"You didn't have a close family?"
"Not really. Just my parents and me. No brothers or sisters."
Lucky couldn't imagine such a thing and said so. "Chase and I used to fight like cats and dogs. Still do sometimes. But we're best friends, too, and would do anything for each other."
"That's obvious. I remember the look on his face when he came charging through the door of that interrogation room."
Enough time had elapsed that they could smile about it now. Lucky was the first to turn serious again. "I thought the family bonds might weaken after Dad died. Instead, they're stronger than ever. Mother's held us together admirably."
"Tell me about him."
"My dad? He was strict, but fair. All us kids knew we were loved. He spoiled us and spanked us equally, I guess you could say. To him there were no gray areas where honesty and integrity are concerned. We knew he loved God, his country, and our mother. He was openly affectionate with her, and always respectful."
"So it stands to reason that his son would leap to the defense of a woman in distress."
He gave her a self-deprecating grin and a slight shrug. "Conditioned reflex." Reaching out, he caught a loose strand of her hair and rubbed it between his finger. "What was life like for Devon Haines when she was a little girl?"
"Lonely at times." Her expression became introspective. "Unlike your father, mine wasn't a very warm and giving person. In fact, he was demanding. My mother fetched and carried for him from the moment she said 'I do' until the day he died. Their roles were rigidly defined. He was the domineering breadwinner; she was the obedient good little wife. She spent her days keeping his castle spotless, and her evenings waiting on him hand and foot."
"Hmm. Is that why their little girl turned out to be such a militant feminist?"
"I'm not militant."
Lucky raised his hands in surrender. "I'm unarmed."
"I'm sorry," she said with chagrin. "Maybe I am a trifle defensive."
"That's okay." Then, bending down closer to her, he whispered, "If your eyes keep flashing green fire like that, I'm gonna have to kiss you." He said it teasingly, but his eyes conveyed the message that he meant it.
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Devon looked away to stare down the neat, straight row of carefully cultivated peach trees. Their branches were already burdened with unripened fruit.
"My mother's whole life revolved around my father. When he died, she was left with nothing to live for."
"What about you?"
"I guess I didn't really count."
"That rejection must have hurt."
"It did." She sighed. "Two miserable years after my father's death, she died too."
"How?"
The ground beneath them held her attention for a moment. When she began speaking, her voice was thick. "For as long as I can remember, my mother was a hypochondriac. She constantly complained of minor aches and pains. They kept her from attending functions throughout my schooling. I couldn't have friends over because she felt bad. That kind of thing."
Lucky muttered something unflattering about the late Mrs. Haines, but Devon shook her head. "I guess the hypochondria was her only means of getting attention from my father. Anyway, I learned early on to dismiss mother's 'illnesses.'
"After my father died, they increased in frequency and severity. Because her life had been so wrapped up in his, she had nothing to occupy her mind except her own body and its many failings. I was just out of college, scrambling to find a job that would subsidize her pension. Frankly, hearing about each stabbing pain and dull ache drove me crazy. I tuned her out as much as possible." She pinched off a piece of the leaf and tossed it into the wind.
"She began to claim that the pains were getting worse. The more she complained about her discomfort, the more stubbornly I ignored her. I thought that honoring the hypochondria would only encourage it."
She rolled her lips inward and pressed on them so hard that the rims turned white.
Lucky saw the tears collecting in her eyes. He took her hand and interlaced her fingers with his.
"One day Mother said she was having difficulty in swallowing. She couldn't eat. Everything I gave her came right back up. I … I relented and took her to see the doctor." Unable to go on, she pulled her hand from his and covered her face with both hands.