Part 2 (1/2)
”The truth is, your sainted father knows something you don't.”
She raised her eyebrows, still speechless. What could Devin possibly be talking about? Her father loved her, utterly and completely. There was nothing she needed to know that he hadn't revealed to her, nothing she desired that he hadn't provided.
A beautiful home. A perfect husband-to-be. A lovely garden.
Granted, that garden had a mysterious gazebo she couldn't explore no matter how much she might want to. But she didn't want to, did she? Well...did she?
”The minute you step inside that gazebo, dear girl, you'll make an eye-opening discovery-something your father knows all about, but you do not. Not yet.”
She found her voice at last and rose to her feet. ”No! I mean...he does? Oh! I don't? I...uh, that is...” It came out in one long, nonsensical phrase. What sort of man was this Devin, who could turn her thoughts inside out and tie her words up in knots she hadn't a prayer of ever untangling?
He stood as well, waiting patiently for her to gather her wits about her, it seemed. His smile didn't alter one inch. The fingers on her back returned, more insistent than ever, as if invisibly propelling her forward. Had she and Devin moved? It appeared they had, but in which direction? Her beloved garden was looking less familiar by the minute as the last rays of the sun cast long shadows across the lawn.
He hadn't taken his black eyes off her for a single moment since they'd met. Those eyes were full of knowing-a knowledge that made her pulse quicken. It was the only logical explanation for the strange sensations she was feeling in the pit of her stomach.
Perhaps if Devin shared this knowledge with her she could tell Adam as well. It would mean a special bond between them, a secret between husband and wife. Yes! That would please her father, wouldn't it? For her and for Adam to know everything that he knew?
She simply had to ask. ”Wh-what will I discover in the gazebo?”
”Something delicious.”
Delicious! Well, she was hungry. Adam had gone to find something healthy for her to nibble on. Now this Devin said he had something for her, waiting in the gazebo. Perhaps he'd gone to a great deal of trouble to prepare it. Devin didn't strike her as a man who did anything on a whim. She couldn't risk appearing impolite or unappreciative, not tonight of all nights.
”Something delicious, you say, in the gazebo? Is it fruit?”
He smiled his tiger smile. ”It's every bit as sweet as fruit.”
Ah, sweet! Yes, she'd enjoy that. How nice. But sweet things were usually fattening. ”Does it have many calories?”
His voice was magnolia-petal smooth. ”No calories at all.”
Perfect! ”But...how can something be good for me if my father says it's not to be touched?”
”That's exactly what we've come to the gazebo to find out, Evie.”
They were there!
She hadn't realized they'd been walking in slow, deliberate steps toward the heart of the garden. A host of unfamiliar emotions, without names or adequate descriptions, surged through her. There wasn't time to sort it all out, not now when she was so close to making the discovery that Devin had promised. Only a curtain of Spanish moss separated her from the gazebo. She could almost touch the wooden supports, nestled in the arms of the live oaks that surrounded the ancient gazebo with an eternal embrace.
Why had it seemed so frightening from a distance? Close up it appeared cozy and inviting. Devin brushed aside the veil of moss, giving her an even better view of the verdant bower that awaited her mere inches away.
Her first surprise: It wasn't an elevated gazebo at all. It was sunken! And looked as if it had resided there since time began. How enchanting! Devin went down the three steps first, leading to the patterned brick floor of the gazebo. The bricks appeared slippery under his feet, and she wondered for a fleeting moment if they might soil her white silk shoes.
”Take my hand, Evie.” He offered it with a gallant flourish. ”You're quite safe with me.”
She was grateful for her long, white gloves because his hand felt hot, almost feverish. ”Don't let me fall!” she cautioned. ”Daddy will skin me alive if I tear this dress.” Daddy. Something tugged at the edge of her conscience, a feeling she'd never experienced in her lifetime and hoped she never would again.
Before she could stop him, Devin had captured both her gloved hands in his. They were standing face to face, making it difficult to get a proper look at the gazebo itself, the very thing she'd come to explore. There was no sign of food, of that she was certain. Not a table or chair, only lichen-covered wooden benches skirting the dim interior.
In a word, it was disappointing.
She noticed the fetid air around her growing darker as the shadowy corners of the gazebo faded to black. Oddly, the temperature was creeping up. Savannah flirted with temperatures near the eighties in April, but this felt even warmer than that, almost subtropical.
In the gloomy interior the only thing she could see clearly was Devin's face. For a reason she couldn't begin to grasp, he was looking more handsome by the second.
One of her many first-time sensations had a name: apprehension. A desire to go forward, all the while longing to pull back.
She should not be there.
She wanted to be there.
She was there.
This newfound apprehension tickled the hairs on the back of her neck. ”What exactly did you want to show me, Devin?”
Expectancy hung heavily in the air. She sensed the weight of it pressing her down, down through the bricks, through the ground, to the darkest center of the earth.
She held her breath. Everything in the garden did too; she was sure of it.
Devin bent toward her, his eyelids slowly falling until his black eyes became beguiling slits that filled her senses to the brim.
She gasped when his lips touched hers.
It lasted only a second, whatever it was, but it tasted as sweet as the nectar from an acre of honeysuckle on a hot summer night. Every one of her senses blossomed with possibilities. So warm! So tender! So sweet!
He watched her as she struggled to put a name to it all. ”That was a kiss, Evelyn. Aren't you glad you listened to me and stepped inside the gazebo?”
The gazebo! Oh, she'd truly done it, the one thing her father had asked her never to do. Still...nothing had happened, had it? She was alive and breathing; in fact, she felt wonderful, from the top of her blond head to her silk-covered toes. Although a quick glance down confirmed her earlier worry: Her once-pristine shoes were a muddy brown.
Oh, but a kiss, he'd called it. It was delicious, much better than plain old fruit. It was over so fast though. Would she remember enough to share her luscious discovery with Adam?
Adam! She really hadn't considered what he might think of her exploring the gazebo. That emotion she'd never wanted to feel again washed over her a second time. If she were inventing words, she would call it guilt. As if on cue, Adam's voice called out to her from the garden.
”Evie!” He sounded far away yet very close. ”Evie!” The mossy curtain was swept aside to reveal her fiance, dressed in pure white and utter shock. ”Evie! You know you're not supposed to be here!”
She blinked, speechless for a moment, glancing around her in a daze. Devin was gone. Wait. Perhaps that was Devin lurking in the shadows. It didn't matter. Adam was there. Dear Adam. She had so much to show him.
With a peculiar sense of urgency, she stretched out a gloved arm to her betrothed. ”Come! See what I've discovered, darling man. It's quite...ah, delectable.”
He was beside her in a heartbeat, concern creasing his forehead. ”Delectable? What are you talking about?”
”Taste and see for yourself.” She half closed her eyes, just as Devin had, and pressed her lips against Adam's mouth, still agape. When she opened her eyes fully again, Evelyn gazed deep into Adam's wide, blue ones and spied something she'd never seen before. Love, yes, and trust, but more than that: She caught a wary look of vulnerability.
He seemed unable to speak, unable to breathe.
Ohhh! She realized in an instant he would never be able to resist her. The power she had over him overwhelmed her. She kissed him again, longer this time. A boldness seared through her veins, making her tingle to the tips of her soiled toes. She slipped one slim finger under Adam's neat bow tie, undoing it in seconds, then began unb.u.t.toning his dress s.h.i.+rt, amazed that the tiny b.u.t.tons gave way so easily.