Page 34 of Everlasting Promises

“Yep.”

I tip my head to the side. “Okay, then.”

Picking up my clippers, I repeat the process with his hair and as his locks fall at my feet, sadness washes over me because I know he’s going to look less like a little boy and more like a teenager. Something I’m not ready for.At all. I feel like I’ve missed a lot of the last six years because I was too busy drowning in my grief and barely surviving. And now it’s too late to get those years back.

He sits still as I shape and cut his hair, and the second I’m finished, he bolts inside to look at himself in the mirror. He races back out a few minutes later with an enormous grin and throws his arms around me. He’s behaving more like the old Evan used to, not the moody boy he’s become since he started middle school.

“Thanks, Mom. It looks awesome.” His excitement diminishes a little as he turns to Ben, looking unsure. “Do you wanna read my stories?”

Ben’s eyebrows rise, and I can read the surprise in his expression.

16

BEN

The rhythmof my heart skips, and my brows rise at the privilege he’s bestowing on me. My chest fills with warmth at his willingness to share his stories with me—stories only his mom knows about.

“Evan, I’m sure Ben has things he needs to do at home,” Hope says softly, running her hand over the top of his fresh cut. The heartbreak of cutting his hair was plain to see on her face, but she fulfilled her son’s wishes over her own because she’s a fantastic mom.

There’s no way I’d turn Evan down when he’s sharing a part of himself he doesn’t share with anyone else. “I’d love to.”

“Thanks, Ben. You wanna come up to my room?”

“How about you bring your books down here?” Hope suggests.

“Okay.” He rushes inside, and Hope brings a broom and another chair outside. I take the broom from her and help sweep up the hair while she cleans and puts away her equipment. Bythe time we’re finished, Evan returns with several notebooks. “Which one do you want to start with?”

“How about you select one or two for Ben to read for now?” Hope tells him. What she doesn’t realize is that I’ll read every single story if it means I can stay longer.

When she was standing between my legs—so close that I could see the blue-green striations of her irises and watch her pulse flutter rapidly at the base of her sexy throat—it made me never want to leave.

As much as I think it pains her, I sense she’s equally attracted to me. The way she flushed pink and the breathiness of her voice were a dead giveaway. It’s been six years for her, and I wonder if she’s ever considered dating. Our conversation from a couple of weeks ago suggests she probably hasn’t, which means I need to take things slow.

He shuffles through the books and sets one aside, then shuffles through them some more, pulling out a second one. He picks them up and hands them to me. “I think these two are my best.”

Hope smiles, then heads toward the back door. “I’ll leave you two to it.” She disappears inside, and I miss her instantly, but return my attention to Evan and the gift he’s offering me.

“All right, give me a quick overview of each story, and I’ll choose which one to read first.” His eyes brighten as he explains each story to me. I hold up the blue notebook. “Okay, I’ll start with this one.”

Evan can’t contain his excitement as I flip the cover open, get comfortable, and start to read. Rex rests obediently at our feet, and Evan leans his chin on his fist, watching me. His brown eyes bore into the side of my head, and self-consciousness makes my neck itch, but I push through the discomfort and continue to read.

It’s a terrific story. I can tell it’s written by a kid, but it’s fantastic—better than I expected. I lift my eyes to Evan and smile at him.

“What did you think?”

I raise my eyebrows. “I have to be completely honest. I wasn’t expecting much, but I really enjoyed it. You have great characters, and the tension kept me turning the pages. I wanted to find out if the killer was who I thought—and if they’d catch her. It was the perfect length to keep my attention.”

His eyes widen. “Really?” He can’t hide his surprise.

I nod. “Yeah, really.” I place it on the table and grab the second book. “Is it okay if I read this one too?”

“Yeah.”

As the sun sinks closer to the horizon, I open Evan’s second story and lose myself in the world he’s created. The lead detective is the same; he’s just solving a different murder this time. The story is equally engrossing as the last one, and I’m eager to see how it ends.

Delicious smells waft from inside, and my stomach rumbles in response. Rex raises his head and sniffs the air where he rests between me and Evan. Tangerine and rose colors paint the sky, and the air is considerably cooler when I finally close the second story.

“Evan, I dunno what to say, man. You write fantastic stories. Do you think you’ll write for a living?”

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