“Evie, come on.”
“Get out. Now!” Evelyn’s tone left no room for argument. Her glare also squashed any protests Mindy was about to unload. Evelyn waited until she heard the door shut, before letting out a scream of frustration. Her perfect,perfecttime with Alyssa had been utterly ruined.
Rushing back to her bedroom, Evelyn scooped up her phone and hit the call button.Please pick up, please pick up.Nothing. It rang until the voicemail kicked in. Great, Alyssa was ignoring her calls. And why wouldn’t she? How was shesupposed to act after witnessing Evelyn’s ex-girlfriend making herself at home in the kitchen?
“Bug!” she exclaimed. Running from the kitchen to the living room, Evelyn’s heart bottomed out. Alyssa had taken Bug with her. Dropping to her settee, Evelyn surveyed her empty home. “I’m always going to end up alone,” she sobbed.
Lunch time was an acceptable time of the day to be drunk, right? Ah, balls to it. If Evelyn had to suffer through the stupid festive season all alone, then she was going to make sure she was well lubricated.
After the third unread text message to Alyssa, Evelyn gave up. She’d apologised and explained. What else could she do?
So, instead of trying to get hold of Alyssa, Evelyn cracked open a bottle of wine. Then another. Not a very good look for a CEO, but so what? Evelyn would go back to work tomorrow, then the next day, and so on until she died a lonely old woman.
Drinking two bottles of wine evidently wasn’t good for her morale.
What would make her feel better? Well, Alyssa talking to her for one. Failing that, she needed to rant. The phone rang. Shockingly, for the first time since he’d left, Richard Crawford answered a bloody call.
“Hey, honey, how are you?”
Anger raged through Evelyn’s body. “Where the hell have you been?” she barked. “I have been trying to get hold of you for fucking weeks!” Evelyn never swore at her dad. “How dare you just swan off and leave me in the shit? I have needed you and youjust vanished with that trollop. How could you be so selfish?” she screamed.
Silence.
“Evie…I…”
“You what, Dad? What could you possibly say? You left me in charge of the business without consulting me. You left me at the mercy of a board that doesn’t want me there. You neglected to tell me about a bloody working relationship with a goddamn pet rescue. You left me to organise the Christmas party. You. Left. Me!”
“I’m sorry, love, I just… I couldn’t be around the business…I needed space.”
“And what about what I needed? You think I want to be here? Alone, with no support? At least you have your floozy. I have no one.”
“She’s not a floozy, Evelyn.”
“Sure, because your vast wealth holds no interest for a woman half your age and who has nothing in common with you. It must be love,” Evelyn scoffed.
“Evelyn, have you been drinking?”
“You bet I fucking have. My life is in the toilet because of you. I never wanted to be CEO, Dad.”
“I didn’t know that lov—”
“Why would you? You never asked. You never talk to me now Mum’s gone.” A sob ripped through Evelyn. “You just forgot about her and then forgot about me.” Tears streamed down her face.
“I could never forget about either of you,” Richard’s voice cracked. “Roslyn is one love of my life and you are the other. Milly knows the score.”
“What does that mean?” she hiccuped.
“Milly will never replace your mother. No one will. I take her on holiday and spend money on her, but that’s it, Evelyn.She’s company for me, nothing more. I could never be with another woman that way. Never.”
Evelyn wiped her nose on her jumper sleeve and then her eyes. All this time, she’d thought that her dad had simply found someone else, someone younger than her mum.
“You’re not together?”
“No, we’re not. Milly has no family. We bonded over our mutual grief. Neither of us want more than friendship. I should have told you, Evelyn. I should have done a lot of things for you, but I was—and still am—so lost without your mum by my side, honey. The thought of being home at this time of year is agony. But I should have thought of you, too. I could only see my pain. I didn’t do a good job as your dad. Are things really that bad at the office?”
“I’m constantly stressed. I know I’ve put myself under a tremendous amount of pressure since you left. I can’t do it anymore, Dad. I’m burning out.”
“Alright, sweetheart. I’ll sort it out. I’m sorry, Evie, truly.”
