Page 28 of All Because of You

Evan squeezed Madison’s hand, and the weight of his gaze upon her settled in her heart.

Madison put down the binoculars and turned to look at him.

He laced their fingers together and rubbed circles across the top of her hand. “That was incredible. How do you know so much about whales?”

“Aunt Chrissy and I checked out a bunch of books from the library and studied them together.”

“Ah, and thus the librarian was born.”

“Pretty sure I was born with a book in my hands.”

“That would have been something to see.”

She smiled. “Anyway, it kind of became the first thing we connected on. After my parents died, I pretty much shut down. It was hard for Chrissy—for anyone—to draw me out.” It had taken a while for Madison to open up, make friends. But Chrissy never gave up on her.

“I can’t even imagine what that must have been like. I mean, my parents aren’t always my favorite people, but to lose them at such a young age . . .”

She sighed and found herself leaning against his side, watching the water undulate. He let go of her hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “The sad truth of it is, I didn’t really know my parents. Not all that well, anyway. They were gone a lot for work, always jetting off around the world. Leaving me behind with a nanny and a mountain of books.”

“Books became your refuge.”

“Yeah. And Aunt Chrissy, she saw that, how attached I was to them. She figured out a way to enter into my world and become part of it.” Her chest squeezed. “I miss her.”

“Me too.” Evan’s voice was low, almost reverent somehow, as it often was when he spoke about Aunt Chrissy.

He really had cared for her too, hadn’t he? How could Madison ever have accused him of anything less? “I’ve been wanting to ask—how did you and Aunt Chrissy get close, anyway?”

With a smile in his voice, he told her about how Aunt Chrissy had pulled him into doing some chores for her, then rewarded him with sweets, slowly breaking down his walls with conversation and sage wisdom. He credited her with helping him to turn over a new leaf, infusing him with confidence that real change was possible if he focused on what he wanted.

When he finished talking, Madison found herself smiling. “That sounds like something she’d do.”

“What? Take in a stray in need of a second chance?” He chuckled.

“Well, youdohave the most adorable puppy-dog eyes.” Oh man, pour on the cheese, why didn’t she? “What I mean is that she had the uncanny ability to see the hurt in others and do whatever it took to speak into their lives. I never would have become who I am today without her.”

And yet, because Madison had acted so selfishly in staying away from Walker Beach, Aunt Chrissy had been without family in her final days.

Her hand trembled as she pushed away a few tears.

“Hey.” Evan pulled back and looked into Madison’s eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” An urge to lean into his arms again tugged at her. What was he doing to her resolve to stand on her own two feet? “I’m just realizing that I wasn’t a good niece.”

“That’s not what Chrissy thought. She never stopped talking about you. That must be why I feel like I’ve known you all my life.”

Except, he’d known her better than most—and not because of Chrissy. “You really don’t remember, do you?” Or didn’t know at all. Which was it?

His nose crinkled. “Remember what?”

“The letters.”

“Letters?”

“Yeah. Senior year. The pen-pal program?”

His mouth pulled tightly. “What about it?”

She almost dropped it right then and there. If the past Evanhadmeant it all as a cruel joke, she almost didn’t want to know anymore. But this Evan, he was different. She knew that now. Why would he fake all of this?

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