Free Feisty by MacKenzie McKade Page A

thumb, he had sampled many of the women in Whispering Cove. Yet all that had changed over the past week.
    Sahara smiled with self-satisfaction. Devon might have been Mr. Playboy before she got here, but she was the one waking up in his arms each morning. Since he’d returned from South Carolina she had spent each night at his place.
    Thank goodness for Errol who had kept her nephew, Jake, busy. So far the teen hadn’t found ways to get into trouble. In fact, he’d been tagging along with Errol without any encouragement.
    Harold, too, had also been a godsend. The man had the uncanny timing and pull to wiggle her out of some of the wedding activities. In fact, between dress fittings, flowers, the bakery and the caterer, she had spent every moment with Devon. But their time together was temporary. It was Sunday, only six days away from Leo and Sky’s wedding. Sahara would be leaving shortly after. She and Devon would return to their own lives.
    A sense of melancholy swept over her. Again she attempted to rid herself of self-defeating thinking. She and Devon came from different lives—wanted different things. She was on the fast track. He was content to live in his childhood shadows.
    Someone called her name and she raised her gaze to see Sky waving her over. It was time for Tabby to open her gifts. As Sahara took a seat by Sky, she couldn’t help wondering how long it would be until she had a little nephew or niece. When she thought of holding a baby in her arms, her stomach tightened. Would a child of Devon’s look like Tabby or maybe he would have a devilish boy who would be the spitting image of him. Sahara had no doubt the Taylors’ dark features would dominate over the Caans’ fairer ones. Good Lord. Where the wayward thought came from, she had no idea.
    She released an anxious laugh. “And, that’s exactly why I don’t enjoy baby showers.”
    “What?” Sky asked.
    “Nothing. Just talking to myself.”
    The ohhhs and ahhhs as one after another baby gift was opened set Sahara on edge. But even she had to sigh when a multi-colored glass mobile was unwrapped. It drove home how talented Sky was. There wasn’t anything she couldn’t do with glass. Only when Tabby thanked Lex did Sahara put the name to the quiet woman who owned the large Victorian house on the beach, Alexis. Evidently Lex had commissioned Sky to create the beautiful motorized and musical carousel.
    As Brahms’s “Lullaby” played softly, Sahara rose and walked to the window. Pulling back the heavy drapes, she gazed into the star-studded night. When her mind turned toward Devon once again she had to admit she had fallen for him. Leaving would suck.
    “You okay, dear?”
    Sahara released the drape and turned to come face to face with Devon’s mother. The five-foot-six woman in her early fifties smiled sweetly. She looked like her daughters and Devon. Their olive skin tone and dark features screamed of Italian descent.
    “Yes. Of course.”
    Mrs. Taylor shifted her feet. “I know this isn’t my place, but please don’t hurt him.”
    Taken unaware, Sahara fought to find her voice. “I would never intentionally hurt your son.” She paused, searching for the right words. “Uh. This thing between us. Well. It’s temporary. I’ll be leaving in a week. It’s what he wants.”
    “It might be temporary for you, but my son is different since he met you.” Concern burned in the woman’s blue eyes so much like Devon’s.
    Sahara shook the thought from her head. “I’m sorry, but I don’t understand.” And it was true. She wasn’t quite sure where this woman was coming from. Her son was a diehard bachelor. The whole town knew this fact about him, so why didn’t his mother?
    “It should be me who is apologizing. Devon would have my head if he realized I was chatting with you. But that damn cabin is a telltale sign. You see, dear, it’s his sanctuary. He’s pretty picky who visits or…uhm, stays the night.”
    The moment got immediately