Page 53 of The Art Of Starting Over

“There’s a healthy argument on the internet about this. If you want her to eat, order the pizza with pineapple.” She turned and started out of the kitchen.

“Devorah?”

She paused in the doorway and turned toward her father.

“I want you to know, this is always your house. You are always welcome. I know I don’t always show it, but I love you and hate that you’re going through this. I wish there was something I could do to make things easier for you. Believe me when I tell you this—I want nothing more than to wring Chad’s neck for how he’s disrespected you. You and Maren deserve better. As your father, seeing you go through this is heartbreaking, and it angers me.”

Devy’s heart jumped into her throat. She swallowed the lump and searched for the necessary words to say back to him. Her eyes watered as she began to speak. “You’re making things easier by letting Maren and I live here. I don’t know where I would be right now if I didn’t have you and Colt.” She looked at the wall, closed her eyes, and willed the tears away. When she opened her eyes, she looked at her dad again. “I love you too, Dad.”

Crow took two giant steps and held his arms out for his daughter. This moment trumped the earlier hug and would be something Devorah would never forget. She ran the rest of the way to her father and sobbed when his big strong arms held her to his chest. The hug was what most people called a “bear hug.” For Dev, it was much-needed attention from a father she longed to reconnect with.

This was the man she had needed many years ago, when she’d lost her mother. She’d longed to feel him hold her, for him to let her cry on his shoulder, to pound on his broad chest in frustration. Devy was young, and aside from the women in the community, she’d had no one to guide her from being an adolescent into her teens, adulthood, and then motherhood.

Standing there in his arms, she didn’t want to let go. She wanted to absorb everything she could from the hug and hold on to it so when the moment passed, she’d still have it pressing against her heart.

More tears came, and his grip tightened around her. Coming back to Oyster Bay, back to her childhood home, had been the right decision.

“Don’t cry,” he said as he brushed his hand down her hair. “It’ll be okay. He can’t hurt you anymore. I won’t let him.”

“Thank you.”

When they finally parted, Crow looked away and cleared his throat. Devy told herself it was because her rugged and often stoic father had cried a bit, and he was far too macho to let her see. She didn’t need to see his tears to know he cared.

Devorah went through the clothes she had and picked the warmest things she had brought with her from Chicago, which wasn’t much. With her dad and Maren out getting pizza, she went into Crow’s closet and pulled out one of his flannel jackets. He would wear them in the fall, when out chopping wood. She held it to her nose and inhaled deeply, taking in her father’s woodsy cologne.

She added the jacket to the growing pile of blankets and snacks and put an extra pair of socks in her purse just in case her feet got cold. It was still spring, after all. The heap was more than they would need, and this was all assuming Hayden wouldn’t bring anything, which was silly. He was the one who’d invited her; of course he would bring the necessities.

The rumble of his truck sent her heart into a tailspin. She ran to the door and then waited until she heard him coming up the stairs. When the first sound of the creak in the screen door started, she swung the front door open and scared him. Much like she had done with her father earlier.

“Hey,” he said as coolly as possible. He placed his hand on the doorjamb and leaned.

Devorah swallowed hard. There was no mistake in her mind: Hayden was flirting. Everything in her screamed for her to flirt back, but she was hesitant to give him that side of her again. They’d been down that road before. He could never commit, and she’d ended up with Chad.

Still, the sexy, suave, and oh-so-good-looking Hayden was standing on her front porch again, like all those years before. They were both different, grown up, with other responsibilities. Flirting with Hayden wouldn’t hurt her.

“Hey,” was all her clouded mind could come up with.

They stood there, like two teens going on a first date. It wasn’t until someone drove by and honked that they both moved.

“Come in.” She stepped aside and held the door for him. “Crow took Maren to pick up pizza, so if we hurry, we can avoid him.”

“Do we need to hurry?”

“No, but it’s Crow, and he usually scares the crap out of people.”

Hayden chuckled, but it didn’t sound like a happy laugh. More like he’d been on the receiving end of Crow scaring the crap out of him.

“Don’t sound so scared,” she said, teasing him. “Crow likes you.”

“Does he now?”

“Yep, told me earlier. I mean, it makes sense. He’s close with your dad. Did you know they fish together?”

“I may have heard something about fishing. Although, I’m not sure a lot of fishing gets done with those two.”

“Do you think they gab as much as the CC Club?”

Hayden nodded furiously. “I hate to say it, but that’s what our future looks like.”

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