, “These two just needed a little push. There was zero kidnapping involved. But Devon spent a couple weeks in the desert with trailer daddy over here, and he—”
“I’m so sorry to interrupt you, love,” Cam says through a laugh, briefly resting his hand on Sadie’s outstretched arm, “but trailer daddy?”
My eyes flash to Devon, who looks equally as confused as I am. She shrugs, shaking her head.
“You two are a little clueless, aren’t you?” Bea laughs. “You left it on the whiteboard that day we came to visit.” She says, pulling out her phone and passing it to Cam.
He inspects something on the screen and guffaws, folding forward and holding the phone out for everyone to see. On it, there is a picture of our whiteboard.
Dinner will be ready at 7.
-Rhett
I’ll eat on my own.
-Devon
I wasn’t asking. See you at 7.
-Trailer Daddy
“Wait, how did I never see that?” Allie asks, grabbing the phone from Cam and reading the text. “Did we show up right after a little lovers quarrel?” she teases.
Bea nods, emphatically. “They were definitely post-coital when we showed up.”
“Who the fuck says post-coital?” Allie folds over in laughter, adding. “But actually, I kind of like it. I’m gonna start using it.”
Devon buries her face in my chest. “I cannot believe they know about this,” she whispers.
Luke, who rarely presses his luck with Devon, asks, “Is that what you call him all the time? Are we going to get to hear it, or is that a bedroom thing?”
“Lucas!” Allie laughs, smacking him in the arm.
Devon uncurls from my chest shooting him a lethal glare. “You will never ever hear those words out of my mouth.”
I press my luck too. “I will say, truth or dare is an effective way to get things out of her.”
Devon whirls back on me, mouth dropped open in offense. I tuck a finger under her chin and bring it closed, then place a kiss on the tip of her nose.
“This isn’t over.” She glares but returns to leaning back against my chest once more.
“So do we think trailer daddy would look best on a hat or maybe a t-shirt,” Cam wraps an arm around Betty’s neck. “A dog bandana?”
“I’m going to kill you,” Devon says to Bea who laughs it off.
For the rest of the evening, everyone makes trailer daddy references as often as possible, and each time Devon’s cheeks flush pink. It’s adorable.
Once everyone’s left and she’s getting ready for bed, I duck out to the car to grab her present and leave it waiting for her on the bed.
She emerges from the bathroom wearing my Banjo’s BBQ t-shirt, hair tied back with tendrils curling around her freshly washed cheeks, and a sleepy smile on her face. How did I get so lucky?
She spies the package and pulls it into her lap as she tucks herself under the covers next to me. “You kind of already gave me a house.”
“I want you to have this too,” I say.
Her face pulls into the confusion I expected when she pulls back the wrapping. It’s a brown leather notebook, clearly used, with nicks in the cover and dog-eared pages.
She cocks her head, not wanting to seem ungrateful.
“Open it,” I urge. “Start at the bookmark.”
She flips to it and reads aloud. “June tenth, meeting Devon Blake.”
Her brows quirk.
“Keep going.”
“June eleventh, I got to see Devon Blake again.”
She starts to flip through multiple pages at a time, reading me the entries whenever she stops.
“August sixteenth, won the best prize in the silent auction.”
“That was a really good day,” I smile, remembering how much fun I had spying on everyone to make sure I got the highest bid.
“August twenty-third, Devon smiled at me.”
She sets the notebook down, looking over at me. “Did you write down every time we’ve ever interacted?” Before I can answer, she opens it again, flipping to the first day we were in the desert.
“August twenty-first, Devon rolled onto my chest, and I got to hold her while she slept.”
Reaching over, I flip to the last entry, today’s. “When I met you I was on a search for something that mattered. Starting on the first of the year, wrote down the most important thing that happened to me each day, hoping a pattern would emerge.” I tap on the notebook, drawing her attention back down. “It did.”
She reads, “September twentieth, Devon agreed to be mine.” Then furrows her brow. “But I saw this wrapped up on the table yesterday.”
I pull her close, kissing her forehead. “I told you. I knew.”
The End