Chapter 27
EVAN
From Effie’s perspective, this was the biggest day of the year: my uncle Drew’s annual Halloween party. Drew always turned his place into a haunted house and invited half of Dry River. The only requirement for admittance was that you came in costume.
The day had started off right because somehow my daughter let me sleep in. I couldn’t remember the last time Effie had allowed me to stay in bed for any amount of time on a Saturday. Normally, she was my alarm clock, always wanting something special for breakfast on her day off from school.
But this particular morning, I got up at ten AM, and it felt like half of the day was over. The coffee was already made, but it was still hot on the machine. And there were some waffles sitting on a plate, waiting for me.
Yet the house was quiet. It didn’t seem like Chloe and Effie were here. What the hell?
Then I looked out the window and spotted them.
I could hear Effie’s muffled giggles through the glass.
They were stuffing hay into a scarecrow.
It dawned on me that last week at dinner, Chloe had promised Effie they could make one for Halloween.
Now that I knew my daughter hadn’t flown the coop, I relaxed and poured myself a cup of coffee, bringing it over to the window.
As I sipped, I felt almost euphoric as I watched them make the scarecrow.
They’d stolen a flannel shirt and a pair of my jeans for the task.
How had I not noticed them in my room? I couldn’t even be mad about it.
I opened the door and stepped outside, the cold fall air perking me up even more. “How long have you two been at this?”
“Since eight.” Chloe looked over. “I promised her today was the day, so she got me up early, but I made sure she ate breakfast before we started.”
“How come you didn’t wake me up?”
“We didn’t need you, Daddy.”
“We decided—right, Effie?—that your dad could sleep in for once.” Chloe winked. “So we were quiet.”
If there was one thing I knew, it had certainly not been my daughter’s idea to let me sleep.
Effie liked nothing more than waking me up on weekends.
Chloe had granted me the gift of a good night’s sleep.
You couldn’t put a price on that. I basked in the warm feeling of knowing she was looking out for me.
I couldn’t remember the last time anyone had truly cared about my well-being.
Things between Chloe and me had been more tense than ever since my dumb lick-the-cereal bowl comment a week ago.
She’d gone to bed that night and never again mentioned what I’d said, nor what I’d done to her in that closet days before.
I couldn’t blame her if she was confused. I’d confused my damn self.
I looked over at their scarecrow project again. “I see you scored him some nice clothes.”
“Unfortunately, no. We had to use yours,” Chloe chided as she reached for more hay.
I glared playfully at them. “You saying my clothes aren’t nice?”
“Actually, it’s not all your clothing he’s wearing. He’s got a nice pair of yellow underwear that fit him perfectly.”
I nearly spit out my coffee when I noticed the infamous yellow sweat rag sticking out the top of the jeans. “Glad to see you found a use for those.”
“He doesn’t mind a little sweat.” Chloe winked. After a moment, she added, “So what’s the plan for today? What time do we have to be at your uncle’s?”
“The party starts at four, but we can arrive anytime, really. It doesn’t end until late.”
She looked between Effie and me. “Okay, well, I can be ready at four, if you guys can.”
I raised my coffee mug to her. “You have a costume?”
“I do.” She grinned.
“What is it?”
“You’ll find out.” Chloe smirked.
“Oh boy.”
“And what are you going to be?” she asked as she stuffed more hay into the scarecrow.
“A cowboy!” Effie answered before I had a chance to.
“Nice.”
I shrugged. “All it requires is putting a hat on my head. My kind of costume.”
“I didn’t take you for such a simpleton, Ricci. This is the same guy who dressed as a cereal killer for that party that your buddy threw back in the day. I remember thinking how clever that was.”
“Oh yeah. The cereal box over my head, the fake blood, and the knife. I was pretty proud of myself.”
“As you should’ve been.”
The irony of the cereal reference wasn’t lost on me. I wondered if what I’d said about eating Chex had crossed her mind just now like it had mine.
I winked. “Actually, I was thinking of going as a stray dog, but decided against it.”
“No costume needed for that one,” she teased back.
