by Laura Gates
"What do you mean?"
“What I mean is, what kind of relationships do you want your children to have? Do you want Harper to be in an abusive relationship like you were, or do you want to see her married for years and years to a man who loves her unconditionally?” Dr. Bennett asked Evie.
"Definitely the latter. So, what goal would you suggest?" Evie asked.
“Well, what kind of a relationship do you think a strong, independent woman has?”
“Probably one where her man supports her in all of her endeavors, loves her no matter what, and lets her be herself,” Evie responded.
“Well, who do you know right now who can give you that?” Dr. Bennett asked rhetorically because he already knew the answer. So did Evie, and she thought to herself, Beau.
“You are good. Thank you."
“That’s why they pay me the big bucks. And you’re welcome. If you need any more therapy, we will consider it as part of your benefits,” Dr. Bennett chuckled. Evie chuckled as well.
Beau walked back into the living room and saw Evie sitting down on the couch where she was sitting across from Pete. "What's going on?" he asked suspiciously. Evie smiled at him. "I just needed to talk to Dr. Bennett for a few minutes," Evie responded. "You okay?" he asked her. She nodded. Beau looked at Dr. Bennett to get reassurance. "Nothing some talking can't fix," Dr. Bennett said with a little smile on the emphasis. He soon picked up his briefcase and walked down the hallway.
Evie stood up to follow, but Beau lightly grabbed her arm. Evie, feeling herself close off, fought the urge as Beau's wise almond-shaped hooded blue eyes bore into her soul, but it was harder than she thought.
"What's wrong? Why were you talking to Pete? You have black running down your cheek," Beau said, tracing the mascara and eyeliner line going down Evie's cheek. She tried shrugging it off as she wiped the mascara runoff. Too hard. Not ready, she thought to herself. "I just needed some advice on how to handle some stuff."
"Like what? Please tell me."
"It's difficult for me to tell you because… I'm…." The urge got harder.
Beau finally had enough of the walls Evie kept putting up. As calmly as he could, he said, "It's okay. Nothing you can say or do will scare me. Evie, come on. What's going on?"
Evie surrendered. "Jude tells me constantly I am an unattractive woman because he watched me push two humans out of my body. No man will ever love me the way he did, and I’m no longer adventurous and sexy." At first, Beau started to chuckle and said, "And you believe him?" Evie began sobbing and covered her face because Beau's reaction was not what she was hoping.
Beau's heart sank as he realized he said the wrong thing. Evie tried to wipe her tears away, but she kept crying harder. Beau wrapped his arms around her shoulders, and Evie wrapped her arms around his waist. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to be so insensitive,” Beau said, trying to calm Evie down. "Jude's right," she said sniffling. "He is NOT right. Far from the truth," Beau reassured.
"Where are the kids?" "Shh, they are fine. Laila's got them. They are eating snacks in the kitchen," he said, rubbing her shoulders. "I should go get them," Evie said sobbing, getting ready to walk away. "Don't you dare get away from me," Beau said, holding her tighter. "They'd be better off without me, anyway," Evie said, still sobbing. "Shh, don't say that," Beau said, holding her tighter. Evie buried her face into Beau's chest sobbing harder. The pain she had felt for the past six months had erupted, but as painful as it was to admit the abuse out loud, Evie was very thankful Beau was there to comfort her.
How can she believe that asshole, Beau thought to himself, she is everything Jude says she isn’t. Beau was tempted to fly to Baltimore, punch Jude in the face, and fly back home. However, given individual life experiences, Beau knew that wouldn't fix the situation. He began to feel helpless as he held Evie. Beau rubbed her shoulders occasionally but wasn't sure if his presence was helping at all.
Suddenly, they heard little footsteps down the hallway. "Mommy?" Evie heard Levi said. "Mommy?" Harper said. Both kids walked into the living room and saw Beau hugging their mom. Levi ran to his mom and hugged her leg. "What's wrong?" he asked. "Your mom is sad. Should we go to the couch to cheer her up?" Beau asked. Levi and Harper nodded their heads. Beau led Evie to the couch, sat down, helped her sit down, wrapped his arms around her again, and helped Levi and Harper climb onto the couch. Both kids wrapped their arms around their mom. Beau kept rubbing her shoulder with his right hand.
