"Where did you drift off?" Evan's voice brought me out of my thoughts. I straightened myself and brushed off the topic.
"Do you want to leave?" He asked me.
"Actually, I'd like to spend some more time here."
I liked spending time with the family and bonding with them. They were important parts of our lives and spending time with them gave me happiness. Even if I didn't have much to say to them, I enjoyed just being around them.
I heard Pa call my name. All through the evening I was unable to talk with him even though he was my favorite person in the Carter family. Evan made space for me to sit between him and Pa. "What were you boys talking about?" I asked. Both held a drink in their hands. Whatever they were talking about, Evan appeared calmer in the company of his grandfather.
"Rose! Did you know that our Evan harbored dreams ofbecoming a firefighter as a child?" I gazed at him, taken aback. Evan gave me a blank look.
"He would don a firefighter's costume and gallivantaround the house, pretending to douse everything with a make-believeextinguisher." I suppressed a giggle.
"Alright, old man, I think you've had you fill. You should get some sleep." Evan retorted, a hint of annoyance in his voice.
"Son! There isn't a Carter who can't hold his liquor. I'm as sober as a judge." Pa declared, hoisting his glass in the air. He was, of course, perfectly fine as long as he could maintain his balance.
"Now, where was I? Ah, yes! Would you like to seesome photos? Evan's grandmother amassed quite a collection." Pa inquired.
"Sure Pa. I'd love to." I wouldn't pass up an opportunity to delve intoEvan's past. Beside me, Evan's face contorted as if he wished to strangle me andhis Pa.
"We're leaving Rose. Let's go." He commanded, taking my hand.
"Hold your horses, lad!" Pa called out to Jake and instructed him to retrieve the photo album. Jakereturned with a hefty box and handed it to Pa. He rummaged through the contentsuntil he found his desired item.
"Take a look at this. It was captured when he was five." Pa showed me a photo that was taken taken outdoors, likely in a garden A small boy dressed up in a firefighter uniform and a cap, was aiming a fire extinguisher at the camera. He was grinning at something off-camera. I recognized the dimpled smile. Evan's baby face was the most adorable thing I had seen. I smiled thinking the child we created together would just look the same.
"And this one is even better." Pa revealed a photo where Evan, about six years old,was cradled in his grandmother's arms, gazing at her with pure adoration. Hisslightly longer hair lent him an air of charm and beauty.
I gathered the remaining photos in my lap andbegan perusing them one by one.
"We're running late." Evan grumbled, but I paid him no mind, engrossed as I was in the pictures.
A baby version of him was nestled between his father and mother. His biological mother. Evan's jaw tightened at my side. He couldn't have been older than a few months. His parents were likely trying to lull him to sleep. I saw the love in his mother's beautiful eyes for her baby. Evan had inherited his mother's eyes.
"She was my mother." He stated when he noticed me lost in her gaze.
"She still is your mother."
"She died to us the day she turned her back and never looked back." I must have upset him because he stormed off angrily. I closed the photo album and thanked for having us over, promising Jake and Diana to meet again soon. I followed Evan out.
He was waiting for me in the car.
"Where is Harrison?" I asked.
"I told him to leave. You'll be riding with me." He replied without looking at me. He was still upset and bitter about the whole situation with his mother. I only knew that she had left him when he was still a kid.
"Evan, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you." I apologized sincerely hoping to bring back his smile.
"I know."
That was the end of our conversation.
*****
I laid on the bed besides him. My thoughts were all over the place. Evan, his mom,his family, and mine. I knew he couldn't sleep either. We showered hastily andtumbled into bed. Evan didn't speak a word to me, but I felt him pulling awayfrom me. Normally that only happened when he was hurting. His mom never left mythoughts.
Why did she leave him? Would he be a different person if she were still there? I remembered Evan's Dad mentioning that he held himself responsible for the way his son turned out. Was he really responsible for Evan's controlling and possessive nature?
What was the reason for a mother to leave her son behind and never look back? What was the reason for a wife to leave her husband?
I had so many questions but only Evan could give me the answers. I didn't want to ask him and upset him. It was clear that his mother was sensitive topic for him and I had to tread carefully.
"Stop thinking about it. Go to sleep." I jumped at the sound of his voice. He knew my train of thoughts was still stuck.
"It's all I can think about." I confessed.
