by Sarah Adams
“Actually, Tyler and I already ran into each other a few days ago. By the way, how’s that rash treating you these days, Tyler? I hope it’s all cleared up.”
“Evie Grace, always such a jokester,” says Tyler, rounding the loveseat to come stand in front of Jake and me. He’s wearing a suit that I’m sure costs upwards of five thousand dollars and sticks his hand out toward Jake, giving him his most winning (vicious) courtroom smile. “I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Tyler Murray. Longtime friend of Evie.”
Looking on, you might think this is polite. No way. This is a strategic power move, because now, Jake is forced to let go of me to shake Tyler’s hand.
“Jacob Broaden. Guy who’s lucky enough to be dating Evie,” says Jake, and I cringe because he’s broken my second rule. Keep your mouth shut.
Everyone in the room chuckles like they’ve already somehow rehearsed this little skit before we arrived and know their cues.
Daddy swoops in out of nowhere. “You’ll have to be more specific than that, Jake. Any number of men could boast that same title.” Umm, that is so not true. Not even a little. Well, actually, it’s just a tiny bit true. But it’s not my fault that guys don’t want anything serious with me. If they take me out, it’s only for one night, and when I don’t sleep with them at the end of it, they don’t call again.
My smile tightens, and I look at Jake, afraid that he’s going to be mad by what he’s heard, given his past relationship with his wife. I know he’s skittish. But when I look up, he gives me a reassuring smile and puts his hand on my lower back again. “I’m just grateful to have made the cut, then.”
We all continue on with small talk for a few minutes about the law firm and how much Tom misses being in the thick of the action. After that, they spend a solid ten minutes gloating over Tyler and all of his achievements and cases he’s won since taking over at the firm. I want to gag. Tom and Daddy then volley back and forth about whose golf swing is better between the two of them while my mother and Amy gossip about Cathey’s new nose. All in all, everything is mind-numbingly boring—just the way I like it. No boat rocking tonight, and Jake and I get to sit quietly and observe.
It’s when we sit down to dinner that I realize we have exactly enough place settings for everyone. That’s odd. I never told Mama that Jake was coming with me. I look up and notice that Tyler is staring at me from across the table. Staring like a serial killer finalizing his plans. He raises his glass to his mouth, smirking at me and never breaking eye contact. My heart rate picks up speed, and I can feel that he has something up his sleeve. Something that I’m not prepared for, but he is. Something everyone at this table is prepared for, because there is an extra place setting here. Oh, crap. This is the trap. They knew I’d bring Jake. Planned on it.
Suddenly, Tyler’s gaze cuts to Jake, and he sets down his glass. “You own your own architectural firm, do you not?” Now, how did he know that? I know that I didn’t tell anyone in my family, so how in the world would Tyler know that? Shoot. My parents must have had Jake investigated.
I look around the table and notice how it looks like everyone is running their lines in their head, waiting for their cues again.
“I do, yes,” Jake says with a kind smile, completely oblivious to the knife they are about to launch to his chest.
“Ah, yes,” my daddy says from the far end of the table. “Evelyn told us all about it. She went on and on about how proud she is of you for owning such a successful company.” I did not! I look at Jake and hope he will feel my thoughts meld with his. This is a trap!! Something is afoot! “I’ve got to say, I’m impressed by you, Jake. To own Goddard Smith is something to be proud of.”
WHAT?!
Jake’s brows twitch together, and his smile dims. “Oh…uh—I don’t own Goddard Smith, sir. My company is Broaden Homes.”
My father looks at me with a put-on frown that could win him an Oscar. “Why did you tell me he owned Goddard Smith, then?” Oh, he’s good. They’re all good. Sitting here, acting like this wasn’t a battle strategy to put a wedge between Jake and me while also making him feel belittled.
My eyes widen. “I didn’t!” I flash my eyes to Jake next. “I really didn’t. I never told him you owned that company. In fact, I haven’t told them about you at all!” Oh. But that just made things worse, didn’t it?
