Page 16 of When Alec Met Evie
“Meh. Maybe. I hope so. So how has it been with Alec? Is it weird to be around him without me there?”
I think about Alec breezing into Ruth’s living room and calling menerd. “I thought it might be, but it’s totally fine. He’s been really nice.”
“Good. I warned him he’d better be on his best behavior.”
Juno whines a little from the backseat, so when we stop at the next stop sign, I shift the car into park and turn around long enough to give her a pacifier. “What does that mean?” I ask Megan. “Why does he need to behave?”
“Come on,” she says. “You know you used to have a crush on him when we were kids.”
“Please tell me you didn’t tellhimthat.”
“Pretty sure he could tell,” Megan says. “But no, I didn’t mention it. I just told him he’d better not try to woo you now that you’re all grown up and a smoking hot bombshell.”
I scoff. “Woo? Who still says woo? Besides, I promise he won’t try. He literallyjusttold me he sees me like a sister.”
“I mean, probably notexactlylike a sister,” Megan says. “But that does give me some comfort.”
In front of me, Alec slows and pulls onto a wide concrete driveway. When he reaches the house, he opens the garage door and pulls his truck inside, leaving plenty of room for me.
I park and turn off the car, then climb out, phone pressed to my ear.
“It brings youcomfort? Is the idea of me and Alec together that horrible for you?”
It’s a stupid conversation. Megan knows better than anyone what I’ve been through in the past year. She’s the one who held my hand through the divorce. Who helped me through Juno’s delivery when my idiot ex-husband didn’t want to be there. I shouldn’t be insulted because she doesn’t think a purely hypothetical relationship with her brother is a good idea.
“Are you kidding?” Megan says. “There’s nothing I would love more than having you as an actual sister. At least, I would if I thought Alec was ever going to settle down. But he’s been married to his hockey team for years. And you just went through so much, Evie. I don’t want you to get hurt, and I definitely don’t want my brother to be the one who hurts you.”
“That’s fair,” I say, somewhat mollified. I open Juno’s door and put Megan on speaker, tucking the phone into the front pocket of my overalls, speaker end sticking out the top. I reach into the car and pull out Juno’s carrier, then set her down on the driveway. She’s awake now but still a little dazed and sleep drunk, blinking like she doesn’t know which end is up.
You and me both, baby girl.
Alec appears beside me and holds his hand out for Juno’s carrier. “Can I take her inside?”
“Yeah, thanks,” I say. “I’m just talking to Megan.”
“Hi, Alec!” Megan yells through the phone. “Have I told you you’re the best brother ever?”
Alec grins as his eyes drop to my phone. “Is there anything else I can carry?”
I retrieve the portable crib from the trunk, then hand it over, along with the diaper bag and a second bag full of extra diapers and wipes. Both shoulders are laden with bags by the time hemakes his way inside, the crib in one hand and Juno’s carrier in the other.
I spend an extra long moment admiring the way his back and shoulders flex with the effort, then slam my trunk closed with a sigh. “I should get inside,” I say to Megan. “But trust me. You don’t have anything to worry about.”
“Stop it,” Megan says. “Don’t make it sound like that. I’m not worried aboutyou and Alec. I’m just worried aboutyou,in general. Your scars are still fresh, Evie.”
“It’s been almost a year,” I say. “Which, I’m not saying that because I want to date your brother. I’m just saying, maybe you don’t need to worry so much. I’m doing okay.”
Megan’s quiet for a beat before she asks, “You really think so?”
“I mean, my bank account balance is abysmal, I still can’t fit into my favorite jeans, and I’m hormonal enough to cry at every single dog rescue video that comes across my feed. But otherwise, yeah. I really think so.”
I circle the car and open the back door to get my duffle bag.
“In that case,” Megan says, “I think I should probably tell you something.”
“Okay,” I say through a grunt. This bag isreallyheavy.
“I have some news about Devon.”
