Chapter 9
EVAN
I set up my laptop in the room outside Effie’s dance class.
It had a large window so parents could see their kids practicing without getting in the way.
There was a vending machine nearby and a coffee maker.
I’d typically use this time to brew an afternoon coffee and catch up on emails while also appreciating glimpses of my little girl dancing away.
But today, all I wanted to do was sit and decompress without Effie sensing that something was off.
The storage unit visit with Chloe had taken more of a mental toll than I’d thought it would.
It had really solidified that the Cavanaughs—the strong family unit who’d once rescued me from the depths of despair—had been reduced to a small room of material things.
It felt like another loss, though I could hardly make this situation about myself.
But I’d had my head in the sand for far too long.
I wouldn’t dare tell Chloe how down I felt after this afternoon. She was going through enough right now.
My phone rang, jolting me out of my thoughts.
Naomi.
I picked up. “Hey, I’m—”
“I just met Chloe,” she snapped.
What? My eyes widened. “You’re here? I thought you were in Minneapolis until the end of the week.”
“Well, my last couple of meetings got rescheduled, so I thought I’d come back and surprise you. Turns out I was the one surprised.”
I quickly explained the rental mix-up and that Chloe was an old family friend. That didn’t seem to diffuse the situation, though.
“Why was your family friend wearing your sweatshirt?”
Fuck. “I’ve been keeping the house cold.” I rubbed my temples.
“She doesn’t have her own sweaters?”
“Don’t read into it, Naomi,” I warned, even though I’d thought the same thing when I saw Chloe wearing my sweatshirt. Not that I minded—just the opposite. But the fact that she’d kept wearing it all day? That did seem intentional.
“So…this strange woman with a French braid who likes to wear your clothes is going to be living with you and Effie indefinitely? And I’m supposed to just accept that?”
“Only until something else opens up in town for her,” I answered, laughing a little as I thought about the fact that Chloe still hadn’t taken out the French braid.
“Well, how about if she stays at my place, and I move in with you guys? Problem solved.”
My mouth opened and closed a few times as I found myself at a loss for words.
That might’ve seemed like a logical solution.
But I didn’t want that. And I wasn’t ready to delve into my psyche to figure out why.
All I knew was that telling Chloe she had to leave to go to my girlfriend’s house after I’d just told her she could stay as long as she needed to wasn’t going to happen.
Naomi was testing me. I never let her spend the night because of Effie.
Now that Chloe was staying with us, I couldn’t blame Naomi for trying to make a point.
But I also wasn’t going to take the bait.
“Having you move in would send a message to Effie that I’m not ready for,” I finally said.
“What message? That you’re serious about me and not wasting my time?”
“We’ve talked about this, Naomi. I’m not ready to have a woman move in with us.”
“Last I fucking checked, you’re living with one right now!”
Fair point. “It’s different because she and I aren’t romantically involved.”
“So, she gets to live with you and I don’t? Make it make sense.”
“I’m not sure how to better explain it.”
I knew this was unfair to her, but at this point, I was willing to let the situation unravel without putting up a fight. I didn’t have it in me to give Naomi what she really needed. Or maybe she didn’t have what I needed.
Naomi raised her voice. “How about this? As long as she’s living under your roof, you can count me out. It’s bad enough that your daughter doesn’t seem to like me. But now you’ve brought in some other woman to live with you both?”
“I didn’t create this situation intentionally,” I managed, unable to summon the energy to argue. “But I understand if you need to walk away.”
“I’ve offered you a solution, and you’re not taking it, so I have to wonder if there’s something I’m missing here.”
“You’re not missing anything.” I rubbed my temples, mentally exhausted from this conversation. I hadn’t had the bandwidth lately to work on my relationship with Naomi. Maybe this was the out I needed.
“If you feel it’s better for us to take a break, I understand,” I said, knowing full well it was shitty to put this on her. If the tables were turned, I would’ve been pissed, too.
“You’re not even gonna fight me on it?”
“Chloe is like family to me. Her parents took me in years ago when my mother was dying. I’m not going to tell her she has to leave when I’ve already told her she could stay. If you can’t accept that, what choice do I have?”
A heavy silence lingered for several seconds before she finally said, “Well, I hope you’re happy then.”
“Naomi, I’m really—”
She hung up before I could say anything else.
Well, shit. I hadn’t expected that. I stared into space, debating whether I’d made the right decision. Would Chloe have preferred her own space at Naomi’s? Why had I been so damn quick to shut that option down?
“Earth to Daddy!”
Effie had been dismissed from class, and I’d been so lost in my damn mind that I didn’t notice.
