Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 92547 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92547 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Evan let out a long sigh. “They fucked up. I’m living here now with my daughter. Have been for a few weeks.”
His daughter. I’d heard through the grapevine that Evan had gotten married and had a little girl. But I’d avoided any further details over the years. If he was living here with his daughter alone, though, where was his wife?
I blew a breath up into my hair. “So, you own this place?”
“It’s one of a few investment properties I have in town. We wouldn’t normally choose to live here—the rooms are too small—but our new house is being renovated. So, Effie and I moved in temporarily.”
Effie. What a cute name.
Then a little girl came in, carrying a basketball tucked under her arm. She was maybe seven or eight years old and had Evan’s face, but her hair was lighter than his. My heart squeezed.
She looked up at me. “Who are you?”
Just as I’d opened my mouth to speak, Evan interrupted. “Effie, go hang out in your room for a bit, okay?”
She pouted. “But I—”
“Please,” he urged.
“Okay…” She sulked.
I offered her an apologetic smile before she stormed off, bouncing the ball all the way to her bedroom. I’d wanted to look at her longer, examine her face and wallow in the enormity of Evan having a little girl.
“Obviously, if I’d known the situation, I would’ve never put myself in this predicament,” I told him. “I’ll need to figure out another place to stay now.”
“What are you doing in town?” he asked.
“Visiting my mother. She’s not well.”
“That’s rough.” He momentarily closed his eyes. “I’m sorry. I heard she has dementia.”
I inhaled. “It was time for me to come home and face it.”
Evan nodded. “How long are you staying?”
“As long as I need to go through my family’s storage unit and be here for Mom.”
He scratched his chin. “I see.”
As silence settled around us, I again noticed that Evan was even more ruggedly handsome than I remembered. Dark facial hair traced his perfectly angular jaw. His eyes were a deeper brown than I recalled, and his black hair was as thick as ever, though looking a bit flattened, as if he’d worn a hat earlier. This man’s effect on me certainly hadn’t changed a bit in all the years we’d been apart.
We stared at each other for a few tense moments before I shook my head. “Well, I’d better get going on finding another place to stay.”
“You might have a hard time,” he warned.
I knew he was right, but asked anyway. “Why is that?”
“It’s peak deer hunting season. A lot of people travel in and stay here this time of year. There are only so many rooms. A buddy of mine tried to book something in town the other day and was told they were all sold out.”
Shit. That had been my experience as well. Still, feigning confidence, I stood straighter and pushed my shoulders back. “Well, I’ll find something. Surely there has to be at least one space open in this whole damn town.”
“What about your father’s place?” he suggested. “Could you stay with him?”
I shook my head. “I’m barely speaking to my dad. And there’s no way I’m staying with him and his new wife.”
Evan’s eyes widened. “He remarried?”
“You didn’t know that?”
“I didn’t.”
“I would think this town is small enough that you might’ve heard.”
He sighed. “I have a lot going on. No time to keep up on the gossip. But I did know your parents had gotten divorced and sold the house. That surprised me.”
His daughter reappeared. “Daddy, I’m hungry. Can I have a snack?” She turned to me and repeated her question from earlier. “Who are you?”
“I’m Chloe,” I answered before Evan could intercept.
“Chloe?” She blinked, seeming confused. Either she hadn’t heard me clearly, or she’d heard my name before.
“Yes.”
“I’m Effie.”
“Nice to meet you, Effie.” I smiled.
“Why are your cheeks red?” she asked.
I brushed my fingers along my face. “Are they?”
She nodded.
“She blushes easily,” Evan interrupted. “Always has.”
A shiver ran down my spine. Well, if I hadn’t been before, now I knew I was blushing. Actually, it felt like I was about to combust. I needed to get out of here before that happened.
“Do you mind if I leave my stuff here while I drive around and try to talk to one of the motels to see if they’ll take me?”
“Fine by me,” Evan said, his tone a bit cold.
“I heard you say you don’t have a place to stay,” Effie interrupted. “You can stay here with us. We have an extra bedroom.”
That was sweet. “I don’t want to impose on you and your dad.”
She looked over at Evan. “She can stay with us. Right, Daddy?”
Evan said nothing. Not that I would ever want to stay here, but his silence spoke volumes: I wasn’t welcome. I’d rather stay on the street than with someone who didn’t want me around. Although Evan’s reaction made sense. He had every reason to dislike me after the way I’d left things with him.