“Hello?”
“I’m sorry to disturb you, Evie,”HELIX’s slightly exasperated voice came through, and Evie raised her eyebrow. She was going to have to look into this when she got home. She hadn’t realized the AI had advanced itself enough to know how to make calls using the landline.“But Mr. Sloane has attempted to override my protocols three times now, and Thorn is threatening to dismantle me if I don’t let them into your apartment.”
Sitting on the bed, Evie rubbed her eyes, feeling a tension headache coming on. “I’m at the resort. Tell them I’m away until Wednesday and want to be left alone.” She paused. “How did you know to use the phone to reach me?”
“Mr. Sloane connected to me last night using his phone,”the AI explained brightly, sounding unusually pleased with herself.“I figured I could reach you the same way and found your cell number on the phone bill in your email.”
“Right.” Evie was too tired to marvel at the AI’s problem-solving skills right now. She was already working on creating an app so HELIX could be used from anywhere, anyway. “Um. Good job.”
“Thank you. I will pass along your message. Enjoy your retreat.”
“Thanks.”
Evie heard the line disconnect and was about to turn off her phone, but when the call ended, her texts from Thorn returned. After thinking it over for a minute, she texted him back, saying she would meet him for brunch on Wednesday, and sent him a time and a restaurant near Fred Hurst’s office. Fred had called her on Friday, wished her a happy birthday, asked if she could come to his office on Wednesday at one, explained he had something to give her, and apologized for the delay in reaching out.
“I’m out of town visiting my wife’s sister and won’t be back in the office until Wednesday.”
She told him it was no problem and agreed to meet with him then. Powering off her phone and putting it in the safe, she quickly cleaned up a bit and then went down for orientation lunch, hoping the food would make her headache go away.
Chapter Forty-Eight: Balancing Acts
Evie arrived at the restaurant she was supposed to meet Thorn at a few minutes late because of an unexpected traffic accident on the highway, and combed her hair back off her face, fixing a claw clip in place to give herself a minute to collect her thoughts. She’d almost pulled over to text him to forget about meeting her half a dozen times as she went back and forth between wanting to hear his reasons for completely abandoning her for the last five months, and then growing angry again and deciding she didn’t care; no excuse would make her forgive him.
In the end, it was the realization that, as much as she would have liked to, she couldn’t avoid him forever. They worked and lived together in the same building, and all her friends were his as well. Not to mention they were both Colton’s godparents, and the little boy had done nothing to deserve the awkwardness of her and Thorn not talking to one another as he grew up and went through the church milestones they would both be expected to take part in.
She saw his truck parked at the end of the parking lot and mentally cursed. She’d left the retreat early, wanting to get to the restaurant first so she could go in and already be seated when he got there. Grabbing her purse, she got out of her car and locked it as she walked into the dining room, lifting her chin slightly to hide her nerves. Thorn was sitting in the corner, next to a window that faced the parking lot, and she knew he had watched her pull in and get out of her car.
His eyes were now fixed firmly on her, and she could see a hint of relief mixed with sadness in his expression and had to steel herself against forgiving him immediately. She hadn’t realized she’d stopped walking until the hostess approached, asking her how many people would be joining her.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” She gave her a quick smile. “I’m actually meeting someone.” She gestured vaguely at Thorn. “I think I just fell asleep on my feet for a second; it was a long drive.”
“Of course. Can I bring you a coffee to get you started?”
“Is it too early to request a screwdriver?” Evie murmured, only half joking. Seeing the surprise on the young girl’s face, she shook her head. “Coffee’s fine. Thank you.”
She walked across the floor to where Thorn was sitting, somehow managing not to wince as he got to his feet, looking like he wasn’t sure if he should attempt to hug her or not. Not ready for that, Evie smiled politely, then pulled out her chair and sat down, ignoring the brief spark of disappointment in his eyes as he slowly sat back down. She picked up the menu and looked it over, waiting for him to start the conversation. If she had to start, she would definitely make a snarky quip about whether Jolene had let him come by himself or if he’d snuck away without telling her where he was going.
“Evie…” His voice was soft and sad, and she saw his hands twitch, like he wanted to reach for hers and thought better of it. “I am so sorry for how I have handled balancing my relationship with Jolene and my relationship with you.”
Evie didn’t look up from the menu, but somehow managed to keep herself from laughing at him. “I think you need to look up the definition of ‘balance.’” She responded dryly. If he thought he was balancing things between her and his girlfriend, then she had some awful news for him.
“Fine.” His hand appeared over the edge of the menu, and he gently pushed it down, forcing her to look at him. She could see how sad and anxious he was about how much damage he’d done to their relationship, and while she didn’t feel a sense of satisfaction about it, she also didn’t feel a desire to make things better. “I am sorry for how I handled everything. Will you allow me to explain?”
Evie leaned back in her seat, folding her hands in her lap as the hostess brought her coffee and said the waitress would be by in a moment to take their orders. When she walked away, Evie shrugged. “I’m pretty sure I know what was happening, but go ahead.”
Thorn frowned, clearly not liking her dismissive attitude. “I was doing what I thought was right.”
Evie leaned forward slightly; she could see the waitress approaching the table out of the corner of her eye, but she needed him to think about his answer anyway. “Tell me, did it feel right?”
She put on a bright smile and turned to the waitress quickly, not missing how his frown deepened after her question and the crease of confusion between his eyebrows.
She maintained her cheerful expression and ordered eggs Benedict and orange juice. She added cream and sugar to her coffee as Thorn ordered the house breakfast with extra sausage and eggs. When the waitress left, she sipped her coffee and raised her eyebrow at Thorn, waiting for his answer. If he said yes, she would probably walk out on him, because it meant he was stuck too far up Jolene’s vagina to be helped.
He remained quiet for several minutes before finally shaking his head slowly. “No, not always. Sometimes, yes, likewhen it made Jolene stop crying, but the feeling never lasted long.”
“She would cry if you wanted to spend time with me?” Evie felt her eyebrows shoot up. Surely Thorn wasn’t that stupid? “And you didn’t think there was something wrong with her?”
His expression darkened slightly, and she could tell he didn’t like the way she spoke about her. “It wasn’t just about you.” He groaned and ran his hand through his hair. “Please just let me explain.”