“Hey, baby.” I exhaled.
“I’m starving. Can we get Chick-fil-A on the way home?”
“Sure,” I said, still stuck in my head.
“Really?”
I nodded. Normally, Effie had to beg for takeout, and I typically didn’t budge. But today? I was spent. I might’ve burned dinner if I’d attempted to cook.
“We should get something for Chloe, too, because she might die if she forgets to eat again,” Effie added. “You should call her to see what she wants.”
“I don’t have her number, actually,” I told her as we headed out to the parking lot.
But when we got to the drive-thru, I ordered an extra meal in case Chloe hadn’t eaten anything since our bowls earlier, which I suspected she hadn’t.
When we walked in at home, Chloe was standing in the kitchen, biting her nails. I didn’t have to guess why she seemed nervous.
“Your girlfriend came by,” she announced.
“I know.” I dropped the bag of greasy food on the counter.
Effie’s eyes were like saucers. “Did you scare her away?”
Chloe’s jaw tightened. “Basically.”
“She called me,” I admitted.
“She wasn’t happy,” Chloe said.
“Yeah.” I opened the bag and took a waffle fry.
She placed her hands on her hips. “Why didn’t you tell her I was staying here?”
I shrugged. “I figured I’d let things play out before I made an issue of it.”
“It’s always better to get ahead of things, Evan.”
“I realize that now.”
Chloe sighed. “Well, what did she say to you?”
I started to unpack the bag of food. “She offered to give up her apartment so you could stay there.”
Her eyes narrowed. “And where would she stay?”
I stilled for a moment. “Here.”
“I don’t want Naomi to stay with us,” Effie chimed in.
“I told her no,” I said, looking down at my daughter.
“How did she react to that?” Chloe asked.
“Not good, as you might imagine.”
I set my daughter’s food on the table. “Come sit, Effie.”
I then pulled Chloe aside and lowered my voice. “I’d prefer not to go into it anymore in front of Effie.”
“Sure.” She nodded. “Of course.”
As I brought the rest of the food over to the table, Effie looked up at Chloe’s hair. “I didn’t know you had a French braid, too!”
“How do you think your dad learned how to do it?” Chloe grinned. “He practiced on me last night.”
Effie giggled. “Wow.”
Chloe patted the top of her head. “I took a shower, but I kept it in so you could see it. Yours held up pretty well, too.”
“He did good.” Effie grinned.
I smiled proudly at my daughter.
“I was going to do it for you,” Chloe added. “But I figured it would be better if he learned how to braid, since I won’t be around forever.”
My chest constricted. Chloe’s statement reminded me I didn’t have unlimited time to make things right with her.
Despite the words in her angry letter a decade ago, I knew her feelings had come from a place of hurt.
But I had to be careful not to complicate things between us.
I certainly didn’t want Effie to fall for another woman who’d leave her behind.
I could already see my daughter getting attached to her new friend.
“Anyway…” I shook my head. “I realized I didn’t have your damn number, so I just guessed what you might want. Hope you’re okay with the chicken sandwich.”
“What’s not to like?” She opened the cardboard box. “It smells delicious. Thank you.”
“I assumed you hadn’t eaten since earlier today.”
“You’d be right.”
“We got you waffle fries, too!” Effie squeaked.
“Oh, thank God. Now I don’t have to steal yours.” Chloe winked.
“I would’ve shared,” Effie offered.
“You’re very sweet. Thank you.” Chloe looked over at me and smiled.
The three of us had a pretty quiet dinner, considering my daughter usually liked to run off at the mouth during meals. But she loved Chick-fil-A so much that she barely came up for air.
Almost as soon as I’d had that thought, though, the questions started.
“What’s something fun you guys used to do when you lived with Chloe’s parents?” Effie asked.
I looked over at Chloe. “Actually, you reminded me, Effie, that I have a waffle maker in my truck that Chloe and I used to make homemade waffles back in the day. We should make some this weekend.”
“Yay!” She bounced in her seat. “I love waffles.”
“I know you do. We just never make them from scratch, only the frozen ones.”
Effie turned to Chloe excitedly. “Will you still be here this weekend?”
Chloe nodded. “I think so…yeah.”
“She will,” I added.
“I will?” Chloe arched her brow.
“You’re not going anywhere. Not that soon, at least. I feel pretty confident in that.”
“You’re probably right.” She flashed me an impish grin. “I can think of something else fun we used to do. At least it started out that way.”
“What are you getting at?” I narrowed my eyes.
“The Challenge.” She smirked.