make things better. He’d felt that regret time and again through the years.
He should have done more to make her see he was worth it. That they were worth it.
“If John fell out of love, the problem was his, not yours,” he murmured, running his thumb over her knuckles.
“I guess.” Evie said the words almost wistfully, almost as if she didn’t believe him, which made August wonder just how much she’d begun to doubt herself. Did she not feel she deserved anything?
“Momma? Momma, I can’t find Neena,” Jenna announced from the patio, loud enough for everyone on the beach to know that she had a problem.
Evie dropped August’s hand like it was on fire and got to her feet just as Jenna darted down the steps to them. “Neena is Jenna’s baby doll,” Evie explained. “Any chance you saw it when you were unloading?”
August shook his head, not failing to notice the switch in her posture, the change in her voice. “I don’t remember a doll, but I don’t think I looked under the seats, either. Maybe it’s still there?”
“Maybe.”
Jenna slipped in between them. “Momma, what about Neena?”
With a wry expression, Evie ruffled her daughter’s curls. “Let’s go look in the van, sugar.” Without looking back, Evie slipped on her sandals and guided Jenna back to the house.
August picked up the half-full bottle of beer Evie had abandoned and followed, too, feeling curiously left behind as the girl jabbered and complained and Evie nodded sympathetically.
When they reached the patio, Jenna’s voice turned whiny. “I’m tired, Momma. I want Neena.”
Evie gave her a quick hug. “I know you are. We’ll find Neena then get ready for bed.” Almost as an afterthought, Evie turned to August. “See you,” she whispered. “I’ve got to go.”
“Wait a minute.” He pointed to the table they’d just set. “Aren’t you going to eat?”
“I will—later.”
Frustration coursed through August, tempting him to take charge. He wanted to tell Jenna to wait a minute and let her mother eat. To tell her parents to go look for the doll instead of watching Evie do it.
But it wasn’t his place.
As Jenna started crying in earnest, Evie picked her up and headed to the front of the house where her van was parked. Catching his eye, she smiled. “Don’t worry, August.”
But August knew he would. In many ways, he’d never stopped worrying about Evie. Not when he thought he’d gotten her pregnant.
Not when she’d called to say that everything was fine and no baby was in the future.
Not even when he’d come to the conclusion that maybe what they’d felt hadn’t been love—just more like teenage hormones on overdrive.
There’d always been a part of August that would worry about Evie Ray. He wasn’t about to stop now.
Chapter Four
The baby doll had been found. Dinner had been consumed, the golf game between August and Mike confirmed, and after promises to get together soon, the Meyer family had taken off.
After a bout of too-tired tears, Evie had gotten the girls bathed, unpacked and asleep. She then padded into her own room, decorated in soft blues and grays, as soothing as a hot bubble bath in the middle of January. Her mother had placed a vanilla candle on the whitewashed dresser, and stuck six spunky daisies in a tall, thin glass.
The tiny bedroom felt cozy and comfortable and more like home than her bedroom suite in her old house in Grapevine.
Undoubtedly, her parents were upstairs, probably waiting for her to reappear so they could have a nice chat, but honestly, Evie wasn’t up for it. The silence was too sweet, the crisp cotton sheets too beckoning.
She sank on the lace coverlet with a sigh and finally relaxed. She’d done it. She’d made it to Florida, and she’d made it through a first conversation with August, which had been an odd mix of tenderness and crazy swirling emotions.
Yawning, Evie stretched back against the padded headboard.
Seeing August had been something of a shock to her system. She’d firmly put him in the back of her mind, in the shadows of her past. She’d had no desire to think about what could have been. No reason to remember what almost was.
Being in the same room with him had opened a million senses, and made everything in her body feel electrified. His touch had made her warm. His caring looks made her pulse race erratically. During that whole conversation with him, Evie’d noticed her brain fogging up, encouraging her to reveal things about her marriage to John that she never shared with anyone…and making that little voice in her heart wonder if maybe she wasn’t as shut down and worn-out as she’d previously thought.
Evie curled onto her side, hugging the down pillow August had placed on her bed, and tried not to feel so much.
“Evie, you okay?” After a brief knock, her mom popped her head in. “Dad and I were wondering if you were going to come back up and visit a while.”
Hastily, Evie released the pillow and sat up. “Sorry. I think the trip has caught up with me. I think I’m going to go to sleep.”
“Oh. Well, all right.” Her mom pattered on in, ignoring the subtle hint and invading her space, just like she always had. “I’m sure you remember where everything is. There’s more blankets in the hall closet. More pillows, too.”
Evie patted the one from home. The one with the pretty yellow case August had placed neatly in the center of the bed. “I’ll be fine. I think that second beer I had with August was a mistake.”
“Probably not the talk, though. You two looked like you were picking up where you left off.”
“I don’t know about that.” But it had been nice to visit with him. Nicer than she would have ever imagined. And because she felt ridiculous even thinking his touching her pillow was worth a second thought, Evie kept her voice level. “He’s a good guy.”
Jan sat down next to Evie, a puff of White Linen perfume floating around her, mixing with the sheets…making everything smell comfortable and familiar. “That August, he’s so considerate.”
He’d been more than that. He’d listened to her and made her feel more relaxed than she had in an entire year. “He was really helpful, unpacking the van and all.”
Jan picked up a pillow that had fallen on the floor and neatly set it against the headboard. “You two sure looked like you were having quite a conversation.”
“Just catching up.”
Her mom nodded. “You’ve got years of that to do. Maybe you should spend some time together.”
The words were spoken casually. So casually that Evie knew that her mother was up to no good. Drawing from past experience, Evie nipped her matchmaking in the bud. “I’m not here for another summer romance, Mom. I’m here to see you and Dad and have fun with the girls.”
“I know, but if something came along, that might be nice, don’t you think?”
No, she did not. Evie couldn’t even imagine having time or energy for a relationship. As it was now, she was lucky if she remembered to eat. “I’m really tired.”
For a split second, her mom scanned her face. Emotion filled her gaze, so strong it brought back memories of major events in their lives…Evie’s graduation, Jenna’s birth. Evie’s announcement that she and John had separated. With a sigh, Jan stood up. “All righty. See you in the morning. Good night, Evelyn.”
Evelyn said, “’Night, Mom.”
Alone again, Evie opened her suitcase,