Chapter 49
Brandon
“Iheard you’re terrible at Wii bowling,” Evie comments as Teddy sets the table and I pull the lasagna out of the oven.
“I’m not the worst,” I defend. “But I’m not the best.”
“In other words, you stink.” She plugs her nose and waves her hand in front of her face, glancing at Teddy. “Pee-yew. Your daddy stinks.”
Teddy giggles, and I shoot Evie a look of warning. She covers her mouth, making a conspiratorial oopsie face at my son before she winks. I roll my eyes like I’m displeased, but I couldn’t be happier right now. I’m with my two favorite people, and we’re about to enjoy dinner as a family.
We take our seats and say grace.
Draping her napkin across her lap, Evie rubs salt in the wound. “Bert gets a kick out of your poor sportsmanship.” Her eyes light up suddenly. “Oh! Did you know he and Grandma are engaged now?” She curls her hands beneath her chin, swooning. “He proposed on Valentine's Day.”
“I did know that,” I say, smiling briefly.
I may not like Bert, but I am thrilled for Maggie.
“And I am not a sore loser.” Despite what he might say.
“What’s that guy’s problem, anyway?” I’ve tried not to let Bert get under my skin, but I’m only human.
He’s always around, making his dislike of me known both to me and everyone else within a hundred-mile radius.
Evie’s head tilts. “What do you mean?”
“The guy despises me,” I explain before taking a bite of the cheesy lasagna. It melts on my tongue and warms my stomach, soothing my annoyance.
“Huh?”
“He bullies me, Evie,” I say point blank, giving her a drawn look. I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I’m bothered by his treatment of me. I’m not used to being disliked.
Evie guffaws. “Bullies you? What are you talking about?”
“I don’t know. It started when I brought him those Thanksgiving leftovers after your car accident. He said, and I quote, ‘Good. She deserves better,’ after I explained that I wasn’t your boyfriend.”
Her eyes go round as the color drains from her face. “Oh.”
I glance at Teddy. He’s in his own world, scarfing down his lasagna like he didn’t have a Happy Meal and most of my French fries a couple of hours ago. “What?” I whisper, knowing I’m onto something. “What did I do?”
Evie swallows. “Well . . .”
I quirk a brow, my heart dropping at the look on her face. “What is it?”
She shrugs. “I might have told him . . .”
“Told him what?”
“Well . . . ” Her gaze shifts to Teddy, then back to me.
She lowers her voice. “You were there to pick up a date. Erica, I think was her name. His granddaughter. I was—” She gestures to her stomach, and my appetite vanishes.
“He knew I was upset about something. So I told him what happened, and well—” She purses her lips. “He knows. Everything.”
No wonder Bert hates me.
Shortly after Evie and I “broke up,” a friend from church set me up with Erica. She was staying with Bert at the time. Evie must have thought the worst of the situation, but I was only seeing other women to distract myself from the gaping hole Evie had left in my heart.
Erica wasn’t the first or the last woman I saw during that time.
I went on countless dates to forget about Evie, but I couldn’t shake her—nor did I really want to.
I grieved for her like she was dead. I missed her smile.
Her laughter. Our inside jokes and rapid-fire banter.
I especially missed how easy things felt with her; I never had to try with her; Evie was the only woman who had ever known me intimately enough to love me, and vice versa.
There’s something special about a bond like that; you can’t replicate it.
Evie was my girl, and she always had been, though in a more innocent sense.
It was about two months after that night that I realized what a significant error I had made.
Then she called me while I was thinking about her, and it took all my willpower not to pick up.
At that moment, I had to admit to myself what I was unwilling to admit before: I was in love with her, and I wanted her back.
When I called her the next day, she didn’t pick up.
I wasn’t prepared for that. I wasn’t expecting her to fall at my feet like everything was hunky-dory between us, but I didn’t expect her to ignore me, either.
I thought the first missed call was a fluke, but after weeks of trying to get ahold of her, I realized the tables had turned, and Evie wanted nothing to do with me anymore.
