Page 108 of The Art Of Starting Over

Soft white lights illuminated the tent where the festival committee would be for most of the weekend. Laila was there with her headset on, holding her own cup of coffee.

“Morning,” Devorah mumbled. “Remind me to send you my letter of resignation on Monday.” Although joking, Devorah wanted to quit. It had been years since she’d been up this early and functioning.

Laila set her cup down and gripped both of Devy’s hands. “I won’t accept it,” she told her pointedly. “Without you, I’d be stressed, and I’m not stressed. You saved me this year, Dev. You’ll never know how grateful I am to have you here. To have you back in my life.”

If Devorah wasn’t so tired, she’d weep a bit.

Hayden kissed her temple. “I’m with Laila. Our lives are so much better with you in it, here in Oyster Bay.”

Dev closed her eyes and leaned into Hayden. “I appreciate you both. So much.”

Laila clapped her hands and looked at Hayden. “Hey, I hear congratulations are in order!”

Hayden’s eyes widened in shock as Devorah shook her head. “The CC Club must have speakers buried everywhere. He literally decided last night while we were eating dinner.”

“I didn’t even tell my mom,” Hayden said, laughing.

“Huh, well, Link knew. He told me.” Laila shrugged. “Are you the new sheriff?”

Hayden nodded. “I start on Monday, once this festival is over. The only part I want in this is to support you ladies.”

“He’s a keeper, Devorah,” Laila said.

“Wait, I thought I was the funny guy?”

The three of them laughed.

“Let’s get to work,” she said as she handed Devorah a headset. “Parade participants will start arriving shortly, and we have an issue with the Pearl of the Ocean float.”

“Anything I can help with?” Hayden asked.

“I’ll let Link know you’re available, but for right now, I think he has it covered.”

“All right then. I’m going back to head over to my property and open the gate for parking, and then I’ll be back at Crow’s to set our chairs out and make breakfast for the kids.” He leaned down and kissed Devorah. She was extremely happy their relationship was out in the open now.

“Call me if you need anything,” he told her.

“I will.”

She watched him jog toward his property and didn’t take her eyes off him until he’d rounded the corner.

“When’s the wedding?”

Devorah turned sharply to face her friend. “Uh ...”

Laila laughed and took a sip of her coffee. “He’s got it bad. You’ve got it bad. By the way, in case you’ve forgotten, my favorite color is lavender, which is the perfect color for a late-spring, early-summer wedding.”

Devy stepped toward Laila and put her hand to her forehead. “Do you have a fever? Did you fall and bump your head last night? Should I call Link?”

Laila batted her hand away. “Weallsee it. You’re just blinded by the crap Chad did to you. Hayden doesn’t care that your divorce was final weeks ago. He wants to be with you.”

“You forget, he’s a widower.”

“No one’s forgotten,” Laila said. “When you find your soulmate, nothing else matters.”

“And you think he’s my soulmate?”

Laila nodded. “I know he is. It’s time for you to see it.”

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