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D evlin slammed into the house, his anxiety as well as his temper high. Killing Ned Delany had been necessary, considering the man had wanted both him and Merrill dead. Alfonso and Damita probably wouldn’t have survived the encounter, either.

He knew doing so would attract all kinds of attention, but he’d expected that attention to be on him and his deputy, not Tresia and his daughter.

He’d barely kept his anger under control after Teddy and Esteban Silva came to the Marshal’s Office and told him what had happened with the newspaper man.

“Tresia!”

“In here.” Her voice came from the kitchen and he stopped in the doorway to just look at her, relief running rampant throughout his body.

She stood at the table, peeling potatoes.

She didn’t look worse for wear, but her face was pale, highlighting the shadows under her beautiful, pansy-colored eyes.

“Are you all right?” He crossed the room and took her in his arms, regardless of the peeler still in her hand, and held her close, wanting to protect her from everything. “Is Avery?”

“We’re fine. A little shaken, but we’re all right.” She spoke into his chest, clinging to him like he was the only thing holding her to this earth. She was still trembling. He could feel it as he held her in his arms and that just made his anger flare hotter. Vann Wagner had a lot to answer for.

“Avery was scared—so was I—but I was able to calm her down. She’s napping now.”

“Oh, thank God!” He inhaled the sweet honeysuckle scent of her hair and just held her tighter then dropped a kiss on the top of her head.

“Teddy and Esteban stopped by the office and told me what happened….after he and Esteban had a little conversation with Vann Wagner. I talked to him, too. He won’t be bothering you anymore.

” He finally pulled away from her a little so he could see her face then looked deeply into her eyes.

“I made sure he understood that he is to stay away from you and Avery. If he sees you walking down the sidewalk, he is to cross to the other side of the road.”

She smiled a little at that. “You didn’t hit him, did you?”

“No, but I wanted to. Chasing you down, scaring both you and Avery. In fact, you can expect an apology from him.”

“Thank you.” She moved away from him and went back to peeling potatoes.

“You warned me there would be questions. I didn’t realize how bad they would be.

Or how invasive to my privacy. And yours.

” She looked at him, her eyes wide and shining with what he assumed were tears she tried to repress. “People know.”

“Know what?”

A flush colored her cheeks. “About us. About what we did.”

He reached out to cup her cheek. “They don’t know, Tresia. They only think they do, but it doesn’t matter. I don’t care if everyone knows how I feel about you.”

She stiffened as her gaze rose to his, the peeler and potato still in her hands.

“I love you, Tresia. I didn’t think?—”

“I love you, too,” she blurted out before he could finish.

He smiled and his heartbeat picked up its pace to pound in his chest, so much different than the anger that had made his heart thunder just moments before. “You love me.”

She nodded, her gaze roaming over his face, touching him without touching him. “Yes, I do. Very much.”

“Marry me?” he asked, surprising himself, but now that he’d said the words, he couldn’t—wouldn’t—take them back. It’s what he wanted, and had from the moment he met her, only he hadn’t realized it until a short time ago.

“What?” Tresia whispered, her eyes widening. Apparently, he had surprised her as well. It felt right though, and the more he thought about it, the better it sounded.

“Marry me.” This time it wasn’t a question, but a demand.

“We’re good together, you and me. You’ve brought joy back into my life, hope back into my heart.

And Avery adores you, almost as much as I do.

” He took a step closer and pulled her into his arms again, his gaze sweeping over her face to settle on her eyes, which were still wide with surprise…

and now, shining with the love she so clearly had for him.

How had he missed that before? He was supposed to be observant.

It didn’t matter. “Will you do me the honor of marrying me and making me the happiest man on earth?”

“Yes, Devlin, I’ll marry you.”

Pure bliss flooded him as she uttered the words he wanted to hear. He tightened his arms around her, but still he had to ask again, not sure he’d heard correctly, but hoping he had. “You will?”

She nodded then reached up to smooth her fingers against his cheek, rubbing against the stubble growing there though he’d shaved just this morning. “Yes.”

“Thank you, Tresia. You’ve made me very happy.” He dipped his head and captured her lips with his. When he broke the kiss, he simply smiled, so happy his heart filled with love for her. “We can go to the Justice of the Peace…unless you want a big church wedding.”