Evie had never felt so much support before except from her parents when she lived at home. Jude would never comfort her like this. Her children showed their love for their mom by hugging her and laying their heads against her. "Are you happy yet, Mommy?" Levi asked. "I am getting there, Bub," Evie said, starting to wheeze. Harper leaned in and kissed her mom on the cheek.
"Hey guys, why don't we sleep here tonight. Let's go get you ready for bed," Beau said as he laid Evie down on the couch gently. He helped the kids get ready for bed and put them up in the bedroom where Evie and the kids lived in when they first moved to the Bay area.
Afterward, Beau went back to the living room. Evie was asleep, but still catching her breath. He lifted her head off the couch, slid behind her, wrapped an arm around her, and proceeded to fall asleep. Throughout the night, Evie would occasionally cry in her sleep, waking Beau up, but he was there for her. Even though he felt a little disturbed by her behavior, Beau knew that Evie needed the support that she provided for him. He eventually decided to lay down on the floor. Beau didn't know if it was sleeping on the floor, Evie's frequent cries, or a combination of the two, but Beau slept horribly throughout that night, but all he cared about was making sure Evie knew he cared about her.
The next morning, Evie awoke in the living room, lying down on the couch. When she sat up, the pounding in her head started, and the slits in her eyes became super thin as she looked around the room and realized Beau was fast asleep on the floor by the couch. There was a blanket draped over her to keep her warm. She felt like a complete idiot because Beau finally saw the vulnerable side she hid from people, including her parents. Everyone always looked to her for support, but that night she crumbled.
Evie stood up quietly to go to the bathroom. She took a good look at herself in the mirror. Her eyes were as bloodshot and swollen as they felt. Her makeup was smeared all over her face from crying. She washed it off in the sink. Taking the day off sounded like an excellent idea to her so that she could rest some more.
She walked out of the bathroom. Beau stirred when she walked past him and climbed on the couch. He woke up and reached for his back. His back hurt so bad from the hard floor, but he couldn't think about that right now. "Morning, Beautiful. How are you feeling?" Beau asked. "Fine, I guess," Evie said, rubbing her head and eyes, "I didn't mean to wake you up."
"No, it's fine," Beau said, trying to stretch and ignore his pain. They looked at each other. "Why don't we take the day off?" he asked her. "I know I can, but can you take the day off? The tour starts in 5 months, and the album needs to hit the deadline in a few weeks for promotion," she said. "I will tell the guys that my best friend needs me today," he said. "That will make them happy," Evie said sarcastically. "They can work on some stuff without me today," Beau said. "That means you will have to relinquish control, and we all know how much you love that," Evie said sarcastically but winced in pain because laughing hurt her head. Beau smiled. "This takes precedence. You need more sleep so that your migraine can go away."
"All right. Where's Levi and Harper?"
"In the spare bedroom you stayed in by the bathroom."
"Okay. Who put them to bed?"
"I did."
Evie rubbed her head as she and Beau talked. "You were here the whole night?"
"Yes."
"Sorry if I kept you up."
"You've been dealing with some stuff for a while. I just wanted to make sure you were okay, and I didn't want you to be alone."
Evie lightly smiled. "Thanks."
"Mommy, are you awake?" Levi said, peeking his head around the corner. Evie smiled. "Yes, Bub. Come here," Evie said.
Levi and Harper came running into the living room and gave Evie the biggest hug. She kissed both of them on the cheek. "Mommy, you still sad?" Harper asked. "Not after seeing your faces," Evie said, kissing her sweet daughter. Harper laid her head underneath her mom's chin. Levi rested his head on his mom's shoulder. "I love you, Mommy," Levi said. "I love you, too." Evie held back tears again. "Love you, Mommy," Harper said. "Love you, sweet girl."
Evie wrapped her arms around her children, hugging them tightly and kissing their cheeks. Beau watched this sweet moment and smiled. He checked his smartwatch, which read 7:45. "Luke should be here by now, so I will go tell him we are taking the day off, and then I will take you guys home," Beau said. "Thank you," Evie said.
