She's Up to No Good(97)

Returning to Fred, she looked around the mourners, trying to distract herself from the muffled thumps as more clods hit first the wood and then the previous dirt. Ruthie was there, of course. And Vivie’s friends from school. Some had come from New York, news traveling quickly because Evelyn had called Vivie’s roommate. There was no sign of George—her sisters had questioned if he would come and what they would do if he did. But Evelyn knew he wouldn’t be there.

Ruthie’s father sat down, fanning himself, and Evelyn’s eyes widened. Tony stood behind him. Their eyes met across the grave, and they held each other’s gaze for a long time, each trying to communicate so many of the things left unsaid through the air.

If Fred noticed, he said nothing.

Then the funeral was over, and the mourners moved to the Main Street house to sit shiva for the customary seven days. The mirrors were covered, the chairs low, armbands available to rend, a pitcher of water at the door to wash before entering. And platters upon platters of food brought by a seemingly endless supply of neighbors.

“I wish we didn’t have to do this,” Gertie said quietly as she sat with Helen, Margaret, who was still crying, and Evelyn, who still hadn’t. “It should be just us. Not the whole town.”

Evelyn looked around the room, a plate of food untouched on her lap. Fred was in the other room with Bernie, Sam, and her sisters’ husbands, all ostensibly smoking, but actually drinking. She didn’t think Tony would come to the house for shiva, but she hadn’t expected him at the funeral either.

Instinctively she placed a hand on her stomach. She knew she should eat. But everything felt like rubber in her mouth. And there was the distinct chance she would bring back up anything she ate anyway. She speared a small piece of Mrs. Rosen’s sweet noodle kugel and took a tentative bite before setting the plate aside.

But when she heard her father’s raised voice from the front hall, Evelyn was up in a flash, knowing immediately what it meant. Her sisters and the visitors stared after her as she dashed out of the room and skidded to a stop in the hall.

“You cannot be here,” Joseph said as Tony stood in the doorway.

Tony looked apologetically at Evelyn. “I just wanted to pay my respects,” he said quietly to Joseph. “I’m sorry to have bothered you.” He turned and went down the front steps.

Evelyn started to follow, but Joseph grabbed her arm. “Don’t you have any honor? Your husband is inside.”

She stared at her father, her chest heaving in anger. “Me? You don’t even realize, do you?” She heard footsteps coming down the hall, so she pulled her father forcibly onto the porch, then shut the heavy oak door behind them. “Tony is the reason people think it was an accident. He risked everything because I asked him to. After what you did, he still helped.” She shook her head, barely keeping her rage in check. “So don’t you dare lecture me about honor.”

And with that, she flung her father’s hand off her arm, leaving him gaping at her, deathly pale, as she ran down the stairs following Tony, calling his name as she neared him. He turned around, and she threw herself into his arms, the tears coming at last.

“I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry,” she said, weeping, into his shirt. He held her as the sobs shook her body, rubbing her back softly until she calmed enough to look at him.

“I’m sorry too.”

“We made such a mess of things, didn’t we?”

He brushed a piece of hair back from her face. “We did. But it’s our mess, Evelyn. Not theirs.” He used his thumbs to wipe her tears away. “Do you love him?”

For a split second, she wondered what would happen if she lied and said no. Would he—but no. It didn’t matter now because it couldn’t. And she was too bone tired to lie.

“Yes. But I love you too.”

Tony took a deep breath, then kissed her forehead, his lips lingering there for a long moment. “Then go back. Because I love you.”

Another tear slipped down her cheek as she savored being in his arms for the last time before he released her. They exchanged one final look before Evelyn turned and walked back up the hill to her parents’ house.





CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX





I woke to muted sunlight coming through the windows, a curtain fluttering delicately in the ocean breeze. I smiled as I remembered where I was, and I rolled over to snuggle into Joe.

Instead, I got a dog tail to the face.

“Jax,” I groaned as she licked my arm, her tail wagging faster with happiness.

It took him sitting up and using both arms, but he moved her to the end of the bed as I wiped the slobber away, and he slid into her spot beside me. “Hi.” He was leaning on an elbow, his hair mussed, dark stubble across his jaw and chin, smiling down at me. I wished I could freeze that moment in a photograph, capturing it the way he could, to save it and pull back out any time I wanted to feel this way.

“Hey.”

“Do you want some breakfast? Or do you need to get back?”

I sat up. I had completely forgotten about the series of events that led me to Joe’s house. “What time is it?”

He checked the clock on his nightstand. “A little after nine.”

“I should just call and make sure she’s okay.”

Concern crossed his face as well. “Of course.”