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“Oh. Well, sweetie, protectin’ the well-being of her child is not an excuse.”
Frowning, Lawson shot back, “You say that like I’m some sort of predator.”
“Sweetheart, you know I don’t think that. In fact, I think it’s wonderful she’s going to have you in her life. But she’s still so young. There’s a difference between her not mindin’ havin’ you around and truly understandin’ what it means that you’ll be around for the long haul. How you fit into their lives—it is hard to explain to a little girl whose world has been carefully constructed by her single mother.
“Now, I don’t say this to hurt your feelin’s, it’s just the God’s honest truth: you have very little idea of what it means to be a father. No doubt you’ll learn, and in short order—but until you do, you need to trust Nora.”
Lawson didn’t need to wonder if Gale was right. He knew. It’s why he sought her out in the first place. He knew he could trust her advice, even if he didn’t like it. As he grabbed another cookie, he didn’t admit to himself that he was trying to chase away his regret, but it was true. The last thing he wanted to do was think of Evelyn as a roadblock. She was part of the family he was trying to build.
“None of this would have been a problem if I’d have been man enough to get Nora back before Evelyn was born.”
“It’s an honorable thing, acceptin’ another man’s child as your own. I don’t blame you for hesitatin’ all those years ago. I know, deep down, you weren’t bein’ selfish so much as you were hurt. But God has a way of turnin’ things around and teachin’ you along the way.
“You might not have been man enough then, but you certainly are now. There’s no point in dwellin’ in the past. You can’t change it. Took you a long time to get here. Now that you are, don’t rush it. Let it play out the way it’s supposed to.”
He shoved the last bite of cookie into his mouth with nod. Speaking around the treat, he muttered, “Thanks, mom.”
“I’m lookin’ forward to Sunday. Been a long time since that sweet girl has been at our table.”
“Yeah. Me, too.”
“Speakin’ of Sunday—have a chat with your sister about that Liam character.”
Lawson arched an eyebrow at his mother. Liam was the guy stringing his sister along. Nobody particularly liked the guy, but Lawson disliked him the most, and everybody knew it.
“What about him?”
“I don’t know, actually. She didn’t seem to want to talk about it. But I asked her, with Mitzi and Nora-Jean comin’ over for Christmas, should we be expectin’ her Liam, too. She’s never brought him around before. Anyway, she told me no. She said we wouldn’t be hearin’ about Liam anymore.”
Lawson frowned, surprised he hadn’t heard the news from Justice herself. Then again, he’d been a bit preoccupied with his own relationship.
“Yeah, al’right. I’ll do some diggin’.”
“Thanks, sweetie. If anyone can get it out of her, it’s you. Now, do I need to be thinkin’ about makin’ you some lunch, or what? You’re puttin’ a hurtin’ on my cookies.”
Smiling, Lawson replied, “If you wouldn’t mind…”
“Are there gonna be other kids there?” Evie asked from where she sat on the closed toilet seat in Nora’s bathroom.
Nora-Jean glanced over at her daughter, whom she dressed in a pair of candy cane striped leggings, a green, corduroy, overall dress, and a plain white long-sleeved shirt. Her hair had been styled in a curly, high ponytail with, of course, her oft worn giant, white bow.
“I don’t know. We’ll bring a colorin’ book and your crayons just in case, okay?” she answered as she continued to style her own hair.
While Nora didn’t own anything nearly as festive as Evie, she’d done her best. She wore a long, cream, sweater with a pair of maroon leggings and her brown rider boots. She wasn’t entirely sure what to expect at the company gathering. Christmas parties weren’t an entirely new concept, but she didn’t know the people with whom Lawson worked. When they were growing up, they ran in the same crowd. Even when he went off to college to play football, or when he joined the Marines, Nora-Jean had always been by his side. His new experiences were hers as well.
Naturally, their split put an end to all that. He served for four more years after Nora moved back to Shelbyville. Whatever life he’d lived for the last two, she was still catching up. The more she thought about it, the stranger it felt that he had a whole community about which she knew nothing. Then again, hewasn’t hiding them from her. Now that they were back together, they had no secrets. Or, at least, they were getting there.
Nora set aside her curling iron and then glanced at her daughter once more. Evie smiled, and Nora marveled at how she’d gotten so lucky with such an endearing child.
“Come ‘ere, mini me. I want to talk to you about somethin’.”
Evie slid off the top of the toilet and crossed the short distance between them. Nora then lifted her up and sat her on the counter beside the sink, so they were closer to eye level with each other.
“It’s been just you and me livin’ in this apartment for a long time, huh?”
“Yeah. Except for when Auntie Belle stayed here. And Lawson.”
“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I never told you, but I’ve known Lawson for a long time. Almost as long as I’ve known Auntie Belle. In fact, I’ve known him since I got that bow you’re wearin’. He was mommy’s boyfriend for years and years.”
