Surfing Midland (Complete/ First draught).

Chapter 22

"Morning Leah!" After not seeing Devyn in a few days I was taken aback by his sudden appearance and stopped in my tracks as my early morning brain tried to think of something to say.

Devyn was dressed as he usually was, casually baggy is what I liked to call it. His jeans were well worn, a little loose around the hips, a hole in the left knee and scuffed trouser legs. His t-shirt through was the opposite of his pants, a little on the tight side and brand new..well I thought it was brand new as I watched him approach.

"Devyn, weird seeing you here." I tried to keep cool, inside though I was a bit of an emotional wreck. I knew Val had more or less accepted that Devyn wasn't interested in her, she hadn't said it out loud or even blessed whatever might happen between Devyn and me but I was going to see where this thing with Devyn might lead.

"Is it? I don't think so, last day of school and all that. Need to put in an appearance, right?" Shrugging my shoulders at the question I turned back and continued walking down to our homeroom.

Most everyone was in their best dress, Devyn and a few other country boys were the only ones who didn't give a shit about what they had on. Me? Well, of course, I had dressed for the occasion, just like the first day of school a few weeks back.

"Yeah, I haven't seen you in a few days. Not even around the ranch, where ya been hiding?" I questioned curiously, the last few days I had noticed a slight change in the way I spoke. It wasn't 'wrong', but a few words were taking on a noticeably Montanan twinge, my mother would have been disgusted I suspected, but I was happy enough.

"Oh yeah, I was down at my folks place helping them pack their things up. My mom and dad have decided to move into town so that my brother can take over the ranch; it's going to be strange not seeing both my parents out there. But...I guess my pa's had enough of the hard life and is ready to retire; I don't think it'll last long though." I found myself smiling along as Devyn laughed at whatever he found amusing.

"I didn't know your folks owned a ranch, how old is your brother?" For some reason, I had assumed Devyn was an only child while watching him I had noticed a few odd things he did that screamed only child. I was a pro at picking out single children, being one myself I could easily relate to things that they did, but my radar was a little off with Devyn.

"Oh yeah, the ranch has been in my family for a while. I can take you over some time this summer if you want? And I'm one of six boys. I'm the second youngest. My youngest brother goes here as well, Fabian. But ya know, he's too cool to be seen with me and all that sorta stuff." Six boys?! My mind was boggled at the thought of Devyn being one of six boys; I felt sorry for his mother as I was sure she had longed for a daughter.

"Your mom must have wanted a girl, or did they just want a lot of kids?" Despite myself, I found my curiosity leaking out into questions, which made Devyn smile as we walked into homeroom for the last time that year.

"Oh yeah, my mom wanted a daughter, but she always says, the best thing about having six sons is that she'll get six daughters eventually. She already has four daughters-in-laws, well three with another one marrying into the family this summer. My oldest brother Peter is married with four kids; his oldest kid is my age weird I know. Wyatt calls me uncle and everything, even though we're like, three months apart in age. Then my brother Gareth is married with three kids, his oldest daughter Madison is a grade below me. Henry is married to Malery, and she's knocked up too." All the sudden information made my head swim; it sounded like Devyn came from a vast family and yet all I could boast was two step-siblings and two half-siblings.

"You have a big family; I'm an only kid." That was the last sentence I managed to get out before we settled into the classroom as our homeroom teacher came in and began spouting out the morning announcements.

Today was a great day; there was palpable excitement in the air as we left homeroom and it grew steadily as classes started and finished and the end of the day approached. For some reason Devyn came to all classes, he hadn't been to all classes in some time, so a few of his teachers were a little surprised to see him.

"So what's it like being an only child? I bet it's great, you get to do what you want, have room to yourself...eat without fear that the food is going to run out." I was already shaking my head before Devyn had finished his sentence, nothing was appealing about being an only child. At least I didn't think there was any appeal in it.

"There's nothing great or even remotely good about it, my mom is way more then she's at home, and I don't usually live with Declan, so things get a little boring sometimes." Devyn's expression was priceless; he wasn't expecting me to be this open or chatty with him as I hadn't been in the recent past. But, I had decided earlier that morning that I would give him a chance, if Val chose to get all psycho again then I would deal with her.

"Seriously? Nothing?" I nodded my head at the questions; I could not overstate how alone I had felt living in California.

"Cross my heart I'm not lying," Devyn and I were walking out to his truck when I heard Valerie calling out, I rolled my eyes as I expected her to start up again about Devyn being hers. But when she arrived she had a huge smile plastered on her face, which made me relax a little more and expect good news from her.

"Dad said you're riding home with him again today, is it cool if I get a ride home with you Devyn?" Groaning loudly I said my goodbyes to Devyn; we would probably meet up again out at Declan's ranch anyway so the conversation could continue. But it seemed Val wasn't going to be keeping him company on the way back out there as she trudged behind me to Declan's truck.

"I don't know what is wrong with Devyn, why won't he hang out with me?" Valerie muttered as we approached Declan's' truck, I almost snorted out loud as she asked herself the question, but I remained quiet as she hopped in the back seat while I climbed in the front.

"He's probably just scared that you're going to try and lock him in the basement or something." Declan laughed at my explanation offer, Valerie didn't say anything, but I could feel her glaring at the back of my head.

"Come on girls, let's head home and start your summer schedules," the thought of actually working now wasn't so bad, and I was willing to even to get my hands dirty. I don't know what had changed, but nothing seemed as bad as it had when I first arrived.