Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
Evan McBride ran his fingers through his short brown hair, squinting at the screen of his computer.
Ordinarily, he wouldn’t want to mess up his hair too much, since it wouldn’t do for the mayor of Coral Sands to look as though he’d just tumbled out of bed after a nap, but it was late enough in the evening that he felt confident he was the last one left in the building.
The mayor’s office was a fine-looking red brick building on a hill overlooking the ocean.
He often thought to himself that it was one of the best parts of his job, getting to work in an office like that.
When he had a day as long as that particular one had been, however, nothing could sweeten the way he felt sluggish and fatigued—not even a third cup of coffee with a hot chocolate packet mixed in to create an impromptu mocha.
He took a long sip of the beverage, noting that it was already starting to get cold. He glanced at the clock and grunted a little when he noticed how late it was.
I’ll be finished here soon, he thought to himself. I want to make sure I go over every last detail of these papers.
He had always been a by-the-book type of mayor, a preciseness that was partly his personality and partly due to the fact that he had little else to devote his attention to now.
His mind began to wander in the direction of the past, and he was too tired to stop himself from thinking about it.
He looked down at the picture of his son that was resting on the edge of his desk.
It was a nice photograph, taken of the two of them on Evan’s most recent visit to New York City to visit Tyler.
Tyler looked proud and professional even in his t-shirt and baseball cap, standing in front of the skyscraper that he usually wore a suit while working in.
Evan liked the photograph, since he was immensely proud of his hard-working son, but he remembered the picture that had been in the frame before—one of himself, Tyler, and his wife.
He sighed, trying not to imagine the image of the three of them sitting around their dining room table, showing ten-year-old Tyler holding up his birthday cake and grinning. His wife had been holding Evan’s hand, and she’d looked as happy and proud as he’d felt.
He grunted, forcing himself not to go down the rabbit hole of “What went wrong?” for the millionth time.
She’d told him, when she came to him and said that she wanted a divorce a number of years ago, that they had grown apart.
But that had been news to him. He’d thought that they were happy, just busier with their work than they had been in times past.
He frowned, turning his eyes away from the picture. He always did his best not to feel sorry for himself, but that was becoming harder to do as he’d turned into more of a crank as the years went on.
I’m a busy man, he thought defensively. I don’t need to have a family in town anymore. Coral Sands takes up nearly all my time.
He smiled slightly, reflecting that Coral Sands was all the family he needed.
He loved his town, and he genuinely cared about the well-being of its citizens.
He might have become somewhat famous for his grumpiness in years past, but his actions showed that underneath his gruff exterior, he meant well and wanted the best for his town.
He finished up his paperwork, taking far more meticulous care than was necessary.
After that, he finished the last of his coffee and began to drum his fingers on his desk.
He looked at his calendar, thinking through all of the upcoming events that Coral Sands had scheduled.
He wondered if there was preparation work for any of the events that he could start working on.
He couldn’t think of anything to do, and he opened his email inbox.
It was empty. His secretary always did a great job of organizing it for him, making sure he only dealt with the emails he really needed to, and usually he was grateful for her precision.
In that moment, however, he felt a surge of disappointment. He wanted something else to do.
A yawn overtook him, and he leaned back in his chair, his mouth opening widely like a lion. He chuckled a little to himself.
My body seems determined to be done for the day, he thought. His brow furrowed with a reluctant expression. And I guess I can’t realistically find a reason to remain here much longer.
He didn’t want to admit it to himself, but he was avoiding going home. His big old house felt too quiet and empty, and he preferred to keep his mind busy at work.
He grunted again and stood up, turning off his computer. He picked up his briefcase and left his office, turning the lights out as he went.
The building was hushed and dark, and his footsteps creaked on the staircase as he walked to the front door.
A rustling sound caught his attention, and he froze for a moment, his body on alert.
He realized a second later that it was simply the strong spring wind rustling the spring decorations that had been arranged on the porch of the old building.
I’m getting as jumpy as Scrooge, he thought, pushing open the front door and feeling a cold wind greet him. When he was wandering around in his dark old house, worried about ghosts.
He swallowed. Maybe that was why he didn’t like to go home to his dark, empty house. There were ghosts there—ghosts of memories he tried hard not to see.
He was tugging open the door of his car when he realized that he didn’t have anything to eat at home for dinner. He huffed, feeling more irritable about the realization than he should have.
He’d been operating as a bachelor since his divorce, getting himself meals—which, he couldn’t deny, were often frozen dinners.
