complete mess. I couldn’t eat or sleep and the only thing I could do was watch her, fighting with myself again to not touch her. But then the night before you caught us, I went out on that date and the whole time, I couldn’t do anything but think of her. I thought that I could get over her, but I couldn’t.” I shake my head, letting it hang. “When I got back from our date, I told her that there wouldn’t be another date. And when she asked why, I said, because she’s not you.”
“You love my sister?”
I nod. “I do, with everything I have.”
“And she loves you?”
Again, I nod. “That’s what she tells me.” I laugh out.
He cracks his knuckled before opening his palms, letting his hands finally relax. “And you’re going to treat her with respect, love her, take care of her, marry her, and maybe one day start a family?”
I smile. “Absolutely. She’s it for me, Brad. She’s the only woman I’ve ever felt this way about.”
“You know she’s young, right? She’s wild and likes to act out. There’s a chance that as soon as I approve of this, she’s just going to dump you anyway.”
“I don’t think so. She’s grown up a lot, Brad. I think you still see her as that little girl you helped raise. She’s not that girl anymore.”
“I know,” he mumbles.
There’s a long drawn out minute between us.
“So, you forgive me? Her?”
He looks at me and thinks it over. Finally, he nods. “Yeah, I forgive you both. But you better never hurt her. You better take care of her and make an honest woman out of her.”
I laugh as I stand up. He does the same and we hug. “I will,” I promise. “I’m going to go tell Deven the good news.” I head for the door, but he calls out to me as soon as my hand lands on the knob.
“Oh, Hudson?”
“Yeah?” I ask, turning back to face him.
“I may have made a little bit of a mistake.”
I frown. “What does that mean?”
He hangs his head, looking down at his shoes. “I was so pissed off about the two of you that I may have called Mom. She’s on her way here now to pick Deven up and take her back home since I ‘can’t handle her,’” he says, rolling his eyes on the last part.
“You did what?” I ask, unable to understand his words. “Your mom is coming here?” I point at the floor. “And she’s going to try taking her back home, to her boyfriend’s house?”
He nods. “Yeah, I guess she’s had time to cool off and she wants her back home where she can keep an eye on her.”
“She’s eighteen, almost nineteen. She can’t make her go anywhere,” I point out.
He shrugs. “She can’t legally make her go, but my mom has a way of twisting shit so she gets her way. Anyway, she’ll be here tomorrow morning. She’s expecting Deven here so we can all have a family breakfast before she breaks the news to her. Warn her, but make sure she comes, will you?”
I nod before walking out the door.
I’m driving toward the store where Deven works when my phone rings. I dig it out of my pocket to see Drake’s name flashing on the screen. I pull it to my ear.
“Hello?”
“Hey, man. Can you swing by? We’re all here and we have something to discuss with you.”
“Alright, I’ll be by in ten,” I say, hanging up and wondering what they have to talk about. I make a left turn off Main Street, heading for Drake’s. This way, I have a little more time to think about what I’m going to tell Deven about having to see her mom. I know she hasn’t seen or talked to her since the day she was thrown out over being almost raped by her mom’s boyfriend. Her mom still doesn’t know the truth. She just thinks that Deven is troubled, and once she got kicked out, she went to Brad’s to cause him trouble. She doesn’t know that Deven was nearly attacked by the man who’s supposed to protect her. She doesn’t know how much she’s grown since she’s been here. She doesn’t know that she’s holding down a full-time job and making her own money or that she hasn’t done a single thing to get into trouble since she’s been here. She doesn’t know about me, a good man who loves her and wants to take care