Even Bert is aware of the pain she’s been in. I pray to God she hasn’t been hauling him around. He looks like he weighs at least three hundred pounds.
“She’ll be taking some time off work, I’m sure.”
“So, are you her boyfriend now or something?” he spits, giving me a disdainful once-over. My head tilts as I gaze at him. Is that what this is? Jealousy? Does he have some sort of inappropriate romantic attachment to Evie?
“No . . . but we’re close.”Or used to be, anyway.
“Good.” He crosses his arms. “She deserves better.”
I blink. “Come again?”
“You heard me,” he gripes, glancing at the leftover containers. “Thanks for the food.”
It’s clear I’m being dismissed, so I rise and glance around the room.Lord, show me how You would respond.Warmth floods my chest, and the inclination to extend Bert undeserved kindness eclipses my indignation. “Can I get you anything before I go?”
He extends his water pitcher. “Fill this up. And grab me a cheese stick while you’re in there.”
Biting my tongue, I take the pitcher from him and head to the kitchen. I wonder if this is what Evie deals with, or if Bert’s a peach with her.
Evie isn’t a pushover, so something tells me it’s the latter.
***
After I leave Bert’s, I head back to Maggie’s place. Ishouldgo home and go back to bed; I only got a few hours of sleep last night. Plus, Evie needs her rest. The last thing she needs is me loitering around, spiking her blood pressure. But here I am again, unable to resist the strength of her gravitational pull.
Maggie answers the door with a knowing look on her face. “Brandon,” she greets, stepping aside. “I thought you’d be back. I just put some coffee on.”
Maggie and I have breakfast together regularly, so we fall into companionable silence while she pours the coffee. My instinct is to offer her a hand, but Maggie and Evie are one and the same. Independent to a fault.
I have to pick my battles with the Montgomery women.
Maggie sets the coffee on the table, then carefully lowers herself into the seat across from me. “You’re like a boomerang, Mr. Wright.”
I pick up my mug and blow on it. “Oh?”
“No matter how far Evie throws you, you always circle right on back.” Taken off guard, I gaze into my mug, avoiding her eyes. “Can’t say that I blame you . . . or Adam, for that matter. She’s a catch.”
“Adam?” Adam has been Evie’s ex for a long time now.
Her brows rise. “I thought it was obvious he’s still as smitten as the day they almost got married.” She tusks and blows on her coffee. “Poor fool.”
The image of Evie in her wedding gown, hightailing it out of the church—because ofme—consumes me with self-loathing. “How do you know?” I press, dropping the mug I’m lifting to my mouth back onto the table.
Maggie grins deviously, baring her false teeth like a Cheshire cat. “Don’t worry,” she says, gazing through me. “Your little crush is safe with me.”
I almost laugh.Crush.Oh, Maggie. If only you knew . . .
Her eyes shift left then right. “Between you and me, I’m Team Brandon.”
I clear my throat. “Speaking of Evie—how is she?”
She hesitates. “Oh, you know. She’s . . . Evie.”
“What do you mean?” That could mean many things. Evie is the most complicated woman I have ever met. Nothing is ever easy or straightforward with her, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like that.
“She’s downstairs.”
I glance toward the hall. “Isn’t her bedroom up here?”
