“Okay.”
“No, you have to promise you’ll still come, and you should sit down.”
“Fine, I promise I will still come. You’re freaking me out here, Mackey Mae.”
“Ok, so I told Mom and Dad you were coming because I had to clear the jet to fly. Mom decided she was going to invite Evelyn to join us. According to her, you just needed more time, so now she is bringing her on Thursday to try to set you up with her again.”
I hit my head on the wall of my office, and rage bubbled up in my body. “Did you inform Mom that this is an event to celebrate you? And to leave me the fuck out of it?”
Evelyn was someone I’ve known since she was born. A year younger and my mother’s best friend’s daughter, I’m pretty sure they betrothed her to me upon birth. She lived on theWest Coast growing up, but her family moved to New York when I turned twenty. Because of our mother’s incessant meddling, we had two dates, and there wasn’t even a tiny spark on my end, so nothing came of it. Not even a goodnight kiss. Apparently, Evelyn felt differently and thought it was love.
I always thought the concept of falling for someone right after you met them was a crock, though now the joke was on me, because I had undoubtedly fallen for the woman sitting in the other room. I wasn’t in love with her, but I was having stronger feelings for her than I’d ever had for anyone. After I told Evelyn the two of us weren’t happening, she went a little crazy, and I got blamed for it. She would show up at places I was at, profess her love, make scenes, and just act unhinged. Not unlike Audra’s current Theo situation, now that I was thinking about it. Then, she and my mother tried to cross every line conceivable to force my hand.
“I told her you would not be happy about it. But you know how she is,” McKenna said. I rolled my eyes because I knew exactly how our mother was. She was among the reasons I ran. But I’d already assured my sister I’d be there, and given how excited she was when I agreed, I couldn’t back out now.
“Well, I’m bringing someone then,” I countered.
“What?” McKenna shot back. “Who are you bringing? Is Donovan Wright, The Recluse, the hardest guy in the world to nail down, the most eligible bachelor looking-like-a-Hemsworth-brotherseeingsomeone? How are you just now telling me this? Or better yet, are you bringing a hottie friend? Please tell me it’s the hottie friend. Or is it who you were out with the other night, singing karaoke with?” She made another excited squeak.
“Relax, Mackey, not dating, but if you think I’m coming into this Evelyn ambush withouta buffer, you’re nuts.”
“Who’s nuts enough to walk into this with you?”
My mind was racing. Was I really going to proposition Audra to do this? I mean, in my mind, some more one-on-one time to stoke the obvious desire between us would be idea. When she looks at me, I can almost hear her gears turning. It would give me the opportunity to keep chipping away at her defenses, which were sky high. But I also knew she had so much going on. It was insane to think about bringing her into the lion’s den.
“Just a friend, McKenna.” I settled on.
“Well, the jury will be out on that. I can’t wait. Thank you for still coming, Van. I know this is a huge ask. You are the best.”
“Love ya, Mackey.”
We hung up and even though I had a tenuous plan to get Audra to come, I still was pissed at my mom. I did not want to deal with seeing Evelyn or be part of the ridiculous fucking thing. After years of not seeing them, the reintroduction was already starting on shitty ground. It was really going to send Evelyn over the edge if she saw me with another woman, too, but I couldn’t find myself to care. I hadn’t seen her in years either, and certainly hadn’t given her the time of day in longer than that. She couldn’t have just been waiting around for me, biding her time, right?
Coming out of the office, Audra picked up on my mood despite my attempt to conceal how I was feeling. She was so attuned to reading people.
“Everything ok?”
“Yeah, my sister just needed to run something by me quickly.”
She didn’t buy my load of bullshit for a second, but gracefully changed the subject. “Donovan, I really love these shoes.It was so incredibly thoughtful and wholly unnecessary. You have such a kind and beautiful heart. Thank you.” She got up and walked around the island of the kitchen to hug me and show off the shoes she had put on. I wasn’t even pretending to play it cool; I wrapped both of my long arms around her and she melted into the hug. No one had ever commented on my heart before.
“So, what’s the plan for today? I was thinking I could call Murphy, and he can look at the car, then I can take you to the police station to talk to them. I think it’s important to get official documentation for harassment,” I suggested.
“I need to help Cora stock the store today at ten, but there’s some flexibility there. Were these shoes to get me to agree to anything, Donovan?” she snickered.
“If I were calling in favors for shoes, it wouldn’t be to go to the police station, my dear. But that’s priority number one today. Any chance you’ve been writing things down?”
She nodded. “Yeah, I’ve been documenting everything on my end.”
“Good, it should be pretty straightforward then.”
Calling Murphy, I arranged for him to meet us at Grá. At day drinking yesterday, I learned that not only did he have a car obsession, but he also worked on them as a hobby. I’m sure Audra already knew that though, considering she specifically mentioned the twins yesterday. God, was that only yesterday?
I planned to get the car figured out, do our business at the police station, and then I’d ask her to come to New York to sit through an insufferable dinner with my family. Yeah, I was sure she’d be super into it. Going on a trip with a guy who clearly had an attraction to her that she won’t act on, on the heels of filing a police report against a stalker.Great timing. I rolled my eyes at myself as we made our way out the door to tackle the day.
33
AUDRA