For the first time in my life, I was getting a taste of my own medicine.
And I hated it.
That was the beginning of a new chapter for us: me relentlessly pursuing her, and us running in circles because we’re more alike than I ever realized. Stubborn to a fault.
Evie stares at the table. “I’m sorry.”
I push my plate away. “You have no reason to be sorry, Evie. I’m the one who shou—”
She rises abruptly. Teddy watches curiously as she strides over and slides her arms around my shoulders. She drops her lips to my ear. “Stop this. You’re spiraling, Brandon. But there’s no reason for it. It’s all in the past. I’ve forgiven you.”
“But—”
“His grace is sufficient for you,” she reminds me before pecking my cheek softly. My arms cover hers as I lift my face. She presses her forehead against mine. “He forgives you. I forgive you. And you can forgive yourself, too.”
“And Bert?”
She grins as she pulls back and takes her seat again. “He’ll come around. Especially when he finds out we’re together.” Nervous eyes lift to mine, like she’s confirming the truth of her words. “Right?”
Teddy and I share a loaded glance. The silence is so loud you could hear a pin drop. Wriggling excitedly, he gives me an imploring look. I nod, giving him the green light. He shifts forward and pulls a box from his back pocket, then slides it onto the table.
Evie’s eyes drop to the jewelry box. Confused, she looks between us. “For me?” she wonders, tentatively reaching across the table.
We nod.
She flips the box open, inhaling sharply as her hand finds her heart. “Is this—is this what I think it is?” she stammers, turning the box around for us to see—as if we didn’t have the engagement ring custom made for her. It’s a black oval-cut diamond set on a delicate gold band.
Teddy grins. “Evie . . . will you join our family?”
Evie is so quiet for so long that I begin to regret involving my son. He’ll be devastated if she says no. What was I thinking? My mind begins to spin in circles. But I was so sure . . .
Evie touches her throat. “Brandon . . .”
Heart pounding, I take a deep, shuddering breath and stand.
I approach her slowly and drop to one knee before her.
Tears spill down her cheeks. Gingerly, I take her hand in mine and rub my thumb across her knuckles.
“What do you think, Spitfire?” I whisper.
“Will you marry me? Become a part of our little family?”
She laughs, wiping away what I’m hoping are tears of joy. Teddy springs from his seat and wraps his arms around her, begging her to say yes.
“Yes!” she cries, laughing harder as he squeals in delight—a mirror reflection of how I feel on the inside. “Yes. Of course I’ll marry you, Brandon. Of course. I love you. So much.” She twists to kiss Teddy’s cheek. “Both of you.”
My head drops to her lap. Relief and elation course through me. “Praise Jesus.”
My relief must be palpable. “I’m sorry,” she says through her laughter. “I was just in shock for a second there.”
“You had me worried,” I admit, taking her hand and hoisting her up off the chair.
She smirks as I pull her into my embrace. “Just keeping you on your toes.”
“I deserve nothing less.”
She snorts. For Teddy’s sake, I seal the deal with a brief kiss—one that leaves us both wanting more.
“I love you, Genevieve,” I murmur as I pull back, tucking her hair behind her ears.
“I will never stop loving you. Never stop pursuing you. You are the one whom my soul loves, and I will spend every day of the rest of my life proving it to you.”
Pleasure lights up her face, but she’s quick to tamp it. “Okay, Casanova. Chill. You’re coming on a little strong.”
I chuckle as Teddy tugs on my shirt, extending the ring box to me. “Put it on her!”
Evie extends her hand, grinning from ear to ear as I pull the ring from the box and slide it on her dainty finger. It’s a perfect fit, and it matches the diamond necklace I bought her to a T—just like I knew it would.
“To the beginning of forever,” I promise her.
All pretense is gone now as she looks between me and Teddy. “To family. And my two favorite people in the whole wide world.”
Grabbing her hand, I lift it over her head and twirl her beneath my arm, reeling her in for one more kiss. “And to you, Spitfire. My first and only love.”