Myla popped in, still focusing on Evie’s nails, “Yeah and most of ‘em need to be.”
Evie snickered, amused at the wisecracking older ladies she was with. She lowered her head bashfully. “Well, I’m not anything to shake a stick at either.”
Sandy and Kelly kept on as if trying to draw the attention back to Caleb. Their laughter turned into downright insults, like a band of hyenas tripped up on caffeine and cocaine all at once. Her knuckles clenched, but she was nervous and unsure of how to act. She was never one to be rude those days, now that she was older. Evie had changed since she was a younger adult in Los Angeles, and so now fighting and causing problems didn’t seem to be the smartest idea in a small town. She wanted to make friends and be civil to people. Being abrasive and defensive was how she survived in Los Angeles and how she had survived so many horrible encounters with men, but in a small town such as this? Saying the wrong thingonceto anybody could leave her with deep consequences.
Kelly flopped her hand around in her dark hair as she drank coffee from her tumbler. “I’m so glad he moved outta town. I hated seeing that guy anywhere here. He has such a punchable personality. So full of himself!”
Evie’s knuckles tightened and her stomach knotted, but she attempted to maintain a cheery demeanor to Myla and Margie.
Myla showed her the color palette. “Which one would you like?”
Evie peeped happily, “Pink!”
“You should get gel,” Sandy said. “It’ll last forever and help your nails feel stronger.”
Evie nodded to Myla and took the pink gel. Worst idea ever.
She learned later that the thickness was so bad that she couldn’t properly scratch her back, and it felt clunky to play guitar, open cans, or do anything!
Even that night, Teddy didn’t seem to approve of the new sensation of the weird nails on his head. Evie sighed with a smile. “I know, buddy. I’m sorry.” She picked up her furry orange friend and plopped him on the new sofa and went to chop up vegetables for dinner. Her cell phone was tuned in to the police scanner app and she sat it down on the counter for comfort.
At once, she heard the dispatch say through minor radio fuzz, “710 May County request for K9 unit.”
She smiled, peeling the carrots.
“710, County, show me on duty and en route to 716’s location.”
It was comforting. Evie softly whispered, “Hi there, Hunt.”
The scanner came back on, and she heard the dog howling and barking excitably in the background as Deputy Hunt confirmed the location. Now Evie straight up chuckled heartily.
“Hi there, Atlas.”
The very happiness within her was so grand that at times she thought she would cry. Or maybe it was the onions she was now dicing. Regardless, Evie had accepted Caleb’s friend request but refrained from shooting her shot straight then and there. He wasn’t widowed; he was getting divorced. And in her mind, the memories of Pawpaw came back about warning her about Caleb, that somehow he was no good. But no matter how many times she tried to recall, Pawpaw never truly told her why.
Apparently, some of the local women didn’t like him either. None of that mattered to her. She would continue to post her graphic work, her daily motivational things, her workout progress, little clips of herplaying guitar, Bible quotes, whatever it would take to show him who she truly was.
Evie tried to be sincere, but sometimes it fell flat.
She sliced her finger. At once she hissed and sucked it, but damn those onions were strong and her eyes watered even more. Running it under cold water, she squeezed a paper towel around the open wound. Then her phone lit up with a notification.
Caleb liked her story. It was a clip of her playing her favorite Garth Brooks song. He had responded, “Dang, girl! You play better than me!”
She yelped and tried to wipe off her wet hands to grab the phone. Yet again, he evoked those sweet little girl feelings in her. The butterflies filled her stomach, and her pulse raced, even though all he did was like her story. It didn’t matter. The dopamine rush hit her fragile brain hard, and upon opening Facebook, she saw he liked her post about not only getting the promotion but also her story post about how proud she was of her meal prep and her Zumba class she finally completed.
Wait a minute.
Evie clicked on the little number in the bottom of her story and saw that he had seen every single one.
Even the ones yesterday that were posted prior to him sending her a friend request.
She burst into excitement and jumped up and down, squealing and laughing hard and merrily. Teddy came rushing in and slipped on the old linoleum until he slid into the table with a bonk. She picked him up to kiss his head and held him close, rocking him like a baby to her chest. “Teddy! He’s watching my storiesandliking them and my posts!”
Evie ran through the house until she could find her old Avril Lavigne CD and put it in the DVD player and danced the night away while dinner was cooking, and the wine bottle got more and more empty.
She stayed awake scrolling on her phone that night, feeling the room spinning as if her head was filled with honey and swarming bees fighting each other. All she wanted to do was see if there was anything she could learn about him. She needed to make sure she wasn’t lovestruck without reason. Sure, he was cute, but he could’ve been a crazy asshole. He was clearly watching her stuff, so what difference did it makeif she saw his?
As she looked at his profile, his banner was of him and two children. It was a wholesome photo of him alongside a little girl and a boy, who were all sitting on a front porch stoop together. The littlest one, the girl, was on her daddy’s lap and had such beautiful blonde curls. She snickered when she saw that he also had a blond boy.
