Ever After Page 13

  When the final credits rolled, he picked up the remote and clicked the television off.

  “Thanks for the movie,” Evangeline said, pulling away from him. “That was fun.”

  She sounded like a junior high school girl thanking her date.

  “It was okay,” Denny returned with a grin. “I think next time we should do the Three Stooges, though. I might actually pay attention.”

  Even in the dim light he could see her blush. He found it utterly beguiling. A woman who blushed.

  “I should go,” she said, slowly getting to her feet. “That alarm clock rings early in the morning.”

  Denny stood, as well, shoving his hands into the back pockets of his jeans as he walked her to the door.

  “Will you be bringing Ella to the store tomorrow?” she asked.

  Denny shook his head as he held the door of the porch open for her. “I won’t be working tomorrow. My truck broke down when the new guy was driving it.”

  When Carlos had called him with more truck trouble, he couldn’t help feeling frustrated. Every minute counted with contract work.

  But, somehow, it didn’t bother him as much as it would have another time.

  “So you won’t need me then?” she asked as they walked in the cool of the evening to her car.

  The sun had slipped behind the mountains, but it wasn’t fully dark yet. And in the gathering dusk he easily read her expression.

  Was she disappointed?

  Denny gave her a slow smile. “Not to babysit, but if you want to stop by tomorrow again, that would be great. Only if you’re not busy or if you have no other plans.”

  “I’d love to come by.”

  “Great. That would be great.”

  He hesitated, wondering if he should kiss her again. Then thought, why not? She hadn’t objected the last time.

  So he bent his head, brushed his lips over hers and slowly pulled back.

  “See you tomorrow,” she said, then ducked into her car and drove away.

  Denny watched the taillights of her car go down the driveway, then flash as she braked before turning off onto the road.

  He looked up into the sky.

  “Am I doing the right thing?” he asked aloud, his question a prayer. “Am I moving too quickly?”

  He waited, but no answer floated down from above. He trudged back to his house, but even though he hadn’t received any direction, he couldn’t shake the feeling that what was happening between him and Evangeline was right.

  Evangeline parked her car in her usual spot behind the bookstore and turned the engine off. In the quiet that followed, the only sound she heard was the far-off plaintive sound of a train’s horn echoing through the valley.

  The melancholy sound was at odds with the excitement thrumming through her.

  Denny had kissed her again. She had kissed him back.

  She reached her hand up to her lips as if to check for evidence of Denny’s kiss. Then she smiled.

  It was real. As was her reaction to him. Her heart felt like bursting and her mind spun with thoughts of him.

  She got out of the car, suddenly restless, needing to talk to someone. She looked up at the apartment above the flower shop beside hers.

  A light was still on. Mia was still awake.

  She hesitated, knowing how much Mia valued her quiet time once she got all her kids into bed.

  And yet...

  Evangeline turned and climbed the wooden stairs at the back of the building leading to the outside entrance to Mia’s apartment. She knocked on the door, lightly, in case Mia had left the light on and was in bed herself.

  The door opened almost right away.

  “Hey,” Mia said, stepping back as she opened the door further. “Come on in.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Kids are down for the count. Renee took the boys swimming after supper and Grace didn’t sleep this afternoon, so everyone’s tired.”

  Including you, thought Evangeline, concerned about the shadows under her friend’s eyes.

  “You’re not just being polite?” Evangeline hesitated, not wanting to intrude.

  “Please. I’m getting tired of my own company.” Mia waved her in and then strode to the sink and filled the kettle with water. “Tea or hot chocolate?” she asked as she pulled a couple of mugs from her cupboard.

  “Tea sounds good,” Evangeline said, sitting at the table.

  “So, where were you so late?” Mia asked, shooting Evangeline a mischievous look over her shoulder as she dropped the tea bags into the mugs.

  “At the ranch.”

  “Was Ella fussy?”

  “No. We...that is, me and Denny...we watched a movie.”

  “Sounds like fun,” Mia said, taking out some cookies and setting them on a plate. “Which movie?”