Beau walked into the recording room, finding Luke sitting at the drum set. He tapped his friend on the shoulder. "Hey, what's up?" Luke asked. "I need to take today off. Evie and the kids need me," Beau said. Luke grimaced a little. "All right, but we will need to work twice as long tomorrow, and we will make certain decisions without you," Luke said. "I am okay with that for now," Beau said.
They bumped fists, and Beau walked back to the living room. He helped Evie stand up, picked up Harper, and they walked out to Evie's car. Beau helped Evie sit down in the passenger seat, put Harper in her car seat, and secured Levi in his booster seat. Once he knew the kids would be safe, he climbed into the driver's side and proceeded to drive to Evie's townhouse.
Beau pulled up into the carport, climbed out, and pulled Harper out of her car seat. Evie climbed out of the car and helped Levi get out of the vehicle. "We need to get you off to school," Evie said to Levi before grabbing her head. Her migraine was getting worse. "I will help with that and take him," Beau chimed in, "You need to rest."
"Really, Beau, I can handle this," she said wincing in pain as the migraine disagreed with her.
"I know, but you don't have to do everything by yourself. You let me into your life last night. Would you be willing to do it again?" he asked. Evie remembered the commitment she made to Dr. Bennet about letting her guard down when she felt like it was going up.
"All right. They need to eat breakfast," Evie said, feeling uncomfortable with the help. "On it. You go to your room and rest. I will take care of them," Beau said. Evie smiled, walked into her room, changed into a racerback tank with pajama bottoms, and laid down in her soft, comfy bed and fell back asleep.
Beau quickly got Levi and Harper their breakfast. "Okay, cheerios?" Beau asked. "I want pancakes," Levi said. “I wan’ pa’cakes,” Harper imitated. "Not today, guys. Maybe tomorrow when your mom is feeling better," Beau said, opening the fridge to get the milk out and looking at the lactose-free milk carton. "Who cannot have milk?" "Mom can't," Levi said. Good to know, Beau thought, remembering grocery shopping with the Long’s.
Once the kids finished their breakfast, Beau sent Levi to his room to change his clothes. Beau was extremely thankful that Harper could dress herself. He helped her pick out her clothes and left her room so she could change. Once both of them changed clothes, Beau loaded them back up in Evie's car and took Levi to school.
He came back, pulled Harper out of the car, and asked, "What would you like to do?"
"Uuuuuummmm, watch the circus," she said as they walked back inside the townhouse.
Beau froze, not fully understanding what the toddler wanted. "What’s the circus?” he asked her.
“With elephants,” Harper perfectly pronounced.
Beau had to pull out his phone and do a search on elephants and the circus movies. A sappy movie first appeared, but after doing some scrolling, Beau realized Harper meant Dumbo. He quickly found the movie while Harper went to go get her blankie and a baby. After sitting with Harper for 10 minutes, Beau fell asleep, himself. He slept through the whole movie before Harper started poking his stomach.
“Beau, i’s done,” Harper said. Beau grunted. “Beau! Wake up!” Harper demanded as she began shaking Beau. Even though the shakes weren’t strong, Beau finally opened his eyes. “Okay, what do you want to go do, now?” Beau asked. “Pway wit’ my babies and kitchen,” Harper said. “Is it okay if I go make your mom and me some breakfast?" he asked. "Yeah," she said, super sweetly. Beau loved how much spunk, sass, and sweetness Harper had. She was a lot like her mother. "All right. If you need me, I will be in the kitchen," Beau said. "Okay, bye!" she said before hugging Beau. He squeezed her extra tight and watched her climb the stairs.
Beau walked to the kitchen and began searching through the fridge. He found eggs, cheese, bacon, ground sausage, tomatoes, cilantro, and some spinach. Beau decided to make Evie and himself omelets as well as bring her protein shake. He whipped everything up as quickly as he could. Miraculously, Beau found a tray with foldable legs in one of the cupboards. He put both plates of food, glasses of water, and Evie's protein shake on the tray. Beau found a little vase, remembering a peony bush outside. He filled it with water, grabbed some scissors, and cut a peony off and put it in the vase. After setting the vase on the tray, Beau carried it into Evie's room.
