Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Evie hurried back home, and instead of turning left right by her little snowman family at the end of her gravel drive, she turned right and slowly drove up Joshua’s drive, being cautious not to hit any of his roaming chickens or the few dogs he had.
Both of their cars were home, his wife’s and his.
She pulled up around to the right and parked in front of their two-door garage that was on the side of the house.
The house was a pale shade of yellow with white trim, and immediately she was greeted by the welcoming committee of a proud peacock, two dogs, and a roaming pet pig that also wanted to be a part of the action.
Luckily, as soon as she closed the car door, it roused the attention of Sarah, who came outside in her dingy jeans and Chiefs sweater.
Her blonde hair was loosely piled on top of her head in an exhausted bun, which was the go-to hairstyle of nearly every woman Evie knew, and her narrow cheekbones gave way to a smile as she came down the stairs happily.
“Evie! What a pleasant surprise! What can I do for you? Is everything okay?”
Evie took a deep breath to control her emotions. So much time had passed since Caleb had helped her control herself a bit, and she tried to conjure up the things that Hunt had taught her as well. “No, I’m sorry Sarah, but everything is not okay.”
Sarah halted, shocked by the statement. She edged her head forward to examine Evie with scrunched brows. “What’s wrong? Do you need to come in?”
“That would probably be best, thank you.”
Sarah escorted Evie inside and kicked away her kids’ shoes, apologizing for the mess.
The ladies walked across the beautiful maple flooring and basked in the gray beauty of light that the vaulted skylights let in.
They both sat on the large, light-gray sofa.
Sarah spoke first, “Okay, I’m all ears. What’s going on? ”
Evie was going to come straight out, but she learned from Hunt that a suspect would never confess to something if you asked it outright.
Instead, she had to ask around the question and gauge Sarah’s reaction.
“I haven’t been having good experiences at the salon lately.
I love Myla, but I don’t feel the vibe there is any good. I mean, look at my nails.”
She extended her nails and showed how perfect they looked.
“They look fine to me.”
Evie pressed on, “That’s the problem. Do you ever think it’s worth having exceptional service from a place so full of mean-spirited people? I’ve been doing my own now for a while and they don’t look so bad.”
Sarah played with her bun in her hair, leaning on her side to the back of the sofa. “You came over here to ask me that?”
“You’re at the salon more than I am. And I don’t know if I’m being sensitive, if they’re simply that way, or what.”
“Are you talking about Sandy and Kelly?”
Lightning struck. Now Evie was on the right path. Sandy was the blonde she had a weird encounter with when she first went to the salon last year. She was the one who seemed to get irritated that Evie didn’t go to the basketball games. And Kelly was the brunette.
She suggested it was Caleb who sent her the friend request, Evie thought.
Evie’s heart raced. Kelly was also the one who boldly said it was absolutely disgusting what Caleb did to Ashley, his ex.
It couldn’t have been any clearer. This had to be Kelly’s doing, perhaps in some sort of chance of ruining Caleb so Ashley could get full custody of her children.
Kelly knew Evie had come in to celebrate a cute guy sending her a friend request by wanting a manicure.
Sarah waved in front of Evie, who looked like she had seen a ghost. “Yoohoo, Eeeevviiiieee.”
Evie jerked. “Sorry, I remembered I forgot to pay my water bill today.”
Sarah laughed. “Still on with that mania issue again? Don’t you set your phone reminders still?
” Sarah’s voice was calm, serene, and sociable.
It was how she always talked. There wasn’t any indication that the mentioning of the salon and the girls there got her nervous or on guard.
A text went off in Sarah’s pocket, and when she looked at it, she quickly shoved the phone back in her sweatpants.
Evie sighed, looking off.
Sarah tucked her chin and grinned. “Aw, sweetie. I know that look. You’re thinking about that tall hunk o’ burning love. Aren’t you?”
This was it. She had to play along. If she did, Sarah would eventually mention the name. And if she mentioned Caleb, she would know immediately that somehow Sarah Jackson was in on it. Evie smiled weakly and looked down. “Is it that obvious?”
“I think it’s cute,” Sarah said as she patted her arm. The rooster outside went absolutely crazy, but it only distracted the ladies for a brief moment.
“You don’t think I’m weird?”
“No, not at all.” Sarah crossed her legs and reached over to pat Evie’s lap. “I mean, we all know how much you support the police. With Hunt being single now, it’s no wonder why you’re thinking about him all the time.”
