Page 7 of Christmas Past
His father appeared to gather himself. “And which clan are you from? You can’t be a McAllister.”
However, something in his tone was doubtful. Not for the first time, Seth couldn’t help being glad that Devynn didn’t look very much like a Wilcox, a clan that tended to be quite dark, and resembled her father far more closely, with her blue-gray eyes and mid-brown hair.
“I’m not,” she said simply. “I’m from the Winfield clan in Connecticut.”
Well, that was half-true, anyway.
“You’re a long way from home,” Molly remarked, and Devynn nodded.
“Yes. But I had business here in Arizona.”
She stopped there — as she must, since she was taking her cues from Seth and had obviously understood that he didn’t want to broach the subject of time travel quite yet.
“I know this must all be quite overwhelming,” she added.
“‘Overwhelming,’” Molly echoed, and then a wavery smile tugged at her lips. “Oh, my dear, of course I don’t mind that you felt the need to keep a few secrets. If Seth loves you, then you’re family.” She stepped forward and pulled Devynn into a warm embrace. “Welcome home.”
The kindness in those words seemed to affect Devynn more than she’d probably thought they would. Her eyes closed briefly, and he could see the slight tension in her shoulders, a tightening that told him she was struggling to hold back tears of her own.
“Thank you,” she murmured against Molly’s shoulder. “That means everything to me.”
Now looking brisk, Henry said, “Have you eaten? There’s still plenty for everyone.”
“Just stew,” Seth’s mother broke in, looking a little embarrassed to be offering something so plebeian to company. “But we wanted something simple since we’ll be having our big dinner tomorrow night on Christmas Eve.”
Relief surged through him. Yes, he and Devynn had already guessed that it was close to Christmas, but now it seemed as if she’d timed their arrival almost perfectly. Yes, they’d hoped to arrive on Christmas Eve day, but maybe this was even better, since it would give his parents a little extra time to come to terms with their unexpected appearance before the holiday arrived.
“Stew sounds wonderful,” Seth said. “I know we’re both hungry.”
“Then come sit down,” Molly urged them as she led everyone into the dining room. “I’ll just fetch some more table settings. Henry, could you get a few more napkins from the sideboard?”
In short order, Seth and Devynn had been seated at the dining room table, bowls full of his mother’s delicious stew set in front of them. Devynn looked far more relaxed now that she had food to concentrate on — and was probably just as relieved as he that they’d gotten here pretty much when they needed to.
That didn’t mean they didn’t need to settle a few more things.
“How is my house?” Seth asked after he’d taken a few bites of stew and washed them down with some water. He wished it could have been wine, but the America of this time was still deep in Prohibition, and he knew his parents would never serve alcohol at their table. “I was hoping Devynn and I could stay there.”
His mother’s brows lifted slightly, and he guessed she was thinking such an arrangement didn’t sound very proper. He and Devynn might have been engaged, but in 1926, that was still a far cry from being married.
“It’s fine,” his father said, and he also looked somewhat troubled. “Your cousin Margie has been asking how long we planned to leave it sitting empty like that, but we just told her we weren’t going to make any big decisions until after the first of the year.”
Well, that was a piece of good news. As for his parents’ reservations about Devynn staying there unchaperoned….
“Devynn will stay in the guest room,” Seth said. “It might look odd to some people, but I don’t see the point in having her go to a hotel when I have the space right here.”
His parents exchanged a glance. To some people, it might have looked inscrutable. Seth, on the other hand, knew they were only determining which of them should be the one to start throwing up some roadblocks.
Apparently, that task fell to his mother first, because she said, “Devynn could always go and stay with your Aunt Ruth again. I’m sure she’d love to have a guest for the holidays.”
At once, Devynn sent him an alarmed look. While Seth knew Aunt Ruth had taken very good care of Devynn, he had no intention of allowing himself to be separated from the woman he loved. He’d gotten used to the much more relaxed customs and attitudes of the twenty-first century, and no way in the world was he going to backtrack.
“I’m sure she would,” he said smoothly. “But Devynn and I want to be together, and if anyone has a problem with her staying in the guest room, then they can come and talk to me about it.”
Henry set down his fork. “We’re only trying to help — ”
“I know you are,” Devynn cut in. However, she kept her tone sweet, and it didn’t look as if his father had taken any offense at the interruption. “And we appreciate it. But now that we’re engaged, we really can’t imagine being apart even for a few hours every night. It will be fine.”
For a moment, his parents were silent, and Seth could tell they were trying to decide whether to push the matter any further or give it up as a lost cause.
