Hitched (Promise Harbor Wedding) - By Erin Nicholas Page 0,88

her mom’s files, reading notes in her mom’s handwriting—it had all kept Lily close.

“Lydia,” Charlie finally said.

Ah. Of course. “And she talked you through making dinner a couple of nights,” Allie guessed. “That’s where the leftovers came from.”

“Yeah,” Charlie muttered.

Allie took a deep breath. A million things were flying through her mind, but one thought seemed to sum it all up—Holy crap.

Her world really had changed in just over a week.

“Did the dinners turn out well?” Charlie didn’t have a lot of kitchen experience, so even with a live chat with a fantastic cook, they might have been less than perfect.

“Edible,” he said. Then he chuckled.

Allie couldn’t help but smile. He sounded…good.

“And how’s Danny?”

“Fine. He got an apartment with some guys he met in class.”

Well, at least he was in class.

“And Dad’s with Sophie.”

“Yeah.”

“Are they…”

“Hell, Allie, I don’t know,” Charlie said quickly. “I’ve decided it doesn’t matter.”

“It doesn’t matter?” But in the next moment, Allie couldn’t really come up with a reason why it did matter.

“Sophie’s fantastic. She and Dad get along. Let’s just leave it at that.”

Sophie was definitely fantastic. Okay. Allie was going to take some advice from her brother for a change. “Okay, we’ll just leave it at that.”

“Okay. Now I have to get back to work.”

“Work?”

“Yes. It’s how I spend some of my time now.” Charlie paused, then said, “And it’s not so bad.”

They disconnected and Allie stood staring at the phone. Her dad was okay, Charlie was okay, Danny was okay. What the hell was going on?

A knock at the kitchen door made Allie jump, then her heart pounded as she thought it might be Gavin. She quickly crossed the room and pulled the door open.

The person on the other side hadn’t even made the list of the top ten possibilities in her mind.

“Devon?”

The other woman wet her lips and gave Allie a smile that seemed nervous. “Hi.”

“Wh…what are you doing here?”

“I…um…think we should talk.”

Well, sure why not? Everything else was crazy. Allie propped her shoulder against the doorjamb and crossed her arms. “Okay, go ahead.”

The familiar fatigue was starting to settle in. She hated that Promise Harbor did that to her, but it did. She felt heavier here.

“Are you okay?” Devon asked.

“Well, my mom’s still dead, my dad’s missing, and half—or more—of my hometown hates me. I’ve been better.”

“You’re the one that left.”

Allie blinked at her. Okay. Wow. “That’s true.”

“Are you sorry you left with Gavin?”

That was easy. “No.”

“I hope you’re not upset that Josh and I are together. Because…we are, Allie. We’re together. And that’s just the way it is.”

“I’m not upset about Josh at all.” That too was an easy answer.

Devon didn’t say anything for a few seconds. Then she said, “I was really pissed at you for a long time.”

Allie lifted an eyebrow. “Pissed at me?”

“For dating Josh. For marrying Josh.”

Allie straightened from the doorframe. “If you recall, I didn’t marry Josh.”

“You said yes to his proposal. Then you left him at the altar. In front of everyone.”

“Which should make you happy.” Crap. She really couldn’t handle this too.

“It does. It just…” Devon sighed. “I don’t know. It hurt me to see him embarrassed and confused and hurt like that.”

“Seems like he got over it pretty well,” Allie said dryly.

Devon’s gaze flew back to her face. She even blushed a little. “Nothing happened between us until we were both sure he was over you.”

Allie’s shoulders slumped. “I’m sure that didn’t take long. It’s not like he was head over heels, Devon.”

Devon nodded. “Yeah. I know that now. He never really loved you.”

Right. Totally true. Still not exactly something she needed rubbed in her face at the moment.

“Okay.” Allie clapped her hands together. “So, if this pep talk is over…”

Devon reached out and clasped Allie’s hand, seeming as surprised as Allie was at the gesture. She looked from their hands to Allie’s face. “I got so wrapped up in how I was feeling about Josh and losing him and him being here with you…I didn’t think about how hard the past year must have been for you.”

Allie didn’t pull away. She swallowed hard.

She and Devon had been close. She knew this woman, and right in that moment she could look into her eyes and see that, deep down, they were still the same people they’d been when they stayed up late eating raw cookie dough and talking about their plans and dreams…and, of course, guys. That had been before Josh and Gavin, but she could see the funny, sweet, intelligent woman she’d