Our Time Page 3

  Simon bowed his head with a soft chuckle. “At least I’m on your mind.”

  It was easier to loosen their grip on the little things, now that their daughter was back safe and sound. And loud. It was at this point that Rae decided she ought to start singing.

  “And that’s my cue to get you inside to wait for Alicia,” Devon said quickly, taking advantage of the opportunity to duck out of the awkward conversation. “And possibly get you a muzzle…”

  “Be sure to record that!” Luke called with a grin as Rae tilted back her head and belted out Christmas songs at the top of her lungs. “It’ll make for priceless dinner conversation.”

  “Priceless blackmail is more like it,” Gabriel muttered as he walked past.

  He had yet to say a single word to her since her return, and Rae stopped singing at once to grab onto his sleeve. “Gabriel, Gabriel, Gabriel…that’s a beautiful name.”

  Gabriel never, never let down his guard around Simon. But there were at least three people standing between them, and as Rae gazed imploringly up at him even he couldn’t help but smile.

  “High time you noticed.”

  Rae’s lips curled up in a sleepy grin as she pulled him closer. Then closer still. Then so close that the tips of his golden hair brushed across her forehead. “You know…it would never have worked out. You and me.”

  Devon looked skyward with a long-suffering sigh as Molly and Beth fought to conceal matching smiles. Behind them, Luke held up his phone to get started on that blackmail.

  Gabriel laughed quietly, looking down with an affectionate smile. “Never say never, my love.”

  “Right here.” Devon shook his head incredulously. “I’m standing right here.”

  But Rae was completely oblivious to any issues her words might be causing. The morphine had thoroughly worked its way through her system, and she was seeing the world as more of a musical than the rest of them. “You’re lying, Gabriel.” She grinned, thrilled with her own brilliance in seeing it. “You’re head over heels for Alicia. We all see it.”

  “Yes, but what happens when Alicia sees through me?” He ignored Devon and leaned down closer still. “Whose arms will I go running to when she finally throws me out?”

  Beth and Molly were in full-on convulsions by now, just trying to hold in their peals of laughter. Devon was looking like he wished he hadn’t wasted the last bullet in Angel’s gun.

  Rae stared up with wide eyes, completely unaware of what was going on around her, yet hearing the words and actions at the same time. “You’re saying the game’s still afoot?”

  Gabriel’s eyes twinkled as he gave her a parting wink. “Always.”

  The second he walked away, the women finally erupted in breathless laughter.

  Simon stared after him with a curious expression, as if he didn’t know Gabriel was capable of smiling, while Devon gazed at the tree-line, looking rather bleak. “It’s official,” he said wistfully. “This is the worst night of my life.”

  “Sweetheart,” Rae piped up helpfully, “I’m ready to go inside now.”

  The women completely lost it. Even Luke and Simon had to join in. For his part, Devon merely pursed his lips and gazed down with a patient smile. “Not a moment too soon.”

  “That Gabriel. What are we going to do with him? You know I’m going to have to keep an eye on him forever?” She tutted. “We might have to adopt him, or something.”

  Devon planted a soft kiss on her forehead as an overwhelming wave of fatigue weighed heavy on her eyes. They fluttered open and shut for a moment, before staying closed.

  Sighing, she forced them open one more time. “Oh, Dev? One last thing.”

  His lips curved up in an amused grin as he rocked her gently back and forth. Beth opened the front door for them, while Simon and Molly followed them silently inside. “And what’s that, my love?”

  If only he hadn’t asked. If only he had left it until they were alone.

  If only he had somehow sensed the impending chaos Rae’s one last thing was sure to cause.

  “Tomorrow morning…”

  She yawned loudly, succumbing to the realms of sleep.

  “…let’s tell my mom we’re engaged.”

  * * *

  Rae woke up the next morning feeling refreshed, rejuvenated, and very much alive.