She shook her head, her eyes once more tearing up. “I don’t need a big church wedding, Devlin. I just need you.” And to prove her words, she rose up on her tiptoes and touched her lips to his.

A few days later, Lucy came over, bringing her niece, Savannah, with her.

The girls were in the yard, playing on the swing, their laughter coming in through the open window.

Tresia poured coffee and set a plate of molasses cookies on the kitchen table in front of Lucy, when she asked, “Will you stand up for me?”

Lucy’s eyes widened. “Does that mean what I think it means? Devlin asked you to marry him?”

“He did.”

Lucy jumped up from her chair, excitement making her squeal, and pulled Tresia in for a hug. “Oh, Tresia, I’m so happy for you! I knew?—”

Tresia broke the embrace. “Yes, you knew.” She eyed her friend.

“I should have known, too, when you asked me to take care of Avery. Even though I wasn’t looking for someone.

” She let out a sigh, still reeling from the fact that Devlin had asked her to marry him.

“In fact, I was dead set against ever getting married again and here I am, waiting for the Justice of the Peace. None of it was part of my Plan.”

Lucy took her seat, then added sugar and cream to her coffee. “Yes, your plan,” she said with a smile, as if there had always been doubt in her mind.

“Oh, I still want Sullivan’s back, but now, I worry. Do I have to give up on my dream of owning the store to become a wife and mother? What will happen to Sullivan’s then? Arnold and Willetta are running it into the ground.”

“Have you talked to Devlin about it?” Lucy dunked the cookie in her coffee then took a bite.

“No, I haven’t. It’s all still new.” Tresia lowered her voice and fiddled with her napkin. “I think he was as surprised as I was when he asked me to marry him.”

Lucy chuckled. “What makes you think that?”

Tresia related the circumstances of Devlin’s proposal, making Lucy laugh. “I do believe you’re right. I’m sure he’ll support you with whatever you want to do, just like Ben supports me. Talk to him.”

“You’re right. I will. I just need to find the right time…and the right words.” She smiled, anticipation bubbling inside her. “We have to tell Avery, too. We haven’t yet.”

“What do you think is going to happen? Avery will say no?” Lucy laughed. “Or that she’ll blab it to the entire town before you’re ready?” She shook her head. “Tell her. I think she’ll be very happy.”

“I hope you’re right. I’m not looking to replace her mother.”

“And I don’t think she’ll see it that way. She’s young. She adores you. Does she talk about—what was her name?”

“Hannah. Not very much. I know she misses her. I know Devlin still misses her, too. From everything I’ve heard, Hannah was a good woman. Sweet. Kind. A gentle soul and a good mother.”

“I don’t think you have anything to worry about. As I said, Avery loves you. And so does Devlin. Whatever happens, you’ll make it work.”

By dinner that night, the opportunity to tell Avery presented itself sooner than she thought it would, and it was Devlin who brought it up after dinner. He pulled his daughter into his lap as they both ate the rice pudding she’d made earlier.

“It’s good, huh?”

Avery nodded before she shoveled another spoonful into her mouth.

“I want to talk to you about something very important.”

“Okay, Daddy.”

Tresia’s heart beat a little faster, watching the two of them.

There was no denying Avery was his daughter.

They shared the same dark hair, though Avery’s was curly and Devlin’s was slicked back.

Even their eye color was the same. They shared the same mannerisms as well as facial expressions, but it was more than a physical resemblance.

There was love. That special kind of love between a father and daughter, the same as she had shared with her own father, which made her miss him more.

She blinked to remove the moisture from her eyes as she watched them across the table.

“Miss Tresia and I are going to get married.”

“Okay.”

She didn’t know what she thought would happen, but she didn’t expect Avery’s response to be a simple ‘okay.’

“So that’s all right with you?”

The girl nodded and went back to eating her rice pudding, scraping the bowl with her spoon to get every last bit, seemingly unconcerned.

Devlin looked at her across the table and raised an eyebrow, obviously surprised Avery hadn’t reacted with anything other than complete agreement. He dropped a kiss on the top of Avery’s head. “Are you all done?”

She nodded then placed her spoon in the empty bowl.

“All right, then, it’s time for bed. Why don’t you go brush your teeth, wash your face and get ready? I’ll be up in a minute.”

“Okay, Daddy.” Avery slid off his lap and brought both his bowl and hers to the sink, then scampered over to her. She reached up and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Good night, Mama.”