"You shouldn't waste your time thinking about the woman who means nothing to your husband." He replied sternly.
"Baby, how can she mean nothing to you when mere mention of her name disturbs you," he shot me a warning look, "She's your mom, Evan. You can't just ignore talking about her." But I immediately regretted saying that. Stupid me!
I could see Evan's face harden. He was barely controlling his anger and frustration from letting it out on me.
"Rose, stop talking about her or else I won't be responsible for what happens next. I don't want her to cause trouble between us." Knowing I wasn't helping the situation and instead causing him more pain I dropped the matter. The apology was on the tip of my tongue but somehow the words didn't flow past my lips.
*****
The first half of my morning at Carter Industries was tightly packed with work I didn't even realise it was noon already. I met up with Claire for lunch. She wasn't her usual bright and cheerful self which made me worried for her.
"What's with the sad mood today?" I told her as soon as we ordered our lunch in the cafe just across the street.
"Its Ron." She replied. Ron was Claire's boyfriend. I didn't know much about him but she told me enough about him to make me realise he was no good.
"What did he do now? Did he hurt you?"
"No, he didn't hurt me but he came to see me yesterday. That makes it almost two months without contact and told me he wants to take Sam away for a few days." She replied with a fallen face.
"He wants to be a part of your lives again?" Claire loved her baby and I couldn't imagine how she raised him as a single mother with a deadbeat dad.
"I don't want him in our lives. I just wish he disappears from our lives. I can't believe I was naive enough to fall in love with him." She seemed really upset over the past. Things with Ron were pretty bad at this stage. Although I couldn't blame her for not wanting him in their lives there was no denying that Ron was indeed her kid's father.
"You can't tell him to get away, Claire." I spoke sympathetically. "He is Sam's father and Sam deserves to have his father around." I really felt bad for Claire. Whether she continued to be with him or not was her prerogative but I knew she would never separate the kid from his father.
"I know, that's why I let Sam spend time with him. Ron's bought him a new big toy he plays with. I feel happy when his face lights up just by being with his dad. I don't want to take that away from him." I could picture the little boy in the arms of his father and smiled at the picture in my head.
"I'm going to talk to Ron and tell him this is his last chance to be the dad Sam deserves. If he doesn't come around, I'm taking him to court." I clasped her hand in mine and gave her a reassuring smile, hoping for both their sakes that everything would work out well.
"Anyway, no more talking about my sad life. Tell me what's going on in your life? After that night at the charity event you just disappeared. I want to know the details of what happened afterwards. You just took off with Mr. Carter." It was unbelievable how she managed to get past the problems in her life so easily and focus on other things. Her excited face somewhat relieved too.
"Nothing happened." I said looking away.
"Aww don't be coy. Look at your face. You can't blush like that and tell me that nothing happened. Did Mr. Carter take you out for a romantic dinner? Did he kiss you?"
"We just had a dinner and that was it. Really nothing else happened." Evan did get mad first but he was super sweet and afterwards and we cuddled the whole night but I didn't tell her that. It was too intimate to share.
"Aw, did he take you to his house? I heard that no woman he dated has ever been to his place. I'm pretty sure Mr. Carter couldn't keep his hands to himself. Did you two have sex.."
"Shh! Keep it down." I didn't want people to hear anything and then make stories of their own and Claire was definitely someone without a filter.
"Oops, sorry. But did you two do it?"
"No." At least I didn't have to lie about that.
"Alright. But where did you go after that. Even Mr. Carter didn't come to work for the next few days. I really thought you two were together the entire time in his bed." She wiggled her brows teasingly. I sighed in defeat. Claire could be so nosey.
"I had a family emergency so I was out of town."
"I'm just going to pretend that you didn't lie to me in the most pathetic manner. Seriously, I won't push further. But I'm keeping my eyes on you." I was grateful she dropped the topic but the next confrontation wasn't very far. I hated lying to everyone.
The server came back with our food and we dug in. When we were almost done Claire's phone went off. She looked at the caller ID and tensed. I instantly knew who it was.
She spoke on the phone in a heated argument. I tried to play like I wasn't listening to her conversation but couldn't help myself. I watched her drop her phone back in the purse and asked her, "Is everything alright?"
"It's Ron. I have to run back home."
. . .
While you wait for the next chapter, make sure to check out my latest book Dangerous Illusions.
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