“What do you think you know, Evelyn?”
Calling her by her full name causes her to straighten. I don’t usually use it unless I mean business, and right now, I do.
Unequivocally.
“I thought you were going to propose when she came to visit, and I was so excited. We’d had so much fun when she came for Christmas, and then you two… imploded.” Her throat bobs. “And you weren’t the same after. Especially after you came back from Texas. I’ve never forgotten how broken you were.”
She searches my face, like she’s bracing for impact. “You’re telling me Chloe didn’t just… walk away?”
I shake my head.
“No. I ended it.” The words scrape on the way out. “Dad gave me some…questionable advice, and I couldn’t see how to balance my responsibilities here and a relationship with Chloe. Especially with the distance between us.”
Owen sucks in a breath. “Dad made you choose?”
“Not exactly. But that’s how I interpreted it. I made a mistake. Technically more than once.”
Both pairs of eyes land on me, expectantly.
“What do you mean by ‘more than once’?” Owen asks.
Evie sighs, some of the tension bleeding out of her body. “Texas?”
I dip my head. “I saw her with somebody and didn’t talk to her. She looked so happy, I just…” I throw up my hands. “I didn’t feel like I deserved to disrupt her happiness. And then she met her ex because I wouldn’t say anything.”
“You can’t do that.” Owen shakes his head. “Her ex might’ve been a jerk, but we got Phoebe out of the deal. All of us. I can’t imagine life without that kid.”
The room goes silent for a long moment.
“I know. That helps, I think. Knowing that she was never really alone. Not even after he left. She had Phoebe. But I never stop thinking about the mistake I made. It cost me too much.”
“I messed up, too,” Evie says softly. She drags her hands down her face. “I really messed up.”
“What did you do?” I ask, already knowing.
She doesn’t look at me right away. Her shoulders curl inward, like she’s bracing for impact.
“I didn’t tell her to go,” she says finally, voice tight. “I just…told her I didn’t want to lose anyone else. Not after Mom and Dad.”
The air goes still.
“Evie,” I say, the edge draining out of my voice. “You think pushing people away keeps you safe?”
She lets out a shaky breath that sounds like it’s been trapped for years. “I think caring about people gets them killed.” Her eyes finally lift, glassy and furious and scared all at once. “You almost went under with the farm. You’ve been a ghost of yourselffor…years. And then Chloe showed up, and suddenly, nothing else mattered as much as she did.”
A quiet puzzle piece slides into place. That’s why Chloe said she didn’t want to distract me from the farm. It felt out of place at the time, but it must’ve been right at the forefront of her brain.
“She didn’t distract me,” I say quietly. “She reminded me why this place mattered in the first place.”
Evie flinches.
“I panicked,” she admits. “I thought if you lost her too—if she broke your heart again—I’d be the one scraping you off the floor. And I didn’t think I could survive that. So I tried to keep things…contained.”
Owen exhales slowly beside me.
“You scraped on something she’s struggled with for a long time, Evie,” I say. “And you were wrong on two counts. One for what you thought about her and two for what you said. She’s the reason this place has a heartbeat again.”
Evie presses her lips together, nodding once. “I know. I see that now.” Her voice cracks. “I don’t want to lose her over it.”
