by Zoe York
“Ava,” Evan said, evenly. “This is a good idea. And we’re already knee-deep in planning. I need you to be on board here. And maybe even a little excited.”
“It is a good idea,” she agreed. Then she tossed her pen onto the top of her notebook and sat back in his kitchen chair. “But you and I both know that something’s missing.”
Evan sighed. He looked down at his own notebook. “Have you told her that something’s missing?” Because Cori wasn’t talking to him.
He and Ava had been working on putting together the Parking and Pie event for the past two weeks. The party was scheduled for a week from today.
As soon as Cori had walked out of the pie shop with his heart, Evan had decided that they were going to do this. They were going to show her that she did not have to stay out of the way, that they not only wanted her around, but they needed her. And putting this together with Ava had showed them both that was even truer than they’d thought. It was supposed to be a kind of tribute to Cori and her amazing, over-the-top-yet-totally-perfect ideas. Instead, it was clear that no one could quite pull it off like she could.
And that made him love her even more.
“She doesn’t want to talk about it,” Ava said. “She’s going to take tickets for us—the money part—but she said we have to do the rest.”
Evan shook his head. “Basically, she’s gorgeous, sexy, brilliant, and stubborn as hell?”
“Probably a good thing for you to know before you get in any deeper, huh?” Ava asked with a smile.
“I’m in really deep now, Ava,” he told her honestly.
“Good.” She picked her pen up again. “Let’s throw a not-bad party that will make her roll her eyes and jump in to save us.”
“This isn’t going to be the spelling bee all over again?” he asked. “She won’t realize what we’re trying to do and just walk out?”
Ava shrugged. “I hope not.”
“That’s not very comforting.”
Ava sighed. “Well it won’t be a total disaster. So there’s that. Everyone knows we’re working on it together. They all think it’s great. I’m getting everything organized and you’re making it fun. They figure this is the perfect type project for us to come together on. Everyone’s celebrating us being a couple and all of the wonderful things we’re going to be able to do together.” She said it dryly.
Evan groaned and ran a hand over his face. “It is great and we are a good team.”
Ava laughed. “We are. Just like Dad thought we would be.”
Evan looked at Ava. She was beautiful and smart and sophisticated and successful. And he had no desire to kiss her. They were a great team. But they weren’t meant to be.
“How is Cori?” he finally asked.
“I’ve gained five pounds and my kitchen is now bright yellow.”
“The kitchen at the house or the shop?”
“Yes.”
Evan laughed in spite of himself. “She’s bored.”
“Very bored,” Ava said. “Oh, and I do have a Piehole Game in the middle of my dining room.”
“Piehole?” Evan repeated.
“You know the saying “shut your piehole?”
“Okay,” he said slowly. “Yes.”
“And you know of a game called Cornhole?” Ava asked.
“I do.” Not that he could imagine Ava Carmichael playing the lawn game where people tossed bean bags through holes in a big wooden board.
“This is a combination. Cori made a game called Piehole. She made bean bags that look like little pies and the holes in the board are all mouths.”
Evan honestly wasn’t sure what to say to that. But as he thought about it, he felt his grin stretching. “She couldn’t resist.”
Ava shook her head, also grinning. “Nope. But adding some games is a good idea, right?”
“It is.” Evan’s mind starting spinning. “We could start everything around four p.m. They could play games for a while before we start the movie at five? I have a couple of ideas for other activities. But I’m sure Cori will have more.”
“She won’t tell us.”
“Maybe she’ll tell Noah. He’s sweet. A good listener,” Evan said.
“She might have written them down.”
They both looked up as Brynn came into the room.
“You think so?” Ava asked.
“Well, she’s writing something in that notebook while she pretends to work with us every night,” Brynn said, taking a chair at the table. She and Noah were both helping with the party too, of course. But the town knew that Ava and Evan were the driving forces.
“Wait what?” Evan asked. “Pretends to work?”
“We have new house rules,” Brynn told him. “Cori insists that we all have dinner together every night and then any work we do has to be together at the dining room table. We’re not excused until eight.”
He liked that. He knew that Rudy had been concerned about his girls and their relationships with one another. At least that was going well.
No, it was all going well. The pie shop was up and running. Business was slow, but the party in the park would help. Exactly as Cori had envisioned. And as for their romantic relationships. He looked at the two sisters at his table. He really did want to help them all with the conditions of Rudy’s trust. He always had. Because of Rudy. But now it was because of the girls themselves. They’d become his friends.
He wasn’t worried about Brynn. She was slow getting into the dating scene maybe, but she’d only been here for a little over two months, and it seemed that Noah was going to be plenty protective when it came to which guys got to take Brynn out. If she didn’t go on that first date—especially if Noah was going to keep insisting that his time with Brynn didn’t count—then Evan would nudge them in the next couple of months. But there was plenty of time for her to get her six dates in. As for Ava…he wasn’t going to be able to keep this up for three and a half more months. That wasn’t long. He got that. But he couldn’t be away from Cori for that long. He was just going to have to find the right guy—or at least the right-ish guy—for Ava. But he could do that. Probably.
