Chapter 8
CHLOE
After lunch, Evan and I hopped in his truck and headed to the storage place, planning to make the most of the time before he had to pick up Effie.
I unlocked the unit, and Evan looked around. “Okay. Wow. This is a lot. No way you could’ve done all this on your own without a truck.” He turned to me. “Where should I start?”
“I’d like to focus on the big stuff today since your truck is at my disposal.
” I pointed. “Those chairs can go, for starters. That small table, too.” I gestured to my right.
“Basically, all of the big items that need to be donated are on this side of the room. I’m not keeping any of it.
So, you can pack as much as you can fit in the back of your truck. ”
He nodded and got to work, taking the larger things out while I sorted through some of the smaller stuff and put the donation items into one of my white garbage bags. I tried to busy myself in the endless pile, operating at warp speed to avoid having Evan notice how painful this was for me.
Evan caught me at one point, though, staring down at a family photo. “You don’t have to pretend to be strong on my account,” he said. “I know how much your family means to you.”
Continuing to look down at the photo, I shook my head. “From time to time, I come across something that takes my breath away.”
“This responsibility shouldn’t fall solely on you.” He paused. “Is Fawn coming at some point, too?”
“Her nanny job is less flexible. She has to be there every day. She’ll lose the position if she leaves. And I haven’t put pressure on her. It’s not gonna change anything if it’s the two of us being sad going through our memories instead of just me.”
“It might seem that way now, but I’d bet if she were here, you’d feel better.”
“Misery loves company?” I shrugged. “Now that I’m here, I don’t feel like it’s urgent that she comes. The hardest part was getting here.”
His eyes wandered over my shoulder. “Holy shit.” He walked over and picked something up. “The waffle iron.”
“Wow.” My chest felt hollow. “We made some mean waffles with that thing.”
After Evan had returned from the Army, I’d looked for excuses to hang out with him.
He’d commuted to school an hour away at the time, so I’d often gotten up early to join him in the kitchen.
One morning, I’d made waffles before he woke up, and somehow that became our thing—getting up before everyone and eating waffles together.
Some mornings he’d beat me to it and already have a batch made when I got up.
“Do you mind if I take this back to the house?” he asked.
“Not at all. It’s yours.”
“Effie would love to try homemade waffles. I don’t think she’s ever had any except the frozen kind.”
“Well, I’ll have to make her some,” I said.
He looked down at it. “It’s crazy how a piece of aluminum can spark so many memories. I used to dread getting up for that long commute until you started the waffle thing. After that, I couldn’t wait to get up in the morning.” He paused. “It wasn’t just the waffles, though. It was the company.”
Goose bumps prickled my skin. I wondered if he’d figured out that from the very first waffle, it had all been for his benefit.
It was never about the waffles for me, either.
It was about that intimate time in the morning when it was just the two of us.
For that precious hour or so, no one else existed in the world.
I’d gone to bed early just so I could wake up and see him.
If only I hadn’t let my feelings get so out of control not long after that.
He set the waffle iron to the side. “That was a really tough time in my life, whether you knew it or not. But those mornings made it better. After I got back from my stint in the Army, the reality of my mother no longer existing fully hit me for the first time. It was like stepping into a new world.”
Evan’s mother, Carmen, had passed away shortly before he left for Germany. Back then, I’d thought his leaving was good timing, but hadn’t thought about how hard it would be for him when he returned.
“My time overseas was a huge distraction from the fact that aside from your family, I was virtually alone.” He shook his head. “Anyway, sorry for getting us off track. I didn’t realize how heavy this experience would be.”
“I know. I think that every time I’m here.” Fighting back tears, I was desperate to switch gears. I pulled in a breath and pointed to a corner. “You can load those old suitcases.”
“Sure…” he muttered before walking away.
A few minutes later, I came across a framed wedding photo of my parents.
It used to hang in our living room. The quality wasn’t great, and the background generic, but I remembered thinking my mother was the most beautiful bride I’d ever seen in her long-sleeve lace gown.
I wasn’t sure how long I’d been staring at it when Evan came up behind me.
“You can’t get rid of that.”
I looked up at him. “I should break into my father’s house and hang it in his living room while he’s sleeping.”
“I’ll help you, if you want to. We’ll ride at dawn.”
“I’m just kidding.”
“I wasn’t.” He winked. “Here…” He took it from me, reached for some bubble wrap, and carefully placed a few layers around the photo. “I’ll bring this back to our house. That way you can take your time deciding what to do with it.”
I looked at him blankly and attempted a smile.
Did he realize he’d said our house? I warned myself not to read into it.
He hadn’t meant it literally. Our probably referred to him and Effie.
The house reference, though, reminded me of the email I’d received from the property management company last night.
“Why did you refund my money?” I asked him.
“What do you mean, why? You shouldn’t have to pay to stay at my place when you thought you’d have the house to yourself.”
“Yeah, but I owe you something for it. I can’t just stay there for free. I felt better thinking I was paying.”
“Why? So it didn’t seem like I was doing you a favor?”
“Well…yeah.”
“Chloe…” He sighed. “I’m not gonna take your money.
And if I haven’t made it clear enough before, you’re welcome to stay as long as you need to.
I wish I could leave to give you the space you wanted, but as you know, there aren’t a lot of options here in town.
My new house is in no state right now for us to return. ”
“What are you having done to it?”
“A lot. New floors, updating the kitchen, and putting a swing set in the yard.”
“Nice.” I smiled. “Effie will love that.”
“Gotta do what I can to make her happy. I can’t control everything, unfortunately.”
I decided to say something I’d been meaning to. “You’re a good dad, Evan. Like, a really good dad. You should be very proud of yourself.”
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. I hoped my words resonated, that he believed them and didn’t think I was blowing smoke up his ass.
“Thank you,” he muttered before gathering some chairs and heading for the door.
After another hour, we’d made a massive dent in the larger items. We were short on time, though, so Evan dropped me off at the house first because the donation place was closer to Effie’s school. He told me he wouldn’t need my help unloading everything there.
I knew he had to take Effie to dance class after, so I looked forward to having the house to myself for an hour or so and thought I’d take a shower before they got back.
But after he dropped me off and drove away, I quickly realized a calm afternoon was not in store for me. There was a strange woman standing in the kitchen when I entered.
She looked me up and down. “Who are you?”
“I’m Chloe. Who are you?”
She straightened. “Naomi. Evan’s girlfriend.”