Chapter 10
EVIE
“I think the pink peonies on the center pieces clash with the pink in the ribbons. They really should have checked that.” Evie’s mother tsked with irritation.
“They look lovely, mom,” Evie said.
“I just want things to be perfect for your sister’s shower. I did invite Mrs. Winters after I talked to her the other day.”
“What?” Her eyebrows shot up and she turned to look at her mother.
“Oh, don’t be dramatic, Evelyn. It was the polite thing to do after speaking with her the other week. There was a time when she was almost family.”
“Yeah, there was. That time ended when I broke up with her son.”
Just then guests started coming into the dining room of the country club that had been all decked out in soft pink flowers and tulle for her sister’s bridal shower. She wanted to grumble and follow her mother, demanding that she not let that woman come, but then she heard a familiar squeal of delight.
“Eeeee! I’m getting married!”
Evie turned around to see her, Ellie, dancing from toe to toe with excitement.
“Yeah, you are,” Evie said as she went to give her a sister a hug.
“It looks beautiful in here, Evie.”
“We both know this was done by mom and the staff,” Evie said dryly.
“I do know that, but you deserve the credit for dealing with mom. It pulled her focus from me for a couple weeks. She’s been over the top with this wedding.”
“She’s been over the top our entire lives,” Evie said with a chuckle.
“True. But this wedding has pushed her into hyperdrive. She is going to explode before all this is over.” She watched as something caught her eye. “What is she doing here?”
Evie turned to see Ms. Winters, her ex’s mother, walk to the room. “Mom.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Ellie said with the mother of all eye rolls.
“Clearly, I’m not. She ran into mom a couple weeks ago. At least she’s not coming to the wedding. Wait. She’s not coming to the wedding, is she Ellie?”
“No, she’s not on the guest list…. But…”
Trepidation filled Evie’s eyes as she looked at her sister. “What did she do?”
“Bryan is on the guest list.”
“Of course, he is,” Evie said darkly.
“Is she still trying to get you two back together?”
Evie nodded.
“Eleanor, I need you for a moment.” Before either of them knew it, their mother had swept Ellie away from their conversation.
‘Help me,’ her sister mouthed as she followed her. Evie just smiled and shook her head. For as infuriating as her mother was, the rest of her family was pretty great. She was happy her sister was getting married and entering the life her mother had always envisioned for them. One of them needed to, and it would not be Evie.
Evie sat down at one of the tables with her mimosa. Looking around at the room full of pastel pink flowers and tulle, she couldn’t help but cringe a little. All of this would have been hers had she not ended things with Bryan last year. She knew she was part of the reason her mom was being so over the top about her sister’s wedding. After Evie had called off her engagement her mother had been furious. Now everything about her sister’s wedding was extra, Ellie didn’t seem to mind. She was in love with her fiancé in a way Evie couldn’t quite comprehend. It was something she hadn’t experienced, especially not with Bryan. But she would be here and support her sister, because despite all this nonsense, Ellie deserved it.
“Evelyn dear,” her grandmother said as she approached. “What are you doing at this table all by yourself?”
“Hi Gran, I’m just taking it all in.”
“It is lovely, isn’t it?”
“It sure is,” she said with a small, forced smile.
“Why on earth is she here?”
Evie followed her gaze to Bryan’s mother. “Mom ran into her and invited her.”
“Well, doesn’t seem very classy. The inviting or the showing up.”
Evie chuckled to herself.
“Vivian, darling, come here,” said Gran.
Evie watched in horror as Mrs. Winters made her way over to them.
“Gran,” Evie gritted out trying to call off her grandmother.
“Oh, hello Estelle, this is a lovely shower.”
“Isn’t though? Such a lovely couple. I wasn’t aware you were close with our little Ellie,” Gran said with her elegant yet biting way.
“Oh well…Elizabeth invited me. I think she still feels bad after the last shower was cancelled,” she said, hitting Evie with a sideways glance.
The rage in Evie started to rise. The smiles and daggers of this world got to her. Why couldn’t people just say what they mean?
“Well,” her grandmother said, “some things just aren’t meant to be. Better to know now than to have a life full of nannies and secretaries that must maintain more than one position to satisfy their employers.”
Evie choked back a laugh while Mrs. Winter’s eyes went wide with surprise. Her husband’s infidelity issues were one of the worst kept secrets in this club.
“Surely you’re not insinuating anything.”
“What? Of course not, don’t be crass. I’m merely enumerating the risks of a poorly planned marriage.”
Mrs. Winters turned on her heel and left.
“Gran! I can’t believe you!” Evie said with barely contained joy.
“If you can’t misbehave when you’re as old as I am, then what’s the point?” Gran said with a wink. After another sip of her mimosa, she stood and brushed the wrinkles from her pink skirt and went to talk to Evie’s aunt.
As much as Evie never felt like she belonged in this group of people. certain ones made it worth it. Her gran was one of them. Her polite way of eviscerating people was incredible to watch.
