Page 56 of Sweet Revenge
A sad smile tugged at her lips, and Evie blinked back tears. “That’s much easier said than done.”
“Well,” Cait began, giving Evie’s hand a reassuring squeeze. “I’ll be here to remind you as often as it takes.”
“We will,” Maura replied. “We’ll remind you. Are you sleeping with Declan yet?”
The change in subject caught Evie off guard, and she nearly choked on her water while Cait laughed. “Is there a sign on my forehead or something?”
Maura grinned. “You look terrible, like you haven’t been getting much sleep.”
“She thinks Declan’s had girlfriends,” Cait added around a mouthful of bread.
“Oh, yeah, definitely not. The only thing Declan devoted himself to once you left was work.”
It was amazing how easy it was to slip back into friendship with these two women who had always meant so much to her. There was still tension there, a lull of silence after an inside joke or a teasing remark before conversation resumed, but something had thawed in Maura and for that Evie was grateful.
At least now she could leave Philadelphia on good terms. Maybe she could even come back and visit every once in a while. She hadn’t thought this would ever be possible and now, knowing it was, she didn’t want to waste the opportunity to keep these people in her life for as long as they would have her.
Eventually the conversation drifted to the wedding, and Maura indulged Evie’s questions about the ceremony and the flowers and the cake.
“It sounds like you took your childhood dream and made it a reality.”
Maura’s smile was dreamy. “I kind of did.”
“God, you should see the dress,” Cait breathed. “It’s absolutely stunning. Miles of tulle and lace with the most beautiful beading on the bodice.”
“Sounds exquisite.”
“You should see it, actually,” Maura agreed. “Ah,” she shifted nervously in her seat. “My final dress fitting is in a few days. You should come. If you don’t have any plans.”
“I…um…no. I mean, no, I don’t have plans,” Evie added in a rush, satisfied when Maura’s face relaxed from embarrassed to relieved. “I’d love to be there.”
“Good.” Maura smiled. “I’ve got to run, but Cait can give you my number, and I’ll see you at the fitting.”
“Yeah. Oh no,” Evie added when Maura pulled out her wallet. “My treat.”
“If I’d known you were going to buy lunch, I’d have made you apologize a lot sooner.”
Evie chuckled as Maura left and turned to Cait, who had tears in her eyes. “If you start, I’m going to start.”
Cait blinked rapidly. “Start what? I’m not starting anything. I’ve got to run, too, though. The nanny needs to go home early today. Evie,” Cait added as she rose, “for however long you stay, I’m glad you’re back.”
“Me too,” Evie murmured once she was alone.
ChapterTwenty-Seven
Evie sat in her car in the parking lot of the bridal boutique Maura had directed her to. The building may have undergone a makeover from red to whitewashed brick, wooden railings and accents swapped out for wrought iron ones, but that hadn’t erased the history.
The last time she’d been here was for her own final dress fitting what seemed like a lifetime ago now. She’d thought about chiding Cait for not warning her, but she knew as well as Cait likely did that if Evie had known ahead of time, she very well might not have come. Which meant the only thing she could do was get her ass out of the car and into the shop.
She fidgeted with the zipper pull on her purse. All this was so much easier to deal with when it was buried. Steeling herself, she climbed out of the car and crossed the parking lot, pushing into the shop with the tinkle of a bell.
It was bigger than she remembered, the walls lined with gowns in various cuts and shapes. Yards of satin and lace and tulle spilled from velvet hangers. They ranged in shades from blush pink to white, and Evie moved over to finger the lace sleeve of an ivory gown.
It wasn’t that she hadn’t wanted to get married, as Maura assumed. It was infinitely more complicated than that, because the truth was, she had wanted to marry Declan. At that time in her life, she’d never wanted anything more.
She’d known him since diapers and loved him since she was fifteen, but sometimes love wasn’t enough. Sometimes you needed more. And when she found out that he couldn’t give her more, she left. Not well, not in the right way, but that was a decision she couldn’t change.
Now she was back—in his bed, in his arms, in his life. Everything she had carefully packed into boxes and shoved into the recesses of her mind was strewn across the floor now. There was nowhere to hide from it.
