The Presence of Grace (Love and Loss #2)(29)

“Whoa. Slow your roll, honey. Did you say Ruby and Devon?”

“Yeah,” I answered, confusion apparent in my voice.

“And what was your student’s name? The little boy?”

“Jax.” Confusion was still sharp in my voice. “Why?”

“Are you dating Devon Roberts?”

Her question would have made me stumble backward had I been standing. “How do you know his last name? I never told you that.”

“Wow. It’s really ironic that your first date was at Disney because it’s a small f*cking world, Grace.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Devon Roberts. Father to Ruby and Jax. Widower of Olivia Roberts. I knew them. Well, I knew them through Evelyn.”

“You know Evelyn?” My head was beginning to hurt. “Will you just tell me what’s going on?”

“I used to work with Evelyn. Do makeup and modeling for her shoots sometimes. I didn’t really know Olivia or her family, except when they’d come to shows or gallery parties. But, after Olivia passed away, I spent a lot of time with Evie, working with her, but also trying to help her with the Devon situation.”

“The Devon situation?” I parroted, an empty pit growing in my stomach.

“Devon and Evie went through this whole will-they-won’t-they period after his wife died. From what she told me, they’d spent a lot of time throughout their entire friendship fighting an attraction, and when things got complicated between them, everything fell apart. That’s when he left Fairbanks.”

“Wait, Evie? His wife’s best friend?”

“Yeah,” she whispered.

“So, his wife died and then he started an affair with her best friend? That doesn’t sound like Devon.”

“It wasn’t really an affair, or at least it didn’t sound like one from what she told me. It was also a few years ago, so the details are fuzzy. All I know is that Evie spent a lot of time with his kids, and she eventually just kind of fell into the role left empty by Olivia. I think the lines between Devon and Evie blurred, but then it all just kind of ended. He moved and so did she.”

“Wow. I had no idea. And I’ve met Evie. She was at Disney too. This is all so strange.” I was teetering between angry that Devon hadn’t told me about Evelyn, and ashamed for listening to a third-party story about him. I loved Shelby, she was my best friend, but there was no way she knew the absolute truth.

“Listen, Grace. From everything I know about him, he’s a good guy. And Evie is happy with Nate. They just both went through a hard time when his wife passed and I was the person she vented to.”

“Wow,” I said on a breath. “What are the odds that we’d all know each other in this weird, convoluted way?”

“Like I said, it’s a small, small world.”

“It’s just such a big coincidence. And, Shel, he hasn’t told me anything about Evie, just that she and his wife were friends.” I paused, trying to put my thoughts in order, and Shelby waited, just like I knew she would. “He doesn’t owe me anything. We haven’t even been able to complete one full date. But the connection between us….” I closed my eyes and the image of him was almost immediate. The blond hair, the blue eyes, the way his whole face would light up with a smile. “It’s been so long since I felt anything for anyone. Not since Jeff. And we both know how that ended.” I finished my sentence on a laugh, trying to make light of the heaviest thing in my life, the thing that weighed me down more than anything ever had or would. The proverbial boulder I felt as though I’d be pushing up a hill for eternity, just to have it roll back down and start again. “I can’t go through that again.”

“I know, honey,” she whispered. “Maybe just talk to him. Does he know about Jeff?”

“No,” I said, although it was so quiet I wasn’t sure she heard me.

“I’m not saying he has to know—what you lived through is really personal and not something you need to tell everyone—but if you want anything with Devon, you’re going to have to tell him eventually.”

“I know. Man,” I said as I sat up and ran my hand through my hair. “Dating is stupid. This whole situation is dumb. I should have started with a one-night stand. I went straight from just out of a seriously messed-up relationship to falling for a man with a lot of baggage.”

“You think you’re falling for him?” Shelby asked quietly.

I thought about her question, then answered honestly. “Yeah, which is why this sucks and also why I’m thinking about calling the whole thing off.”

“I’m not going to tell you what to do, but I do think you should talk to him before you make any final decisions. He probably feels the same way about you, and would probably have told you about Evie eventually. And she’s a really good person, too, Grace. It was a bad situation for everyone involved. Just like yours.”

I knew she was right. I’d liked Evie, and in some demented way I could totally see why Devon would be attracted to her. The only way I could describe the way I felt was icky. Like I’d been left out of some joke and everyone was laughing at me—which I also knew was ridiculous.

“Thanks, Shel. Sorry to always drop all the drama on your lap.”