For Auld Lang Syne (Navy Book 1)

Chapter 17

Christmas morning dawned sunny and cold; just right for a run. Devon quickly changed into her running gear and did a few stretches before heading down the stairs towards the front door. She should be able to get a few miles in before it was time for breakfast.

She had only gone half a mile down the road when Kellan and Josh caught up with her. "Where are you running off to?" Kellan joked as he ran backwards in front of her and Josh.

"Showoff!" Devon laughed, pushing him out of the way.

Devon ran, listening to the two men, who set an exhausting pace and not the least bit winded after three miles. They were circling back around to the house when Devon held up her hands in mock surrender. "I'm done." She stopped and bent over gasping for breath.

The two men smiled while they watched her suffer.

"Don't let me stop you from the next ten miles." She waved in between gasps of breath, and they took off with grins. Devon watched as they doubled their speed.  What she had thought was an exhausting pace had been a gentle stroll for the two of them. She really had to work on her stamina.

Devon walked a few circles cooling down and thinking about the previous day. It hadn't been as bad as she thought to would be.  Most of the men had awakened early to begin their hunting, and Bree, the Smothers, and bridesmaids were all busy with last minute wedding plans. Bree had decided to pretend as if the previous evening hadn't happened which was fine with Devon.

"Devon!" her mother called from the porch. "We'll be opening presents after breakfast, in about an hour. Do you know where Kellan and Josh are? I told Jenny I would let them know."

"They're running, I'll text Josh in a minute," Devon said, walking towards the house.

"Won't it bother them to have you text them while they're running?" Pamela asked, concerned.

Devon grinned. "No, those two are machines."

Her mother placed a hand on her arm, stopping her before she could make it into the house.

"What's between you and Josh?" she asked with a worried look on her face.

"Nothing." Devon responded with an even voice and a face devoid of expression, but her mother wasn't buying it.

"It would make us all happy if you and Josh...that is to say, it would be a good thing." Pamela's words caught her daughter of guard, and Devon stopped walking and looked at her mother who met her eyes squarely with nothing but sincerity reflected in her gaze.

"What about Bree and Josh, wasn't that always your and Mrs. McIntire's hope?" Devon tried to keep the bitter note from her voice.

"It was, but that was because I always thought Josh was a little too immature for you. He hasn't been able to settle into anything, and you're a serious person. I had always hoped that you would find someone who would be serious with you." It was a poor attempt at an explanation.

Devon looked at her mother, doing her best to get a read on her. Was she serious? Had she always felt this way, or was it simply that she realized that Bree and Josh would never happen so she and Josh were the next best thing?

"You've never needed my attention like Bree did, from the moment she was born she cried to have every little need met. You have always been self-sufficient and reliable. I'm sorry if it appeared as if I didn't care, but I do. I always have." Pamela's look was earnest, her eyes pleading with her daughter for understanding.

"Then why aren't you proud of me, why don't you brag about me like you do Bree?" Devon realized they were the words of a hurt child, but standing there looking at her mother, she realized she was still that hurt little girl who never got her mother's attention.