Jake’s smile is oh so tight now, and I can see that he’s trying his best to not let this situation eat at him. I touch his arm, and he whispers, “It’s fine.”
It’s not fine. I can feel that it’s not.
“Evelyn Grace, tell Amy all about your wonderful little service dog company.” Now it’s a wonderful company, is it?
“Oh yes!” says Amy, eyes twinkling in rehearsed anticipation. “You know, a few girls from the club and I were just saying that we needed a new little project to keep us busy. And from what your mama says, it sounds like your company could use a few patrons.” She pauses. “Or…” Blink. Blink. Blink. She turns her doe eyes to Tyler. “Actually, Tyler might be just the person for the job.”
“Tyler?” I ask, not bothering to keep the disgust from my voice.
“Well, yes! Who better than him? I’m sure that he could drum up all kinds of high-profile sponsors for you with all of his connections from New York. You two could get together and brainstorm through a game plan. You would be happy to work with Evie to further her company, wouldn’t you, son?” GAG ME. Do they really think I don’t see through this charade?
“I’d love to help you with your company, Evie,” he says in a way that sounds like he’s undressing me with his words.
I give him a tight-lipped smile. “Thanks, but I’ve got it all handled. Our benefit is tomorrow night, and I already have lots of big companies signed up to donate services and items for everyone to bid on. So, yep. Don’t need your help.”
“A benefit?” says Tom, stepping into his part now. “We didn’t hear anything about a benefit. Is it open to the general public?” Oh, shoot.
“Well…no. It’s by invitation only.”
“Surely, we are invited, though, and our invitation just got lost in the mail.”
“That’s exactly what happened, isn’t it, Evelyn?” says my mother. “Because you specifically called me and asked for their address a few weeks ago. And are you and Tyler still going together like you two talked about?” Okay, so first, Mama is manipulating me into inviting Tom and Amy to the benefit, and now she is flat-out lying about me and Tyler. Where to start?
One quick look at Jake, though, answers that question for me. “I—no. I’m going to the fundraiser with Jake. He’s my date. He and I are going together.” How many more ways can I say this? Jake es mi cita. Jake + Evie = Together.
My mother pouts and turns a broken-hearted smile to Tyler. “Oh. I’m terribly sorry, Tyler. I hope you’ll be able to find a date on such short notice.” Unbelievable.
“I’m sure he’ll be just fine calling one of the many girls from his little black book and asking them to leave their Barbie dream houses for the night.” Wait. What? He isn’t even invited to the fundraiser! Did I just get tricked into inviting him, too?
“Don’t be jealous, Evie. You know you’re my number one choice. Just say the word, and I’ll go with you.”
My mouth falls open, and I look at Jake. He’s looking at me, and his expression is so hard to read it could be an instruction manual from Ikea. “Like I said, I don’t need you to go with me, Tyler, because I’m going with Jake. The man sitting right here beside me.”
“Right. Sorry, man. I didn’t mean to make you feel weird.”
“You didn’t,” Jake says, but his voice is so hard that it’s clear he’s annoyed.
“Oh, Jacob, you’ll have to excuse all of us,” says Mama. “We tend to go on and on about Tyler and Evie because…well, there’s no other way to say it, but we’ve all been waiting for the day they finally get back together and tie the knot.”
Honestly, I’m shocked. I shouldn’t be, but I am. I
knew my family was capable of some manipulative stuff, but this is so out of bounds. “Mother,” I say, using that title as a warning. I’m about to lay into her at this table in front of everyone when my daddy pipes up, blotting his mouth and setting his napkin down.
“Come on, Evelyn. Enough’s enough. It’s time you stop this hippie lifestyle of yours and get back to real life. Tyler is your future. No offense to Jacob, because I’m sure he’s working very hard in his business, but he can’t give you the life you’re accustomed to by owning a small-scale residential architectural firm. But Tyler can give you the life you deserve right now, and he’s willing to do it. I’m sure he would even bankroll your little dog business, too, if it means that much to you.”
