Page 31 of When Fate Breaks
In more ways than one.
I had to come. I had already allowed the thought of seeing her to take form. There was no taking that back.
I kick harder at the stubborn panel, remembering the bile rising in my throat as I uttered the words agreeing to come here despite the fact that everything had just changed. Despite the fact that there was someone new invading this secret image I had kept tucked away. The one with the one in a million possibility of actually occurring. The one where Evangeline Jacks and I would cross paths again. Where we’d reenter each other’s lives. I wasn’t an idiot. I knew that ship had sailed long ago. But you can’t help but, once in a blue moon (and maybe after one too many beers with the guys), wonder:Damn, what if?
Well, mywhat ifcertainly never included this. Never included Pricky–
Sorry,Remy.Whatever.
I shake my head, silently thanking the universe for his quick departure about an hour ago that did not include a word to me. It doesn’t matter. We don’t need to speak. He’s not who–notwhat–I’m here for. An old friend of mine needed a favor. An old friend whose love life isn’t my concern.
Not anymore.
I hear faint squeaking along with a buzzing sound behind me at the same time a drop of sweat slides straight into my eye. “Shit,” I mutter, rubbing at it with the rolled up sleeve of my flannel. I reach behind my head, lifting up my backwards facing baseball cap enough to wipe the sweat collected at the top of my forehead and slick my hair back once before replacing the cap. I suddenly sense something in my peripheral vision, turning slightly to see Evangeline standing in the doorway of the greenhouse, her mouth agape and her hands full of bags, binders, and her cell phone.
“Oh,” I say. “Hey.”
Evangeline just continues to stare at me, her head slowly tilting to the side. The same strand of hair that always seems to fall in her face does so once again, and I fist my hands, fighting the urge to walk forward and push it behind her ear for her.
As the silence continues to stretch on, I realize that her eyes are trailing up and down my figure. I steel myself, removing my work gloves as I look down at myself and back up to her face when I don’t find anything out of place.
“What?” I question her.
Nothing.
“Words, Evangeline.”
She startles, as if breaking from a trance. “Oh, sorry. I just…thought I’d maybe stepped into a time machine instead of my shower this morning.”
I feel my lips pull into a smirk. “Forget about me already?”
Evangeline rolls her eyes at the same time I register the buzzing sound coming from her phone in her hand, going off every few seconds. “No, it’s not that. It’s just,” she pauses, waving her hand around in a circle in my direction. “I don’t know. I just had some weird déjà vu kind of moment. Just forget it.”
“I’ll try,” I say, finally knocking the glass panel loose.
“You’ve gotten a lot done already,” Evangeline says. “Like, just today. And it’s not even nine.”
“Early riser,” I say, shrugging my shoulders as I scoot past her in the doorway with the panel in hand.
“Since when?” she questions, looking between me and her continually buzzing phone.
“Since I had to.”
“Had to what?”
I lean the panel against the house, turning back to Evangeline. Her gaze quickly flicks from my midsection, back to my face, and then away.
Why does she keep doing that?
“Since I had to grow up,” I respond to her question.
“Oh,” she says, her brows pulling together. “I guess we did that, huh?”
“Yeah. I guess so.”
Unfortunately.
I shift on my feet as Evangeline swipes open another notification on her cell phone. I take the opportunity to examine her more closely. She’s wearing a cream colored button up shirt and light blue pants with white ballet flats. Her outfit, combined with the binders and notebooks still stacked up in her arms and the two large tote bags slung over her shoulder, makes it look like she could be heading to an office. It occurs to me for the first time that I have no idea what she does for work now. We’ve only small-talked about my job since I’ve gotten here and that’s the same as it’s been since the last time we were together.Well, pretty much the same.
