When Darkness Falls(11)

She touched the inside of his wrist. “I finally realized it’s okay. To be happy. To not be afraid the rug’s going to be pulled out from under me again.”

He crossed his finger over his heart. “Promise. No rug pulling. When do you want to?”

“Six months? Or is that too soon?”

A dust of snow had coated the sidewalks and streets outside. That plus the tiny white lights strung around the restaurant’s window turned the view into a Christmas card.

He smiled. “Not for me.”

? ? ?

The next morning, snow still fell, and the sky was so overcast it seemed like night. But when Devon got back from dropping Haley at work, he ran up the steps, shrugged off his coat, and started across the living room to grab his electric guitar. When he felt good, he always wanted to crank the amp full blast and rip through a few tunes, and at this time of day, it wasn’t likely any of his neighbors were home to be disturbed.

After about twenty minutes, his energy dropped, and he needed coffee. He’d also missed a call. He played his voicemail on speaker. As he took out the coffee grounds, Lydia’s low-pitched, smoky voice filled the room.

“Devon, I’m starting to feel neglected.”

He froze.

“Christmas wasn’t the same without you. Call me soon, darling, and tell me when you’re coming to visit.”





Chapter Five


Haley called all over the city and suburbs, trying to find a hall within their budget that wasn’t booked for the Saturday night they’d chosen. Neither of them had many relatives, but between the two of them, there were over fifty musicians they’d played with over the years. Haley had finally reconnected with some of her friends from her folk music days. Now that she had someone new in her life, it wasn’t so hard to see people she’d felt sided with Brian. Or to risk running into him, though that hadn’t happened yet. Her friends were surprised she’d limited her singing to a wedding band, but they’d been happy to see her, and she wanted most of them to come to the wedding. And there was Al’s family to invite, which felt more like family to Devon than his blood relations.

Finding flowers and a dress should have been easier, but wasn’t because Doris pushed to go along. Haley had so few things in common with her mother that she didn’t want to refuse.

Five months before the wedding, she went to three dress shops, two in the suburbs and one in the city. Afterward she met Devon for a late lunch at the restaurant next door to The Underground.

Brochures from one of the florists lay on the green-checked tablecloth. After they gave the waiter their order, Haley asked Devon’s opinion, though she couldn’t imagine he really cared. He said he thought all of them would be fine, except the all-white bouquets that were so plain. Unless she wanted plain.

Haley paged through the brochures again, head aching, as they ate. She looked at them all again as they had coffee. She didn’t usually want caffeine this late in the day, but she had an evening shift at the clinic.

“What’s wrong?” Devon asked.

“What?”

“You’re so quiet. You barely ate. It’s like our first date.”

“I was thinking about the flowers,” Haley said.

“And it’s making you clench your teeth?”

Haley put her hand to her jaw. “I’m not.”

Devon reached across the table, took her left hand, and ran his thumb along her palm. Haley’s shoulder and neck muscles relaxed the slightest bit. She sighed.

“My mom went with me today. You should have heard her. I shouldn’t have registered at Nordstrom’s, it’s too expensive. The dinnerware I picked is ugly. My bridesmaids’ gowns have open backs and will be too cold in the air conditioning. The church doesn’t look like a church. And when I said I’m keeping my last name she said I’m going to have a weird marriage.”

“It’s your mom, Haley. You’re never going to please her.”

“If she would just be happy for me.”

“Are you? Happy?” Devon asked.

“Of course.” Haley tried not to think of the pounds she’d lost over the last weeks on top of what she’d lost during the break up, and the circles she’d noticed lately under her eyes. “But there’s so much to take care of. My mother was showing me this bride’s catalogue yesterday, trying to convince me I should make the bridesmaids dye their shoes to match the dresses, and I felt like I couldn’t breathe.”

“Did your parents have a big wedding?”

“Huge. My dad’s parents offered to pay for most of it, my mom’s couldn’t afford it, which meant my grandmother on my dad’s side ran it. And it’s like now this is my mom’s chance. Plus she keeps making these little snide comments about how maybe I shouldn’t wear white since I lived with Brian and—well, you get the idea.”

“What if you could have whatever you wanted? Whatever kind of wedding, no concerns about offending anyone, or doing the appropriate thing, or pleasing your mother. What would you do?”

“I don’t know.” The family at the table behind Haley stood to leave and she scooted her chair forward to give them more room. “What would you?”

“Maybe it’s a guy thing, but the wedding, or at least the reception, isn’t that important to me. All I want is you. To be married to you.”