She glances up at me past long dark lashes. “Did you bring the sunshine with you from Alexandria?” She places her hand in mine, and I lead her to my truck parked alongside the sidewalk. “It was supposed to be cloudy. I almost changed out of the dress you had delivered, but the sun broke through the clouds fifteen minutes before you showed up.”
Ever’s interest in the weather stokes my curiosity. What in her past leads her to schedule her life around the weather?
“We’re not staying in Dumas, sweetness. Where I’m taking you, it’ll be sunny until nightfall.”
“Wait, we’re leaving Dumas?” She stops and frees her hand from my clasp. “You never said anything about going beyond Dumas when we said our goodbyes.”
After we talked more about my mom, her mom, and her best friend, I reluctantly dropped Ever off at her car in Sweet Creations’ back lot and followed her home. Once she was safely inside her place, I drove back to Alexandria. It killed me to leave her, but I had business to take care of.
“My brother tracks me, remember?”
I haven’t forgotten. I deal a shitty hand, knowing full well it’s a jerk move. “Did you forget you gave up your happiness in exchange for me changing my flight to tomorrow?”
Her brows furrow, and she bites down on her bottom lip before releasing it. “I didn’t.”
I set one hand on her shoulder and grasp her chin with the other, forcing her to look at me. Ever is so small my palm takes up a sizable space on her shoulder.
“You gave up your happiness, willingly, for more time with me. I didn’t ask or demand it of you. Let me take the reins, Ever. Relax and let me do the steering, yeah?”
She heaves a sigh. I back off from slamming my mouth over hers and using my tongue to convince her to give over the control to me. I also back off from filling in the silence. I’m learning that silence is Ever’s friend. A friend she counts on when she needs time to think, work through her emotions, and formulate her feelings into words.
“What would happen if I gave up my unhappiness for another day with you?”
The uncertainty in her voice guts me. I give her my truth. “Your happiness is enough for my time, Ever. You won’t need to give up something else for time with me.”
“But you’re leaving tomorrow.”
I cup her face in my palms and strum my fingers over her freckles. “I have to, baby. Believe me, I’d rather be with you, but these meetings and parties are important.”
“Because whatever deals you make will deepen your pockets?”
“It’ll do more than that, sweetness. It’ll give hope to a hopeless and decrepit part of Alexandria that I’ve been eyeing to revive since a friend of mine lost his life for it.”
She lowers her eyes but not her head. “So much loss.”
“Hope will be a beacon of light shining through the darkness.”
“You want this for your friend.”
“He deserves to have his wish come true.”
“What was that wish?”
I look over Ever’s head at the sky. Blue and clear, except for clouds that move and become shapes I remember my mom pointing at and having me name. A spaceship. A rabbit. A face. I sigh. The carefree days before everyone in town found out my mother’s business. The twins, Bram and Benedict, made it their business to make me miserable for their father’s mistake.
Except that their opening their big mouths extended the misery to my mom.
Pissed off over a past I can’t change, I pull Ever into my arms, rest my chin on top of her head, and tell her something I’ve only told Slate. “He wished for a place filled with life, day and night. Somewhere people could gather and feel safe and alive.”
“Like inside Crimson? Like when we walked the long way to the lot where I parked? I felt safe and alive. People were laughing, having a great time. They waved and nodded at us like we were their good friends.”
I felt the same energy. “Yes, baby.” All because of her. Ever is beautiful inside and out, and people take notice.
“I see.” She looks up at me. “Thank you for sharing.”
Ever understands. A weight I hadn’t known I carried lifted off my shoulders. Sharing Carlos’s dream with Ever was the right thing to do.
It’s been two years since his death. He’s never come to me in my dreams. In my nightmares, yes. Then, on the night before the anniversary of his death, he showed up in my dreams. Tell her something for me, he said.
