Thankfully, she still had some old jeans and a sweater at the house. Once she was changed, she threw her chocolatey stuff in the washer, including her coat, which she really hoped wasn’t stained—a new one would cost a fortune she didn’t have.
She stopped in the kitchen to fix Rory a glass of water, and jogged back down the steps with it.
“Thanks,” he told her, tossing his head back to drink the whole thing in one giant gulp before wiping his mouth on his sleeve.
“What are you working on?” she asked.
“I have to replace this whole brake line,” he said. “But we could grab a cheesesteak and watch a movie, if you want. I can work on this tomorrow.”
“No, no,” she said, though relaxing with her brother sounded really nice. “Let’s get your work done. We can watch a movie later. I’ll help out.”
“Thanks, Eva,” Rory said with his biggest crinkly-eyed smile.
They worked together happily for a while, with Evangeline assisting her brother and singing along to the Christmas songs on the old radio. By the time they were done with the bike, it was well past lunchtime.
“Want to take ‘er for a spin?” Rory asked, waggling his brows as he dangled the key.
“My coat’s in the dryer,” she told him regretfully.
“No worries,” he said. “Come on.”
A few minutes later, she was decked out in an old pair of motorcycle boots and a leather jacket that had belonged to an ex-girlfriend of his.
“Layla didn’t want this stuff?” she asked him.
“Nah,” he said. “She was too fancy for me anyway.”
That probably meant he’d bought her this stuff and she’d left it behind, along with him. Rory was a sweet guy. One of these days he was going to find the princess he was looking for and spoil her rotten.
He walked the motorcycle out of the garage and she followed, watching him close the door behind them and click the padlock in place.
There was a time when they could have test driven a repair without securing the whole house. She tried not to feel sad about it.
He handed her a helmet and put his own on before climbing onto the bike.
Evangeline got on behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, feeling like a little kid again.
He used to take her out all the time, but it had been a long time since their last ride. She’d been working long hours even before she took the live-in nanny job. And they weren’t kids anymore, with Grandpa around to look after things. Between doing handyman jobs in the neighborhood, working on bikes, and doing his best to keep the house running, Rory stayed too busy for joyrides.
He flipped the kill switch, knocked the kickstand up, and brought the engine roaring to life.
Evangeline smiled, anticipation bubbling in her chest.
The next thing she knew they were flying out into the street, the engine singing and the row homes going past in a flash.
Rory slowed only slightly to take them into a hard turn and Evangeline laughed and held on tight.
When she was little those turns used to scare her. It felt like they were slanted so sharply she was going to touch the ground.
But she knew that Rory would never let her get hurt. Right now, she felt like she was in a superhero movie, flying through their hometown.
They passed the bodega and headed toward what was left of the park. The metal slides had long been removed and there was only one swing left on the swing set. But the colorful graffiti mural painted on the back wall cheered the place up for the kids who still hung out there lolling on the concrete benches, riding skateboards down the overgrown path, or playing basketball.
Rory took them down a side street that went under the I-95 overpass, and they came back up the long way, past the waist-high grass surrounding what used to be the old paper company offices, before turning down their street again.
It was only a five-minute ride, but Evangeline felt some of the stress in her chest unlock as they flew past all the familiar childhood landmarks toward home.
Maybe this is what I needed.