God, she was gorgeous. Chloe’s hair was a beautiful mess this morning, fully down and a little knotted from sleep. She was still dressed in her pajamas and had just thrown a down vest over herself, which meant that unfortunately I couldn’t peek at her beautiful braless morning tits.
With Chloe’s guidance, Effie continued to be busy at work stuffing the scarecrow’s arms with hay. I wouldn’t have had the mental energy to get up early on a weekend and be so creative, so I was grateful Chloe could give my daughter this experience, something I suspected Effie would always remember.
“You guys need help?” I asked.
“Oh, now you ask?” Chloe snapped playfully.
My daughter looked up. “Nope. Go back inside, Daddy. We got this.”
Chloe locked eyes with me, and I smiled. Though I quickly turned away. I couldn’t look at her anymore without remembering what she tasted like. It’d been driving me mad, even if I’d vowed not to let it happen again. It was bad enough that we’d had that near-miss with Effie, thanks to my hard head.
“I left you a plate of waffles,” Chloe said.
“I saw. Thank you. I can’t wait to eat it.” The way I said that last part was suggestive. I knew it. Sort of like “Eat the Chex and lick the bowl.”
“Just pop them in the toaster oven for a minute.”
“Will do. Thank you for making me breakfast.”
“Anytime.” Chloe winked.
Once I was done fucking Chloe with my eyeballs, I enjoyed a quiet breakfast all by myself in the kitchen.
As peaceful as it was, it made me realize how much I didn’t actually need quiet.
Alone for less than twenty minutes, and I already missed my daughter’s bombardment of silly Saturday morning questions.
And I missed Chloe’s laughter as she answered every single one of them before I had a chance to.
This was eye opening: Chloe was right outside…
and I missed her. I wondered if this feeling would be unbearable when she inevitably returned to Chicago.
***
That afternoon, I put on a plaid shirt, dark jeans, and my most rugged pair of boots, and I dug a cowboy hat out of my closet.
After I plopped it on my head, I looked at myself in the mirror and thought, basic.
Damn, I really could’ve put more effort into this.
But there was no time to go out and buy a costume or make something more creative. The cowboy was better than nothing.
“Hey, Daddy.”
I turned to find Effie in the doorway to my bedroom. My heart squeezed at the sight of her dressed as Elsa from Frozen. Moments like this reminded me how much Katerina was missing.
“You look so beautiful, honey. Love the side braid.”
“Chloe helped me with my hair.”
“It’s perfect.”
I had Effie stand under the good light in my room while I snapped several photos of her. Knowing my daughter, she’d be a sticky mess by the end of the night, so now was the time to document her costume.
“I like your cowboy hat, Daddy.”
I tipped the hat. “Why, thank you.”
“Chloe is still getting ready,” she said.
“Let’s go out to the kitchen and wait for her.”
A few minutes later, Chloe emerged from her bedroom. My jaw dropped at the sight of her dressed as a sexy nurse. And now it hit me why she’d seemed so cheeky earlier. This entire costume was for my benefit—to drive me crazy.
Effie jumped up and down. “It’s Nurse Chloe!”
“It sure is.” I swallowed hard.
She spun around. “You like, Effie?”
“I love it!”
Chloe lowered her voice, “You like, Evan?”
“You know I like.” I gritted my teeth.
“I do,” she said with a smirk.
This was not a coincidence. Years ago, Chloe and I once had a discussion about weird dreams. I’d confessed that I’d had a sex dream involving the school nurse when I was in high school.
That woman wasn’t even all that attractive, nothing like Chloe.
But Chloe had teased me about it from time to time, and it became a running joke.
Apparently, she hadn’t forgotten. And I wasn’t mad at that.
Chloe looked fucking hot, and I’d have hours’ worth of eye candy.
Then again, it would also serve to torture me.
“You’re such a brat,” I muttered.
“I don’t know what you’re referring to, Evan.” She batted her lashes. If Effie hadn’t been around, who knows what I might’ve done. I wanted to smack her ass, bury my face in her tits, and kiss her all at once. I felt my control slipping away fast.
