Page 62 of Home Sweet Home

“I’m not.”

“Not that I’ve been counting,” West said. “But since we got here, you’ve told me about five times, I can leave.”

Evie took a deep breath. “I want you to stay. I just don’t want you to stay because you feel obligated. Happy?”

“Very.” He pulled her closer to him on the couch, slinging his arm over her shoulders, his fingers softly grazing the top of her shoulder. “You want one of them?”

It took Evie a second to realize what West was talking about, but then she saw he had tilted his head toward Ryleigh’s room.

“Oh,” Evie said. The question threw her off guard, both because she was wondering what it meant, him asking her if she wanted kids, and also because for seven years, she’d been so busy staying afloat that she’d never really thought about it. “I don’t know. Maybe. I mean, there hasn’t been a second of my adult life that I haven’t had someone else to think about and put first. So maybe I want one, someday, but I think first I’m looking forward to having my own space, once Josh graduates. What about you?”

West shrugged. “I don’t know either. Part of me’s always wondered if it wouldn’t be a bad idea. You know, do it right.”

Evie thought of West’s dad and her own, and was overwhelmed by how deeply she understood what he meant.

West pulled her in even closer, his hand moving for the remote. “How about a movie?”

Evie nodded, and when West pressed the power button and the TV flickered on, the evening news started blasting. And West was on the screen—not him, but a photo of him from the game at Bend. In the photo, he was at the chain-link fence, his hands balled into fists by his side, fury flashing in his eyes, with Robert standing in front of him.

“Hawthorne’s attempt to get the public to forgive his steroid usage has gone awry after he was spotted—”

Evie fumbled for the remote and pressed the first button she could find. The TV flipped to another channel, an infomercial where a bleach-blond woman in a bubblegum-pink tracksuit talked about the patented blade technology that could pulverize even the sturdiest of vegetables.

A long silence followed, and every muscle in West’s body contracted, his bicep stiffening underneath her shoulder. When he spoke, his voice was quiet. “I shouldn’t have lost it like that.”

Evie moved her body closer to him, placing her hand over his like she had in the garden, except she didn’t pull away this time, her fingers squeezing his. “It doesn’t matter what they think.”

“It does.” He shook his head. “It matters a lot. Owners already weren’t happy with me as baggage, and I’m sure this isn’t going to help. Rich is probably writing me a strongly worded email right now.”

The discomfort she’d felt when she’d seen him with Regina at the diner came back in full force. She’d pushed it aside, though. She was so happy in his company, it had been easy to forget the thing that hung over them—he was going to leave. She realized it was because a small part of her had been holding onto a thread of hope that he would want to stay because of her.

“I just thought…” Evie stopped talking but kept her mouth open, five words, not even long ones, waiting for her to give them permission to be said.I want you to stay.But once she said them, she couldn’t take it back, and all the possibilities of what would follow swirled around in her brain.

The room was dark except for the TV screen flickering, but Evie could make out West’s face, his eyes glassy, his attention focused on a blank spot on the wall, his mind obviously elsewhere.

“All right with you if we just watch a movie?” he asked.

“Sure.” She swallowed what she’d been about to say, and when he pulled her to him, she settled her head on his chest, counting every slow beat of his heart.

* * *

When Evie woke up,the room was shaking around her. Panic swelled in her chest as she tried to get her bearings. It was an earthquake—it had to be—except Creek Water didn’t have earthquakes. No, it wasn’t the room shaking, but someone’s hand jostling her shoulder back and forth.

“Morning, sleepyhead,” Kayla whispered.

Evie’s eyes blinked open to a dark room. She forgot where she was for a second, then she saw the photos of Ryleigh on the wall. She was in Kayla’s house, and when she lifted her head to glance at her phone on the couch, it was a little before six in the morning. When Evie laid her head back down, it was nestled on something firm, not a pillow, but West’s shoulder.

A loud snore cut through the silence. It had come from West. His head was tilted on the back of the couch, dried drool crusting on his cheek. Kayla tipped her head toward the kitchen, and Evie peeled her heavy limbs off the cushions and followed.

Evie sat at the table, twisting her head from left to right, trying to work the kink out of her neck. “Sorry. We were watching a movie. Must have fallen asleep.”

“Stop. You’re a grown-ass woman. You don’t need to apologize to me. In fact, you’re giving me flashbacks of when I was seventeen. ‘I just lost track of time, Mom. I swear.’ One time she caught me, and I barely got a tank top on before she came barging in.” As Kayla slid into a chair, she handed Evie a mug of coffee with steam rising off the surface. “We didn’t get back until two, and you looked so peaceful, I didn’t want to wake you.”

“Kenny’s dad okay?” Evie took a sip of coffee, spreading delicious warmth into every part of her. “God, you make the best coffee.”

“It was touch and go, but he’s gonna be fine.” Relief washed over Evie, and she reached out to squeeze Kayla’s hand. “Thanks for watching her. Hope she wasn’t a fucking menace.”

Evie smiled. “She kept getting mad at West for confusing Bug and Cuddles.”

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