Myla got up to get her a glass of wine, and together they sat down to catch up. “Now, darlin’, tell me everything.”
Chapter Eighteen
The town knew. Everyone knew. Instead of hiding away and being fearful of what people would say about her, Evie opened her Facebook page back up and saw hundreds of comments, friend requests, messages, and the like. These were ones that had been leftover that she never looked at prior to deactivating her page.
Stay away from him. He’s a drunk.
Have fun getting beaten.
I fucked him in high school. He’s good, ain’t he? Too bad he’s washed up.
Watch it. He can’t even take care of his own kids.
He’s Navy. He’ll fuck you up big time.
You’re after his money.
Grow up.
Slut.
Whore.
I hope you get shot.
Wait until he rapes you. He’s military. Never fall for a military guy.
I knew him. You should date me instead. I’ll treat you good.
Valentine’s Day was close, and that meant Caleb’s deployment was drawing closer. It was a miracle how she had grownso much with him at her side, but she began to worry how she was going to manage without him. Once again, she would be alone.
There were numerous times she had visited Pawpaw’s grave, and now with her growth at work and other projects going on locally, perhaps she’d be too preoccupied with things to notice. Yeah right. She couldn’t lie to herself. Caleb was leaving soon.
In six weeks.
It would be a long spring without him, and an even longer six months or heaven knew how long. The cold rain was nasty outside her bedroom window, and there she sat upright with her knees bent and her arms gently wrapped around them. That week, she had spent a lot of time at the gym and hiking, trying her hardest to get in better shape to be a better woman for him and for herself. And if she was lucky, for his family.
Caleb didn’t post anything at all. She had missed seeing his posts, but he had only posted a few photos of himself with his kids and his horses just once in that time period.
She couldn’t stop the hands of time if she tried. She was going to be forty-one soon.
In her black leggings and baggy sweater, Evie’s face was pale as she looked out at the cloudy and dreary day. Teddy purred next to her, and all around her house had slowly become a better reflection of her. Luckily, the foundation wasn’t bad. But many things were still in need of repair.
She reached for her guitar and tuned it. Then, she sang deeply with profound emotion, closing her eyes to the rain, Leona Lewis’s “Bleeding Love.”
What a beautiful trip down memory lane. She kept her eyes closed and sang.
The late winter days grew even wetter, and so many things felt unsolved. She still didn’t know who was in the black sedan or who had actually told Sandy. But now, it seemed not to matter at all. Time flew by faster than she could grab hold of, and each day as the weather got warmer, it felt like some sort of impending doom was lingering in her home’s air, the very air she breathed.
She had to keep on top of her tasks. She couldn’t let herself fallbehind. Hunt still never found out whose black sedan it was because it had stopped coming by altogether. And as she and Caleb casually dated, she should have been satisfied. But she wasn’t. She still wanted to know if it was Alan, Kelly, Breanne, anyone. Caleb had another custody hearing in a few days, and he informed her that he wouldn’t be coming over or really talking to her because he needed to prepare for it mentally. As hard as it was to respect his boundaries, she had no choice but to let it go.
She didn’t understand. He had already had four since the divorce started. But this time, this was on Ashley’s request. And it worried her that Ashley was going to fight for full custody, and the divorce probably wouldn’t even be settled until he came back from deployment. It was all such an ugly mess.
Poor Caleb.
A Facebook notification popped up, and it was a message from Sandy above all people. She thought Sandy had blocked her. It read, “How much would you charge to design t-shirts for our girls’ basketball team?”
Flowers could have bloomed, and they would weave their illustrious petals within the vines of her heart. She smiled and wrote back, “I won’t charge anything if you tell me who told you that Caleb and I were seeing each other.”
