When she entered the cafe, Alex hadn’t arrived yet, so she sat at their usual table and ordered for them both while she waited. She was texting Lana about their plans to go Christmas shopping when he finally showed up, fifteen minutes late and looking resigned, like he already knew what she was going to say. She stood up and let him kiss and hug her, then slid his extra-large Americano across the table as they sat down.
There was a moment of awkward silence before Alex sighed and ran a hand over his buzzcut. “Look, Evie… I think I know why you wanted to have coffee with me. If that’s the case, just get it over with.”
Evie chewed the inside of her cheek as she studied him. She’d known he wouldn’t be happy, but she’d hoped he would understand her reasons instead of turning it into a fight.
“I’m sorry, Alex, but… yes. I want to end our relationship.”
His face darkened, and when she saw the argument forming, she reached out and took his hand to stop it before it began.
“I swear it’s not because of anything you did, or because I want to,” she said softly. “It’s just… with everything I have going on, I can’t give you what you need or deserve right now. We’re still so early in this, and we should be happy and excited to see each other, but I’m so exhausted and numb I’m struggling to get out of bed most mornings.”
She squeezed his hand gently, a silent plea to understand. “I need space to navigate Mom’s last few weeks, and I need to focus on her right now.”
“I understand, I do.” He huffed, his hand gripping hers. “But I want to be there for you while you’re going through all this. I want to be the one you turn to, but you keep throwing up walls and closing yourself off.”
Evie held his gaze, finding it difficult to maintain her stance when he gave her the sad puppy dog eyes, but knowing this needed to happen.
“That’s just it, though. You see it as me shutting you out and putting up walls, but for me, it’s a way to recharge my batteries and get through the next day.” She smiled faintly. “You’re extremely social and like going out and doing things after a long week. It’s how you blow off steam, and you expect me to do the same, but I don’t work that way.”
She sighed. This had been an ongoing clash between them: she unwound by staying home with a book, her writing, or The Sims, while he wanted clubs, crowds, or hiking trips with his friends.
“Look, Mom is insisting she’s going to have one last Christmas with me, whether or not that’s going to happen is upin the air, but I need to focus on her right now, and it’s not fair for me to expect you to be dragged along on this incredibly depressing ride I’m on right now, but it’s also not fair for you to expect me to give you time and energy that I can and should be devoting to my mother in her final weeks.”
Alex let her hand go and sat back in his chair, staring out the window for a long moment. “And after all this is over? Can we get back together?”
Evie hesitated. She liked him a lot. While he sometimes went too far in pushing her outside her comfort zone, not just in the bedroom, but socially and physically too, it also helped her to grow and experience discomfort safely, and she appreciated that about him.
“I think that we can try again after all this is over, and I’ve worked through everything.” She licked her lips nervously, not sure how he was going to react to her next request. “And you work on your control issues.”
For a moment, she thought he was going to stand up and walk away from her. His body tensed up, and he almost crushed his coffee cup, but then he relaxed, nodding. “That’s fair, I guess.”
“Thank you for understanding,” Evie murmured, finishing her mocha and standing up. She didn’t want this to drag out much longer and was hoping to get away before he made any requests. “I also don’t want you to feel like you need to wait for me. If you meet someone and think they would be a good fit for you, take the chance.” She smiled when he frowned at her. “I mean, don’t look for someone to replace me, but you know, don’t feel bad if someone falls in your lap.”
He looked like he was going to argue for a moment, but then he stood up and hugged her tightly. “I want weekly check-ins. I don’t want to have to pester Thorn for updates because I’m worried about you.” He mumbled.
“I can manage weekly updates.” Evie nodded. She didn’t really want to, but she also didn’t want him asking Thorn about her. Stepping back firmly, she collected her things, said goodbye and headed back to the tower, feeling like a weight had been lifted.
Chapter Thirty-Four: The Gift of Time
As December slipped away in a blur of cold, wet and grey days, Evie became more optimistic that her mother might be right about having one last Christmas together. There was no change in Della’s health after months of steady decline, so Evie began to work on making the holiday season as special as she could, starting by helping Tommy make Hanukkah special for Nissa since this was the first year she wouldn’t see her parents.
On the final night of Hanukkah, Tommy asked Nissa to officially move in with him by giving her a necklace with a delicate, custom-designed key pendant that had the Star of David at the top.
“This is more than me officially asking you to join my home and life,” Tommy said quietly as he helped her fasten the necklace. “This is me asking you to let me join yours. I want us on one page, with one future. Marriage isn’t something we’ve talked about, but I want to have that conversation when you’re ready. If you want me to, I’m willing to convert.”
Evie, who had helped Tommy design the pendant, reached for Thorn’s hand as Nissa teared up. She gently guided him out of the living room and into the kitchen, giving them a moment alone.
She pulled the champagne Tommy had set in the fridge to chill and passed it to Thorn so he could open it while she looked for the glasses.
“Alex said you broke up with him.” Thorn’s tone was matter-of-fact, and Evie glanced over her shoulder at him in surprise. “Did he do something wrong?”
“No.” She found the glasses in the last cupboard and pulled down four. “I’m just not in the right frame of mind to be in a relationship.” She set the glasses on the island as Thorn eased the cork out of the bottle. “Why? Did he say something?”
Thorn shook his head. “No, but that is why I asked. He tends to talk a lot when it comes to you, but all he said was that you ended things. I wondered if he had done something to upset you and did not want me to know.”
Evie let out a soft giggle. Thorn might have been trying to sound calm and mildly curious, but she could feel the tension in him. “He didn’t do anything. I just wanted to spend Mom’s remaining time with her without any distractions.”
“Hmm.” He studied her for a moment, and Evie could tell he was checking for signs she was hiding something. She kept her amused smile in place. “If you say so.” He began filling the glasses. “Tommy said he arranged it with the hospice so your mother can come here for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.”
