McKettrick's Heart by Linda Lael Miller Read Free Book Online Page A

Paris,” Keegan told her. It wasn’t much in the way of consolation, but it was all he had to give at the moment.
    â€œYou promise?”
    â€œAs God is my witness,” Keegan said.
    Devon quirked a grin. “Scarlett O’Hara said that in Gone with the Wind. ”
    â€œOkay.” Honesty time—the kid had enough deception to deal with. “I didn’t see the movie.”
    â€œThere’s a book, Dad.” She imparted this information gently.
    â€œI know that, shortstop.”
    â€œDid you read it?”
    He laughed. God, it felt good to laugh. How long had it been?
    â€œIs there a quiz?”
    Devon released her grasp on the bear long enough to slug him affectionately on the upper arm. “No, silly,” she said. Then, in that confounding way of females, heading full steam in one emotional direction and suddenly hairpinning into a one-eighty, her eyes filled with tears. “How come you don’t like Mom?”
    For the second time that day Keegan pulled off onto the side of the road. He laid both hands on the wheel, deliberately splayed his fingers to keep from making fists; any reference to Shelley had that effect on him, and it was time he got the hell over it. “We’ve discussed this before, Dev,” he said. “When people get divorced, they tend to be mad about it for a while.”
    â€œYou and Mom were mad before you got divorced,” Devon pointed out.
    Keegan sighed. It was true. He’d been twenty-four when he married Shelley—stupid and horny, on the outs with Psyche. Out to prove God knew what.
    â€œI’m sorry, Dev,” he said. “I’m really sorry for everything we put you through.”
    â€œPeople shouldn’t get married if they don’t like each other.”
    For some strange reason, Molly Shields flashed into his mind. “You’re right,” Keegan replied. “They should like each other first. Be friends.”
    â€œDid Uncle Jesse like Cheyenne?”
    Keegan considered. “I think he did.”
    â€œEven when they first met?”
    â€œThey had some rocky times, but, yeah, I think they were friends.”
    â€œBefore they fell in love?”
    â€œBefore they fell in love.”
    â€œUncle Rance and Emma, too?”
    A bleak sensation passed through Keegan’s spirit, cold and hollow. “Them, too,” he said.
    Devon beamed. “So you just have to find some woman you like, and be sure you’re friends, and then you can get married.”
    â€œIt’s not that simple, Dev.”
    â€œSure it is,” she said.
    â€œYou’d like that? If I got married again?”
    â€œIf she was nice to me, like Emma is to Rianna and Maeve. They like her a lot. She lets them help in the bookstore, just like they were grown-ups. And they get to try on her shoes, too. She has lots of shoes.”
    â€œSo does your mom,” Keegan suggested, at a loss.
    â€œShe won’t let me try them on, though,” Devon said.
    â€œThere’s something to be said for wearing your own,” Keegan reasoned, baffled. “Isn’t there?”
    â€œIt’s not as much fun,” Devon explained. “How many ten-year-olds do you know with high heels?”
    â€œYou’re too young for high heels.”
    Devon rolled her eyes. “Dad, you’re such a guy. ”
    He grinned. “Yeah,” he said. “And you’re stuck with me for the duration, kid. Furthermore, I don’t own a single pair of high heels.”
    She laughed, and the sound rang in the confines of that car like the peal of a bell from some country church steeple.
    Keegan shifted the Jag back into gear, checked the rearview and pulled out onto the road again. “You hungry?”
    â€œStarved,” Devon said, sucking in her cheeks in a comical effort to look emaciated. “Mom’s a terrible cook, and Rory won’t eat anything but trail mix.”
    â€œI guess I