Evie was fast asleep in her bed, burritoed up in her covers lying down in the fetal position. That was the first time Beau saw her sleep peacefully. Beau considered coming back in about another half hour to let her sleep some more because it had only been an hour and a half since she went back to bed. However, Evie smelled the food that entered her room and woke up. Beau propped the legs of the tray up, took his shoes off, and sat down on Evie's bed. She sat up as well. Beau noticed she had changed into a tank and jogger pants. Once she was propped up, they began eating.
"Feel any better?" Beau asked.
"Much better. Thanks," Evie said.
"Good. How's the food?"
"Delicious. Where's Harper?"
"Playing in her room. She gets more like you every day," Beau said, laughing.
Evie also laughed. "Yeah, she does that."
They proceeded to eat their food. "Sorry if I scared you last night. That is not exactly my proudest moment."
"It's fine. I often forget that I am not the only one with problems. I am sorry I made you tell me."
"It's okay. I tend to keep everything to myself, so my parents don't know the full situation, my sister doesn't know, not even some of my other friends here in San Francisco or Annapolis know. Only you and Dr. Bennett know the abuse I’ve been putting up with. I rarely ask for help unless I am sure I need it. It was a bit of a relief telling you."
"I hope you know you can talk to me about anything, too."
"I know that."
They smiled at each other. "I know you said last night that you thought your kids would be better off without you, but please don't think like that. Sometimes we feel inadequate for what comes our way, and that voice that tells us we are is tumultuous. You need to learn to ignore that voice. It's one of the hardest things I've ever had to do to learn and keep on learning."
"I know. I'm going to talk to Dr. Bennett about once a week to help with more positive affirmations about myself," Evie said.
"Would it help if they also came from me?" Beau asked.
Evie smiled. "Yes, it would. Dr. Bennett made the suggestion last night as well." They smiled at each other again.
Beau decided to unpin the conversation that needed to take place with Evie. "You know you don't have to put up with Jude's shit, right?" Beau said.
Evie hesitated. "This is all I know from him," she responded. "I know you can put a stop to this. Start by not answering his phone calls. If you need a good lawyer to rewrite certain clauses in your divorce agreement, we have good ones. Take a stand. I know he will react like a child, but I can help you get through it. What do you say?" Beau asked.
Evie thought about what Beau said. "I think you are right. I will consider talking to the lawyers, and take that stand," she said. Beau nodded.
Beau stayed at Evie's for the rest of the day
, picking Levi up from school, helping her with Harper and around the house. Later, Beau and Evie watched a comedy on Netflix in the living room. Beau knew they needed a good laugh. Levi came out of his room a couple of times to try prolonging the process of going to bed. Beau did his best to give Evie a chance to rest some more.
Beau's arms wrapped around Evie while she laid her head against his chest. The sound of his heart had become one of her favorite sounds. Beau's real laugh was even becoming one of her favorite sounds. They lingered in that position for about two minutes before Evie sat up. "Thank you for spending the day with us," she said. "You're welcome. I stayed to be with you, though. I always stay for you," Beau responded.
Evie blushed before Beau asked the question, "Do you believe him?" "What do you mean?" "Do you believe what Jude said about you is true?" Evie looked down at the floor. "I don't want to."
"Well, you shouldn't because you are beautiful." Evie still looked at the ground. He says that because I'm the only woman working for them, she thought, putting herself down. Beau could sense her self-doubt, so he lightly lifted her chin softly and gazed into those beautiful blue intense eyes that knew him so well. "How could he not fall in love with those eyes? Your smile? Sense of humor? Selfless nature?" Beau said softly before leaning in. Evie could feel all the blood rushing to her head and ears as their noses touched. They both leaned in further finding each other's lips.
The kiss was very tender. Beau and Evie felt each other's emotions in that kiss, whether it was sadness, happiness, excitement, and fear as Beau gently caressed her jawline. Evie pulled away for a minute to look at Beau's facial expression. He looked at her like she was the only thing that mattered to him. She kissed Beau again with a bit more fire. Beau's arms wrapped around her waist as he pulled her closer, and Evie's arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer to her. As Beau laid down on top of Evie rubbing her leg, she could sense where the kiss was going, and immediately pulled away and jumped up off the sectional.
