Chapter 25
CHLOE
A little over a week after my closet encounter with Evan, I was getting ready for open mic night at The Lodge with Evan and Effie.
Evan had seemed quieter for the past several days, and he hadn’t come into my room again.
I think the close call of Effie waking up had freaked him out a little.
Yet despite his demeanor this week, I was looking forward to seeing him perform with his buddies.
What better opportunity than a night out to have a little fun in the form of making Evan eat his heart out?
I took some extra time getting ready. I hadn’t dressed up since I’d been here. I put on a black leather skirt, an off-the-shoulder black top that hugged my breasts, high heels, and I styled my hair in long, loose beach waves.
“Chloe, we have to leave,” I heard Evan call from the kitchen.
A prickle of excitement crawled over my skin as I readied to make my grand entrance.
When I stepped out, the first thing I noticed were Effie’s eyes going wide.
“Chloe, you look so beautiful,” she said in her sweet little voice.
Evan had been facing away, but when he turned around, his lips parted.
He cleared his throat. “You look gorgeous, Chloe.” His Adam’s apple bobbed.
It was the exact reaction I’d hoped for. Even if that was the extent of what I got from him tonight, all the time I’d taken to get ready was worth it.
Glancing down at myself, I nodded. “Thank you both.”
Evan also looked damn fine. He wore a brown suede jacket over a fitted green Henley that stretched across his chest like it was made for him.
The chocolate color of the jacket complemented the brown of his eyes, and his black hair was parted a bit to the side with that signature piece that always fell over his forehead.
“Let’s get going,” Evan said as he grabbed his keys.
The three of us hopped into his truck. I sat on the passenger side while Effie took her usual seat in the back.
Evan seemed tense as we drove off, his jaw tight, and Effie was uncharacteristically quiet.
I could see her little face in the side mirror as she looked out the window.
I’d occasionally look over at Evan’s handsome profile, and one of the times, he caught me looking at him.
When he cracked a smile, I couldn’t help but giggle for having been busted in the act.
After we’d parked at the place, Evan came around to the passenger side to help me out before opening the back and doing the same for Effie.
He was certainly a gentleman, always had been.
That was the problem, right? It wouldn’t kill him to be less of a gentleman—more like the way he’d been the other night in the closet.
The Lodge’s neon sign glowed in the dark Wyoming night.
As we entered the amber-lit, cozy atmosphere of the bar and grille, I looked around at the familiar pine walls covered in elk and deer taxidermy mounts.
The air smelled like beer and French fries, and it occurred to me that I might run into someone I knew.
This was the first time I’d really ventured out in Dry River since I’d been back.
Evan and Effie went to find a table while I headed to the ladies’ room.
On my way out of the bathroom, I heard a man call from behind me, “Chloe, is that you?”
I turned to find Brendan Simmons, a guy I’d gone to high school with. He was tall, blond, and while the total opposite of Evan looks-wise, equally as handsome.
“Oh my God. Brendan! How are you?”
He opened his arms to hug me. “It’s been so long.”
“I know.”
“You’re living here now?” he asked.
“Only temporarily. My mom is not doing well. She has dementia, so…”
“Oh, man. I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Thank you.”
Brendan looked over my shoulder. “Are you alone?”
“What do you want to drink?” Evan’s deep voice interrupted from behind me. I’d had no clue he was nearby.
“Evan, this is Brendan Simmons. We graduated from high school together.”
Brendan nodded. “Hey. I recognize you from around town.”
“Mmm...” Evan acknowledged coldly.
After a moment of tense silence, I turned to Evan. “I’ll have tequila with soda water and lime.”
Evan gave Brendan one last stare before going over to the bar.
“Is that your boyfriend?”
“No, actually. He’s a family friend who’s performing here tonight. I’m…renting a room from him while I’m in town. We’re here with his eight-year-old daughter.” I looked over toward where Effie was sitting. “I should get back to her.”
“Okay. Well, if you want to hang out while you’re in Dry River, I’d love to catch up.”
I didn’t see the harm in that. Evan had given me no formal reason to say no, especially with how quiet he’d been since the closet encounter. Was he having regrets?
“Maybe.” I bit my lip and thought better of that answer. “Actually, sure.”
“Can we exchange numbers?” He grinned.
“Sure.”
I took out my phone and let him enter his contact information. Then I sent him a text.
“Well, cool, then.” He put his phone back in his pocket. “Hopefully I’ll see you soon.”
“Sure…” I smiled and walked over to join Evan and Effie at their corner table.
Evan gave me a look, and I decided to poke at him as I sat down.
I spoke in his ear. “You sure stepped into that conversation fast.”
“Are we not here together?” he asked, looking pissed.
“I don’t know.” I glared. “Are we?”
Effie looked between us. “Daddy, where’s my Coke?”
Evan closed his eyes. “Sorry, baby. I knew I forgot something. Let me go back and get it.”
Evan seemed flustered, but I warned myself not to get too excited about the prospect of his jealousy.
Even if he was a little territorial, that didn’t matter if he continued to rule out something real happening between us.
Sneaking me into a closet and mauling me hardly counted as a step in the right direction, even if I’d enjoyed every last second of it and longed for an encore.
Soon after Evan returned with Effie’s Coke, a couple of his friends arrived. The two men occupied the remaining seats at our table.
Evan gestured to a short, balding guy in a plaid shirt. “Chloe, this is Owen.”
“Great to meet you.” Owen nodded, flashing an adorable smile.
He pointed to the other guy, a muscular ginger. “And that’s Freddy.”
“Where you been hiding her?” Freddy smirked.
