Evie rolled her eyes. “Oh, for God’s sake. It literally doesn’t matter what I do. People are going to talk. There’s literallynothingI can do to stop it now, all because of the person who told Sandy.”
“You came home with him Saturday morning, in his truck.”
Evie glared at her, and then her head turned to the left in a warning look. “He gave me a ride home from the hospital.”
“Where did you stay Friday night? I didn’t get your text that Teddy was cool until Saturday morning!”
“Why the fuck are you interrogating me? You’re not Ashley’s lawyer, nor are you my mother!”
Sarah shot back, “Listen! I’m trying to prevent you from getting his kids taken away! You can’t keep crying about the town gossiping about you having a fling with him but then pull shit like this! Like coming home with him in his truck after being gone all night! Joshua and I stayed and took care of your cat, and I swear to God, if you were out having a fling that night while we took care of your cat, I’m gonna be pissed! If you don’t want the town talking about you two, then stay the fuck away from him!”
Evie grew tepid in her emotions. “Why wouldn’t you defend me on social media? Why would you talk to me like this instead of having my back? You don’t really think these things, do you?”
Sarah threw her hands up in agitation. “I honestly don’t know. I believed you when you went into the hospital. But now with this? I don’t know. But I do know that I care about you. And you’re going toruin your business endeavors here in this town if you get your identity from a booty call!”
Evie was on the verge of tears until Joshua appeared from across the street. He only meant to call his wife back for help with the animals. Before she left, she turned and faced Evie to give her one last hard look.
The horrible reality was that as Evie went inside, she realized Sarah wasn’t wrong. The more she and Caleb were together, the heavier the chances were. She texted him, “When is the divorce being signed? Do you know?”
Once again, she deleted it in a sigh. She didn’t want to ruin a good weekend.
She thumbed through her mail as she sat on the couch by Teddy and thought about who could have told Sandy.
No one else came to her mind until she thought…
The mailbox.
Alan fucking Moffet.
And perhaps somehow Kelly fucking Potts.
She did what any sane woman would do. She first made her profile completely private then unfriended every single person except for Caleb, her brother, Joshua and Sarah, and Deputy Hunt. It had to be a delicate thing, and she tossed over more potentials in her mind. Therewerenumerous nasty comments, weird messages, and everything that she had to clear out. But she had taken so many beatings lately that now they didn’t even faze her. Then Evie noticed a peculiar friend request popping up. It was Alan Moffet.
And the mutual friend had been Sandy Stottlemeyer, before she had removed her from her friend list and got blocked. Taking a chance, Evie sent him a message. “Hey, Alan! I’m gonna come straight out and ask if you’ve been telling people about Caleb and I.”
She wasn’t surprised in the least when he didn’t respond or even see the message.
Until 2:00 a.m. She rolled over wide awake now, hoping it was Caleb. Her heart picked up a little bit when she saw Alan wrote back. He said, “I don’t give a fuck about Caleb. I have no idea who the fuck you are.”
She couldn’t help but laugh! She wrote, “You knocked my mailbox over today with your truck. And you sent me a friend request.”
The charming Alan wrote back, “So? I’m supposed to be sorry about it?”
Then he blocked her. It was weird how he had sent her a friend request then acted really odd. Perhaps he was on a drunken warpath again.
“Whew,” Evie sighed as she petted Teddy. “Caleb wasn’t wrong. Heisa peach!”
But in a mad rush of mania and confusion, Evie pulled the plug on everything and deactivated her entire account. She needed the peace.
Chapter Fourteen
A few days later, Caleb was sitting at home with his guitar across his lap, trying to figure out how to play a certain chord from sheet music he had printed off. The song in question was one Evie always wanted to do a duet with a man, and it was “Need You Now” by Lady A. She had never told him this to his face, but over a year ago when they became friends on Facebook, he had combed through all of her posts and saw a video of her performing it at the local bar’s open mic night. It was beautifully done, and the caption mentioned that she longed to do it with a man.
And he was trying pretty damn hard to be that man. But he found himself to be a terrible singer. The chords weren’t hard at all, but his singing voice was something to be desired. Not to mention the harmonies he had to figure out were tricky. Over and over, he tried to find his pitch in utter failure, receiving a howl from Charlie. Caleb laughed and sang louder, “Teach me how to sing, ol’ boy!”
Together they yowled, and Charlie’s drawl turned into barks and woofs. He had little time to practice because his children were going to be coming over in a few minutes and he never focused on anything else but work and his kids when they were around. The cold light pooled across the maple flooring, casting a honey glow on the wooden beams that stretched across the cathedral ceilings. The iron chandelier’s fauxcandles were lit to give a little more warmth to the stark living room that was washed with a series of beiges, maples, honeys, and the occasional pops of soft blues and greens, primarily seen in the area rug and throw pillows.
The fire’s crackling was the only sound heard after Caleb and Charlie quieted down. Caleb rose from that comfortable chair and approached the large fireplace and looked to the large round mirror that rested on top of it. With one hand leaning on the wooden mantle, he stared at himself for a long while. The bookcases that flanked the fireplace were ones that he had custom built himself, and they were decorated with his medals, awards, photos of his children, Chiefs’ memorabilia and collectables, and a few knickknacks from his travels overseas.
