Page 11 of The One Who Changed Everything

He grimaced, running a hand over his face. “Yes, of course I did. Sam, I just wanted to talk to you. I felt like the biggest jerk in the world,” he said with a groan. “What happened in that bathroom… I wasn’t… I’m not the kind of guy who does that. I didn’t–don’t–do hookups.” He jerked a shoulder. “Maybe it doesn’t matter now. After all, it’s been fourteen years, but I wanted you to know. I wanted to apologize. It never should have happened.”

A thousand thoughts flickered through my mind. He regretted it. He claimed he didn’t do hookups, but somehow we ended up in the club bathroom of all places? I’d spent fourteen years ashamed of the way my daughter came into the world. But I could never regret it.

Evan wasn’t done. “I hired an investigator about a year after the fire. To track you down.”

My blood turned to ice, despite the heat of the water. “You did?” The words squeezed through the tightness in my throat. It wasn’t as though I’d hidden from him. I wouldn’t even know how.

He huffed and lifted one corner of his lips. “Yeah. Apparently, Samantha Brown is common enough he was never able to track you down. Not that I had much to give him to go on. I knew you were from Indiana and went to school at DePaul. But he could never track you down.”

I pressed my eyes shut, my breath escaping in a rush. I didn’t know whether to cry or praise God for the misunderstanding. “I went to DePauw University, Evan.”

“Right. DePaul.”

“DePauw,” I corrected. “With a W.”

I glanced back at him then. His brow was furrowed in confusion. “What?”

“DePauw University. It’s in Greencastle.” Twenty minutes up the road. Other than my big trip to Florida as a college student, my world remained very small.

Evan sat up so fast, the water splashed up my neck. “You weren’t in Chicago?”

I shook my head slowly. “I’ve never even been to Chicago,” I admitted. I hadn’t had the opportunity before that trip to Florida, and I had certainly avoided the city ever since, knowing what I did about the Mercer family.

Evan gritted his teeth. I watched in shock as he dropped his head into the water, covering his face. I could hear a muffled sound, and a deluge of bubbles engulfed the sides of his face, like he was yelling under the water. Then, he lifted his head and ran his hands down his face, wiping away the droplets.

“Ummm, what was that?”

Evan sighed and muttered. “DePauw University. All this time I could have found you and it turns out I’m just an idiot.”

My lips twitched, tugging into a reluctant smile. “It’s an understandable mistake.”

He shook his head. “I remember every single thing you said to me that week. But I missed that.”

“It’s not a big deal,” I said. “Like you said… it’s been a long time.”

He didn’t answer, and the silence settled comfortably around us. It felt like something was resolved now. He’d said what heneeded to. He’d apologized. But my own secrets were still there, palpable as ever.

"Getting late," I murmured eventually, more to remind myself than him. I rose from the comforting heat of the hot tub, bracing against the cool night air as I wrapped myself in my towel.

In the glow of the patio lights, Evan's profile was etched with lines of thoughtfulness, his kind eyes shadowed by the weight of things left unsaid. "Let me walk you back," he offered, and something in the simple kindness of his gesture unraveled a thread of my resolve. He rubbed his hair with the towel, then slung it around his hips, his washboard abs deeply defined in the reflection and shadows of the dim lights.

“I’m fine,” I insisted. The last thing I needed was him to see something at my apartment that would tip him off about Sophia. Was her bike still in the front? Would she have woken while I was gone? I left her a note, but what if she opened the door?

“It’s dark. Better safe than sorry,” he said with a crooked grin.

“It’s also Minden,” I replied with a laugh, trying to cover my hesitation. “I know you’re new here, but surely you’re aware of our low crime rate.”

“Low isn’t zero,” he said firmly.

I sighed as though I was annoyed, but I couldn’t deny the little gleeful thrill his protectiveness sent through my body.

We reached the pool gate, his arm brushing against mine as he held the gate open —a touch that sent whispers of electricity skittering across my skin.

"Thanks," I said, suddenly conscious of the proximity.

His smile was gentle, but it tugged at something inside me, leaving me yearning for a reality where complications didn't loom over every interaction.

The air seemed to grow denser with each step we took toward my apartment, a pressure building in my chest that mirrored thetightening grip of anxiety. I couldn't shake the image of Sophia peeking through the window, Evan seeing her curious eyes on us and dunking me headfirst into a lifetime’s worth of questions I wasn't prepared to answer.

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