by Emma Miller
“There’s a free bench. Somebody already scraped the snow off.” Stacey settled on one end and hunched over her coffee.
“Before I forget, there’s someone who’s just moving here and she has a little boy Jaden’s age. Would you want to have a playdate with them? To help them settle in to their new city and everything.”
“There’s no harm in that. We’re always up for a park date. How do you know her?”
“I don’t, actually. It’s the sister of someone on the finance board at the Mission. They just mentioned it and I thought of you.” Evie wrapped her hands around her cup and stared out at the playground, thinking of Gavin. She wondered if his sister would have his warm brown eyes, or his quiet sense of humor.
“Just a someone?”
“What?” Evie was caught off guard.
Stacey shot her a calculating look. “You normally use names. And a gender. Unless you’ve vowed to keep his identity a secret.”
She could feel her face getting warm. There wasn’t anything between them so there was no reason to be embarrassed. Or whatever it was she was feeling. “That wasn’t on purpose. Gavin Sawyer, male, no secret identity that I know of yet.”
Stacey grinned at her and said nothing.
“We’re also working on an article about pertussis. He’s a disease prevention specialist, works in community outreach.” There, that was Gavin in a nutshell. Except for that slow smile he had, the one that made a girl forget she hated flirting. And maybe it would be fair to mention the way his hair curled just a bit over his collar. And how he stood a good head taller than she was, and was very fit, but he never made her feel weak.
“Is he cute?”
Evie rolled her eyes, pretending to dismiss the question.
“Do I have to ask you again?” Stacey was smirking into her cup.
“Okay, a little cute.” She shot her cousin a glance. “A lot cute. He’s one of those guys that gets a first and a second look. But then when you talk to him, you forget about how gorgeous he is because there’s so much going on in his head.” She huffed out a breath. “Happy?”
“Cute and smart. Gotcha. So you’re going to use me to get to him through his sister? Not that I mind, I’m just trying to figure out my role here.”
“No! Of course not.” Evie glared out at the park, watching kids running every which way.
“Sure you don’t want me to put in a good word for you?” Stacey’s voice was shaking with laughter.
Evie said nothing, wishing she hadn’t tried to explain. She wasn’t even sure what Gavin was, except he was interesting in a way not many other men were. She met a lot of people in her job at the paper. Some good, some bad, most of them just like her. But he was different. Of course, that didn’t mean he’d want a woman like her, with an ugly little past tagging along behind her everywhere she went.
Stacey grabbed her hand. “I’m just teasing you, cuz. You don’t need my help at all. You can reel this guy in all by yourself. It’s my way of saying how thrilled I am you’ve found someone.”
Evie shook her head. “I haven’t found anybody. It’s not like that.” She would have said “at all,” but that wouldn’t have been completely true. She wished there was a little bit of reality to Stacey’s overactive imagination.
“Okay, we’ll just wait and see.” But Evie could tell Stacey was already planning bridal gowns in her head.
“How’s the new guy?” The baby was due in three weeks and Stacey looked tired.
“Active. Keeps me up all night with his gymnastics.” She grinned over her cup, blond hair falling around her face. “I don’t mind so much. It’s been tons easier than when we had Jaden.”
Evie thought hard, going back five years to when Stacey and Andy were expecting the first time. She shook her head. “Sorry, you must not have whined enough. I don’t remember anything but being excited.”
A group of little girls raced by, screeching. Stacey watched them with a smile that slowly slipped from her face. “I probably didn’t share what was going on, but we were in a really tough spot.”
Evie turned her whole body, staring at her cousin. “You and Andy were having trouble?”
“No, not like that.” She took a sip and stared out at the playground. “He’d just started that new job when we found out we were having Jaden. And then the apartment building was foreclosed on so we had to move. We lost our deposit and last month’s rent, then had to come up with first, last and deposit all over again. And then I was on bed rest for a month and had to quit my job at the library. And then Andy got rear-ended by that old guy who was trying to keep his dog’s tail out of his face while speeding through an intersection.”
Evie nodded. She remembered all of those things. But she hadn’t put them together quite the same way. They’d been so thankful that Andy hadn’t been seriously hurt. The car wasn’t such a big deal. They had seemed like they were doing okay. Everyone was safe and healthy.
“When Jaden was born, I didn’t even have a crib.” Stacey’s voice wavered on the last word and Evie felt her heart contract.
“I didn’t know it was that tough. I’m so sorry.” She was whispering, shame choking the words.
Stacey wiped her eyes with one hand. “Don’t be sorry. It was our fault for not asking for help. Everyone thought we were doing okay, two college-educated people starting a family. I was too ashamed to say we couldn’t pay the electric bill.”
Evie sat back against the bench, watching Jaden zoom down the slide, arms in the air, glee on his face. Shock stole her voice. She’d never even suspected.
“My mom held the baby shower, and I got a lot of cute outfits for him. But we returned most of the items for cash.”
“I wish I’d known. I wish you could have told me.”
