I nodded. I knew Layla was right. Though I didn’t know Evan all that well, I knew enough to know he was a kind and gentle man. A man who would treasure me, not harm or pity me. Still, everything was so new and I just wasn’t ready to tell him.
“Enough about me, what’s new with you?” I asked her.
Layla knew me well enough to know that I was done talking about it, so she happily changed the subject. We spent the afternoon eating burgers and fries, drinking our milkshakes, and laughing over the predicaments she got herself into with the numerous guys she went through. Part of me envied her for being able to go through guys like water. That was what twenty-three year olds were supposed to do. Another part of me, though, was glad that I had all I wanted with Evan right now.
I just hoped that I was enough for him and that he wouldn’t see me as damaged when he finally did learn my secret.
CHAPTER 17
EVAN
I heard a car pull into the driveway just as I’d finished putting the kids down for their nap. Liam was still asking about Melanie and I kept trying to tell him she’d be back soon. But the moment the front door opened I heard Liam’s feet hit the floor before he took off running.
“Mew!”
I heard her giggling just as I’d gotten Hadley to sleep, so I stepped out quietly and shut the door. I could hear Melanie murmuring to Liam while she walked him down the hallway, and I caught the back of her body as she walked into his room.
I could hear the soft sounds of Melanie’s singing coming from Liam’s bedroom before she stepped out and shut the door. It was a sound I could really get used to. I went to the kitchen to brew up another pot of coffee as Melanie sank down into the couch. I caught her gaze as she looked over at me and my heart thudded in my chest. If I wasn’t careful, I would fall for this woman hard.
I brought her a cup and sat down next to her. “You know, you didn’t have to come back today,” I told her.
She smiled as she wrapped her hands around the cup. “I know, but I just couldn’t stay away,” she said.
My gaze hooked on hers and the air grew thick around us.
She cleared her throat. “You know, from the kids,” she said, and I felt a hint of disappointment.
“Well, you are surely spoiling them. They love you,” I said.
“They are amazing,” she said as she gazed into the fire.
“So how was your friend?” I asked.
“She’s good. Crazy as usual.”
I smiled. “How long have you known her?”
Melanie smiled. “Since the first day of preschool. I was playing with a stuffed bear and she came over and took it from me. I took it back and hit her over the head with it. We’ve been inseparable ever since.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “I didn’t know you had a violent streak.”
Her eyes never left the fire as she answered. “Not until I need to,” she said cryptically.
There it was again. That nagging feeling that there was something in her past that she was hiding behind. I couldn’t help myself this time and I pushed just a bit farther. “If you want to talk about it—”
“I really don’t.”
Her eyes whipped over to mine and I could see a seriousness brewing behind them. I wanted to know what was going on with her, but I also didn’t want her to push me away. I decided to drop the topic for now. I couldn’t really demand she tell me when I wasn’t ready to spill my secrets either.
Her eyes turned back toward the fireplace and I quickly lost her again. Her motions were robotic as she drained the coffee from her mug. Her body was here, but her mind wasn’t. She was off in another land thinking about whatever it was that was plaguing her, and it wasn’t until her coffee mug was empty that she spoke up.
“That was a wonderful cup. Thank you,” she said.
“Would you like another one?” I asked.
“I really should get back to work,” she said.
“Doing what? The kids are asleep.”
“I saw their clothes piling up in the hamper. I figured I’d do a load of laundry so you could go get some work done.”
“My work can hold on long enough to do laundry. Let me get you another—”
“There’s no reason to tiptoe around me,” she said.
Her statement caught me off guard and it caused me to stay rooted to the couch.
“Go get some work done,” she said. “That was the agreement. I take care of the kids and the things that surround them so you can work. Their laundry is part of them, so it’s my responsibility.”