Page 7 of Falling for You
“It’s me, Uncle Evan,” a gap-toothed mouth squealed. Jackson was the oldest, and he had recently lost his first tooth. Sophie sent nearly a hundred texts documenting the momentous event, complete with pics of bloody tissues that were better suited for a crime scene.
“How are you, Jackson? How’s the tooth?” Evan took a bite of his dinner, eagerly awaiting his nephew’s play-by-play. There was a reason Sophie was documenting the tooth, and it had everything to do with the kid peering into the screen.
Jackson held a grubby hand up, opening it to reveal the tooth. “I still have it, but Mommy said the tooth fairy needs it.” The boy frowned, clearly discouraged it was no longer his property.
Evan laughed. “It’s the way of the world, little man. You gotta do what your mom says.”
“But why?” Jackson asked, looking annoyed.
“Because she’s the boss,” Emily chimed in, leaning back on the couch and rubbing her growing belly. Evan felt his chest tighten at the scene in front of him; another sister growing up and living her life. He was so proud of his family.
“I’m here, too!” Mallory shouted through the computer. “I’m just heating something up,” she said over the beeping of a microwave.
While Sophie and Emily were currently stay-at-home moms, Mallory was an ER nurse with a nightmarish schedule. Much like Evan, she was more focused on working and setting up her own life than creating new ones.
“Hey, Mal,” he greeted with a salute.
Mallory squinted into the camera, carefully assessing what everyone was eating. “It looks like Evan wins again for best dinner.” She sighed as she peeled a plastic sheet off her frozen dinner. “You might need to hook me up again when I visit tomorrow. Those leftovers were the best thing I ever ate.”
Evan beamed at her praise as he tucked into his stew. For twenty minutes, all talk focused on the kids and everyone’s jobs. Finally, Sophie asked Evan what she asked every week. “So, Ev, any news on the job front?”
Evan tried not to let it bother him that his sisters, at least two of them, thought like their father. They wanted Evan to use his degree and “grow up,” as they kept telling him. But he felt he was using his degree, only not like they wanted. Freelance workwaswork.
Taking a moment to collect himself, he sipped his beer. “There’s a food truck competition coming up this spring, and I think the diner is going to enter.” That wasn’t necessarily true, but Evan was going to convince Max. “Plus, I’m working on a few freelance web design projects. You know, keeping busy.” Evan lifted one of his shoulders as he finished his beer. If Sophie kept up with her interrogation, he’d need another one for sure.
Mallory, always his cheerleader, smiled and gave a thumbs-up. “And don’t forget, tomorrow is kung fu marathon night!”
For years, more years than anyone could remember, the siblings got together and watched a kung fu movie marathon on cable. These days no one had cable anymore, but that didn’t stop Evan from finding a barrage of movies on Netflix. A few clicks, and he was in kung fun heaven. Sophie and Emily were too busy, and far away, but he and Mallory kept the kung fu tradition alive. They’d stock up on food and drinks and spend a whole night watching their favorite films.
“You’re damn right it is. I’m all ready for you, Mal.” Evan winked and collected his dishes.
Emily offered a playful eye roll as she adjusted herself on the couch. She grimaced and rubbed her back, and Evan wished he was there to help her—even though he wouldn’t know what to do.
“How much longer until your due date?” Sophie asked, reading everyone’s minds.
“Another six weeks, and, frankly, I don’t know how much more I can stand.” As it usually did, all conversation turned to pregnancy talk. Growing up in a houseful of women made Evan tough, and he never felt squeamish with these lines of conversations. However, tonight he felt more distracted. He couldn’t get CeCe out of his head. Not that it was anything new. She usually filled his thoughts when they weren’t together, but tonight especially. Something was up, and it was killing him.
Pulling Evan from his musings, Sophie asked, “Anyone special in your life, Ev?” That was another one of his sisters’ favorite topics: his non-existent love life. Evan felt like if he could find a girlfriend, it would take the heat off the job concerns. But he was hardly going to pour his heart out to his bloodthirsty sisters.
Emily patted her belly and sighed. “By your age, I’d already met Zach. Don’t let time pass you by,” she said in a playful, yet warning, tone.
Mallory scoffed, “Um, hello? I’m older than Evan and I have no prospects.” She raised an eyebrow that made Evan squirm in his seat. Mallory was the baby girl, but she was not a doormat. “What about my ovaries? Why are you always busting Evan’s balls?”
Sophie scowled and sipped from her wine glass carefully before responding. “We know you’re busy with your career, Mal. You still have time.”
Mallory wasn’t satisfied with their sister’s answer. Evan could practically feel Mallory’s irritation radiating through the screen. “I wish you both would come down to Buckeye Falls with me. If you saw some of the things Evan was doing, you’d change your tune.”
Both Sophie and Emily had the decency to look embarrassed, since Evan had made it clear there was always an open invitation to Buckeye Falls ... and the diner ... and his life. He was an open book, and even though his family didn’t like the genre, it was his book. He owned every chapter.
Just when Evan was about to thank Mallory, she took things a step too far. “Besides, it’s not like Evan isn’t trying to get a girlfriend. She’s not ready yet.”
Emily perked up, pointing toward a corner of her screen. “So you do have someone in mind? I knew it! That one time I called you, I heard a woman’s voice in the background.”
Evan said, “That was Helen. She’s in her fifties and happily married. You’re way off base.” He couldn’t fight the grimace at the notion of dating his older coworker.
Mallory was like a dog with a bone. “Ev, come on. You have a major crush on CeCe. No point denying it.”
Mallory had been out to the diner several times before. The first day she saw CeCe and Evan together, she’d hounded him for weeks about his obvious feelings. Evan felt the top of his ears turn crimson, but he didn’t speak up.