“Me, too. Looking back, it seems so silly. Just tell someone you need help. But I couldn’t. I went to the Goodwill to look for a crib and some clothes, but I only had about fifteen dollars and the crib was twenty. It wasn’t even that important. We had a little basket we lined with blankets. It was just that we were living on the edge, financially, and this tiny baby depended on us.” Stacey pressed her lips together but tears slid down her face. “Sorry. I’m feeling hormonal.”
“I think you’re having flashbacks because the baby is so near.” Evie had a sudden thought and squeezed Stacey’s hand. “Are you okay now? Do you have what you need?”
She laughed, shaking her head. “Oh, boy, we’ve got more than enough now. It’s like night and day.” Her expression settled into something a little more grim. “But I can’t forget the way it was. I wonder how many people are in the same position. I know the shelters have cribs, but we weren’t homeless. Andy had a job, we had an apartment, but we were barely scraping by. Even the cheapest stuff from the bargain stores was more than we could pay.”
Evie was silent, thinking back to Jaden’s birth. Stacey had seemed tired, stressed out, but her clothes were all right. Andy wore a suit to work in the insurance agency. They looked like any other young, middle-class couple.
Jaden ran up, hood bouncing behind him, knit cap slipping over one eye. “Mommy! My snowsuit makes the slide work even better!”
“Sounds fun, Jay, just be careful.” She waved as he raced away again. “We don’t need any medical bills.” She glanced at Evie. “We’re okay, really. Just medical bills would stink.”
Evie grinned. “I hear you. And broken bones are never fun when you’re five.” She took another sip of her cooling chai tea. Lord, how had I missed this? They had been in need, right in front of her, and she hadn’t seen it. She felt like her eyes had been opened at the same time her heart was being crushed. She’d been blind. But not anymore.
“Stacey, could you give me a list of things that young parents need? The kind of things that you had a hard time getting ahold of when Jaden was born?”
Her cousin gave her a quizzical look and nodded. “Sure can. But why?”
“I have this idea. I’ll tell you when I get it clear in my head.”
Evie felt excitement rush through her. A plan was forming in the back of her mind, and she knew it was a good one. Nothing could make up for the hurt she’d caused another young woman so many years ago, but at least she could help people in need right now.
Chapter Six
“Thanks for meeting me down here. I’m sure you have better things to do on a Saturday.” Gavin kicked a soccer ball back to a small boy with jet-black hair and hoped he didn’t look too sweaty.
“Not a problem. Is this the new soccer league?” Evie folded her red coat over her arm and watched twenty-five young kids chase balls around the shiny gym floor. The noise was deafening, but she didn’t seem to mind. In fact, she seemed to be enjoying the chaos.
“Right. Just a junior league for the youngest players. Once they’re in middle school they can join the city leagues. But these kids get left out of the community run teams because they live here.” Gavin intercepted another errant ball and rolled it back. He halfheartedly smoothed his hair. That wavy-hair gene was a curse. He should probably just shave his head.
“So, you played soccer in college? Or on a city team?”
“I played some. Not much. My theory is that if we offer to serve wherever there’s a need, God will honor that.”
She squinted back up at him, thinking. “God will honor it by helping you out, or by sending in other people to do the job, right?”
“Right. Either of those. Probably sounds iffy. And I’m not saying we can be lazy because we have good intentions and we know God will pick up the slack. I mean...” It was hard to explain, especially as Evie watched him, a small frown line between her brows. It was hard to think at all when he looked into her eyes.
“I think I understand.” She looked out at the horde of kids kicking and chasing soccer balls. “It’s funny you say that, about God picking up the slack.” She paused, as if unsure whether to go on. “I had a great idea today but then thought it might be too big for me. For anybody, really.”
“It’s probably not.” He felt his lips tug up, remembering all the times he’d spent hours thinking of all the ways he wasn’t right for the job, and then he’d stepped up anyway. Because it wasn’t about him.
“As long as God is behind me?”
“Right.”
She nodded, clearly making some kind of decision. “Thanks for that. You probably just saved me a few days of giving myself a headache.”
“That’s what friends are for.”
He watched emotions flicker behind her bright blue eyes. They were friends, weren’t they? He wouldn’t have said so before, but it seemed right, somehow.
“So, my friend, why are we in this gym?” Her tone was light, teasing. Back to work was the message.
“I know I could have called, but this is a little complicated.” Gavin dodged a flying ball and wished they were somewhere quieter. It was hard enough without the soccer-style war zone. “It’s important that this article mentions how hard my office is working to contain the spread of pertussis.” There, it was out.
Her dark eyebrows rose. “All right.” The words were drawn out a little, as if she was thinking something completely different.
“I received a visit from Senator McHale, and he was very concerned about the image of our organization during the outbreak.”
“Image is always linked to funding.” It was a statement, not a question. “I’ll make sure it’s clear how hard you guys are working.”
Gavin felt the tension ease in the back of his neck. She wasn’t going to sacrifice the article in favor of running a feel-good fluff piece. Every time he thought she’d act like a gossip-hound or a politician, letting the newspaper dictate her morals, she surprised him with something completely different.
He blurted, without thinking, “You’re perfect.” He felt his eyes go wide. “I mean, that’s perfect. Your plan for the article. It’s perfect.”