  Evangeline bit her lip, suddenly unable to remember.

  “Right.” Mia picked up an overflowing laundry basket from the table and set it aside.

  “It was Princess Bride.”

  “Too late,” Mia teased.

  “Do you want help with that?” Evangeline asked, gathering up the storybooks scattered on the table, as well.

  “No. It will keep.” Mia grinned, set the cookies on the table and leaned against the counter, waiting for the kettle. “So. You and Denny. Did he kiss you? Did you like it? Is it Twu Wove?”

  “Mia,” Evangeline scolded, feeling her cheeks warm again.

  “I think you’re the only person I know who still blushes,” Mia teased as she turned off the kettle and poured the boiling water into their mugs. “So delightfully old-fashioned.”

  Evangeline’s only response was a quick shrug as Mia brought the mugs to the table.

  “So, what brings you to my humble home?” Mia asked, dropping into her chair with a sigh. “You want to indulge in some of our usual girlie talk? Dissect the nuances of your conversations with him? What you said and what he said and what it may or may not have meant? How he smiled and what it made you feel like?”

  Evangeline laughed at her friend’s recitation of the things she’d often discussed with Mia when they were growing up.

  Mia’s eyes flashed with curiosity. “Is he a good kisser? Does he close his eyes? Put his hand on your shoulder or your cheek?”

  “You sound like an investigative reporter.”

  “I was hoping I sounded like a police detective,” Mia said. “Just finished reading our book club book and I’m still deep in the heroine’s point of view.”

  “Any good?”

  “I suppose you’ve been too busy with Mr. Norquest and his little baby girl to read it.”

  “I have.” Evangeline sighed lightly. “And I don’t know if I’m doing the right thing.”

  “So what’s wrong with it?”

  Evangeline stirred some honey into her tea, staring down at the amber liquid in her cup, trying to put words to the thoughts crowding her brain. “I don’t think anything is. And that’s the problem.”

  Mia held up her hand. “Whoa. Stop there. You lost me.”

  Evangeline took a sip of her tea and looked through the rising steam at her friend. She cradled her cup and shrugged. “I really like him. I’m fairly sure he likes me.”

  “He kissed you. I think you’re beyond fairly sure.”

  “That’s the trouble. I’m scared to think past that.”

  Mia chewed her lower lip. “Is this about Tyler?”

  “And my previous boyfriend, Dave, and my father.” Evangeline ran her finger along the edge of her mug, her concerns taking form. “It’s like I keep latching my hopes on to the wrong person. And I’m afraid I’m doing the same thing with Denny.”

  “So you don’t trust your judgment anymore.”

  Evangeline released a harsh laugh. “Not at all.”

  “Let’s analyze this. Your other boyfriend, whatzis name, was a good-looking, suave kind of guy who had that tall, blond, Greek-god thing going for him. Tyler? Ditto.” Mia ticked off her previous boyfriends’ attrib
utes on her fingers. “They were your typical hero type. Successful in their field. Had money. Always dressed well. Neat and tidy life. But, basically, louses. Now there’s Denny. Tall, yes, but dark. A bit scruffy. Drives a gravel truck. Had a kid dumped on his doorstep. A kid he never even knew about. Not the kind of hero you usually are drawn to.”

  “You make me sound superficial,” Evangeline protested.

  Mia shook her head. “Not superficial at all. Maybe just looking for love in the wrong place.”

  “And you think Denny is the right place? In many ways he reminds me of my father. Who, if you want to get analytical and psychological, was the first man who let me down.”

  Mia was quiet a moment. “Maybe in some ways he’s like your dad. He drives a truck. He’s a single dad. But I think there’s a big difference. I hear you talk about him, how he is with Ella. Some of the sacrifices he’s made for her.” She released a short laugh, holding a bitter edge and Evangeline knew Mia was thinking of her own ex-husband who left her stranded with four children. “I think he’s the real deal.”