“Pipe down,” Evan warned.
While I liked this side of Evan, I’d have liked it a lot better if I could reap some of the benefits of his anger. Instead, tonight we’d likely go home and retreat to our separate rooms as always.
I took a sip of my drink. “So, how did you guys start performing together?”
“It started as a dare,” Freddy explained.
“We were here one night with our wives years ago…” He pointed his head toward Evan.
“Well, back when this one was married.” He continued, “My wife, Clarissa, dared us to go up and perform since we’d been jamming in Owen’s basement for quite some time. And that was how it began.”
“We used to play more local venues,” Owen added. “But in recent years, we mainly grace audiences with our presence here at The Lodge once a month.”
“I like this place because even though they serve alcohol, they let me bring Effie, so I don’t have to worry about a sitter,” Evan explained. “And she loves coming.”
“That makes total sense.” I took another sip, feeling the tequila take the edge off.
A folk band was the first to perform. Between their songs, the guys explained that The Lodge provided all of the instruments, keeping a set of drums permanently on the stage and storing everything else in a back room for open mic nights.
After about an hour, they called Evan and the guys up on stage, which was just a makeshift wooden platform.
Evan played the guitar and sang while Freddy was on drums and Owen on the keyboard. I’d never heard Evan perform like this. His singing voice was different from his speaking voice—still deep, but smoother. He sounded great. I was pleasantly surprised and so proud of him.
Their first few songs were covers of existing tunes. But then they played one I didn’t recognize. I assumed it was still another cover until Effie leaned over toward me.
“Daddy writes songs,” she said.
“He does? He never mentioned that.”
“He wrote this one.”
“What’s it called?”
“‘Stray Dog’.” She giggled.
Once I knew Evan had written it, I listened closely to try to make sense of the lyrics. It was something about a guy who lets people feed him, then deserts them. One of the lines was, He never belongs to anyone.
Hmm… I looked forward to picking his brain about those lyrics later.
When the guys finished, Effie and I stood. We clapped and cheered as loudly as we could.
“You sounded amazing.” I rubbed Evan’s arm when he returned to the table. “Who knew you could sing like that?”
“Well, it’s a talent that seems to improve the more my life goes into the toilet.”
“A coping mechanism?”
He shrugged. “Maybe, yeah.”
“Well, it’s working for you. And Effie certainly loves listening to her dad perform.”
“Yeah, pretty sure she’s my biggest fan.” Evan grinned.
We watched one more band, and then Effie yawned.
“I’m tired,” she announced.
I pretended to yawn as well. “I’m tired, too, Effie.”
“The girls are tired, Daddy.” Effie tugged on his shirt. “Take us home.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Evan stood. He clasped hands with his friends while Effie and I also said goodbye.
I put my arm around Effie as the three of us walked out toward the parking lot.
Within a few minutes of driving off in Evan’s truck, Effie was out like a light in the backseat.
Evan glanced back at her while he drove. “She always falls asleep on this ride home. It’s pretty funny.”
“It’s a late night for a kid, right? But you’re the coolest dad ever for taking her to a bar. Wish I had stories like that from my childhood.”
“Well, if your mom had abandoned you, maybe it would’ve driven your dad to write songs and perform them in front of virtual strangers, too.”
I flashed a sympathetic smile and sat with his words for a moment.
I wondered if it was all about Effie, or if Evan had abandonment issues, too.
Had he somehow equated that situation to his father abandoning his mom before he was even born?
Evan had never known his father and had always said he didn’t care—or at least he’d pretended not to.
Evan had been the result of a one-night stand after his mother, Carmen, had met a man traveling through town for a rodeo.
Months later, she’d managed to track him down, but the guy wanted nothing to do with her or the pregnancy.
Evan took a deep breath in, interrupting my thoughts. “So, that guy…Brendan…”
“What about him?”
“I saw him entering his number into your phone. I take it he asked you out.”
“Yes.”
His jaw tightened. “You gonna go?”
“I don’t know, to be honest.” I paused. “Depends on some things.”
Evan nodded in silence, like maybe he was letting that information simmer in his head.
Back at the house, Evan carried Effie to her bedroom while I went back to my room, took off all of my makeup, brushed my hair out, and slipped into a T-shirt and shorts.
Evan was in the kitchen when I went to get a glass of water before bed.
“Effie’s still out, huh?” I said as I poured a glass.
“She woke up briefly after I laid her down.” He paused. “You know what she said?”
“What?”
“Chloe looked so beautiful tonight, didn’t she?” Evan smiled.
“Aw.” I put my hand on my chest. “My heart.”
“She’s so much happier with you around.” Evan looked down a moment. “So am I…”
I wanted to melt at those words, but I’d learned to be more cautious than that. “If only you knew what to do with that knowledge,” I finally said, unsure what the hell I even meant.
“Clearly, the other night showed you how weak I am for you, Chloe. And it’s not just physical.
But suppose Effie wasn’t here, and I let myself do what felt natural right now, said fuck it all to the consequences.
You seriously good with what comes next?
You good with what it would mean for you once you head back to Chicago?
You’ve been putting this on me, like I’m policing the situation with us.
But could you really handle it if I fully let go? ”
I’d never seriously pondered whether I would be ready for anything more serious with Evan, given that my life was in upheaval right now. The question had been lurking at the back of my mind from almost the moment I got here, but I didn’t have an answer.
“I don’t know,” I admitted.
Several seconds of silence passed. “I want to show you something,” Evan said. “Come to my room.” He narrowed his eyes. “And get your head out of the gutter. That’s not what this is about.”