Page 38 of A Tinsel Tale

“You’re strong as hell, Evie. You can call it running. I call it resiliency. Took a lot of courage to push on through.” We’re both picking at our food like it’s boiled sheep head. She absently nibbles on a fry.

“Jamie?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry, too. I never gave you the benefit of the doubt. I needed to blame you for blowing up my life. I was selfish not to see that yours was just as shattered as mine.”

“Does this mean you can forgive me?”

She bites her bottom lip and smiles. When she nods my heart soars. I’ve been waiting for this since I was eighteen.

“How about you?” she asks.

“Forgive you? For what? As far as I’m concerned, it’s all on me.”

“Not really. You were doing the best you could. I guess we both were. The baby wasn’t meant to be. I still think about her.” She smiles shyly. “I felt like it was a girl. She’d be fifteen. Can you imagine?” There are tears in my eyes as we laugh together.

“We’re getting old, Evie,” I say. I pick up my burger and take a bite, my appetite miraculously returning. “Mm.” Double fisting my sandwich, I incline my head towards her plate. “Eat up.”

Evie picks hers up and opens wide to fit the “everything on it” cheeseburger she ordered.

She swallows then sips her milkshake. “Wow. Delicious.” She leans towards me and whispers, “It’s even worth going through Suzy to get it.”

“Agreed. Ready to get your butt kicked at the bowling alley?”

“Big talker. We’ll see about that.” We eat every last bite and I feel like a thousand-pound weight has been lifted from my shoulders.

20

EVIE

Iwatch the roadside illuminated by the truck’s headlights as we head to the bowling alley. I’m always on the lookout for deer or other critters even when I’m not driving. I’m not gonna lie, I’m a little rattled by what transpired at the diner. Did fifteen years of hurt really get resolved in one freakin’ hour? I sneak a glance at Jamie and as if sensing me he flashes a winsome smile, drawing me in like a bear to honey.

“Like what you see, Chicago?” he says.

My eyeballs drift heavenward, but truthfully, I think he’s the most captivating man I’ve ever met. “And if I do?” I tease.

“Important that I check in now and then… see if the answer has changed. Well? Don’t be shy.” He leans sideways across the truck seat tapping his cheek. “A kiss on the cheek says yes. If not, I’ll have to hang my head in despair.”

Impulsively, I sway towards him and plant a kiss on his cheek. “Yes, Jamie Parker. I like what I see, as if you didn’t already know that.” He grabs my hand kissing my palm and I quiver inside.This guy!

“When was the last time you bowled? Do they even know what a bowling alley is in Chicago?” he asks.

“Are you kidding me? One bowling alley has a sports bar with fancy cocktails, epic food, ping pong, billiards, arcade games and about twenty bowling lanes. So there.”

“Huh. Have you been?”

“That’s beside the point.”

“I knew it!”

“I went once. Honestly, it’s too big for me. It’s like the superstore groceries. I like smaller places. Too many people, too noisy, too everything.”

“That’s my girl. You know what they say, you can take the girl out of the small town but…”

I finish for him, “You can’t take the small town out of the girl. This trip is certainly proving that.”

“Don’t tease me like that.”

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