“He might fuck you, sweetheart, but he’ll never commit. The only woman he wants is the one he can’t have.”
Evie’s brow furrows. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“He has been pining for the one that got away for the past twenty-five years.”
“Fuck,” I breathe out.
Evie grins. “Is that so?”
“What did you say her name was, Sarah-Beth?” Allison asks. “It was Enid or something, right? What was it? I can’t remember.”
“Evie!” somebody in the crowd shouts out. Several chuckles follow.
“Damn you, Little Robbie,” I mutter.
Evie laughs. “Can always count on you, Robbie!” She raises her fist in a triumphant pose.
“You know it,” he calls back.
“Evie, that’s it,” Allison says with a nod. “He’s in love with some woman he can’t have, named Evie, who doesn’t even live around here.” She throws up her hands. “He had a perfectly good chance here with Sarah-Beth, and he gave it up for nothing.”
“It wasn’t for nothing,” Evie says slowly. And my heart suddenly stops beating. Evie stares into my eyes. “Is it nothing, Grady?” she asks. “Do you feel nothing for this Evie person?” She grins wickedly at me.
“Right now, I’ve definitely got some feelings,” I say. I’m feeling like I could throttle her. But I’m also in love with h
er at the same time.
It’s a conundrum.
Allison tosses her hands into the air again. “It’s unrequited love, Grady!” she yells. “It’s never going to happen!”
“Oh, I wouldn’t say that.” Evie’s voice rings out loud and clear. She turns to face Sarah-Beth. “I’m sorry that it didn’t work out with you and Grady, and if you got your heart broken, I’m sure Grady’s sorry.”
“It smarted a little,” she admits quietly. “But it wasn’t the end of the world. I got over it.” She turns to level a look at her friend. “Now Allison needs to get over it too,” she growls. “I’m sorry she caused such a stir.”
“So am I,” Evie says. Evie touches my arm and whispers, “Say something, Grady.”
“Sarah-Beth, I’m sorry,” I tell her. And I do mean that, even though I’d rather not do it here in public. Still, I never meant to hurt anyone.
“It’s okay, Grady.” She grabs Allison’s arm to drag her out. At the last moment, she turns back. “It was nice to meet you. What was your name again?”
Evie sticks out her hand to shake. “I’m Evie,” she says calmly. “It’s nice to meet you. I just moved back to town.”
Suddenly, Allison flies at Evie, her fists raised, and she gets one good sucker punch in. Evie stands there, supremely poised, and she hands me her shotgun, which is still slung over her shoulder. “Hold this for a second, Grady.” I take it from her as I watch her lean over and spit out a mouthful of blood.
“Now, Evie,” I hear Little Robbie Gentry say as he walks over toward us, his feet eating up the ground as fast as he can move. “Don’t you—”
But he’s too late. I reach for her at the same time, but she already has a handful of Allison’s hair. She drags Allison’s face down to her raised knee and clocks her one good time, right in the nose. Then she stands her back up and stares into her face. “Nobody likes a sucker punch,” she says. She shoves her back, so that she stumbles right into Robbie’s arms. He catches her and pushes her behind him.
“Evie,” Robbie warns. But Evie is already dusting her hands and taking her shotgun back from me.
“You’re taking me for ice cream,” she informs me as she spits out another mouthful of pink-tinged spit. “I want chocolate with sprinkles and gummies. And hot fudge.”
“Get her out of here, Grady,” Robbie says, as he tries to quiet the squalling Allison who now has blood gushing from her nose. I hope for both their sakes it isn’t broken.
“I’m sorry, Grady,” Sarah-Beth says quietly. She wrings her hands together. She looks from me to Evie and back. “You two fit,” she says with a nod. “Now I see why it never could have worked for us.” She throws up her hands to illustrate. “You’re like two pieces of a puzzle that only fit one another. I wish you the best.”
Evie walks off, calm as can be, with her shotgun over her shoulder.