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Now was a good time for me to leave.
I nodded to the empty spot beside her. “Mind if I join you?”
“I don’t even know if I care at this point.” Exhaustion bled into her voice. Frustration.
Whatever she was dealing with, it went beyond me.
“Why do you know so much about RC planes?” Evie’s question knocked me off-balance. It was the same thing she asked yesterday, but let me brush off then.
Did I want to change the subject again? “My knowledge is more about tanks, though there are a lot of similarities and some shared history.”
Apparently I was going to let the question ride.
Evie huffed a laugh. “Not an answer.”
“My husband built them. He loved them.” The memory didn’t hurt as much as I expected, but the sting was still there.
“You’re married.”
Was that surprise?
“What’s the line from the ceremony? Right. Till death do you part. So technically no. I’m not married anymore.”
“I’m sorry.” She sounded sincere.
“Me too.” It was weird to talk about things this way. As in, directly…ish. “He would’ve liked you.”
“How do you figure?”
“He didn’t put up with my shit either.” I glanced at her with a wry smile. “Also, he had a great deal of respect for anyone who could solder cleanly.”
This time her laugh wasn’t so rough. “Grandpa would’ve hated you.”
I had a feeling that wasn’t a random comparison. “Why?”
“You and he have a lot in common.”
“Ouch. You remind me of my grandpa isn’t what most men want to hear. Regardless of the situation.”
“He never gave up either,” Evie said. “You two would’ve butted heads until you were both bruised and battered.”
“So you inherited that from him.”
“I guess I did.”
Silence settled in again, this time more comfortably.
I didn’t realize I was inching my fingers toward Evie’s, where she had them splayed over the bench between us, until she pulled away.
Evie was on her feet in a blink. “I should go.”
“Don’t.” I stepped in her path as if our entire history didn’t say that was the worst way to get her to listen to me.
She paused anyway, with so little space between us I was surprised there was enough air to breathe.
Evie caught my gaze, staring at me with the same intensity in those stunning green eyes that had captivated me since the first time I saw her. She licked her lips. “I’m not going to sell to you.”
I probably deserved that response, after the way I’d been hounding her. “That’s not what this is about. Don’t misunderstand—I don’t give up—but tonight is about two people enjoying each other’s company. And for what it’s worth, I truly am sorry. The moment I realized who you were, when we first met, I should’ve said something.”