  Alicia had apparently arrived just after she’d fallen asleep, because come morning there wasn’t a single bruise, blemish, or break on her entire body. For the first time in what felt like years she woke up in her own bed, in her own house, with her friends and family just a stone’s throw away. A wave of euphoria lit her from the inside out as she stretched out her arms with an impossible smile.

  I am safe. I am remembered. And I’m back home.

  A moment later she was skipping down the stairs for breakfast, feeling as though she had literally never been so happy in her entire life.

  Of course…all that was about to change.

  “Good morning!” she called as she rounded the corner into the kitchen. No fewer than ten blank faces stared back at her. “Whoa! What’s with all the looks? Did Julian try to make pancakes again?” She bustled around the kitchen with that same undaunted grin, pausing near the coffee maker to pour herself a mug. It wasn’t until she turned back around that she realized there was something rather odd going on behind her. A strange way to the way the adults were staring, while the younger generation was working hard to avoid her eyes.

  On top of everything else, Devon seemed strangely segregated from the rest. Although there was a chair open at the table between Molly and Beth, he was perched upon the counter instead.

  As if that wasn’t enough, he was also the color of spoiled milk. “Rae,” he said in an incredibly soft voice, “what all do you remember about last—”

  “I think, perhaps, the rest of you should be getting on with your day,” Beth interrupted in a clear, ringing voice.

  The rest of the people at the table didn’t need to be told twice. They were up and away so fast, Rae could have sworn they’d all used a speed tatù. Molly gave her a sympathetic squeeze on the way out as Kraigan flashed a smile that sent chills running down her spine. The rest of them kept up a barrier of distance as they silently fled the kitchen.

  Rae watched them go with wide, nervous eyes before turning back to Devon. Then to her mom. Then to her dad. Then back to Devon again.

  Finally, when the silence could go on no longer, she tried for a half-hearted smile. “What’s…what’s going on, guys?”

  No one said a word. Not even Devon, though he was clearly aching to set things right. In the end, all he did was toss her Luke’s phone.

  With a curious frown, she clicked on the video frozen in the screen.

  …and was absolutely mortified by what happened next.

  “‘Good King Wenceslas’?” she hissed at Devon. “Why did you let Luke film this?”

  He shot a tortured look at Beth, before lowering his voice as soft as he could. “It’s not the singing, love. It’s…” he sighed, “…just wait for it.”

  ‘Oh, Dev—one more thing.’

  Rae listened with a sense of dread as the video built to its grand finale.

  ‘Tomorrow morning, let’s tell my mom we’re engaged.’

  The camera jerked violently as Luke hastened to stop the recording. The entire image tilted to the side, but still managed to catch Devon’s horrified expression, Beth’s gasp of shock, and Rae’s carefree grin. Then everything went dead.

  Rae’s blissful mood vanished in an instant as she froze dead-still. Unable to look at her mother, her father, or the man she’d promised to marry. Unable to do anything but silently panic.

  “We asked Devon if it was true,” Beth said quietly, after the silence engulfing the kitchen became too much to bear. “He danced around the question…”

  We? Simon and Beth were suddenly using the parental we?

  “…which gave us our answer.”

  Rae’s eyes swam with tears as he
r shoulders wilted with a deflated sigh.

  As many times as she’d imagined telling her mother, as many times as she’d pictured this exact moment, never had it happened like this.

  It was supposed to be a happy moment. Said at the right time. Phrased in the right way.

  Not blurted out while she was high and immortalized on Luke Fodder’s phone!

  “Mom, I…”

  But then Beth did the one thing that Rae never expected. Not in a million years.

  She flew across the kitchen, and wrapped her arms around her daughter in a fierce hug. “Honey, I’m so happy for you!”

  A rush of warmth flooded back through Rae’s body as she pulled in a halting breath. It wasn’t easy, not with Beth squeezing her as tightly as she was. But she did it all the same. “You…you are?”

  With a quiet sob Beth pulled back, staring at her daughter as tears of joy silently spilled down her face. “Of course I am! How could I not be? This is a moment every mother dreams of!”