Evie felt an entire anchor get dropped on her stomach.
Sarah continued, “You should ask him out. He already makes specific rounds in this area now for you. You guys are friends. You’ve got nothing to lose.”
Now what was she supposed to do? She and Hunt had never had anything together at all, and most importantly Evie didn’t even like him like that.
She respected him so much, and she already knew that Hunt was quietly in love with another girl, the receptionist at the daycare.
It was a fact she only knew due to Hunt telling her himself.
She had kept that secret and would take it to the grave.
With this, she couldn’t go on letting Sarah believe she liked Hunt, because it could jeopardize Hunt’s chances with the receptionist, who had helped Evie land her first freelance job in town by asking her to design a flyer for their fall specials for childcare.
Ever since then, Evie was a hit all over with the businesses, being even more respected there than with her own boss, Mr. Perry.
She had to. Being at a stalemate again, she had no choice but to weigh the pros and cons. Finally, and possibly regrettably, she spoke, “I’m sorry, Sarah, but that’s not the case. I don’t have a thing for Hunt. He and I are just friends.”
Joshua’s UTV was heard roaring up the pasture to the back of the house. Sarah asked, “Is it Jake? Deputy Jake Hawkins?”
Evie snickered lowly, “No, it’s not him.”
Sarah bounced in surprise. “Well, who is it? It can’t be Deputy Martin, because I said a ‘tall hunk o’ burning love,’ and Martin isn’t tall.”
The women laughed.
Joshua came in through the back, and Sarah called, “Hey, Josh! She admitted it’s not Hunt, Martin, or Hawkins. Who else could it be?”
Evie listened astutely.
Joshua kicked his boots off the back door rug and shook the snow off his Carhartt jacket. “Hey, Evie! I’m sorry about her prying.”
“Oh no, it’s okay.”
Joshua grabbed a cold beer and sat down on the adjacent couch and took off his hat to scratch his scalp. He said to his wife, “You need to stop butting your nose into other people’s business.”
The couple entered into a loving bickering match, and Evie thought about how unlikely it would be for Joshua to be involved. That was not in his nature in any way shape at all. What would he have to gain from it? He was friends with him on Facebook.
Joshua sighed and said, “I see Caleb Wright’s been at your house lately. You know, if you ever need help with your lawn, I’d be more than happy to help. I used to do it all the time, so it wouldn’t bother me none to do it again. I’d be wary about him being around you alone.”
Evie wanted to smack her own face. Not this again.
Apparently being friends with someone on Facebook didn’t mean you actually respected that person.
Evie tried to ignore it, but the threshold was getting harder to navigate.
For a moment, she held her forehead as if to lasso her own racing thoughts in a physical way.
It was useless. It felt like her brain splattered against her skull with the urge to make a list of everything everyone was saying.
If she did, she would end up obsessing over that list as if playing detective with no actual clues and no real conclusion.
“Oh, really?” Evie yelped as she clutched her chest, trying to force a front.
It really meant a lot to her, at least the offer did.
“Thank you so much, Josh. I really could use all the help I can get. I thought I could do it with a push mower, but I was wrong. Caleb was at my house to assess certain things because I’m really in over my head. He was so helpful.”
Joshua leaned back. “Yeah, he’s a good guy. Has some problems, but I think he can be alright.” He looked down at his hands for a second.
Nope. It wasn’t Joshua.
Luckily, Evie found another way to sneak into the conversation. She slapped her thigh. “I mean, it’s insane though. I hate how he was over at my house to help and now the town thinks we’re together. It’s weird.”
“WHAT?” Sarah nearly choked on her water. Joshua didn’t react at all.
It wasn’t Sarah either. That, she now knew. The reaction was far too visceral to have been feigned.
“Yeah, isn’t it weird? I feel bad for him, because he’s at risk of losing his kids now, all because he tried to help someone.”
Joshua sighed in frustration and slouched back. “Yeah, seems to be that guy’s luck.”
Evie asked, “What do you mean?”
“I probably shouldn’t say this, but I know you’re not the gossiping kind. That’s how the divorce happened. He tried to do something nice for someone, and it got blown way out of proportion.”
“His wife divorced him because of a simple misunderstanding?” Evie asked, her sympathy for Caleb growing.
“No, Caleb was the one who filed for divorce.”
“Can you please tell me what happened?” She couldn’t refrain from it any longer.