Page 54 of Somebody's Watching Me
He took her hands. “I am in love with you, Simone.”
“Why?” she squeaked, blinking rapidly as if confused. “I mean, how?”
“What do you mean, how?”
“I’m a nobody.”
Devon recoiled as if she’d slapped him. “Where did you get that idea?”
“It’s just sometimes… I’ve never had anyone say they love me. Not my parents, or my brother.”
His heart broke for her, but all that was in the past. A lifetime of being adored lay ahead. “Simone, may I have the honor of loving you forever?”
“Oh, my.” She let go of his hands, pressing one to her stomach. “Okay?”
“So, I can meet Ben?”
She debated for a minute. “No, you’ll come to Haven House for dinner and meet my family first.”
It was settled, and the next afternoon he drove out to the middle of nowhere. She wasn’t kidding when she’d said the place was hidden. As his car bumped down the clay road, and the house came into view through the trees, he hit the brakes to stare for a second.
“Holy macaroni.”
It was enormous. Devon spun around as he walked up the path, taking in the house and its immense grounds as if he were Alice having enteredWonderland.
He let out a startled shout when a small blonde woman popped out from behind a batch of bushes planted near the porch.
With her finger to her lips, the woman shushed him. “We’re playing hide and seek.” She returned to a crouching position. “I’m Laura Jean, by the way. I’m not very fast, so I have to wait Livy out.”
“Who’s Livy?”
“MEEEEEE!” Another small person, this time an actual child, came giggling around the corner of the porch. Her tight curls bounced as she ran full barrel at Laura Jean. “Tag, you’re it!”
Laura Jean laughed, slowly rising. She seemed stiff, and Devon tried to help her stand. “Here, let me help.”
“I’m good.” She waved his outstretched hand away. “But don’t tell SiSi. She’ll make me do extra squats tomorrow.”
“Your secret is safe with me.”
The front door opened, and a woman wearing the shortest shorts in all creation stepped out on the porch. Smacking on some gum, she gave him a once over, and obviously liked what she saw. “Yum, aren’t you adorable.”
Simone hurried out next, knocking the younger woman aside with her hip. “Don’t scare him off, Becca,” she said, traveling down the steps two at a time, excitement shining in her eyes. “Welcome to Haven House.”
They all went in, and Devon swiftly learned dinner at Haven House was a casual affair. A loud gathering where the adults sat around the small kitchen table, while the children were spread out on various highchairs or barstools, depending on their age.
Between the music, the laughter, and the yowling cats begging for food, it was a storm of sound assaulting his ears. The cats were really the worst part. Balls of menacing fur judging him as he ate. They all had literary names like Frodo or Lady Macbeth, and during dessert, he thought it might have been Daisy Buchanan who took a chunk out of his ankle.
A scientist at heart, he watched and learned, observing the dynamic of the household. Simone was the mother. That was easy to see. She fussed over the other women, reminding Laura Jean to sit straight to help her back, and scolding Rebecca for feeding the cats under the table. She ordered the older children to clean up when they finished eating and kept one eye on the toddlers.
The late doctor’s wife was the free spirit, wanting everything to be beautiful. She went around from child to child as they ate, adding random garnishes to the plates, or arranging their food and condiments in such a way that it almost looked like a floral painting when done.
Rebecca was obviously the youngest of the group. She joked with the kids, making silly faces at them as they ate. Out of the four children present, two belonged to her, meaning she must have been quite young when her oldest was born.
As dinner ended and the noise level grew, Devon leaned down to whisper to Selah. “Is it always like this?”
Selah proudly grinned. “Yep.”
Once the night was over, Simone walked him out, and he snuck in a kiss on the darkened porch. “Are you coming to my place later?”
