“If you’re sure.” Cassie gestured, and Bear jumped readily into the back seat of the truck.
Mom was crying a little, and Cassie went to hug her, her own eyes brimming. She turned toward Donald, wanting to tell him to take care of her mother, but he had Evan off to the side of the driveway, talking seriously to him. Evan was nodding, rubbing the back of his neck.
They turned and started toward the truck, and Cassie caught the end of their conversation: “Don’t take offense,” Donald was saying. “But you know what I mean. She’s young. Inexperienced. Not right for someone like you.”
“Donald!” Cassie’s face went hot. “I don’t need you to—” She broke off, not even knowing what to say. Donald had managed to insult both her and Evan, and she didn’t know how to fix it.
“I get it.” Evan shook hands with Donald. And then he said something about traffic and climbed into the truck, not offering to help her in.
As they headed out of Harrisburg, Cassie looked over at Evan, who was staring straight ahead. There was an awkwardness between them that had never been there before. “Look, I’m sorry about Donald,” she said. “Every now and then he decides he needs to be my overprotective father figure and throws out something ridiculous like that. Don’t give it another thought.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Evan said.
“Parents have trouble letting their nestlings fly,” Mary said, and the conversation got general as they cruised onto the highway. The awkwardness passed, although Evan didn’t do much of the talking.
Underneath hers and Mary’s getting-to-know-you chatter and the quiet music Evan had turned on, though, Cassie kept wondering.
Why would both Mom and Donald emphasize that she and Evan weren’t right for each other? Wasn’t that obvious?
Don’t miss the final book in The Off Season series
by Lee Tobin McClain!
Copyright © 2022 by Lee Tobin McClain
ISBN-13: 9780369703514
Secrets of Summer
Copyright © 2021 by Lee Tobin McClain
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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