1
EVANGELINE
Evangeline gazed out the kitchen window as she mixed up the ingredients for a peanut butter pie to the beat of the Christmas music playing in the next room.
There was once a time when Thanksgiving night would mean every row home on the block would have glowing lights and people spilling outside for a breath of fresh air.
But tonight, so many of the windows were dark. She could probably count on one hand how many of the neighbors she actually knew anymore. What had once been a tight-knit city neighborhood had turned into a place people moved away from, all those once-beloved family homes turned into rentals or abandoned all together.
Someone must have made a joke in the next room, because suddenly there was the deep reassuring sound of Rory’s laughter.
Her brother was one of those people who alwaysseemed to bring warmth and merriment with him wherever he went. No one could resist his easy charm. When she heard his friends laughing along with him she felt a little pang of gratitude.
This had always been the happy soundtrack of Evangeline’s growing up. Their parents hadn’t been around, but Grandpa Pete raised them with so much love. And when he passed, Rory stepped right into his shoes. Her beloved big brother had a sort of magic that made everything around him seem about ten shades brighter. It was how he had made this dingy little house seem like a palace to her, and their family of two feel as big and bustling as any on the block.
We don’t need much,Rory used to tell her.Just each other.
And he put his money where his mouth was by helping out Grandpa Pete in the garage below the house. It was just a one-car garage under a Philly row home, but Grandpa Pete ran his unofficial handyman and motorcycle repair business out of it.
When Grandpa Pete passed, Rory quietly quit school and took over the shop, somehow managing to keep food on the table and the lights on.
Evangeline did her part by taking on babysitting jobs after school. Rory didn’t want her to at first. But when he realized it meant he could work later hours while she was safe and happy watching the neighbor kids, he relented.
By the time she finished high school, one of her best clients had moved to a swanky new neighborhood, so she was taking the bus to work for them. It was a bit of a hike,but they paid double what anyone on her block could afford.
And just two months ago, when that family’s youngest child started school, Evangeline started working as a live-in nanny for the first time, for an even wealthier family.
It was lonely without Rory at first, but she figured she was in her twenties now, and it made sense to live as much on her own as she could afford to do. She didn’t want her brother feeling like he had to look after her anymore.
Coming back here after being away for a bit really made her see the house differently. It was hard not to notice the threadbare carpets and peeling wallpaper. And the place wasn’t as clean now that she was away. Hopefully, she could get Rory distracted and give the kitchen floor a good scrub at some point this weekend.
“Is thatanotherpeanut butter pie?” Rory’s deep voice boomed happily as he stepped into the kitchen.
“We can’t have Thanksgiving leftovers tomorrow without your favorite,” she said, turning to him. “And you’ve got so many friends over that my first pie is going to disappear in a heartbeat.”
Rory had a legendary appetite, but of course he was over six feet tall and just enormous, so it made perfect sense. Nothing about the man was small—he had a big laugh, a big frame, and the biggest heart.
Predictably, he swiped out some of the mix from the bowl she was stirring, then stuck his finger in his mouth and hummed out his approval.
“Rory,” she half-scolded him.
“You have to pay the toll,” he teased her, shrugging. “I don’t make the rules.”
At least it was a no-bake dessert without any raw eggs in it.
“The turkey was amazing,” she told him, meaning it. “Where did you get it?”
“Oh, Rooster had a coupon,” he said. “And the boys chipped in for stuff. Frankie brought the potatoes, and I got the green beans and stuffing. We hold it together just fine around here, sis. No need to have Thanksgiving catered, like your Society Hill friends.”
He pranced around the kitchen in his imitation of her employers, with his nose up in the air and his pinkies out.
“Would you cay-ahhh for some tur-kaaaay, Evangeline, dahhhhhhhling?” he asked her in a completely made-up fancy accent.
This was exactly the kind of good-natured Rory nonsense she had been missing.
“They’re not my friends,” she laughed helplessly. “Iworkfor them.”
“That’s what they all say,” he remarked lightly, stealing a little more batter. “I’ll start some coffee.”