And Cori…well, she wasn’t having multiple casual sexual relationships, that was for damned sure. There was going to be nothing multiple about her relationships with men in Bliss. Or anywhere else in the world. And there was absolutely nothing casual about what was going on with him and Cori.
“Thanks, have a great time.” Cori stuffed the money into the money bag and kept her smile in place while the family of five drove their SUV past the table and into the park. Then she turned to survey the scene again.
Ugh. It was…nice. Very nice. The sun was shining and the temperature was just about perfect. Because of course it was. Ava Carmichael wouldn’t throw a party in less than ideal temperatures.
Noah was directing people into parking spots facing a huge movie screen. Almost like a drive-in theater. Cori had no idea how they’d gotten the screen or projector and she hadn’t asked. Since they hadn’t paid for it out of the pie shop account, it was none of her business. And honestly, the Dream Team of Ava and Evan had so many connections between them that they could probably pull anything off.
And yes, everything was very…nice. They had local high school kids acting as car hops, taking orders and delivering pie and drinks. They had music playing too. It sounded like one of those compilation CDs where kids covered popular songs from the radio. They did have the Piehole game set up along with a couple of other lawn games. And behind the Ethan Stone Memorial Pavilion was a large mud pit where kids were making mud pies. There was even a clean-up station with hoses and towels that bore the logos from Parker’s diner, Noah’s auto shop, and Evan’s law practice.
The other games had nothing to do with pie, but that was a minor detail. It was bugging the crap out of her, but it really was a small thing. The towels were very cool and everyone seemed to be happy to be here. Most of them were sitting in their cars or hanging out in the backs of their trucks, ju
st kind of…waiting. But they were here and eating pie and that was the main point.
There were, however, shrieks of laughter coming from the direction of the mud pit and Cori couldn’t help but smile. She was certain Evan had pushed for the mud and Ava had countered with the washing station and had somehow talked the guys into sponsoring the towels. They really were a good team. Exactly as it should be. Evan was part of a carefully laid out plan and Ava was throwing a party. This was the perfect thing for them both.
And Cori wanted to be anywhere else.
“Hi, are you Ava?”
Cori looked at the little boy beside her table. She smiled. “No, I’m Cori. Ava’s over there in the yellow shirt.” She was even wearing blue jeans.
“Okay. I have to tell her the mac and cheese pie is awesome!”
“Definitely,” Cori said with a nod. “She’ll love hearing that.”
The boy ran off and Cori watched him give Ava the compliment. Her smile was bright and sincere and Cori felt herself smile too. Then Ava looked over at her and gave her a big grin. Ava had made the pies, but it was Cori’s recipe. They were a good team too. Cori gave her a thumbs-up. Okay, maybe being here wasn’t all bad.
“This is pretty good.”
Cori turned to find Hank and Walter at her table. “Well, hey guys.” Seeing them suddenly made her aware of how much she’d missed seeing them every morning. She’d been sticking close to the house. She couldn’t risk being at the shop in case Evan stopped in. Or walked by the window. Or when someone mentioned his name.
“How’s it going? It looks nice,” Walter said.
Yep. Nice. It sure did. “Okay. We have more pie left than we’d like to. Do you think people are still coming?”
Hank glanced at his watch. “Boy, I don’t know, honey. I’d think most everyone would be here by now.”
Damn. That’s what she’d been afraid of.
“Cori.”
Tingles skittered down her spine as Evan’s voice came from behind her. Crap. She’d avoided him for most of the day. She’d seen him, of course, but they hadn’t spoken. She took a deep breath and turned. “Hey.”
“Can I show you something?”
No. Hell, no even. She wanted to just sit here, sell tickets, then go home and take a bath. And hope that now that this party was over, Evan and Ava wouldn’t need to be spending every evening together.
“I have to take tickets.”
He glanced at her table. “Anyone can do that. I need you for a minute.”
I need you. How was she supposed to respond to that? But before she could come up with anything, Hank piped up. “I can watch the table, Cori.”
And the truth was, yeah, anyone could take tickets. Crap, again.
“Fine.” She stood. Smoothed her skirt, straightened her T-shirt, and stepped around the table.
Evan reached for her hand, but she shook her head. “Come on. We can’t.” And if he touched her, even her hand, she’d shatter.
He blew out a breath. “Fine. For now. Over here.” He started across the grass toward the mud pit.
They didn’t talk and her chest ached. She had so many things—words, emotions—bottled up, it felt like they were constricting her heart, causing each beat to hurt a little. Evan stopped at the edge of the mud. He smiled at the kids who were elbow-deep.
“I saw this,” she said. “It’s great. I love the towels.”
“Yeah?” He finally looked at her again and she saw the same pain in his eyes that she was feeling. He missed her like she missed him. That was…the suckiest thing she’d ever faced. Technically in about three months, he could break up with Ava. But could he really just start dating Ava’s sister? He wasn’t that guy. He might have dated extensively, even bed hopped a bit, but it was never…scandalous.