  In the background, Simon had quietly gotten to his feet. He was staring at the two women with a truly indecipherable expression, but when he caught Rae looking he gave her a small smile.

  For whatever reason, it was that smile that brought Rae back to life.

  “I wanted to tell you so badly!” she gasped, collapsing in a heap in her mother’s arms. “So badly! You have no idea! But it happened right before the battle at the factory, and—”

  “The battle at the factory?” Beth took a step back in surprise. Not angry surprise, thank goodness. But surprise nonetheless. “Why on earth did you wait so long to tell me?”

  Rae and Devon exchanged a quick look before she bowed her head. “We thought it was too soon…after Carter. We thought that we should wait.” She looked up again.

  The room went silent at the name.

  It was a name that had a profound effect on all of them. Simon jerked up his head, but remained silent. Devon disappeared within himself. Beth and Rae locked eyes.

  “The two of you need to listen to me. You need to listen to me very closely.” Beth stared at each of them in turn, holding them accountable to the weight of her words. “That was my time. This is yours. Your time. You need to go and make the most of it.” She took Rae in one hand, Devon in the other. Holding them both tightly together as she gazed between them with a tender smile. “And for the record…no one would be happier for you than Andrew.”

  It was the first time she had said his name since the funeral. The first time she’d been able to even mention him out loud. A silent sob wracked her body, while her eyes shone with bittersweet tears.

  Rae swallowed the painful lump in her throat.

  “He would have been so proud.” Beth squeezed them tighter.

  There wasn’t a dry eye in the house after that.

  Only Simon, who took a step back to watch the proceedings in thoughtful silence.

  Without anything left to stop them, Devon pulled out the ring and slipped it onto Rae’s finger. Beaming with uncontrollable pride all the while.

  The rest of the friends ventured cautiously out of hiding, joining them all in the living room. Laughing, and cheering, and raising their glasses in toast after toast. After apologizing profusely for his attempt at a blackmail tape Luke put on some music, and before Rae knew it the entire house came together in ecstatic celebration.

  She could hardly contain herself with the excitement of it all. And to be fair, she was hardly given a chance. No sooner had she set down her glass than another was placed in her hand. No sooner had she stopped dancing than someone new pulled her back onto the floor.

  If she hadn’t been holding tightly onto Devon’s hand, she might have been swept away.

  “Are you happy?” he murmured, when they finally got a minute alone. He kissed her on the forehead as they stared out at their family. The most unlikely family that ever there was.

  She leaned her head against his shoulder with a contented sigh. “Like you wouldn’t believe.”

  They stayed there for a long time. Watching. Laughing. Holding each other tightly as the people they loved blurred in and out of the scene.

  It wasn’t until much later that Rae suddenly spoke.

  It wasn’t planned. It wasn’t anything she’d even considered. But it was sure.

  “I want to move back to London.”

  Chapter 3

  “London?”

  Rae and Devon had gotten up early the next morning, and were sitting outside on the front porch. Two steaming cups of coffee were held tight in their hands as they curled up beneath a furry blanket on the swinging bench. They hadn’t talked about Rae’s sudden proclamation since she’d said it the previous night. The house was in enough of an uproar as it was, and to be honest, in the heat of the moment, neither one of them really knew what else there was to say.

  They had, however, both gotten up early. Both of their own accord. Dressing quietly, padding downstairs, pouring the coffee, and meeting out on the porch to try to talk.

  Rae tilted her head up with a teasing little smile. “Well, it was either going to be that or Tokyo, but I thought London was a bit closer…”

  Devon pinched her under the blanket and grinned. “You’re hilarious, Kerrigan. No, I just meant…” His voice trailed off as he stared out over the sweeping grounds. A thick blanket of fog still hung heavy over the dewy grass, and the sky had only just begun to lighten with the coming promise of the sun. “Do you think we’re ready for that?”

  It was a fair question.

