Page 36 of Chance
Evie’s sobs.
They broke something in me.
I’d caused that.Her tears were my fault.
Evie
I hidin my room for the rest of the weekend.With the bedroom and front doors open, something I checked every time I went to the bathroom.
Reid kept Chance away after Evy explained to him that I had a small issue with being behind a shut door.I wasn’t sure he fully understood how broken I was, how desperate I would get if I knew the door was closed, but he was nice enough to pacify me.
Monday morning, I woke up to a small panic-inducing situation.Hearing an unfamiliar, deep voice pulled me from a restless sleep.Grabbing my favorite cardigan, one that Evy and I both usually wore in the mornings, I rushed out of our room to find a large, muscular man with more tattoos than bare skin in our living room.He was dressed in black slacks and a white polo that read Trinity County Sheriff’s Department on the left chest, a utility belt around his waist.
A utility belt that held a Taser and a gun.
Reid stood with him, arms crossed over his chest, listening intently to whatever the scary policeman was saying, while Evy sat on the couch looking sleepy, not the least bit concerned.My twin’s lack of a reaction to the newcomer’s presence eased some of my anxiety.
“What’s going on?”I stumbled forward, terrified this man was there to take my sister away from me.
Reid gave me a reassuring smile as he nodded to the man at his side.“This is Ben Davis, Lexa’s husband and the sheriff.”
“Ma’am.”Ben held out his hand, and I hesitantly placed mine in his.
“Hi?”I whispered, sending my sister a questioning look.
“Please don’t get alarmed.I’m not here to arrest anyone,” he said, his deep voice turning oddly soothing.That was almost as scary as his natural tone.It gave a false sense of security.“I was made aware of certain incidents over the weekend.This morning, a few different messages were placed on my desk.Nothing official.I just wanted to stop by and have a chat.”
“He asked me if I wanted to file a restraining order against Rory Reid,” Evy told me with a smirk.“I told him no, of course.”
“You should have taken him up on the offer,” I grumbled.That woman had not impressed me.She and her son could both kick rocks—whatever the heck that meant.It didn’t sound particularly bad.Unless they did it with bare feet.Then maybe it would hurt.But knowing Chance, his feet were probably as tough as his hard head, so it wouldn’t cause him a moment of discomfort.
“There is a statute of limitations, so Everly has time if she changes her mind,” Ben informed us, a smile tipping his lips.At first glance, he was intense, but now that my heart rate had returned to something resembling normal, I was able to acknowledge how pretty he was to look at.
“Thank you for making us aware, Sheriff, but like I said, there won’t be a need.”
“Maybe call me the next time you run into an unruly customer, though, yeah?”Ben suggested.
“Why waste public resources on something that only takes a moment of my time?”Evy took a sip of her coffee.He lifted a brow at her.“Fine.I’ll call for reinforcements should the need arise in the future.”
“Meaning she will call me, her man,” Reid told him.
“Wouldn’t expect otherwise,” he said with a grunt.“Just put my name somewhere on the list of people who need to be informed.This might surprise you, but I actually do shit around this place.I have a whole-ass county to protect and serve.I’m an elected official.”
“You’ve run unopposed for close to twenty years, man.No one wants your job.”
“That’s because no one wants to have to deal with Raven Reid on the regular.And they know they would have to if they took over my job.”
Reid snorted, which sounded like an agreement.
After the sheriff left, I attempted to get my life in order.I had class that afternoon.Not sociology, but another one of the required courses for my degree.There was no Abi to distract me from looking at the closed door, but I did notice a window that was open, and I sat by it, pretending I was outside while the breeze blew lightly.I didn’t hear much of the lecture, too lost in my own head, which was fine since it was also recorded, and I could access it through my student portal whenever I needed to.It was just another tool to expose me to more people, in an attempt to fix my broken pieces.
As soon as I was out of class, I texted Evy to check in.She was at work, despite both Mila and River telling her she didn’t need to worry about her shift.My sister was stubborn, though, and she wanted to prove herself.
I was halfway back to our apartment when my phone rang.Paused at a stop sign, I glanced at the screen.It wasn’t a number I’d programmed into my contacts, so it was unfamiliar.Typically, I didn’t answer unknown calls, but I hit connect anyway.“This is Evie.”
“Evie, hi,” came a light, feminine voice.“Thank you for answering.I was expecting to get your voice mail.”
“You’re welcome?”