He tried not to think about how it had felt to come home to a cozy, well-lit home and smell something delicious cooking in the kitchen.
His wife hadn’t been all that good of a cook, but he wished that he’d complimented her on her cooking more while they were married.
He’d appreciated it a great deal, and he knew now more than ever just how much it had meant to him to have someone care for him in that way.
A feeling of melancholy settled over him, although he did his best to brush it off.
He drove his car toward Fresh Picks Grocery, Coral Sand’s grocery store, trying to occupy his mind with deciding what he would buy.
He could cook a little, although he seldom felt like it.
He made himself tuna melts every now and again, and sometimes on a Sunday he would cook himself spaghetti using frozen meatballs and a jar of marinara sauce.
Tonight, however, he was feeling tired and grumpy and he knew as soon as he stepped inside the store that he was going to end up purchasing a stack of frozen microwave dinners.
Fresh Picks Grocery always smelled wonderful, a mixture of the appetizing smells of fresh bread and herbs and the homey scents of cardboard and lemon cleaner.
He felt his spirits lift slightly as he made his way to the frozen food section.
He didn’t bother with a cart or a basket, and he simply gathered as tall a stack of frozen dinners as he could carry in his arms and headed back toward the register.
He knew he would need other grocery items soon, things like milk and coffee and granola bars.
Tonight, however, he was just going to buy his dinners.
He felt as though he was in a hurry even though he had nowhere to be.
Sometimes trying to avoid acknowledging his emotions made him feel that way.
He stepped up to the register, his mind on the work that he would be able to do the next day at the office. He hardly noticed the person in line in front of him until she turned around with a gentle smile.
“Evan McBride!”
Elaine Sutton had a way of making other people feel at ease which Evan always felt grateful for. Her silver hair was styled in soft curls, and her bright blue eyes shone with kindness as they always did.
“How are you doing?” she asked him warmly, as if they were dear friends. The truth was that he only spoke to her a few times a year at social functions, although they had known each other for a long time. Elaine was one of the people who seemed to embody the heart and soul of Coral Sands.
“I’m doing fine,” he said, forcing a smile.
He’d learned a long time ago that women liked to talk about him behind his back, especially if there was an inkling that he was unhappy.
The womenfolk of Coral Sands had tried to matchmake him with several eligible women right after his divorce, and some women were still narrowing their eyes at him for refusing their offers to come over for a home-cooked meal.
Elaine’s not like that, though, he reminded himself.
Still, it was easier to simply avoid answering the question honestly. After all, he’d been running from his own emotions all night. Why would he suddenly be honest with someone else when he wasn’t being honest with himself?
“How are you?” he asked, eager to change the subject. He’d been noticing that there was a lightness to her demeanor, and she seemed to be carrying some sort of joy inside herself.
“I’m better than great,” she said, her smile widening. “My daughter and my granddaughter just told me that they’re coming to Coral Sands.”
“Oh?” Evan said, half tuning out the conversation.
When he was tired, he found it hard to listen to anecdotes about people he did know.
Stories about people he didn’t even remember meeting were not something that interested him.
He started to imagine settling down on his couch after heating up a couple of the dinners.
He usually ate two of them, especially if he’d been putting off a meal for several hours.
Not wanting to be rude, he asked, “Is it just for a short visit?”
“Well, I don’t know, but I hope it will be for an extended period of time,” Elaine said. “Sounds like they want to settle down here at least for a while.”
Evan smiled politely, noticing that it was Elaine’s time to pay for her groceries but not wanting to point that out, since he felt it would be rude. “Well, I hope you have a great evening,” he said.
Elaine smiled at him and returned the sentiment before paying for her groceries.
Evan paid for his with a quick swipe of his credit card and then headed home.
As soon as he was in his kitchen, he threw one of the frozen dinners into the microwave.
Steak, mashed potatoes, and broccoli. He liked it, but it always made him wish he was eating quality food instead.
As he waited for the meal to finish heating up, he thought about the conversation that he’d had with Elaine at the grocery store. She’d seemed so very excited to have her daughter and granddaughter come for a visit.
It would be nice to have an anticipated visitor to look forward to, he thought, and for a moment, he allowed himself to imagine what it would feel like.
Then he shook his head firmly. His life simply wasn’t like that, and he told himself that he needed to resign himself to his reality.
The truth was that his days were destined to drone on in the same way they’d been doing for years.
No unexpected visitor was going to come and change that.