The Friends We Keep(57)

“She ran off with the electrician.”

“You’re serious?”

“Completely. She is living with him in Fairfield. Poor bastard. She is one crazy bitch.” Lance got a steely look in his eye. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. Let’s not talk about her. Tell me how a stunning woman like you ends up working at the coffee shop.”

“Thank you for the compliment, even though it implies there’s something wrong with working at a coffee shop . . .” Evvie had laughed, despite her discomfort.

“I applaud anyone with a good work ethic, and you’ve certainly got that. I just see you doing something else. If you were working in a high-end clothing store, that I could understand. Or being a rich man’s wife.”

Evvie let out a bark of laughter. “Is that an offer?”

Lance grinned. “If you play your cards right.”

Evvie hooted. “That, my friend, may be the best offer I’ve had in years.” She blushed. “I’m kidding. In all seriousness, I’m not proud and I have a son to support. A friend asked me to help her, and while I’ll admit I didn’t expect it to turn into something so regular, I love it. I still do style consulting, and every now and then I do the odd modeling job. It suits me. I get bored if I’m stuck doing one thing.”

“Does your son’s father help?”

Evvie had smiled and shaken her head. Jack’s father had no idea he even had a son, which was exactly the way she wanted it. “He’s not in the picture.”

By the end of the night, Lance had made her promise to come and edit his wardrobe. It was clear from his Brunello Cucinelli cashmere jackets, Hermès ties, and John Lobb shoes that he didn’t need her, but she wasn’t going to turn the invitation down.

“Come on Sunday,” he said. “Bring your son. We can have brunch. And bring your swimsuits—I have a pool that no one uses anymore. I bet your son would love it.”

That Sunday, they pulled up outside huge wooden gates on the most expensive street in Westport. The gates slowly drew inward as Jack exhaled with an audible “whoa” muttered almost under his breath.

“It’s big, isn’t it?” said Evvie, who had been to many houses equally grand when she was at the height of her modeling career.

“Mom, this is awesome. Who lives here?”

“Just a friend. A man I know from work.”

“Does he have a wife?”

Evvie couldn’t suppress a smile as she gave her son the side-eye. “Why?”

“Could you maybe get married to him? Then I’d have a dad and we could all live here!”

Evvie laughed, even while feeling a stab of remorse. It wasn’t often that Jack said anything about not having a father. It would come out unconsciously, in comments just like this, when Evvie realized how much he wanted a man in his life.

“I think it’s a bit early for that,” she said carefully. “We’re just friends. But it’s interesting that you said that about having a dad. Is that something you want?”

Jack shrugged then, but she continued looking at him, and he nodded. “Maybe,” he said. “If it was someone nice.”

She reached over and ruffled his hair, her heartstrings pulling as she thought about what he had said. Evvie had always given him everything, but the one thing she hadn’t given him was a father. He so rarely brought it up that she thought she had done a great job, had left him wanting for nothing, until times like these when his desire was exposed.

They pulled up a winding driveway, past a tennis court, past a caretaker’s cottage, past outbuildings and vast metal sculptures, to a cobbled courtyard in front of a huge white house, the blue-gray water of Long Island Sound a huge vista behind it.

Jack’s eyes were wide. “Mom, is this a palace?”

“I think it’s about the closest thing to it that we’re ever going to get, so yes, I’d say pretty much.”

Jack was awestruck. “Did you see the basketball court when we drove in? And the tennis court? And you said there’s a swimming pool too. I bet he has a boat as well!”

The front door opened and Lance strode out in jeans and a polo shirt, a wide smile on his face as he extended his arms to welcome them.

He’s really attractive, thought Evvie suddenly. Why hadn’t I ever noticed quite how attractive he is before now?

They got married six months later. For the first few years, it was perfect. Evvie had never been taken care of in quite this way. She hadn’t ever wanted to be taken care of, had valued her independence and self-sufficiency, but now that she was, she found out how much she loved having nothing to worry about. Whatever she wanted, Lance provided. He was lovely with Jack. She went from worrying about money all the time, to never having to think about it. She went from worrying about everything to feeling safe. Until recently, when she caught him looking her up and down, judgment in his eyes, when the calm, reasonable, loving man she had married had, at times, seemed to disappear.

When he first lost his temper with her, she was able to ignore it, even laugh at it, but it had been happening more and more, and it was beginning to wear her down. The last couple of times had been genuinely frightening.

Last week he had been so angry, he threw his keys across the room. It wasn’t at her, would never have hit her, but his face was twisted in rage, and she had flinched nevertheless, terrified, thrown back to being a little girl, afraid of her father’s rages.