She wasn’t imagining the disappointment she heard in Doc’s voice. She felt even worse.
“I’m sorry, but I need to pick up Waffles,” Evie said. “He’s been at doggy daycare all day.”
She stood and chanced a glance at Bryson. There was disappointment on his face, too, but it was accompanied by something else. Something closer to annoyance.
The fucking nerve of him. He steps back into her life after eight years and has the audacity to be annoyed that she wants to take a minute to process all of this? The fucking nerve!
“I’ll be in touch, Doc,” Evie said before leaving the office.
She didn’t know what she was going to do, but one thing she wouldnotdo was allow herself to be rushed into this. She had been through too much in only one week’s time. She would not commit to working alongside Bryson Mitchell unless she was sure she could handle it.
Ifshe would ever be able to handle it.
CHAPTER NINE
Evie sat behind the wheel of her idling SUV, observing the landscapers as they clipped away at the ten-foot-tall Italian cypresses that bracketed either side of the two-story arch leading to her parents’ doorway. The men were meticulous in their technique, snipping with precision until the tops were perfectly aligned. It was a perfection her father demanded of everyone who worked for him. Evie was surprised he wasn’t out here supervising.
The sprawling mansion was her father’s pride and joy. Located in one of New Orleans’s most exclusive neighborhoods, with a view of the manicured golf course at English Turn Golf & Country Club visible from the backyard, he saw it as the ultimate symbol of how far he’d come from his upbringing in public housing.
She couldn’t complain. It had been a nice house to grow up in, if one didn’t mind living in a museum that was constantly used to host dinner parties and soirees.
She glanced in her rearview mirror at Waffles, who was nestled in his brand-new doggy car seat. For someone without a job—her part-time gig at Barkingham Palace wasnotsufficient employment—she was having way too much fun spending money at the pet boutique. She’d told herself only necessities, but that was two sweaters and three bow ties ago.
It wasn’t as if she would go hungry. She had money in the bank. And as much as she silently judged her parents’ extravagant lifestyle, Evie knew they were her safety net. They would give her whatever she asked for if the need ever arose.
It won’t get to that point.
“Okay, Waffles,” Evie said. “I will need you to be on your absolute best behavior. No loud barking. No scratching any furniture. And, by all means, do not have an accident on the floor. You will not be allowed back in the house.”
Her mother would likely have a conniption the moment Evie walked through the door with her dog, but she would have to get over it. Evie and Waffles were a package deal.
“You ready?” she asked.
Waffles remained silent.
“Yeah, me neither,” Evie said.
She could think of a million other places she’d rather be right now instead of in her parents’ driveway. For the briefest moment, Evie had considered letting her mother’s call go to voicemail, but trying to avoid her was themostimpractical exercise in futility. Dr. Constance Williams always got her way in the end.
Her phone rang. She answered through the SUV’s Bluetooth.
“Are you going to spend the evening staring at the housefrom your car, Evelina?” her mother asked before Evie had the chance to even say hello.
“I—A song I hadn’t heard in a while was playing on the radio,” Evie said. She rolled her eyes. Five seconds into a conversation with Constance and she was already coming up with unnecessary lies. “I’ll be there in a minute.”
“I’m in my office. The temporary code for the front door is four-eight-two-five,” her mother said before disconnecting the call.
Evie cut off the engine.
“Okay, Waffles, no more hiding in the car.” She got out and went to the back seat, unclipping her dog’s harness from the car seat and hooking it onto the leash before lifting him out and setting him on the ground. “You’ll probably have to spend the visit in the sunroom, but it’s enclosed and air-conditioned.”
Waffles barked.
“You’ll like it. I promise.”
Evie looked from her dog, who stared at her with the goofiest expression—my goodness, but she loved him so much already—to the house.
“Okay, I’ll make you a deal. Give me ten minutes with Constance, and I’ll take you to get a pup cup on the way home.”
