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He didn't respond, just hit the switch on his chair and rolled away, leaving her sitting on the bench surrounded by shrieking kids, laughing parents, and the scents of a thousand good things.
Eva pressed her fingers into her eyes and tried to think how to fix this. But she knew there was no good answer. Some things in life had no solution.
Sometimes life just hurt.
15
JAKE WENT TO church that morning. He didn't know why. He just got up, fixed a cup of coffee, and sat on the porch of his small garage apartment behind his aunt Opal's house and watched a few cardinals hop around in the waxy camellias surrounding the backyard. At some point he decided he didn't want to go back to bed, watch SportsCenter, or mow Aunt Opal's front lawn. He wanted to go sit with his family in their pew and watch his father give a no doubt polished, yet heartfelt message of God's love.
Yeah, he was as shocked as everyone who stared as he ambled down the aisle during the opening hymn. A few people even stopped singing "Rock of Ages." But his mother merely smiled and scooted over so he could sit beside her. The woman never missed a note. His father looked confused... may have even lifted his eyes heavenward... but he didn't fall off his chair behind the pulpit
The sermon was about the prodigal son.
Jake almost laughed when he heard the topic but managed to suppress it. His brother John, however, did give him a brow wiggle thing that suggested he'd played his part to perfection.
After church he followed his parents like an obedient duckling to their large house, where lunch would be served.
"Jake, can you grab the rolls out of the pantry and pop them in the oven?" Fancy said, tying on an apron and lifting the lid of the slow cooker. ''Abigail, put the carrots on. They're on the second shelf of the fridge."
Jake sank into the moment, enjoying slapping a pat of butter on each roll as his siblings rushed around him. Usually, such things threatened to suffocate him, but he needed something at that moment. And that something was the comfort of people who truly loved him.
Unfortunately, Eva had not been in church. Subconsciously, he'd thought she'd be there, and maybe that was the reason he'd worn a button-down shirt and old tie. Eva usually attended church. But not that morning.
Why?
Did it have something to do with the palpable tension that had sat between her and Clint on the way home yesterday? Or maybe the curt goodbye she'd given him? Or the fact Charlie had pitched another fit when she hadn't let him have the money to go on the Ferris wheel for the third time?
Something about the look in her eyes had... made him ache for her in a whole different way.
He didn't like sad Eva. Seeing the pain in her smile, and the way she tiptoed around both him and Clint had made him want to fix things for her. But hell, he'd never been able to fix himself, so what could he do but crack jokes the entire way home? Be the same Jake he'd always been. The one everyone expected. But that morning he'd craved something different. Obviously. He'd ended up here, at his parents' house, the place he'd been both the best and worst of himself.
"So where's Eva?" Abigail asked, pushing him aside to grab a hot pad.
"How should I know?" he said, slamming the drawer when Abigail moved.
"Wow, you're awfully prickly," his sister said.
Fancy looked up from stirring something with fruit in it."Is everything okay with you, Jake? Have you done something to keep Eva away?"
"Jesus," he breathed, wishing he'd stayed his ass home. "I'm not Eva's keeper."
His mother narrowed her eyes but went back to stirring. Abigail shot him a look he couldn't decipher and thankfully didn't have to, because John and Shelby came into the kitchen. John carried Lindsay Rebecca, who gave everyone a gummy smile. His brother snuck a cherry off the top of the fruit his mother was stirring, earning himself a smack.
"Hey, is Eva coming today?" John asked him.
Jake set the knife on the counter and walked out of the kitchen.
"What the hell is up with you?" John called out.
"Watch your mouth, mister,” his mother responded. Jake looked for his keys. He usually carried them in his pocket, but his only pair of khaki trousers were a bit too snug and so he'd set them... somewhere. Maybe on the buffet or-
Birdie walked by, dangling them. "Looking for these?"
Jake tried to snatch them, but Birdie pulled them back. "You can have them as soon as I get my check. Make it payable to Bridgette Orgeron. Feel free to add in a tip. I did make Charlie blow his nose once and made him wash his hands after jumping in the bouncy."
"I don't have my checkbook."
''Then cash will work."
