“Withme.”
“—and Annie tells me that she’s picking her up in the carpool line and that, by the way, she’s cool and has cool green-framed glasses—those are hard to pull off—and also she asked me if you two were boyfriend and girlfriend.”
Whit felt his mouth open, close, and open again. He leaned back against the counter and crossed his own arms.
“She did?”
“She did.”
“And you said...”
“I said,Oh, I don’t know, your dad doesn’t tell me anything, so let’s find out together.”
His eyes widened. Evie shook her head and rolled her eyes to show she was kidding.
“I said you two were coworkers, and that lots of times boys and girls are just friends.”
Whit sighed. The two lapsed into silence.
“Do you want some tea?”
Evie jabbed a finger at him. “Don’t stall.”
“I am not stalling, there is nothing to stall about.”
“Areyou just friends, or do you like this similarly aged woman?”
“What kind of question is that?”
“Literally the only question anyone else would ask in this situation.”
Whit started walking toward the living room, and Evie followed.
“You’re not answering me, Whit. And what about the tea?”
Whit stopped, dropping his head back for a moment before turning to look at his sister.
“Evie.” He sighed. “Do you know why I asked you to come here?”
She gave him an incredulous look.
“I offered, actually. But yes?”
He nodded.
“Right. We lost Helen. And you’re here to help us. Because we’re having a hard time.”
He shrugged, refusing to feel guilty about these words because they were true. Annie’s question had meant that they were all he could think about right now.
Evie’s incredulity softened, and she gave a solemn nod and disappointed sigh.
“All right, fine, Whit. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. But definitely do chill out on the... whatever that line of questioning is called.”
Evie looked like she was about to say one last thing before thinking better of it and changing direction.
“Of course.”
