Bringing Home the Bad Boy (Second Chance #1)(49)
He looked suspicious but she plastered the smile on her face, hoping to convince him she and Glo had become besties this afternoon. The lie was harmless, but necessary. She knew if she gave a plausible reason why she wasn’t going with him, he’d go without her.
She was right.
With kisses for both Pat and Cliff, Charlie promised to visit soon—and meant it this time. Then she hugged Lyon and told him to be careful and have fun. She nodded at Evan, but didn’t hug him—his hands were full of fish tank so it was a no-brainer as well as a relief. Showing him affection in front of his deceased wife’s parents would have been awkward.
After they left, she set off by herself to peruse the artwork on display for the bid, admiring again the photo she’d donated and hoping it fetched a handsome price. Then she visited a few local vendors and meandered over to try the wine Jell-O shots she’d heard so much about. She didn’t drive herself here, and wasn’t planning to drive herself home, so she figured a few wine Jell-O shots wouldn’t be a bad idea.
Until she ordered and ate one. Then she determined wine Jell-O shots were, in fact, a very bad idea. A very bad-tasting bad idea. As she was making a face and choking down the bitter, boozy shot—it was either swallow it or attempt to spit it into a public trash can buzzing with yellow jackets and flies—she heard Gloria call her name.
Wiping her fingers over her mouth to make sure she didn’t have Jell-O on her face, she waved rather than spoke.
“Where’re your boys?” Glo asked as she approached.
Her boys. She really did like that. More than she should.
“Setting up the tank for Lyon’s fish. Rae’s parents followed him over to help. They’re taking Lyon to their house for a few days.”
“That’s wonderful. The Mosleys are great people.”
Dang. She’d met the Mosleys, too?
Gloria looped her arm in Charlie’s. “Relax. I was in Columbus, dropped in on Evan when they were there to see Lyon. You really need to stop seeing me as ‘the other woman.’ You have no one to compare yourself to, sweetie.”
Except for Rae. The woman Evan fell in love with, chased, married, and created a baby with. Just her. No big deal.
“Ash finished his acoustic version of ‘Unchained’ a few minutes ago.” This, Gloria said on a soft sigh. Her voice going gentle and funny in a way it definitely didn’t do when she talked about Evan.
“I missed it.”
“Well, I bet if you tell him, he’d play it for you at Salty Dog.”
“Does he have a gig there?”
“No. He has an appointment with a couple of guys named Jose and Cuervo.” Gloria started for the other side of the park. “And since you are unchaperoned, my dear, so do you.”
*
The sky was darkening, and the streetlamps had come on, along with the lights tied to strings that draped the festival in glowing garland. A few kids were meandering around with their folks, but from the look of most of it, families had given way to adults who had come out to party.
Evan ambled past the stage where Asher had performed his solos earlier, and he paused for a minute to appreciate the foot-stomping, jig-dancing band playing what sounded like a cross between bluegrass and rock. Cool mixture.
He’d stick around and listen longer, but he needed to find Charlie.
Terror’s fish tank setup wasn’t difficult, but it required a lot of reading and, under Lyon’s close supervision, it required a lot of specific steps. He didn’t get his kid sometimes. Lyon could be a wild child full of energy, one who sometimes loved superheroes and other times loved football and soccer and anything with a ball, but also had a very precise, all-business side of him reminding Evan more of his cousin Shane or his brother Landon.
Power to his kid if Lyon grew up to be like his uncle or cousin. If Lyon evolved into a million-or billionaire, he could retire his old man to the good life. Evan was more a thousand-aire, like his other brother Aiden and his sister, Angel, but Evan could definitely afford a good life, if not the good life, and that was enough for him.
After Terror was happily hiding behind his hot pink (really, Charlie?) castle, and the little blue air stone was bubbling away in a corner, Lyon watched him for a few minutes, tried to feed him—he’d been too traumatized to eat—and then Rae’s parents talked Lyon into getting his things and loaded him into the car.
Lyon got a brief, wide-eyed look of worry the moment he was about to part. This was new. Normally, whenever he went to stay with anyone—Angel, Landon, or their dad, Mike—he’d eagerly load up, sometimes forgetting to tell Evan good-bye. Moving to Evergreen Cove affected both him and Lyon more than Evan had anticipated.
Evan had simply smiled and buckled Lyon in. “You got this, buddy.” He hoped that was encouraging. He figured Lyon was nervous, but wasn’t about to cripple him by allowing him to super-glue himself to Evan’s side. He’d get used to being here, to having a new home. He’d adjust to school. Evan knew kids—Lyon’s school friends—who were wrapped in cotton batting and bubble wrap, and for good measure crammed into a giant plastic hamster ball, so if they bonked into the real world they wouldn’t get hurt.
That kind of parenting was bullshit.
Evan was raised with a firm word from Dad and gentle coaxing from Mom, and that was the way to go. He couldn’t fill the “mom” role alone, however, and he needed backup for that. Thank God for Patricia and Charlie. And Aiden and Landon, for that matter, who bent to Lyon’s will whenever he shot his uncles a dimpled grin.