He paused. “Give me a few more months maybe.”
She smiled. “You told me it could be anytime because Ashley’s being difficult.”
“I know, but I don’t want to upset you.”
“You didn’t. Like I said, if you want me, I’ll be here waiting.”
Caleb was growing more and more irritated with his life situations. Now the town was talking, his ex was screaming at him, and he was at risk of losing custody of his kids completely. If people found out too much about the possibility of infidelity, it could also jeopardize his business. But Evie was the kindest and most beautiful thing that had happened to him in a long time, and he didn’t want to lose her either.
“Caleb?”
“Yes?”
“Friends?”
He cradled his face in suffering. He had to fight his emotions. “Yes, friends.”
Chapter Eleven
Evie hurried back home, and instead of turning left right by her little snowman family at the end of her gravel drive, she turned right and slowly drove up Joshua’s drive, being cautious not to hit any of his roaming chickens or the few dogs he had. Both of their cars were home, his wife’s and his. She pulled up around to the right and parked in front of their two-door garage that was on the side of the house. The house was a pale shade of yellow with white trim, and immediately she was greeted by the welcoming committee of a proud peacock, two dogs, and a roaming pet pig that also wanted to be a part of the action.
Luckily, as soon as she closed the car door, it roused the attention of Sarah, who came outside in her dingy jeans and Chiefs sweater. Her blonde hair was loosely piled on top of her head in an exhausted bun, which was the go-to hairstyle of nearly every woman Evie knew, and her narrow cheekbones gave way to a smile as she came down the stairs happily.
“Evie! What a pleasant surprise! What can I do for you? Is everything okay?”
Evie took a deep breath to control her emotions. So much time had passed since Caleb had helped her control herself a bit, and she tried toconjure up the things that Hunt had taught her as well. “No, I’m sorry Sarah, but everything is not okay.”
Sarah halted, shocked by the statement. She edged her head forward to examine Evie with scrunched brows. “What’s wrong? Do you need to come in?”
“That would probably be best, thank you.”
Sarah escorted Evie inside and kicked away her kids’ shoes, apologizing for the mess. The ladies walked across the beautiful maple flooring and basked in the gray beauty of light that the vaulted skylights let in. They both sat on the large, light-gray sofa. Sarah spoke first, “Okay, I’m all ears. What’s going on?”
Evie wasgoingto come straight out, but she learned from Hunt that a suspect would never confess to something if you asked it outright. Instead, she had to askaroundthe question and gauge Sarah’s reaction. “I haven’t been having good experiences at the salon lately. I love Myla, but I don’t feel the vibe there is any good. I mean, look at my nails.”
She extended her nails and showed how perfect they looked.
“They look fine to me.”
Evie pressed on, “That’s the problem. Do you ever think it’s worth having exceptional service from a place so full of mean-spirited people? I’ve been doing my own now for a while and they don’t look so bad.”
Sarah played with her bun in her hair, leaning on her side to the back of the sofa. “You came over here to ask me that?”
“You’re at the salon more than I am. And I don’t know if I’m being sensitive, if they’re simply that way, or what.”
“Are you talking about Sandy and Kelly?”
Lightning struck. Now Evie was on the right path. Sandy was the blonde she had a weird encounter with when she first went to the salon last year. She was the one who seemed to get irritated that Evie didn’t go to the basketball games. And Kelly was the brunette.
She suggested it was Caleb who sent her the friend request,Evie thought.
Evie’s heart raced. Kelly was also the one who boldly said it was absolutely disgusting what Caleb did to Ashley, his ex. It couldn’t have been any clearer. This had to be Kelly’s doing, perhaps in some sort ofchance of ruining Caleb so Ashley could get full custody of her children. Kelly knew Evie had come in to celebrate a cute guy sending her a friend request by wanting a manicure.
Sarah waved in front of Evie, who looked like she had seen a ghost. “Yoohoo, Eeeevviiiieee.”
Evie jerked. “Sorry, I remembered I forgot to pay my water bill today.”
Sarah laughed. “Still on with that mania issue again? Don’t you set your phone reminders still?” Sarah’s voice was calm, serene, and sociable. It was how she always talked. There wasn’t any indication that the mentioning of the salon and the girls there got her nervous or on guard. A text went off in Sarah’s pocket, and when she looked at it, she quickly shoved the phone back in her sweatpants.
