Page 82 of The Husband I Left

He looks up from the board and studies me for a moment. “Not yet,” he says, and slides his queen across the board. “Checkmate.”

I stare at the trap I never saw coming, and then back up at him.

“But,” Joe adds, gathering the pieces to set up the board again, “you’re close, kid. You’re getting close.”

Chapter 30

Genny

“So let me get this straight,” Evan says slowly. “I want to make sure I have the timeline correct.” He starts ticking off points on his fingers. “He quit his job. And not just any job. He stepped down as CEO of his family’s empire. His father cut him off. He traded his penthouse for a tiny apartment in your building, which is…not one of the nicest places to live, to be honest. He cooks you dinner every night. He held your hair when you were sick, which honestly, that’s true romance right there.”

“Evan.”

“Genny. I hate to say this. Truly. It causes me physical pain. But the man appears to be trying.”

“But that’s the problem, isn’t it?” I pick up a mozzarella stick even though I’m not very hungry.

“I don’t follow.”

“How do I know, Evan? What if he really has changed? What if this is really who he is now? And what if it’s not? What if it’s all an act?”

Evan leans back in his chair. “So you’re scared he’s lying,” he says, “and you’re scared he’s not.”

“Well…yeah.”

“You know there’s really only one way to find out if Oliver has actually changed.” Evan’s eyes suddenly drift to the front of the restaurant, and he breaks out in a grin. “Oh, this is too perfect.”

“Evan, no,” I say. “Whatever you’re about to do, no.”

“Hi, Oliver!” he calls out, waving enthusiastically over my shoulder.

My stomach drops through the floor and keeps going.

I reluctantly turn in my seat, and there they are. Oliver is standing just inside the door, Leo beside him, both of them mid-conversation with the hostess. Oliver’s head comes up when he hears his name, and I watch as he finds Evan, and then me, and then makes a guess as to what we’re doing here together. His face falls. He recovers almost instantly, but for a moment there; he looked absolutely gutted, and I saw it. I should be enjoying it. After everything he put me through with Victoria, a little jealousy is the least he deserves.

Instead, I feel terrible, and I’m annoyed at myself for feeling terrible.

“Evan, don’t.”

Evan predictably does not don’t.

The hostess is leading Oliver and Leo to the back of the restaurant when Evan leans out into the aisle and flags her down.

“Excuse me! Hi. Hi there. I’m so sorry to interrupt, but — Oliver! He’s my uncle’s brother’s fifth cousin, twice removed. On my mother’s side. Well, my uncle’s brother’s side. We haven’t seen each other in ages. Ages. Family reunions just aren’t what they used to be. Do you think it would be possible to seat him and his good friend here with us?”

The hostess just stares at Evan. “Your uncle’s brother’s…” she repeats slowly.

“Fifth cousin,” Evan confirms with complete confidence. “Twice removed.”

Leo has his hand over his mouth. I can see his shoulders shaking. Oliver is still staring at me, and I am wishing with every fiber of my being for a sinkhole. A convenient, building-swallowing sinkhole that would take me, this table, and this entire mortifying situation straight down into the earth’s crust.

The hostess is clearly at a loss. She stares at Evan. She looks at me. She turns to Oliver and Leo and asks, “Did you want to be seated with them?”

Leo, who has clearly caught onto the joke, opens his mouth to answer, but Oliver cuts him off.

“It’s up to her,” he says quietly.

My throat feels tight. Every instinct is telling me to say no. To let the hostess take them to their own table, to have dinner with my friend in peace, to continue to keep my distance and protect myself.