“Not directly.” She frowned. “His facial expressions give away that he’s annoyed with her for things, like quitting the CIA and coming here. He was annoyed when he said Paula thought it was best for him to go because Tommy wouldn’t have given her a chance. He was embarrassed that he had to call in a favour with his friend to get on Tommy’s calendar, but it was immediately followed up with him saying her happiness meant more to him, so he did it anyway.”
“Alright. I agree their dynamic is weird, and I think she uses disappointment, guilt and probably silent treatment to get her own way, all of which are manipulative, controlling and abusive.” Evie conceded that point to her because she had seen those aspects in their relationship. “But Aaron isn’t a victim, or at least not a victim that needs to be saved. He is capable of standing up to her when he wants to, and he does, which means if he wanted to leave, he would.” She reached out and squeezed Nissa’s arm.
“By all means, keep an eye on him, I will, too, but I really think he’s with her because he wants to be, not because he’s stuck.”
**********
Evie’s three weeks helping out Lana and Cole sped by. The first week was spent getting the house back in order and cleaning up. It wasn’t dirty exactly, but it was definitely disorganized and messy. With Lana unable to move much without pain, Cole had taken over most of the baby care so she could rest and heal. He had done his best to stay on top of things and helped Evie as much as he could, but confessed that cleaning had never been a high priority for him.
“I’ll let things pile up until they’re in the way and then put them away out of sheer irritation,” he explained as he sorted through a stack of mail, pulling out cards and envelopes and tossing junk. “I don’t like it when things are dirty. I’ll make sure the dishes are in the dishwasher and the floors are swept and vacuumed, but actually putting things back where I got them after I’m finished is another story.”
Cole had to go back to work during her second week, so she spent more time helping Lana as she needed it. Watching the baby so she could shower or nap, keeping things tidy, cooking meals, and just keeping her company. She was careful not to overstep with Colton, only holding him when Lana passed him over. He was a happy baby who only fussed or cried when he was uncomfortable, and Evie enjoyed every minute she got with him, telling Lana only half jokingly that she might be addicted to the baby smell.
Her third week there, Lana was four weeks into her recovery and moving around much better. Evie stepped back a little more each day, letting Lana do what she felt she could, but wanted to make the week and a half before Cole’s parents arrivedas easy on her as possible, so she filled their freezer with pre-cooked meals they could just heat up when they were hungry.
A few days after she returned to work, Cole walked into her office holding a gigantic gift basket and set it on her desk with a flourish. “For you, my lady.”
“What’s this?” Evie stood up and leaned in for a closer look, smiling when she saw it was full of bath stuff: bubble baths, bath bombs, Epsom salts, face masks, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and lotions.
“Lana and I wanted to give you something for helping out.” He dropped into the chair and began spinning side to side. “You have no idea how much we appreciate it and miss you now that you’re gone.”
“You didn’t have to get me all this. Thank you.” She untied the bow holding the cellophane in place and peeled it open, flicking through the stack of face mask packets. “I’m just glad I was helping and not being a pest.”
“Are you kidding? Lana already wants to make sure you’re available after the next one.” Cole shook his head, chuckling as she pulled things out to inspect them. “Did you even hold the baby while you were there?”
“Yeah, of course, usually while Lana was showering, napping or using the bathroom,” Evie murmured as she opened the body wash and sniffed it, closing her eyes as the scent of mango and pineapple filled her senses. “This smells good enough to eat.”
“The point is, you used your vacation time to help us, let us focus on the baby, and let Lana heal. Really, this isn’t enough.” He gestured at the basket. “So, we’d like to ask you if you’d do us the honour of being Colton’s godmother.”
“Are you kidding me? I’m honoured I was even up for consideration.” Evie beamed, dropping the body wash into the basket as she wrapped her arms around Cole’s shoulders and hugged him tightly. “Yes, of course. Who’s the godfather?”
“You didn’t hear Thorn’s whoops ten minutes ago?” Cole laughed, hugging her back. “Since he’s still in Germany, I called him on Skype and he practically blew out my speakers cheering, I figured the whole floor heard him.”
“That’s what that was about?” Evie giggled as she stepped back. “Why Thorn?”
“Well, besides the fact that it felt weird to ask anyone else after we decided you were the best choice for godmother, Thorn has had my back at every turn since I started working here. He’s always got solid advice and grounded insights, and since your jobs are to provide moral guidance, I don’t know anyone better suited.”
Chapter Forty: When the Fog Lifts
Evie reached out and tapped the base of the lamp next to the couch, turning it on as the last light of the mid-July evening faded, leaving her in the semi-darkness of dusk, then focused back on the Word document open on her laptop. She wanted to finish the current chapter of the novel she was working on before getting ready for bed. Despite the hot, muggy weather, the last few days had been cloudy and dull, with fog hanging low over the city, which made her cranky and low energy.
She had noticed that since her bout of depression in January, she had become much more emotionally sensitive to the weather. The dark, wet cold of winter made it hard to stay motivated and had slowed her climb out of the depressive episode. Long stretches of rainy or cloudy weather made her grumpy and less social, leading her to hide away in her apartment, while sunshine and heat brought out her happy, bubbly, affectionate nature.
When she brought it up in therapy, Dr. Monroe assured her it was normal for people who had gone through a depressive episode to experience heightened weather sensitivity while their bodies and brains recovered. She suggested Evie buy a light therapy lamp and take a vitamin D supplement. Evie added both to her morning routine but couldn’t say she’d noticed a change yet, which only added to her frustration with herself and her low mood.
“Evie,” HELIX’s voice interrupted OneRepublic’sApologize, which was playing quietly in the background, and shelooked up in surprise. “Thorn is requesting permission to come visit.”
“Thorn’s back?” Her heart leapt. She quickly set her laptop aside, scrambled to her feet, and headed to her bedroom to put on a bra. “Yes, tell him to come down and unlock the door for him.”
“Will do.”
Ten minutes later, she was finishing washing her face when there was a polite knock, followed by Thorn’s voice calling out as he let himself in.
“Evie?”
“Coming!” She quickly dried her face, tossed the towel over the rack, and hurried down the hall to the living room, where he was setting a small bag on the coffee table. When he looked up and saw her, a huge smile crossed his face. He opened his arms just as she launched herself at him with a gleeful laugh.
“You’re back!”
