She nodded then reached up to smooth her fingers against his cheek, rubbing against the stubble growing there though he’d shaved just this morning. “Yes.”
“Thank you, Tresia. You’ve made me very happy.” He dipped his head and captured her lips with his. When he broke the kiss, he simply smiled, so happy his heart filled with love for her. “We can go to the Justice of the Peace…unless you want a big church wedding.”
She shook her head, her eyes once more tearing up. “I don’t need a big church wedding, Devlin. I just need you.” And to prove her words, she rose up on her tiptoes and touched her lips to his.
A few days later, Lucy came over, bringing her niece, Savannah, with her. The girls were in the yard, playing on the swing, their laughter coming in through the open window. Tresia poured coffee and set a plate of molasses cookies on the kitchen table in front of Lucy, when she asked, “Will you stand up for me?”
Lucy’s eyes widened. “Does that mean what I think it means? Devlin asked you to marry him?”
“He did.”
Lucy jumped up from her chair, excitement making her squeal, and pulled Tresia in for a hug. “Oh, Tresia, I’m so happy for you! I knew?—”
Tresia broke the embrace. “Yes, you knew.” She eyed her friend. “I should have known, too, when you asked me to take care of Avery. Even though I wasn’t looking for someone.” She let out a sigh, still reeling from the fact that Devlin had asked her to marry him. “In fact, I was dead set against ever getting married again and here I am, waiting for the Justice of the Peace. None of it was part of my Plan.”
Lucy took her seat, then added sugar and cream to her coffee. “Yes, your plan,” she said with a smile, as if there had always been doubt in her mind.
“Oh, I still want Sullivan’s back, but now, I worry. Do I have to give up on my dream of owning the store to become a wife and mother? What will happen to Sullivan’s then? Arnold and Willetta are running it into the ground.”
“Have you talked to Devlin about it?” Lucy dunked the cookie in her coffee then took a bite.
“No, I haven’t. It’s all still new.” Tresia lowered her voice and fiddled with her napkin. “I think he was as surprised as I was when he asked me to marry him.”
Lucy chuckled. “What makes you think that?”
Tresia related the circumstances of Devlin’s proposal, making Lucy laugh. “I do believe you’re right. I’m sure he’ll support you with whatever you want to do, just like Ben supports me. Talk to him.”
“You’re right. I will. I just need to find the right time…and the right words.” She smiled, anticipation bubbling inside her. “We have to tell Avery, too. We haven’t yet.”
“What do you think is going to happen? Avery will say no?” Lucy laughed. “Or that she’ll blab it to the entire town before you’re ready?” She shook her head. “Tell her. I think she’ll be very happy.”
“I hope you’re right. I’m not looking to replace her mother.”
“And I don’t think she’ll see it that way. She’s young. She adores you. Does she talk about—what was her name?”
“Hannah. Not very much. I know she misses her. I know Devlin still misses her, too. From everything I’ve heard, Hannah was a good woman. Sweet. Kind. A gentle soul and a good mother.”
“I don’t think you have anything to worry about. As I said, Avery loves you. And so does Devlin. Whatever happens, you’ll make it work.”
By dinner that night, the opportunity to tell Avery presented itself sooner than she thought it would, and it was Devlin who brought it up after dinner. He pulled his daughter into his lap as they both ate the rice pudding she’d made earlier.
“It’s good, huh?”
Avery nodded before she shoveled another spoonful into her mouth.
“I want to talk to you about something very important.”
“Okay, Daddy.”
Tresia’s heart beat a little faster, watching the two of them. There was no denying Avery was his daughter. They shared the same dark hair, though Avery’s was curly and Devlin’s was slicked back. Even their eye color was the same. They shared the same mannerisms as well as facial expressions, but it was more than a physical resemblance. There was love. That special kind of love between a father and daughter, the same as she had shared with her own father, which made her miss him more. She blinked to remove the moisture from her eyes as she watched them across the table.
“Miss Tresia and I are going to get married.”
“Okay.”
She didn’t know what she thought would happen, but she didn’t expect Avery’s response to be a simple ‘okay.’
“So that’s all right with you?”
