My Cruel Salvation (Fallen Saint # 3) - J. Kenner Page 0,89
I’ll go talk to her. Or have you already called her?”
“No. I can if you want.”
“It’s fine,” Devlin said. “I’ll let her know, and unless she balks, we’ll see you tomorrow.”
Brandy leaned forward and rubbed her hand lovingly over the dashboard as they turned out of the neighborhood, the morning sun shining down on them. “I’m so glad you got Shelby restored,” she said. “I missed her.”
“So did I,” Devlin said, not mentioning that he missed his Tesla as well. The fact that it had been destroyed in the bombing was the reason they’d borrowed Shelby, promising Ellie they’d be extra careful with her restored baby.
“They did an incredible job fixing her up,” Devlin continued. “I know how much Shelby means to Ellie.”
Brandy shifted in her seat. “It means so much that you understand that. More important, that you understand why Shelby is so important to her.” She hesitated, then added, “You’re good for her, you know. To be honest, I wasn’t completely sure before.”
He turned and looked at her more directly as he paused at a yield sign. “You mean when she came to town, and I was doing my best to push her away?”
Brandy laughed. “Yeah well, you failed miserably in that regard.”
Devlin grinned. “Deep down, I wasn’t even trying.”
“I get that. But that’s not what I meant. I meant when we were kids. I mean, I liked you a lot. Heck, I liked you from that first day when you offered to go get us pizza for movie night. But then you guys got involved, and I was the only one who knew, and I had to keep it a secret, and that scared me.”
She sighed, her shoulders rising and falling. “I just—I guess I was afraid that you were an older guy who was going to hurt her, even though you seemed so good together. It felt like it couldn’t last. And then you went away, and I pretty much hated you.”
“For that, I hated myself.”
“It seemed like you guys were star-crossed, you know. And I always got the feeling you were a little bit haunted.” She shrugged. “I guess the truth is you were.”
“Yeah,” Devlin said with a hint of a laugh. “Secrets clung to me like ghosts back then.”
“But not anymore? I don’t mean with me. I don’t care if there are secrets with me or Lamar or any of that. But it still worries me a little. That you might go away again.”
“No,” he said with as much force and conviction as any statement he’d ever made in his life. “I don’t keep secrets from Ellie anymore. And I will swear to you what I’ve sworn to her. I’m never going to leave her.”
Brandy studied him for a minute, then nodded, looking pleased, “Well, okay then.”
“I asked her to marry me.” He hadn’t intended to tell her that, but the words rushed out of him. He immediately regretted them. Wasn’t that Ellie’s purview to tell her best friend? He wasn’t sure. All he knew was that in the context of this conversation, it was important to him that Brandy knew. Not only because he’d come to love her like a sister, but because he wanted to reassure her that he would never again hurt El.
Brandy gaped at him. “You’re engaged? Oh my God, I’m going to kill her. She didn’t say a word.”
“Yeah, well, I think I spoke out of turn. And, no. We’re not engaged. The truth is she said no.”
“No way.”
He laughed. “Believe me, I was as surprised as you are. But her reason is good.”
Brandy made a harrumphing sound and crossed her arms over her chest. “Yeah?”
“She wants to date. She wants to not have all of that sneaking around that you found so disturbing when we were kids. She wants something open, with more time in public together than we’ve had so far. And I get that. I even support it. So long as at the end of the day, she’s wearing a ring on her finger.”
“I like that,” Brandy said. “Thank you for telling me. And I’m excited for both of you. It’s like you’re engaged to be engaged.”
He chuckled and they shared a quick grin, then drove silently for the next few blocks. There was a wreck up ahead, so he shifted to a different route, going the back way to the precinct.
“So why are we doing this?” Brandy asked, and Devlin didn’t have to ask what she meant.