8. Maverick Carter
Chapter eight
Maverick Carter
I’m staring at the hotel ceiling, my phone resting on my chest as I wait for Drew to come back from the gym so we can go to breakfast. I prefer to work out in the evenings, so I stayed in the room. I’m starting to regret that decision though, since laying here gives me the opportunity to ruminate on how worried I am about Evie.
She’s a shell of herself. A shuddering hologram of the bright and wonderful person she once was. I wasn’t fond of her ex-husband before, but seeing her the other night only deepened my hatred of him. I try not to hate people, but I was helpless to do anything but that every time I saw the dark circles beneath Evie’s eyes or heard the defensiveness in every word she spoke.
When she left Georgia, she was talkative and overflowing with life. She had wit for days and was never afraid to be the center of attention. The limelight loved her, which is why it surprised me when she chose to stand behind the camera instead of in front of it all those years ago. But photography suited her. She had an eye for beauty and a knack for capturing it. It made sense that a fashion magazine wanted her working for them. She made every subject look beautiful.
Some of my most treasured photos of my mother are ones she took because each one looks like a true snippet of life itself. As if I could fall into the photo and be standing next to my mom in the kitchen, the smell of warm biscuits and honey butter in the air while she hummed an old hymn under her breath.
My phone starts to buzz, drawing me out of my melancholy. I heave a sigh, expecting to find one of my siblings calling me asking for an update. I’ve been texting them periodically, but that’s still not enough for them. When I lift my phone I’m so surprised to see Evie’s name on the screen that I almost drop my phone, catching it just in time to save my face from a nasty bruise.
The first thing I hear when I answer is the sound of Evie crying.
“What’s wrong? I’m on my way,” I say as I get up.
“I-I’m okay,” she says before taking an audible breath. “You don’t need to come right this second.”
My brow furrows at her wording. “What do you mean? What’s going on?”
“I want to come to Georgia,” she says in a quiet voice.
I don’t say anything right away, certain I’m mishearing her.
“If you’ll still let me stay with you. It’s okay if you changed your mind. I know I wasn’t the nice–”
I cut her off. “Of course you can stay with me. I told you the offer will stand forever.”
She sniffles. “That’s not very practical. What if you got married?”
“Any woman I’d marry wouldn’t turn you away. ”
Besides, it’s not like I have any options on the horizon anyway, so her question isn’t one to worry about.
“If you say so.” The sound of her so broken makes my chest ache.
“Tell me why you’re crying, Wilder,” I say in a gentle tone. “I’m happy you want to come back home, but I want to make sure you’re all right.”
“I lost my job,” she confesses, her voice barely above a whisper. My eyebrows raise at the admission. “My boss valued Ezra’s face over my work. They gave me a month of severance pay, but the choice of jobs is slim and childcare options even more so. I wanted to handle everything, but I can’t. I–” her voice breaks. “I want Beckham to have a good life, Mav.”
I’m tempted to head to her apartment right this second, but Drew will kill me if I leave without talking to him first.
“He will. You both will. I’ll make sure of it.”
“That’s the thing though, I don’t want you doing too much for me. Letting me stay with you is more than enough.”
“You don’t have to go through life alone,” I tell her.
She lets out a weary sigh. “I know, but I also don’t want to be coddled. Can you and Drew come over to talk about everything?”
I frown. It’s not coddling to take care of her while she heals and gets back on her feet. Maybe once she’s in Georgia I can help show her that.
“Sure, are you okay if we come over soon? As soon as I tell him he’s going to want to rush there.”
“That’s fine,” she says, sounding defeated. “It’s not like I have to work or anything.” She lets out a bitter laugh.
“Okay, we’ll be there soon. Call if you need anything. ”
She says goodbye then hangs up. I grab my wallet and room key before heading out the door to go find Drew. A smile begins to stretch my lips. I hate that Evie is hurting, but she’s coming home . We’ll be able to help her and make sure she’s safe. Drew is going to be over the moon.
I quickly make my way down to the hotel gym. Drew is running on the treadmill when I walk in. Thankfully he’s the only one in here, so I don’t have to worry about bothering anyone.