“Don’t you remember how good together you two were in high school?” asks Amy, jumping in with a smile that I want to smack off of her plastic face.
“It’s true, Eves. We were great together, and I’d like for us to be a we again. What do you say?”
Is this really happening? Please tell me this is just a nightmare, and any minute now, I’m going to look down and realize that I’m not wearing pants. I’ll wake up in a cold sweat and then immediately call Jake, and he will make me feel better by laughing and saying it was just a dream, because in real life, we would never be so stupid as to set foot willingly in my parents’ house. I feel so stupid for believing her that this was ever about her giving me a check for the company.
I don’t want to look at Jake. I’m so humiliated by the way my parents are treating him, especially when his parents were so kind and welcoming to me. But I do, and the look on his face breaks my heart further. His brows are pulled tightly together, and he looks deep in thought. I can feel him slipping from me. I want to cry right here at the table. This night had started out so well for us, promised so many things for us, and now, here we are, sitting at this table, and a wall is physically being constructed between us for all to witness, just like they planned.
And now, I’m pissed. I shoot up out of my seat and make the legs scrape painfully loud against the floor. Good! I hope they leave a big ol’ scratch! “That’s it. We’re leaving. Come on, Jake.”
He stands up beside me, but his movements aren’t as full of fire as mine are. I grab his hand and Charlie’s leash, and we start walking from the room, hearing everyone’s protests behind us. I then whirl around and level each of them with a searing glare. “For the last time, I’m not going to marry Tyler. And all of you should be ashamed of yourselves and the way you treated me and Jake tonight. Consider yourselves uninvited to the benefit.”
“Evelyn Grace,” my mother says, fire blazing in her eyes. “Are you forgetting about something?” She’s referring to the check she’s trying to dangle in front of my face.
“Keep it. I don’t want your manipulative blood money supporting my company, anyway.”
I grip Jake’s hand tighter and race us through the house and out the front door like we just robbed a bank. The second we have put enough feet between us and the enemy, I drop Jake’s hand and turn around to face him. “Jake, I am so sorry! I had no idea they were going to gang up on us like that. It was a trap, and I should have seen it coming!” He’s not meeting my eye. He’s looking over my head into the distance, and I can feel that wall between us grow taller. “Jake, look at me.” He does, but the look in his eyes says things have changed. My heart squeezes painfully.
I feel desperate to get him to understand that I do not share my family’s opinions, so I put both of my hands on his face to hold his attention on me. “Everything they said was a lie. They are master manipulators, and you can’t trust anything they say. Please believe me. And I swear I didn’t tell them you own Goddard Smith…because I don’t even care what company you own. I just want you.”
Jake doesn’t say he wants me too. He doesn’t say everything is okay and that he trusts me. His eyes are meeting mine, but I don’t think he’s really even seeing me anymore.
“I don’t know….” is what he says before pulling away and walking toward the truck.
My arms fall back to my sides. “Where are you going?”
“To get in the truck and take you home.”
“So that’s it, then? We’re just done talking because you decide we are?”
He pauses and turns to look at me—but he looks so hollow I want to cry. “Believe me, Evie. You don’t want me to keep talking right now because I will say lots of things that I’ll regret. I just endured an hour of belittling that has my blood boiling, and I have a lot to think about.”
“Jake!” I say, taking a desperate step toward him. “None of what they said was true. Are you worried because of Tyler?”
He grimaces at the sound of Tyler’s name and shakes his head. “No. That guy’s a tool, and I know you’d never go for him.”
“Then, what is it? And why are you looking at me like that?”
“Like what, Evie?”
“Like you’ve already said goodbye to me!”
Jake holds my gaze for a minute, and every breath I take sounds excruciatingly loud in my ears. His jaw flexes, and he breaks eye contact to look down. “Maybe I have. I heard them in there; they don’t think I’m good enough for you. And…I’m not entirely sure that I don’t agree with them.”
“No,” I say as an expelled breath. “That’s not true! You’re so much better than those people, and I don’t want the life they have!”