  Evangeline pressed her lips together, then looked up at her friend. “But his life seems so...messy. I’m not holding it against him, but his divorce bothers me. I’m not narrow-minded about it, but it is part of his past.”

  “Ask him about it if you think it’s a barrier.”

  “It’s more of a concern. But you’re right. I need to talk to him.”

  Mia’s expression grew serious. “Everyone’s life is messy. Neat and tidy only comes at the end of the story. You’re in the middle of your own story and you can’t see the end. Which is a good thing. I never pictured myself as a single mother with four kids living above a flower shop, working my fingers to the bone, and no sign of a tidy ending. We keep going and hope and pray we make more good decisions than bad ones.”

  “I’ve made enough bad decisions in my life,” Evangeline said.

  “Haven’t we all.” Mia reached over and squeezed her friend’s arm. “I know you gave Renee some good advice when she was struggling with what to do about Tate. You told her she deserved some happiness. Maybe you do, too. But maybe you need to adjust your idea of what that happiness should look like.” She squeezed her arm again. “You like Denny. I know you do. I see your face light up when you talk about him like I never saw when you were dating Tyler. I think you went out with Tyler and Dave because they seemed an obvious fit. The hero you’d been looking for. The complete opposite of your father. Stable. Solid. Predictable. But when I hear you talk about Denny, I see joy and a spark I’ve never seen in you before.”

  Evangeline sat straighter, as if a burden of confusion had slipped off her shoulders. ”Thanks, Mia. I knew I could count on your wisdom.”

  “Not so much wisdom,” she said, shooting a glance around the cramped apartment. “Or else I wouldn’t have ended up here.” Her smile negated her morose tone. “Life is messy. But we have to muddle on as best we can and trust that if we make our decisions prayerfully, then God will guide us through them.”

  “Thanks, my friend.” Evangeline glanced at the clock. “And I better go. You’ll be up early tomorrow, I imagine. Kids have a way of keeping their own time.”

  “And you should know,” Mia said. “But I’ll keep praying for you. And give the guy a chance. I think he’s gold.”

  Evangeline gave her friend a quick hug. “Thanks, Mia. You’re a blessing.”

  She left the apartment feeling more confident, more certain she was moving in the right direction with Denny.

  Chapter Eleven

  “No, honey, don’t eat that.” Evangeline carefully pulled Ella’s hand away from her mouth, chuckling at the dirt rimming her button mouth. Ella protested, clutching the stem of a weed that she waved around.

  “Aren’t kids supposed to eat a certain amount of fiber?” Denny grunted, pushing the shovel into the ground with his boot.

  “Not before it’s turned into carrots or vegetables,” Evangeline said with a laugh as she extricated the weed from Ella’s hand. Ella pouted but clambered to her feet and toddled off the blanket Evangeline had laid out for her to sit on. She was headed toward Denny, who was turning over the clump of dirt he had just dug up.

  Evangeline wiped her hands on her pants, giving up on keeping her lemon-yellow capris clean. Ditto the white silk tank top with its beaded neckline.

  When she found out what Denny had planned for the day she had removed her leather sandals and tied her hair back with the yellow-and-green scarf she had draped around her neck this morning and pitched in.

  The pants were now liberally streaked with dirt as was the tank top. Sweat dripped down her temples and into her hair, but she didn’t care.

  Denny was working up her mother’s flower beds. They were such a tangle of weeds and perennials, it was difficult to say where one ended and the other began. But Denny was slowly bringing order to the chaos.

  “So that’s this one,” Denny said with a grunt as he tossed the last of the weeds onto the growing pile beside the flower bed. He straightened, placing his hand in the small of his back and flashing Evangeline a smile that created a flutter of joy.

  “Now that you’ve taken the rock edging away, what are you putting in its place?” Evangeline caught Ella’s hand before she stuck another handful of dirt in her mouth.

  “I don’t know, what do you think?”

  Evangeline gave him a grateful smile. He wanted her input. As if she was a partner in the project.

  It is your father’s ranch, she reminded herself.

  But at the same time, this was the first time she’d been asked her opinion on anything to do with the house or the ranch.