“Drew!” I yell to get his attention. He glances over at me, pulling an earbud out of his ear.
“Almost done,” he says through labored breaths. He’s running at a high speed, with sweat pouring off of him. He must be working off the emotions from dealing with Evie.
“Evie called, she wants to come back to Georgia with us.”
Drew’s eyes widen and he stumbles on the treadmill. He has to grip the sides to stay on. Once he regains his footing, he begins to lower the speed before hopping off. He grabs a towel hanging off the machine and wipes his face.
“Are you serious?”
“No, I’m joking.” I give him a flat look
He throws the sweaty towel at me, but I dodge it. “I can’t help but be a little shocked. She was very adamant that she wasn’t coming with us two days ago.”
“She changed her mind, and she wants us to come over to talk about everything.”
“We need to do more than talk if we’re going to make our flight tomorrow.” He rakes a hand through his damp hair. “I don’t know how we’re going to get her stuff boxed up and get a truck to take all of her stuff down in one day. ”
I don’t mention that by the looks of her apartment she’s already half-packed. He can see for himself when he gets there. He’s bound to have questions, and I don’t have answers.
“I know you have to get back to work, but I could postpone my flight and stay here. That way there’s enough time to contact a moving company and get her packed.”
“You’ve already done more than enough,” Drew says, sounding not unlike Evie when we spoke on the phone.
“You know I’d do even more for her, for the both of you,” I tell him.
“But that doesn’t mean you should. You’re already going to let her live with you. I can’t let you miss work and handle all this too.”
Since I run my own business, all of this is a moot point. The bakery can last a few days without me, especially since I have a couple employees that mostly run it themselves now. There aren’t any big orders this week or wedding cakes to be made, so they should be more than fine.
I shake my head. “At some point in the course of our lives I hope you’ll understand that we’re family and this is what family does.”
He sighs, but there’s a hint of a smile on his face. “Fine, you can stay, but only because I have no other choice.”
“Like brother, like sister,” I say under my breath.
“I heard that.” Drew knocks into my shoulder on his way out the gym door. I chuckle and follow after him.
“Maybe I meant for you to hear it so we can talk about how you and Evie both are too independent for your own good.”
“Being independent is good. It’s important to be able to stand on your own two feet,” Drew says as we walk through the lobby .
As predicted, he’s not wasting any time to go back to the room and shower, or even just change.
“I agree, but it’s a sign of wisdom to accept help.”
“I accept help all the time. Save your lecture for my sister.”
“Fine, I can wait until we get there. Then I can tell you both and save some time.”
We step out onto the street and turn right. Evie’s apartment is just a few blocks away, so it’s not a long walk.
“I’ll be sure to be too busy packing to listen,” he says and I laugh. “On a serious note, thank you for all that you’re doing. I know that I wouldn’t have been able to convince her on my own.”
“Considering how terrible lunch went, I believe you.” He knocks into my shoulder again and laughs when I almost run into someone.
“I’m trying to express my gratitude and you’re mocking me.”
I’d be worried he was mad if he wasn’t smiling.
“I’m sorry ,” I say in a patronizing tone that makes him roll his eyes. “But I don’t think I can take much credit, considering I’m not the reason she decided to come.”
He raises his eyebrows expectantly, waiting for me to explain as we walk down the bustling city streets.
“Evie got fired from her job. She’s worried she won’t be able to find a new one, and she can’t find good childcare for Beckham. That’s why she’s coming back.”
“That’s awful. She must be really overwhelmed.”
“She is,” I say and watch as a mixture of emotions flickers over his features. “What are you thinking?”
He sighs. “I know Evie isn’t doing well right now, but that place treated her horribly and now she’ll be able to start over with her family and friends to support her. I think that all of this is a good thing.”
“I agree with you. Just be careful not to tell her that. She’ll push us away again if she thinks you’re glad she got fired.”
“I’ll try to keep my emotions in check, but I’m sure it’ll be easy to tell I’m happy she’s coming back.”
I nod. “Probably so, but the goal should be to not make it worse.”
“That’s a low bar, but considering how the past few days have gone, I’m going to hope we hit it.”
I chuckle. “Sounds like a plan; now let’s go work on getting Evie home.”