Her eyebrows had zoomed back up, but there was the tiniest twitch to her mouth. They stood there for a moment, a pause stretching to fill the empty space. All the noise of the kids yelling and the balls bouncing off the walls seemed to fade away. He wished for half a second that they were somewhere quieter, and not so they could talk about the paper. What were the rules about dating fellow board members? He didn’t know if there were any. Maybe he didn’t even care.
She cleared her throat. “I saw my cousin today. She said she’d love to have that playdate.”
Right, his sister, who had spent the past five years hiding from gossip magazines, had arrived. He needed to keep his head on straight. Work and family first. That was all. “Great. They arrived last night. And I better get back to the kids. First practice, we’re all just finding our feet.”
“Sure, let me know when your sister is all settled in. I’ll email you the article by noon tomorrow. Shouldn’t take much to tweak it.”
He looked over her head toward the double doors. Jose was just coming through, registration forms in his arms. “Okay, sounds good.” And he turned away with a polite smile, telling himself it was better to nip it in the bud now. Whatever it was.
Just flirting, nothing real. There were thousands of single women in this city. The doors clanged shut behind her and he stood there for a moment, wondering what she’d been thinking during that long pause. Did she see him as a sweaty geek who spent his free time hanging around little kids? Or a lab rat who didn’t know his way around women? That “you’re perfect” line would haunt him for a while.
The sound of a throat being cleared made him snap to attention. “Jose, sorry. You’ve got more forms?”
Jose handed over a pile of purple sheets and some pens, his face creased with a rare grin. His dark mahogany skin made his smile Cheshire cat–like.
Gavin felt his neck getting hot and he shuffled the forms. “We’re working on a column for the paper.”
Jose made a noncommittal sound and the grin stayed fixed.
“It’s important we get everything right for the community’s sake.” He didn’t know why he was still talking.
“That’s the way it always happens at the Mission, you know.”
Gavin frowned, trying to connect the dots.
“Did I tell you I met my wife here? She was working with food distribution, helping sort nonperishables into aid boxes. Took me about three minutes to know she was the one. Took her about six months longer, thanks to...” His voice trailed off and he motioned to his tattoos. “But she came around.”
A soccer ball sailed past and Jose went on, “When Calista walked in the door, Grant got a look on his face.” He paused, laughing. “Like he’d been hit with a frying pan.” He made a swinging motion with one hand, like he was beaning someone with an invisible skillet. “And every time he walked in the room, she turned red.”
“Oh, wait a minute. You’re trying to say that Evie—” Gavin shook his head.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
“That’s not happening. We’re...” He wanted to say opposites. But they weren’t. There was the paper, and his sister, and some family drama, and the fact he didn’t have the time to spare for dating. But if they were on a desert island, they would find plenty to talk about.
“Coach, are we learning any fancy kicks today?” A skinny kid ran up, all knobby knees and sharp elbows. His hair was shaved short, dark eyes bright with happiness.
“Just one, and I’ll show it to you right now,” Gavin said, thankful for the reprieve from the uncomfortable conversation.
Jose turned on his heel and gave him one last rendition of the frying pan move and a big grin.
Walking to the sidelines, Gavin tried to shake off the conversat
ion. Life was complicated, and his work didn’t leave room for anything important, like a girlfriend. That was all he needed to know. It didn’t matter how much she made him think about getting a real life outside of chasing diseases across the state. Besides, if he was parceling out extra time, Allison and Sean came first.
* * *
“Have you seen him yet?” Lana rolled up to Evie as she came through the Mission front doors. Her purple-tipped crew cut was freshly dyed and her eyes were wide with excitement.
“Who?” Evie glanced around, wondering if the whole world could tell she’d spent half the afternoon thinking about Gavin. It had been three days, but she couldn’t seem to shake the vision of him jogging through the gym, muscles straining at his T-shirt, hair a bit damp at the nape of his neck. He had looked like a giant next to all the little kids. A benevolent, soft-eyed giant with a killer smile.
She smoothed her hair self-consciously. Maybe the soft pink cashmere sweater and tailored black wool skirt was too much. Maybe she should have stayed in her office clothes.
“The baby! Calista just brought him in. He’s so tiny.” Lana waved her toward the office doors.
Evie followed Lana through the long hallway. “Didn’t they just leave the hospital? She should be home resting.”
“Oh, you don’t know Calista. You can’t keep that girl down. She’s got him wrapped in some sort of sling. Snug as a bug.” Lana pushed open the meeting room door. Calista and Grant were busy passing the baby around the room, huge smiles of pride on both their faces.
“Evie’s turn,” Jack called out and stepped toward her with an impossibly small bundle.
She glanced down and felt her breath leave her in one big whoosh. He was perfect. Amazing. Miraculous. She couldn’t tear her eyes from his sleeping face, peacefully unaware he was being admired by total strangers.
“I have to sit down,” she breathed. Gavin was there, pushing a chair up to her, and she settled on the edge. Dark, fine hair covered the baby’s head, and she admired his miniature button nose, pursed mouth. He was out cold, dreaming whatever it was babies dreamed of when they’d known only warmth and love. “He smells like the sweetest thing on earth.”