“You and Ava did a great job,” she finally said.
He gave a nod. “I guess so. But—” He turned to face her fully. “What else would you have done with the party?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Yes you do. Come on,” he said. “What would you have done with it?”
Her heart squeezed. “This whole thing was my idea. Pie and a movie in the park.”
“That was your basic idea,” he said. He paused then said, “But what about the garnish?”
Oh, boy. She shook her head.
“I thought we’d already covered this.” He took a small step forward.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Things that are completely fine, good even, are better with your touch.”
He’d used the same words before. She shook her head again. “You and Ava—”
“Are fine. But nothing…special.”
Cori wet her lips, but again shook her head. “Evan—”
“We need your touch. I need your touch.” He moved closer again. “In lots of ways. In everything.”
She swallowed hard. “It doesn’t matter.”
“But that’s the thing. It does. It really matters.”
He took another step, close enough to kiss her. So she stepped back and said quickly, “Pie trivia. And a town vote on what our next new flavor should be.”
She had to stop him from…whatever he was doing. Getting closer. Talking. Tempting. Making her miss him even while he was standing right there in front of her.
He did stop. And gave her a half grin that made her heart trip. “Pie trivia? Are there lots of interesting facts about pie?”
Well, she didn’t know about a lot. But… “Nineteen percent of Americans say apple is their favorite and only nine percent say cherry.” Yeah, she’d looked some stuff up working at the dining room table with her sisters.
“I guess there are.” Evan gave her another grin.
“But this is all really good as is,” she said. “Really.”
He clearly wanted to say more, but finally he nodded. “Fine.” He took a breath. “Did you see the sign?”
“The sign?” She followed his finger. He was pointing at a wooden sign beside the mud pit.
Future site of the Rudy Carmichael Memorial Miniature Golf Course.
She read it three times, then looked back at Evan, her heart thundering. “Really?”
He nodded. “We needed a mud pit and I needed a ground breaking, so we combined them.”
Cori felt tears threatening. “You’re going ahead with it?”
“Yeah. Because I realized something.” He stepped closer again and she didn’t stop him this time. “Rudy was wrong.”
Her heart thumped. “He was?”
“The only thing that came of him sending that St. Bernard puppy away was him not having a St. Bernard puppy. He didn’t tame or even change your spirit. He just made it so he didn’t get to see as much of it. And he missed out.”
He moved closer as Cori sniffed. Dammit. She couldn’t kiss him here in public in front of the whole town. But he was making it really impossible to resist.
“And I realized if he was so wrong about you, then he could have been wrong about me too,” Evan continued. “I don’t know if he meant I should do more of what I already do or if I should be doing something else, but it if was something else, then he was wrong. I make people happy. And it took having someone make me incredibly, impossibly happy to realize how truly fucking important that is.”
She caught her breath and actually pressed her fingers to her lips.
“Cori, I thought I was happy. I thought I understood fun and goodness. But until you, I didn’t realize that things could be even better. And he was completely wrong about Ava being right for me. She’s great, but the thing is, I love your St. Bernards. I don’t mind the mess. I can absolutely handle chaos, and I love surprises. All of which makes me right for you. I love you. I want every crazy, over-the-top idea and plan you have. In fact, I need it. This party is fine. But why would I want fine when I can have amazing?”
Cori felt one tear roll over her cheek. This man…he did more than tolerate her craziness. He embraced it. He encouraged it
.
Evan started to lift his hand to her face, but she ducked out of the way. “Hold that thought, okay?” She wanted desperately to go into his arms and let him hold her. But once she was there again, she didn’t plan on leaving for the next several hours. Or days. Or ever. And there was something she needed to do first.
“What?” He took a step after her. “Where are you going?”
“I have to go…round up some puppies.” She shot him a grin, but didn’t wait for his response. She turned on her heel and ran for the ticket table, her mind spinning. “Hank!” she puffed a minute later. “Who’s the Mayor of Bliss?”
Hank laughed. “Really?”
“Yes, really. I need to talk to him or her. Right away.”
“Well, honey, that’s me.”
“You’re the mayor?” How did she not know that? Hank had turned into one of her best friends in Bliss. And she didn’t even know he was the mayor. “I feel like this is something we should have talked about.”
He winked at her. “I have so many stories. We might need to have afternoon coffee too.”
“I’m in. But right now, I need a favor. I’ll explain on the way.”
Five minutes later, she burst into the pie shop, ran to the back and turned into Parker’s kitchen. “I need a can opener.”
“You don’t have one?” Parker asked.
“I do. But I need another. And another set of hands to use it.”
Parker sighed. “Like mine?”
She grinned. “Yep. We need to open every can of pie filling Ava has stashed in our storeroom.”
“She has cans of pie filling?” Parker asked with a scowl.
Shit. “We’ll deal with that later,” Cori said quickly. “We need to hurry.”
“Tell me why.”
“Because I’m in love with your best friend and will make him very happy.”
Parker sighed. “You’re going to screw up the trust, aren’t you?”