Later that night, she was curled up at home. Evie hadn't texted Cash back. She didn't know why, but she was trying to keep him at arm's length. He had left her a note just like he said. Then he had been nothing but a gentleman The connection between them seemed to be mutual, but she just couldn't seem to get over that initial anger. But maybe that wasn't fair to him. It was just a stressful time.
She had made it through her sister's wedding shower, but she still had the wedding at the end of the month. And she was dreading the wedding.
Maybe it was the stress of the wedding. Maybe it was the fact that she had assumed he was an ass and left in the middle of the night. She didn't know why she was angry at Cash, but the simple truth of it was she couldn’t stop thinking about him. And if she was honest with herself, that had been the best sex of her life. Yes, he was good at sex, there's no surprise there. But the second time they had sex was the one she couldn't get out of her head.
She pulled out her phone.
Evie - I'm looking forward to seeing you tomorrow
She quickly put her phone down and walked away. She didn't want to stop and see if he texted back. She needed to distract herself, so she decided to hop in the shower.
Once she was out, she decided to check her phone.
Cash - I'm looking forward to it too
Cash - I watched you skate after the meeting. You were beautiful.
Evie sat on her bed cross legged her wet hair dripping down her back, staring at her phone. Did he really just call her beautiful? He’d also called her beautiful the night they hooked up. That made her smile. Not because she didn't think she was beautiful. She knew she was beautiful, but guys like Cash didn't often find her beautiful. Some couldn't see past her size; others couldn't see past her attitude. She didn't think she had a bad attitude necessarily, but she wasn't one to pull punches or give second chances. But she couldn't stop reading that message.
She didn't text him back because she had no idea how to respond. She was starting to think Sasha was right, maybe Cash was different.
As she was getting ready for bed, she heard her phone ding. She picked it up and a stupid grin stretched across her face.
Cash - Goodnight beautiful
Evie - Goodnight, see you tomorrow.
Cash - looking forward to it
She put her phone down and slid into bed. She had no idea where this was going or if she even trusted it, but it sure did feel good.
The next day Evie woke up with her alarm. She was almost expecting a good morning text from him, but of course she didn't get one. That would have been silly. All the same, she was excited to see him again.
As she was sitting at her table eating her breakfast, she found herself typing his name into her phone. Then pictures of him filled her screen. Pictures of him in the ice looking like a beast, pictures of him in the bars smiling with his teammates, and a couple with him and women hanging all over him. In fact, there was a post of him and Ethan Yellowtail at a bar last night. Following that was a picture with a blond hanging off his arm from last night as well. Was he with this woman and texting Evie at the same time? The same anger she felt when she got caught in the elevator with Bryan’s mom was taking over, but she had misjudged him then…maybe she was misjudging this one too.
But there was no way to misread this woman whose hand rested on his abs low enough to make her see red. She put her phone face down, finished her breakfast quickly, and headed into the rink. She didn’t have time for this right now.
Once she arrived, she didn’t have time for those nerves. As soon as she opened the door the din coming from inside was overwhelming. The lobby was full of kids getting skates on and parents filling out paperwork. She quickly made her way to the office to help the new campers get registered. They had a huge group of kids. Her side was pretty normal, it was slightly bigger than last year, but nothing too crazy. The hockey camp though was another story. When word got out that Wes and Cash were helping this year, it had been filled in a day, and the waitlist was huge. It was good for the center and amazing for the scholarship program.
She was getting ready to get on the ice. Her mornings were going to be with her older girls. These were the girls who were already competing and would be working towards perfecting jumps, spins, and footwork. Her skaters were out warming up and she stopped to look at the hockey camp. She still hadn't seen Cash. When she looked out on the ice in the hockey rink, she still didn't see him. Owen who ran the program was out there, Wes was there, and he had a woman who looked vaguely familiar with him, but no Cash. She walked in and got Wes's attention and he skated over.
"Hey Evie, what's up?"
"Is Cash here?"
"No, he had something come up. But don't worry we got it covered. I brought my girlfriend who played college hockey, but any minute Conner McPhee will be here until Cash can get here."
Her head was spinning. What in the actual fuck? How was he not here?
"What the fuck? These kids aren't here to play hockey with your girlfriend."
Wes was clearly taken back by her demeanor, but she didn't care, she was pissed. She had been right about him in the first place.
"I get that. Conner is on his way. Conner is captain and a top player. We got it covered. Cash should be here later."
"Where is he?"
"I'm not sure. He said he had something come up?"
"Something..." she shook her head. "More like someone..." she muttered under her breath.
"I'm sorry?" Wes said not hearing the last part, which was deliberate.
"I have to go," she turned and made her way over to the ice. The picture of him out at the bar last night was lodged in her head. Him at the bar, him with all those women, she knew who he was. Why did she think he was anything other than that? Taking a deep breath, she shook off the anger and headed to the ice. She had some training to do, and she needed to find a way not to be a complete bitch to them...which wasn't looking good right now.
She took off her skate guards and opened the door.
"We're starting with swizzles," she called out as she skated onto the ice.