“Maybe not now,” he says, raising his eyes to meet mine with a new look of fire and determination. “But what about in two years? What about when you start missing your old life? When I don’t make as much money as you need? Or have the connections you need? What then, Evie?” I hate the way Jake just said my name. It was like a jab to my stomach. “This is the opposite of what I need right now. Sam and I need support and stability. We need someone we can trust. And…”
I shut my eyes. “Don’t say it.”
He holds my gaze for the span of three breaths and then quietly says, “And I don’t know that that person is you.”
He turns around and gets in his truck and starts it. I stand there motionless, feeling like I’ve just been hit with a stun gun. I feel angry and hurt and betrayed. But it’s odd because I know that’s exactly how Jake feels too. The selfish people in that house accomplished exactly what they set out to do, and now my heart feels shattered.
I look back up at my parents’ house and spot Tyler watching us from the window. He sees me looking at him and raises his glass in a mock toast. I wish I had a brick I could throw through that window.
I’m not quite sure that I’m welcome in Jake’s truck right now, but I also know that there’s no way in Hades I’m going back in my parents’ house and asking for a ride.
I look down at Charlie, and his big chocolate eyes promise me that I get to order in a dozen cookies and eat them all when I get home. At least Charlie is always there for me.
Chapter Thirty
JAKE
I dropped Evie off at her apartment after a completely silent drive home where I played the part of the brooding jerk perfectly. It wasn’t a part I wanted to play, but I felt like I wasn’t in control of myself anymore. This night couldn’t have gone any worse, and as I’m driving home in the dark, I still can’t quite pinpoint the moment it all went south.
One minute, Evie and I were united, and I was happy to be her shoulder to lean on during a difficult night, and the next thing I knew, I needed a crutch of my own to lean on as I dragged myself off the battlefield of the war I just lost.
I pull up out front of my house and cut the engine but don’t get out of the truck. I need a minute to myself to think over everything that just happened. I run my hands over my face and hair and then groan as a sinking feeling fills my stomach.
Evie and I both just got played. Me more than anyone.
Now, away from the haughty smirk of Tyler, I can see it all clearly. They said exactly what they needed to push my buttons and hit me in all my sore spots. How they knew w
hat my sore spots are is a little frightening, but I guess that people with as much money as them can accomplish just about anything they want to. Tonight being evidence of that.
Why did I listen to them? Deep down, I know that Evie doesn’t want their life. She doesn’t fit in in that manipulative social-elitist world any more than I would fit into one of Sam’s training bras. And yet…I let them get into my head.
I’m still raw from Natalie. I’m still scared. And hearing them confirm my biggest fears that I’m not good enough for Evie and she’ll leave me and Sam just like Natalie did, well, it undid me. I wanted to run away with my heart clutched in my hand to keep it safe.
But I was wrong. I overreacted.
My only hope now is that Evie will forgive me and forget all the accusations I tossed at her. I let out another groan because the more I think about it, the worse I feel. I remember the hurt I saw filling her eyes, the betrayal she felt. I sided with those people over her, and now I’m fearful she won’t forgive me. I wouldn’t blame her, either.
I pull out my phone, ready to call her and grovel at her feet for forgiveness, when movement on my porch catches my eye. I forgot to turn on the porch lights before I left the house, so I can’t see who it is. For a split second, hope soars in my chest, and I think that it’s Evie. But then I realize she can’t drive, and there is no way she could have called an Uber and beat me here.
Maybe I should be worried that it’s a robber. But I haven’t heard of many criminals who like to leisurely swing on porches before breaking and entering, so I think I’m safe in that regard. Curiosity has me slipping my phone back into my pocket, and I get out of the truck.
It’s when I approach the porch that I remember the old saying “curiosity killed the cat.”
“What are you doing here?”
“Not exactly the welcome home I was hoping for, but hello to you, too.” Natalie, my ex-wife, is smiling and swinging on my porch like she never left me a year ago. Like she has spent every day of the past year caring for our daughter as she should have been. Like she belongs here.