  Over the last few years, the gang had moved several times before. The city, the Abbey, the house in Scotland, now here in Kent. They were no strangers to packing up at a moment’s notice and relocating on a whim. But this last move had been slightly different.

  They hadn’t moved to Kent because it was luxurious, or relaxing, or located in the middle of the breathtaking countryside. They had moved to Kent to escape.

  The battle at the factory had left scars. The kind that couldn’t be seen on the surface. The kind that couldn’t promise to ever fully fade. The death of Cromfield and defeat of his army had left a power vacuum. One that the reluctant band of heroes was dragged forth to fill. But for the first time in their lives they wanted no part of it.

  The cheering crowds and applauding statesmen did nothing but strain their already-frayed nerves. Every medal presented and every public award just made them want to run faster.

  As if the trauma they’d survived was something that should be awarded. As if the lives they took, as well as the lives they lost, could be made up for with a medal.

  The manor in Kent seemed like the perfect solution. A countryside refuge. Well off the beaten path, far away from both centers of government. Safe behind a heavily fortified gate where the rest of the world couldn’t touch them. Where they could finally let their guard down to scream and cry and do whatever it took to heal. Whatever it took to catch their breath.

  Were they ready to let it all go?

  “I didn’t think we were,” Rae admitted. Her hair blew back with the winter breeze, and she nestled further under the blanket. “I’ve actually thought about it a dozen times over the last few weeks, and every time something stopped me. I didn’t think we were.”

  Devon looked at her curiously, cocking his head to the side. “So what changed?”

  “Well, if you remember, I was recently evicted from my life and forced to move back to London.” She shot him a rueful grin. One that gradually softened to a thoughtful smile. “But, to be honest, Dev…a part of me is almost glad that it happened.”

  “Glad?” His eyes widened incredulously before narrowing into a suspicious frown. “Wait, please don’t tell me you got into the morphine again—”

  “Don’t even joke!” Rae smacked him with a giggle. “It’s bad enough that I will never be able to live down that night. Even if the entire thing wasn’t documented on Luke’s phone…” The two of them chuckled for a moment before she sobered up once more. “But I’m se
rious…” She set her coffee down on the porch, and reached out to take his hand. “Sometimes it almost feels like you and I have forgotten what we’re fighting for. That we’ve gotten so out of touch we’d have no idea what it would be like to have a normal life.” Her eyes misted up as she remembered. “In London, for however short a time…I felt that. I felt what it would be like.”

  Devon gave her a crooked smile. “When I didn’t remember you—you discovered what it meant to have a normal life?”

  She smiled indulgently, but nodded her head. As crazy as it sounded, it was true. “You cooked for me,” she said softly. “Went out and got groceries. We did the dishes together, watched movies until we fell asleep. No bad guys. No world-ending crises. Just us. Living in this house that you bought for the two of us. Living this…this normal life.” She looked back up, a little self-consciously, only to see him staring back at her with a tender smile. Somewhere along the line he had discarded his coffee as well, and was holding onto her now with both hands.

  “I felt the same way,” he said quietly. “I didn’t want to say it at the time. I thought it would be bad form, what with you being the victim of an evil ploy…but I felt the same way. Even without knowing who you were, even knowing that it could never possibly last. It was still everything I had always wanted. I can’t tell you how badly I wanted it all to be real.”

  Rae squeezed his hands with a gentle smile. “I never knew you could cook.”

  His eyes twinkled, and he squeezed her back. “I never knew you hated Cary Grant movies.”

  Her voice lowered as she scooted closer to him on the swing. “These are the kinds of things we should know about each other, Devon.” There was a soft note of urgency to the words. A wistful sort of longing. “They’re the kinds of things we missed when everything that always happens…happened.”

  He stared at her for a long moment, then tucked a lock of hair behind her ears. “So you want to move back to London?”

  She bit her lip, suddenly nervous as to what he would say. “If that’s alright? I mean—only if you do, too.”