Nathan
“Trust is the foundation of all relationships.”
I rolled my eyes, listening to Jessica’s words. I already knew this. I trusted Evelyn; I had no doubt regarding her faithfulness, no doubt about how committed to our relationship she was.
But Derek Hensley, that was another story.
He was a womanizer, expert in manipulating people, women. I didn’t trust him.
She saw the good in everything, and though a good quality, her naivety had put her at risk before. I couldn’t let that happen again.
“So what? Another guy is interested in her, but she only has eyes for Nathan, dearest,” Jesse continued with sarcasm.
“That’s not the problem. I know him. He’s not to be trusted, especially not in her state.”
At my last words, Jessica’s mouth fell open. “Her state? Is she pregnant?”
“Yes, she’s pregnant.”
There was an almost hurt expression on her face. All playfulness in her tone disappeared as she walked up to me. “Why the hell would you get her pregnant? How could you, Nathan?”
“What the fuck is your problem?” I asked Jessica, confused. “She’s my girlfriend, things happened, and she’s pregnant. We’re happy. That’s all that matters.”
“Happy?” She scoffed, eyes shining with unshed tears. “She’s in her early twenties, Nathan. Believe me when I say that more than likely, that baby is very unwanted.”
I snapped. “I’m going to forget that you fucking said that, Jessica. It’s my child that you’re talking about, and despite what you may think you know absolutely nothing about my relationship with Evelyn. This is where I draw the line; you no longer have an opinion regarding Evelyn whatsoever, do you understand?”
Jessica was a very blunt woman; she had no problem telling what she felt. But this? That wasn’t something I would tolerate.
“I just think it’s too soon, Nathan. You two just got back together and are already expecting a baby? It seems careless.”
“Like I said, it’s none of your business.”
I turned my attention to the paperwork in front of me, unable to focus as all the words blurred together. Jesse’s reaction had both surprised me and pissed me off. We wanted our baby; of that much I was sure. We hadn’t planned for a family so soon, but we knew what we were doing. Jessica’s judgement wasn’t needed.
There was a soft knock on the door to the office before it slowly opened. Evelyn smiled, soft and warm, as she stepped in. Soon she sensed the tension in the room, however, because the smile vanished and replaced by a frown.
“Hey.” I smiled, beckoning her to come my way.
“Am I interrupting something?” Evie asked as she sat on my lap. I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her close to me.
“No,” Jesse answered. “I was just congratulating Nathan for your baby.” I stilled, glaring at Jessica. The woman sent an apologetic look my way before continuing. “You two will be great parents. I mean it.”
“I hope so,” she murmured. “It’s all so daunting, you know? But I can’t wait.”
“I can imagine. I don’t think anyone is ever ready. But you’ll be fine. You have each other.” Sighing, she said goodbye and left Evie and me alone.
With her intuition working now more than ever, she furrowed her brows. “What happened with Jessica?”
“Small disagreement,” I replied, giving her a small kiss. I could tell her about Jesse later. Right now, what I really wanted to discuss was her little outing with Derek. Knowing I was going to ask about that, Evelyn stood up and took a seat on top of the desk, moving a few things to the side.
I smirked, picturing the sight she’d made a few hours earlier.
Fuck, I was a lucky man.
“What are you thinking about?” Evie said, narrowing her eyes on me.
“You, me, and the desk,” I replied, placing my hands on her thighs. She blushed, biting her lip. “How did your coffee with your new friend go?”
I saw her tense before she cleared her throat and answered. “It went fine. He’s very kind, to be honest.”
Very kind.
“We went to the park, walked around.”
That was all she said. And though she tried to make their time out seem unimportant, I knew there was something she wasn’t telling me.
***
Evelyn
The way life works, you never expect the blows until you receive them.
I glanced down at my phone with blurry eyes. Wiping away my tears, I stood up and began pacing. My overwhelmed mind could barely make sense of what happened.
What do I do?
The door burst open as Carter walked inside, pulling me into his arms immediately. Another sob broke free, and I cried into his arms.
It was already dark, and Nathan still wasn’t home, but I couldn’t think to call him, not right now. My mom was in the hospital for getting into an altercation with the wrong person in prison; the blows to her head had been too severe, and they weren’t sure she would make it.
“She will be just fine, Evie,” Carter whispered, holding me close to him. My eyes squeezed shut as I held onto him, the same feeling I had with Nana now making it hard for me to breathe.
She hadn’t been the best mother. Hell, she hadn’t been a mother at all, but she was still my mom.
She still gave me life.
“They should be calling me in a few hours.” I hiccupped, wiping away my tears. “Maybe she’ll be okay? Maybe it’s not too bad and she’s going to be fine, right?”
She’s not. You know that.
“Darling, you need to be prepared,” Carter said, cupping my face in his hands. I let out a shaky breath and nodded. I knew he was right. “For now, you need to calm down and take a deep breath, okay?”
You’ll never get a chance to ask her why she never cared.
You’ll never get a chance to know if she had even a bit of love for you.
“Did they tell you what happened?”
Carter guided me over to the sofa, holding me as if he was terrified that I would fall. Thankful, I closed my eyes and leaned my head on his shoulder, sobbing softly. “She initiated everything,” I answered. “She got into an argument with the wrong person, and it ended up with her unconscious. I don’t know why she would do that. But apparently, the woman already had it out for her because my mom kept being a pain in the ass.”
It didn’t surprise me. Hannah got her belief that she was better than everyone from Mom, and now she was paying the consequences. I swallowed, squeezing Carter’s hand. “I can’t go through this again,” I whispered
I still needed answers.
Circumstances that needed closure.
“Your mom made a lot of mistakes,” Carter murmured, pressing a kiss at the top of my head. “But those mistakes have made you stronger, the bright and kind young woman that you are today. I know that the last thing you wanted is for something to happen to your mom, but there’s nothing you can do, darling. Be strong, be there for her. That’s it.”
Part of me wondered how I could be there for someone that had never been there for me.
“You’re a lot like your grandmother.” I looked up at Carter, whose eyes were crinkling with a small smile. My heart beat quicker than ever at his statement. “You have a heart of gold, Evelyn. You have to stay strong to raise that little baby inside of you to be a courageous and humble human being like you are. When bad things happen, you can let them harden your heart or you can become wiser and try to improve the things that went wrong before you. Choose the latter, Evie, like you always have.”
Carter held me there for a while, not saying anything anymore. There really was nothing else to say.
As I started dozing off, I heard Nathan walking inside. I sat up, meeting his gaze, which flew from Carter to me for a few seconds.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“It’s my mom. Can you tell him?” I asked Carter, standing up. “I need to go to bed.”
I didn’t wait for a reply and walked away, over to the balcony of my room. Even the city lights seemed to dim, just like my hope.
My mom was really dying.
There would never be any chance for me to reconcile with her.
I didn’t know how much time I spent out in the balcony by myself, the place where I usually found comfort, until I felt Nathan’s presence.
What if he didn’t want me to go see my mom, just like he didn’t want me to see Hannah?
“I’m very sorry, Evie,” he murmured, kneeling in front of me. His gray eyes met my own, cupping my face in his hands. When I didn’t say anything, he placed a kiss to the back of my hand. “I booked us a flight for tomorrow at noon to Pennsylvania. There wasn’t an earlier one.”
“Really?” I asked, awestruck at the man in front of me.
“Of course,” he replied, gaze soft, tender. “It’s your mom. You deserve to be there.”
“This is it, isn’t it? I’m never going to have a relationship with her.”
Wordlessly, Nathan pulled me into his arms, where I found more comfort than I ever thought I would.