Chapter 5 #2
“We had some people who used to rent one of my houses,” Evan explained. “They stiffed me on months of rent—skipped town and left all their stuff behind. Took me weeks to clear it out.”
“Well, I would never do that.” I paused. “Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find another place to stay.” I turned to Evan. “So if it’s okay with you, I’m going to need to stay another night.”
“Already said that was fine, Chloe. Stay as long as you need to. You paid the property management company for a month, didn’t you?”
That was true. Him letting me stay here wasn’t exactly out of the goodness of his heart.
I had paid the property management company, which meant he’d gotten paid and was almost obligated to let me stay.
Holy crap. That light-bulb moment totally changed my outlook.
Evan wasn’t being nice at all. This was simply a transaction.
“How’s your head?” I asked him.
“You really care, or are you just being a wiseass again?” he asked.
“I’m being serious.”
“It’s fine. Hard heads like mine can withstand a lot.”
I chuckled.
“Anyway…” he said. “I went into work late so I could vacuum the area thoroughly. There shouldn’t be a single shard of glass left. It’s safe to walk on now.”
“Cool.” Our eyes locked for a moment, and then I nodded. “I’ll let you two finish dinner.” I started walking toward my room.
His voice stopped me. “Have you eaten?”
I turned back around. “No, actually I sort of forgot to eat today. Well, aside from a granola bar I had in my bag.”
“How do you forget to eat?” Effie laughed. “I think about food all day.”
“Just busy.” I looked over at Evan. “I went to visit Mom, looked for available rooms, and then went to the storage unit to start going through stuff. Haven’t had a moment to stop and get anything.”
He nodded, his expression softening. He gestured to an empty seat. “Sit.”
I shook my head. “I really shouldn’t.”
“Sit,” he demanded again.
Conceding, I took the seat across from Effie and watched as Evan walked over and plated some of whatever he’d made. It smelled savory, maybe even a hint of thyme or rosemary.
When he placed the large bowl in front of me, I realized it was beef stew. I took a whiff. “Smells good. Thank you.”
“It’s one of three things my dad makes the most,” Effie said. “Beef stew, spaghetti, and chicken tenders.”
“Well, that would be three more things than my dad ever knew how to cook.” I blew on the stew and took a bite. “This is remarkably good.” I licked my lips. “Fresh thyme, huh?” I winked. “You’ve come a long way from only knowing how to toast Pop-Tarts.”
He shrugged. “I try.”
Effie interrupted my staring into Evan’s painfully gorgeous brown eyes when she turned to me. “Can you French braid?”
“Effie,” he scolded.
I set my spoon down. “Probably not that well. But I could try.”
“I told my friend we could match tomorrow. She’s wearing her hair in a French braid, and Daddy doesn’t know how to do it.
” She frowned. “But my dance teacher wants us all to have French braids at the recital later this year, too. So he has to learn. I don’t have eyes at the back of my head, or else I’d do it. ”
This poor girl shouldn’t have to think about doing it herself, even if she had the ability. Where the hell was her mother? I hadn’t dared ask yet, and no one had offered the information, but I was getting the impression that maybe Evan had full custody.
“You need your hair braided tonight?” I asked.
She shook her head. “In the morning. I don’t want to sleep on it and mess it up.”
“We can figure it out,” I assured her.
A quick glance at Evan’s expression confirmed that he wasn’t too comfortable with my promise. But how could I say no to this sweet little girl?
I quietly scooped a few more spoonfuls of stew into my mouth as they watched.
“What was my dad like when he was younger?” Effie asked, leaning into the table.
Licking stew off the corner of my mouth, I smirked. “He wasn’t as grumpy.”
Evan glared at me with a hint of a smile.
“You said you were twelve when he moved in with your family?” she asked.
“Yup.”
He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “She was a little pip squeak when I first moved in. Just like you are now, Effie.”
A little pip squeak who was obsessed with you from the get-go, sadly.
“How long did you live there?” she asked him.
“Well, as I’ve told you before, I moved in when your grandma got sick, but then I went into the Army for four years, remember? So I was gone for a while before I moved back in.”
She looked to me. “And how old were you when he went away to the Army?”
I rubbed my palms together. “Well, let’s see how good you are at math. If I was twelve when he moved in, but he went to the military a year later, that would make me how old when he first left?”
She stared up at the ceiling for a moment. “Thirteen.”
“Very good.” I grinned. “And if he was gone for four years, how old was I when he came back?”
“Seventeen!” she happily shouted.
I laughed. “And if he was eighteen when he left for the Army and came back four years later, how old was he when he returned?”
Her eyes moved from side to side. “Twenty-two.”
“You’re amazing at math.” I winked.
“You said my dad is five years older than you. If Daddy is thirty-four now, you’re twenty-nine, Chloe. You’re almost thirty!”
“I am?” I laughed, rolling my eyes. “Thank you for the reminder.”
She turned to Evan again. “Was she still a little pip squeak when you came back?”
He shook his head. “Not in the least,” he murmured.
I felt my cheeks heat as his eyes met mine. I shoveled some more stew into my mouth to distract from the fact that I was probably blushing. But it only got worse when she asked her next question.
Effie looked straight at me. “Were you ever boyfriend and girlfriend?”
My heart began to race. “No.” I looked down at my bowl.
She pushed. “Did you ever like him?”
I answered as neutrally as I could. “He was nice.”
Thankfully, she changed the subject.
“Do you have any brothers and sisters?”
“One sister,” I answered.
“What’s her name?” Effie prodded.
“Fawn.”
She giggled. “That’s a funny name.”
“I think so, too. But she was named after my grandma.”
Effie’s lips parted. “I was named after my great-grandma!” she said.
“Really?”
“On her mother’s side,” Evan clarified.
“Her name was Euphemia,” Effie explained. “It’s Greek. But I like Effie for short better.”
“Effie is a very cool name.” I smiled.
“Where’s your sister now?” she asked.
“She moved away a few years back.”
“Why?”
“She took a job in New York City.”
Her eyes grew wide. “I always wanted to go to New York City.”
“Someday you should.”
“Do you miss your sister?”
“Sometimes, yeah,” I admitted. As much as my relationship with Fawn was complicated, I did wish she were here with me. We’d always been competitive, but she was my only sister, and I loved her.
Effie leaned her elbows against the table. “Is she older or younger?”
“She’s three years older than me.”
She sighed. “I wish I had a sister.”
I just smiled. It was probably a female presence she craved more than anything. Perhaps Effie wanted a sister so badly because her mother didn’t seem to be around. I still hadn’t dared ask where that woman was, though I was so damn curious.