Page 54 of All Because of You

Then he headed to his truck without stopping.

After sliding into his seat, he leaned back against the headrest and closed his eyes. When his heart rate slowed a couple of minutes later, he loosened and removed his tie, flinging it onto the passenger’s seat.

His phone vibrated on the center console, and he picked it up. A text message from Ashley, probably thanking him again for tonight.

But wait. Below that, his eyes caught sight of a message he must have missed from earlier today. Not surprising since he’d kept his phone stuffed away while he’d been glued to his computer in preparation for the meeting. And yeah, he also hadn’t liked staring at the date at the top of the screen. As much as he was not a Hallmark holiday kind of guy, he’d been planning a really great Valentine’s Day for him and Madison, and canceling their reservations had nearly killed him.

When he swiped to open the text message, he straightened in his seat. It was from Madison, and she’d asked if he was free tonight. Right now.

And he’d ignored it. Or that’s what she’d think, anyway.

He held back a curse and typed in a response right away.Sorry, just saw this. I’m free now if you are?

Then he stared at the phone, waiting and praying for three little dots to pop up, proof that she was responding.

But nothing happened.

Should he head to her house anyway? What if she was asleep? Or mad that he hadn’t answered?

As he was pulling out from the parking lot, still unsure of which way he was going to turn, his phone vibrated again. Scooping it up, he took in the message.Come on over.

She didn’t have to tell him twice. He gunned it down the street toward her house, parked, and leaped out. Probably looked desperate, but he didn’t care. He’d thought they were over, but maybe . . .

When he got there, his fingers moved to ring the bell. But some sort of note was taped over it. The outside readTo My Not-So-Secret Pen Pal. He fumbled to remove the note from the bell.

His hands shook as he read. Then he hightailed it back to his truck, got in, and sped away.

Chapter 16

Madison’s fingers were nearly frozen through.

And no wonder. The temp tonight was in the forties, and the circulating air off the ocean was particularly cold. She’d huddled under the blanket she’d thrown in her car at the last minute. Of course, she wasn’t the only one at the park who’d dreamed up a late-night Valentine’s rendezvous, as evidenced by the number of cars in the parking lot and the small fires going all over the beach. But she’d bet she was the only one all by herself.

Maybe he wasn’t going to show after all.

“What did you expect, Madison? For him to rush back to you after you left without a word?” Yeah, she probably sounded crazy talking to herself, but moving her lips and exhaling air warmed her.

And made her feel not quite so alone.

But no. Even if Evan decided not to come tonight, she wasn’t alone. She had all the people who had made Walker Beach a home, and whatever came next, she would lean into them in the days to come.

Her rear had grown numb from the cold seeping through the rocks off Baker Community Park. She’d contemplated a number of spots to ask Evan to meet her, like the baseball diamond where they’d shared their first kiss, but this had seemed the most appropriate. Because this was where she’d first decided to really and truly trust him.

And now this was where she was going to ask him to trust her.

If he ever showed up.

Madison blew into her hands to spread her inner warmth outward. “Why did you have to come so early?” Two hours ago, in fact. She’d known he wouldn’t even be out of his weekly meeting until at least eight-thirty, but seven o’clock had rolled around, and she couldn’t wait at home any longer.

Of course, there had been the possibility that he wouldn’t find her note at all. But she’d clung to her faith in him, her faith in what they had, and she’d come anyway. Now that he’d probably found it, what would he think? What would he do?

At least the full moon overhead kept her company.

The sound of crunching rocks drew her attention to the right, and she gulped the sudden anxiety clawing at her throat. Evan crested the hill, hands clutching a white paper that shone against the darkness overhead. When he caught sight of her, he stopped—and so did her breath.

“Hey.” Her throat contracted, turning her greeting into an imitation of Kermit the Frog. Madison told her legs to stand, but she couldn’t force herself to do so. Her fingers curled tighter as she gripped the blanket around her shoulders.

“Did you mean this?” He waved the note in the air as he advanced, lowering himself to the sand-littered ground beside her despite his dress pants.

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