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He couldn’t remember the last time she’d called because she wanted him to be the first person to whom she’d told something important. It felt good, even if the context of the message pissed him off. He’d known that morning where he was going to spend the night. Her phone call had made it so he couldn’t get there soon enough.
As expected, his knock on Nora-Jean’s door fifteen minutes later was answered by Evelyn in her customary identification inquiry. He called out his reply while making a mental note to speak with Nora about a key of his own. As far as he was concerned, their current living situations were temporary. Lovely a home as Nora had made for herself and Evelyn, Lawson had bigger and better in mind. Though, until he could make such arrangements, a key to the place where he intended to rest his head at night was preferred.
“Hi, Lawson. Did you come back to play with me?” asked Evelyn as soon as she swung open the door.
“I would love to play with you. Can I go say hi to your mom, first?”
“Yeah. Hey, what’s in your bag? Are you gonna stay with us like Auntie Belle did?”
Before Lawson could begin to think of a reply, Nora spoke from where she stood at the sink in the kitchen. “Evie-B, time to wash up for dinner.”
“But mommy, Lawson said he’d play with me,” she insisted, hurrying to the mouth of the kitchen to plead her case.
Lawson shut the door behind him, discarding his bag beside the couch as Nora addressed her daughter.
“Evelyn Belle, it is time for dinner. We can play a game after we eat—but if you don’t listen, there will be no games and I’ll make you practice your letters instead.”
Evelyn was silent for a moment. After a brief pause, she hurried toward the bathroom to wash her hands. Lawson watched her go, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. When he shifted his attention Nora’s way, that same smile disappeared when he saw the storm brewing in her eyes.
“Hey,” he finally greeted, closing the distance between them.
“Hi. What’s with the bag?” she asked in a hushed voice.
He knit his eyebrows together in minor confusion. “I understand why Evelyn was askin’, but I’m not buyin’ that you don’t get it.”
“You could have called first. We should talk about stuff like this. I don’t want to confuse her.”
“If my bag is confusin’, I’ll just move in. Problem solved.”
“What? Don’t be ridiculous.”
She started to turn away from him, but he caught her around the waist before she could go anywhere. Pulling her against his chest, he frowned at her, keeping his voice low as he spoke.
“I’m not bein’ ridiculous. If I didn’t know better, I’d sayyouwere. I didn’t call you back earlier because you said you had a bunch to do today. And I didn’t see the point in callin’ when I got back in town if I was comin’ over. Given your present mood, I may have made the wrong choice.”
Nora sighed. “It’s fine that you’re here—”
“Baby, that wasn’t the choice I was referrin’ to. I know it’s fine I’m here, and we both know my bag’s not goin’ anywhere. We can talk about me movin’ in after you talk to me about what’sreallybotherin’ you.”
They stared into each other’s eyes for a few silent seconds before Nora freed another sigh. This time, as she did so, she leaned into Lawson, propping her forehead against his shoulder as her arms went around his waist.
“Okay, mommy, I washed my hands like you said.”
“Good job, Evelyn,” said Lawson, speaking over his shoulder. “Why don’t you sit at the table. We’ll be over in just a second.” He watched out of the corner of his eye as she obeyed, then turned to whisper in Nora-Jean’s ear. “We’re on borrowed time, babe. Talk to me.”
“I wanted you to call me back,” she confessed.
“Al’right. Noted. But gotta say, the way I remember it, we say what we mean, and we mean what we say. No games.”
“I wasn’t tryin’ to play games with you,” she murmured, pulling away enough to see his face. “I walked out of Billie’s shop, and I wanted to hear your voice. I wanted to hear you tell me that I had nothin’ to worry about and it was all gonna be okay. But halfway through my voicemail, it hit me that I’ve been doin’ this on my own for so long. It felt strange callin’ you…needin’ you.”
Lawson reached up with both his hands and pushed her hair away from her face. “You’re not in this alone. Not anymore. You need me, just say it.” He paused long enough to press a quick kiss against her lips before he continued, “Sorry I didn’t call you anyway.”
“You guuuuuuys,” said Evelyn, dragging out the word. “Can we eat dinner now?”
Nora pressed up on her tiptoes and kissed the corner of Lawson’s mouth before she stepped away from him and replied, “We’re comin’, baby.”
Friday morning, Lawson still didn’t have a key to Nora’s place.
