DEVLIN
Idid what I came to do; so why do I feel so terrible, like I’ve just handed the keys of the kingdom to my worst enemy?
Because you have.
I need a drink.
Blair’s dancing with Storm. He must be hilarious because she keeps tossing her head back and laughing. Either that, or he’s tickling her.
I will kill him if he’s doing that.
Got to get a grip.
My mind’s a mess. I can’t stop thinking about earlier, when I had her against the wall. The tango didn’t do a thing to quell my desire, either. It made it worse. I can still taste her on my tongue, and when I curl my fingers, it feels like I’m digging them into her thighs.
Yes, I know that I mostly cradled her face. I can imagine, can’t I?
But maybe Hands is right. Maybe I should tell her what I saw. Maybe I should go for it, let Blair decide her own future. It’s not my place to make her life choices for her. She should get a say.
It’s just…when I think about what I saw, my heart shrivels into dust. I can’t go through what happened with my parents all over again. I can’t live with that sort of guilt. Experiencing it once was enough. Not again.
“Having a good time?”
I glance over and see Rebecca’s face peeking out of the wall. Blair’s nana really can’t stay out of the limelight.
“I am,” I answer. “And yourself?”
“Well it would be a lot more fun if I wasn’t dead.”
That makes me chuckle. “Yes, I suppose it would be. But shouldn’t you be hiding? You know, it’s bad luck for a family when their relatives return.”
“I know. Believe me, I know.” Her hand appears and she waves me away. “My Great-aunt Edith showed up when I was a girl, and my mother had a time getting her to disappear. She even tried to stop her up in the family well.” She laughs at the memory. “But my aunt didn’t leave until we were all married off, and I won’t go away until I see Blair happily matched. But anyway”—she gives me a ghostly side-eye—“I just had to check up on you, and since Blair’s angry with me, I’m not sure how honest she’ll be about the way things are going.”
I nod to the ballroom floor. “She’s dancing now. Looks like they’re having a good time.”
I down the rest of my champagne and look for another glass. Hm. There’s none to be seen, so I magic up another into my palm. I down it, too.
“Is she having a good time?” Rebecca asks in a voice that suggests her granddaughter is not.
“Looks like she is to me.”
“Perhaps.” The apparition turns her face to me. “You know, I always questioned why the two of you broke up. You were such a good match. And then, if I’m being honest, I worried about you when you started dating so many different women. You seemlike a one-gal kind of guy to me, Devlin. Oh, you’re pretty, yes, but you come from good stock, a grandmother that loves you very much. Not so much that uncle of yours.”
She studies me for another moment before saying, “She told me about your parents. I’m so sorry.”
Rebecca doesn’t mean that they died in the crash. I know what she’s implying. “Well, if my grandmother told you, then she must’ve known that you’d keep my secret.”
“And I did, even when my own granddaughter’s heart was shattered by you. It seemed to me that something more was going on there. Am I right?”
I grunt. It’s the best answer that I can muster.
“I thought so. You know, in my experience, running from a problem never solves anything. No matter how much the truth hurts, no matter what we think might happen because of it, it’s always best to face our fears. Pull out our swords and kill our proverbial dragons.” She presses a hand to the side of her mouth. “Don’t tell my son-in-law that. He loves dragons.”
I can’t help but smile. “So Blair has told me.”
“And what’s she telling you now?”
“Not quite what I need to know yet.”