On the ride over to Uncle Drew’s, we debated the all-time best Halloween candy. Effie insisted it was Skittles, while I stood firm on Reese’s peanut butter cups. When Chloe chimed in, professing her love for white chocolate, both Effie and I teased her about how disgusting it was, all in good fun.
Dozens of cars lined the road leading to my uncle’s house, and we ended up having to park quite a ways down the street and walk.
When we got to Uncle Drew’s door, I braced myself.
Not only because I knew we’d be facing half of Dry River tonight, but because this was the first time he’d be seeing Chloe in a while.
And I anticipated his reaction would be the same as any warm-blooded man’s.
It didn’t take long for Drew to notice us after we let ourselves in.
He came right up to me. “Evan! Took you long enough.” He smacked me on the arm and his mouth curved into a smile as he saw Chloe.
“Uncle Drew, you remember Chloe Cavanaugh from years back…”
He smiled. “It’s good to see you again, Chloe.” He leaned in for a hug, and I was certain he enjoyed every second of it.
“So good to see you.” Chloe peered at me from over his shoulder. “Thank you for having us.”
“Hi, Uncle Drew!” Effie squeaked.
He knelt. “Hey, baby girl. You look so pretty.”
“Thank you. I’m Elsa!”
As Chloe walked ahead of us into the house, he turned to me and mouthed, “Holy shit.”
His reaction was exactly as I’d anticipated. “Pipe down,” I warned, only half-joking. I might tackle my own uncle if he kept on with it.
Effie ran straight to the dining room table where they’d set up cupcakes, candy corn, and bowls of treats on a large buffet table.
Fake cobwebs were hung everywhere, and they’d put dozens of animatronic decorations around the house: a black cat with glowing eyes whose head moved back and forth, a monster who made scary sounds.
There were skeletons scattered around as if they were party guests.
Chloe knew now that I hadn’t been exaggerating when I’d told her Drew and Maura went all out for Halloween.
I watched Effie cover her face in orange frosting while demolishing one of the cupcakes, and I turned to Chloe. “Normally, I police her sugar intake, but this is the one day of the year I let her go hog wild. She won’t sleep tonight. I’ll just have to deal with it.”
“Well…” She sighed. “Just a warning, I plan on eating a lot of sugar, too. Anything can happen.”
“Eat up, then,” I said, my tone suggestive. The fucks I had left to give when it came to resisting Chloe seemed to be dwindling by the minute. Pretty soon my actions might be matching my words.
Chloe excused herself to find a bathroom, and after a little while I realized she’d taken longer than normal to come out—or so I thought.
Then I noticed I’d actually missed her leaving the bathroom when I’d gone over to the buffet table.
Now she was in a corner of the living room talking to a group of people that included that guy who’d gotten her number at The Lodge.
Brandon? Brendan? Whatever the fuck his name was, it shouldn’t have surprised me that he was here. Who wasn’t here? Drew knew everyone.
With Effie now occupied playing games out front with the other kids, I was left standing here like a dumbass while another guy stole Chloe’s attention.
Drew came up behind me. “Looks like she’s pretty popular. If nurses around here actually looked like that, I’d have to sprain something.”
I didn’t take my eyes off her. “That guy in the Thor costume… You know him?”
“Yeah. That’s Brendan Simmons. He’s a physician’s assistant in town, but he also manages the local health clinic.” He nudged me with his elbow. “He’s got his sights set on your girl, huh?”
“She’s not my girl,” I murmured.
“You’re sure as hell looking at her like she is. If I hadn’t interrupted you just now, would you have moved your eyes off her?”
“Probably not. But that’s because I need to look out for her.”
“Tell yourself what you want, Evan.” He sighed. “I don’t remember Chloe looking like that, by the way.”
“You can keep your opinion about her looks to yourself.”
Drew laughed. “Yeah, you’re not into her at all.”
“Want the truth?” I asked as I continued looking over at her.
“Yeah…”
“I’m about a minute away from sending Thor back to Asgard.”
He cackled. “Now that would be the highlight of the party.”
Chloe looked over and winked at me, proving she knew exactly what she was doing.