Chapter 19
CHAPTER 19
E vie struggled through the next days, torn between packing up the cottage or not. Each day, she waited for news from Susan. Each day got closer and closer to the deadline to pay back Mr. Barlowe.
With the deadline approaching and no news from Susan, she finally got the boxes out and started packing. Soon she had a neat stack of packed boxes in the corner. Then another stack.
Her phone rang, and she snatched it off the table, seeing from the caller ID that it was Susan. “Hello?” Her voice was a mix of apprehension and hope.
“Evie, hi. I’m just checking in. My lawyer is working on it and still says it will be any day.”
Her heart plummeted. Not the news she was hoping for. “Oh… I only have two more days. I guess it might not come in time after all.”
“I’m sorry, Evie. I know my lawyer is doing everything he can.”
The thought of losing Nana’s cottage after she’d been so close to keeping it crushed her. She turned around slowly, taking in the tiny details. The ring holder by the kitchen sink where Nana took off her wedding rings to do dishes. The foldout stool in the corner that Nana used to reach the higher shelves. The worn table where they had done so many jigsaw puzzles. She closed her eyes.
“Are you okay?” Susan’s voice interrupted her stream of memories.
“I will be.” Her voice caught. Though this time it would take quite a bit for her to recover—if she ever did.
“I’m so sorry. I’ll keep trying.”
Susan hung up and Evie turned to start packing more boxes as her heart clutched in actual pain from the knowledge that she’d lost everything. The cottage with its wonderful memories, a chance to stay on Belle Island, and… Randy.
Randy entered Magic Cafe, hoping that a good meal might improve his mood. But he doubted it. He took a table inside instead of one out by the beach like he preferred. But out there was where he sat with Evie. He needed a change.
Tally came out and set down a menu. Not that he needed one. He had the menu memorized by now. “Afternoon.”
“Hey, Tally.”
She looked at him closely. “I thought you’d be in a better mood when you heard the news that Evie might not have to leave.”
He let out a long sigh. “I heard. But it really doesn’t make a difference.”
“What do you mean? Don’t you want her to stay? I thought you two had feelings for each other. Or at the very least, the start of something.”
“We did. But then she chose to leave. I don’t know why I even ever let myself get involved with her.”
Tally let out a gentle laugh. “Of course you do. Because she is a wonderful woman. Generous like her grandmother. And I know she misses you.”
He looked up at her. “Tally, I just can’t. I can’t take a chance that she’ll leave me just like my ex-wife. And she already chose leaving over me. Her chance of staying here won’t change that fact.”
“Randy, I adore you, and I say this with love. You’re being a fool.” Tally shook her head. “Don’t let that ex-wife of yours ruin your future. You’re letting what she did influence all your choices. Don’t give her that hold over you.”
He stared at Tally, surprised by her tough love.
She continued, “And can’t you see how hard this was on Evie? Look at it from her side. First, she lost her beloved Nana, then she finally decided to stay, then found out about the loan. She was losing the cottage she loved, and she got a job offer back home. It was the practical decision to make to go back home.”
“But I wanted her to pick me,” he admitted softly.
“Then give her a reason to. Tell her how you feel about her. Give her a reason to stay, even if she loses the cottage and has no job. Take a chance. Ask her to stay.” Tally pinned him with a stare. “You sometimes have to risk it all for love.”