  “Brick would be nice,” she said. “You can get some nice large bricks at the Rockyview nursery on the edge of town. The new owner is a bit of a grump, but he knows his stuff.”

  “We could go have a look later this afternoon, if that’s okay with you?” Denny arched a questioning brow and Evangeline nodded, anticipation singing through her.

  “Maybe we could get some new perennials?” Evangeline asked.

  “If he still has them. It is getting late in the season to put them in. Fall might be a better time.”

  “How do you know so much about plants?”

  Denny pulled out a hankie and wiped the sweat dripping down his face. “I helped my mother in the garden whenever I had time. She loved flowers, too. Working in the garden gave us time to talk. Share stuff.” He shoved the hankie into his pocket, his face taking on a melancholy look as he glanced at Ella, who was pulling at Evangeline’s hand, babbling away in her toddler jargon. “She was a good mother. She would have loved Ella.”

  Evangeline caught the note of longing in his voice, feeling a moment of kinship. Neither of them had a mother.

  “I’m sure she would have,” Evangeline murmured, swinging Ella up into her arms. “She’s a sweetheart.”

  “Don’t carry that little grublet,” Denny warned, reaching out to take her away. “She’s getting your fancy shirt dirty.”

  “Too late for that,” Evangeline said, looking down at the smudges on her top. She gave him a quick grin. “So, is it time to take a lunch break?”

  Denny glanced up at the sky, as if getting a reading from the sun. “I’m guessing it’s about twelve-thirty.”

  “Your clock is slow,” Evangeline teased, hefting Ella onto her hip as she glanced at the gold bracelet watch circling her wrist. “It’s twelve thirty-six.”

  Denny laughed then reached over and gently wiped something off her cheek. “You had some dirt there,” he said, but his fingers lingered, then flitted down her face, his hand coming to rest on her shoulder.

  Evangeline leaned in, gave him a quick kiss, then grinning at his surprise, she turned and led the way into the house, unable to keep the smile off her face.

  In a matter of minutes Ella was washed up and sitting in her high chair, gobbling up the pieces of bread Evangeline had buttered and cut up for her.

  She set a plate
of sandwiches out and a pitcher of lemonade with a set of mismatched glasses.

  “Looks good,” Denny said appreciatively as she sat. As natural as can be, he reached out for her hand and Ella’s and bent his head to pray.

  Evangeline followed suit, her heart warming.

  “Thank You, Lord, for our food, for the hands that prepared it,” Denny prayed. “For this beautiful day and Your creation that You bless us with. Amen.”

  “Amen,” Evangeline breathed, pulling in a deep breath of satisfaction. She looked at Denny, his hair still damp from the water he’d splashed over his head, his face shining from washing up, his eyes holding a glimmer of satisfaction.

  Stubble shaded his jaw and his hair could use a cut. His shirt was ragged at the collar and the cuffs were worn. And none of that mattered.

  He really was a handsome man, Evangeline thought.

  Could this be happening? Could she possibly be ready to give her heart to him? He was so different from what she had long considered her ideal.

  He looked up and gave her a warm smile that created a fan of crinkles around deep brown eyes framed by shaggy hair.

  And she realized how her “ideal” had changed.

  “So, I think we can finish up the other side after lunch,” Denny said, picking up a piece of bread Ella had tossed on the floor. “After that’s done, I thought we could head into town to get what we need to edge the beds. If that’s okay with you?”

  “More than okay. Ella won’t need a nap for a while, so that should work.”

  “When we get back I’d like to rototill the garden.”

  “I don’t think the tiller works.” Evangeline gave Ella a piece of fruit. “I don’t think anyone’s used it since...since my father and I left.”

  “I had it running a couple of nights ago,” Denny said, wiping some crumbs off his mouth. “Needed a new spark plug, new filters and a good grease job, but that was it.”

  She shook her head. “You constantly amaze me,” she said.

  “I like the sound of that. I haven’t amazed too many people in my life of late.”