“Evan.”
He laughed. “Yeah, I’ll eat and shut up.”
After some time enjoying her sundae, she said, “We didn’t exactly come to any resolution on your mom.”
“No, but you did make me think of her behavior differently. What if she’s trying to protect me because she knows it’s cancer? Rita’s death wasn’t easy.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Hey, it happens. But you know about loss, don’t you? You lost your parents young.”
“They were in a freak car accident and died when I was eighteen.” She sighed. “It was rough. I was close to graduating high school, and bam. I’m left with a baby brother, a house, and some money—but not much—to pay the bills. Heck, I barely knew how to use my own checking account. It wasn’t easy, but I made it through.
“Now I’m just trying to keep Daniel out of jail and get him to finish high school. That in itself is a full-time job.”
“I’ll bet.” He grinned and ate more ice cream. “So can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“How come you don’t date? From some of the things you’ve said, you don’t seem to go out much. I get the sense it’s about more than just having to keep up with your brother.”
She toyed with her ice cream, trying to figure out how much to tell him. Then she figured she might as well tell him the truth. “I was very much in love more than a year ago. And then one day, he just left. I had no idea he was leaving. He’d just had enough of being part of a family and needed to go.”
Evan ate, watching her. “How long had you been together?”
“Two and a half years. I… It’s hard for me to talk about Bryce. I never saw it coming.”
“That’s rough.” He shook his head. “But he’s obviously a moron for leaving you.”
“Thanks. That’s what Lila and Rachel say.”
“Oh, come on. I’m sure they used more creative words thanmoron.”
She laughed. “You’re right. They did.”
“Eat your ice cream,” he ordered. “If I’m gaining five pounds of sugar, you’re gaining it with me.”
“Hey, you asked for this.”
“I earned it, you mean.”
“Whatever. Daniel won you guys the game.”
He looked as if he meant to respond then surprised her with “I bet that guy leaving hurt Daniel too, didn’t it?”
“Um, yeah.” Thankfully, she didn’t feel the need to tear up talking about Bryce. To her surprise, she wanted to punch him for being so thoughtless. “I’ve never dated all that much, not with having to raise Daniel. I never had the time or energy. But Bryce swept me off my feet. Then he was a part of my family, a kind of older brother slash father figure to Daniel, and my partner in every sense. So when he left, it hurt me, but it ripped Daniel apart too. It was awful.”
“Did Daniel screw with Bryce’s phone?”
Startled out of a downward spiral, she blinked. “You know, I never asked.”
“Don’t. You probably don’t want to know. I mean, if I got ABBA, your ex probably got hit with Justin Bieber or Insane Clown Posse.”
The thought made her laugh.
“And I can only imagine his screen name. Something like Idiot Who Has No Idea What He Lost. Jackass. Blind and Stupid. Something like that, but I’d put money on it that Daniel got creative.”
His compliments warmed her. “You’re good for my ego.”
