The Girl in the Love Song (Lost Boys #1)(112)

“Thanks, doc.”

He packed up his tools, greeting Evelyn on his way out.

“Hey, Ev,” I said. “Have you eaten? I can order you something…?

“No, thank you,” she said, smoothing her skirt nervously. Evelyn was never nervous.

“What’s up?”

“Tina has your schedule for today and will coordinate with you later about meeting Brenda Rosner, the Helping Hands CEO. In fact, Tina will be taking over all of my duties from now on.” She squared her shoulders. “I’m here to offer you my resignation.”

I blinked. “What…why?”

Evelyn glanced at the closed bedroom door. “Violet’s here?”

“Yes. Is she why you’re leaving?”

“Not exactly,” Evelyn said stiffly. “I took a position with a public relations firm in Hollywood. Something I should’ve done a long time ago.”

I got to my feet and gave her a hug. “Congratulations, Ev. That’s great.” She stiffened in my arms and I let her go.

“You’ve given me a lot, Miller.”

“So have you. You held my shit together when I would’ve gone off the rails. Hell, I wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for you. I bitch a lot, but when I’m on stage and it’s just the music and me and the fans… You helped give that to me.”

“Don’t get all mushy on me now,” she said and suddenly looked less confident than I’d ever seen her. “There’s something I need to tell you. I…haven’t been honest with you.”

I leaned against the desk and crossed my arms. “Okay.”

“This is harder than I thought.” She huffed and put her hands on her hips. “And you know, I don’t even have to tell you. I did get another offer, and I could just take it and be done. But I can’t. I can’t leave my lie hanging out there in the world.”

“What lie?”

“About why I needed you to bring me with you to LA.”

My arms dropped. “You told me you needed help.”

“Because I knew you were a good guy who would do whatever he could.” She delicately cleared her throat. “Especially if he thought someone was in danger.”

“You were in danger. The same kind as me.”

Evelyn turned her gaze to her heels. “Except I wasn’t. I drove you to the airport and saw the bruises on your neck. When it looked like you wouldn’t take me with you, I…improvised.”

I stared, understanding starting to creep over me like cold fingers. “You’re fucking kidding.”

“Two days before, I’d banged my thigh on my brother’s stupid air hockey table in the rec room and had a pretty good bruise. At the time, it felt like serendipity. The universe stamping my ticket out of town.” She smiled wanly. “And it worked.”

I gaped, slack-jawed. “What are you saying? That you saw where Chet fucking choked me and you said…?”

“That the same thing happened to me.” She plucked a tissue from the Fendi bag and dabbed her eyes carefully. “Yes. I did.”

“Evelyn, that’s…despicable.”

“I know it is. I’m not proud of myself, but I did what I had to do. Santa Cruz is too small and sleepy. I had to get out.”

“So you lied about your dad—”

“I never said it was my dad,” she said fiercely. “I would never… He would never.”

“But you put it out there for me to believe.”

“And now I’m taking it back. I have to take it back. I’m sorry, Miller.” She squared her shoulders. “It was wrong, and I’m sorry.”

“You didn’t need to do that. Your vlog would have taken you wherever you wanted to be.”

“Maybe. But I wanted to be with you.”

I sagged against the desk, ran a hand through my hair as two years fell between us. Two years of her enduring my bullshit and moods and medical issues for something that would never happen. “I knew. I knew and I didn’t want to know. I’m sorry, Ev.”

“Don’t feel sorry for me, Miller. I always knew what I was doing. You can ask Violet what I meant by that.” She heaved a breath, then stuck out her hand, and I took it. “Thank you. For everything.”

“Thank you, Ev. I’m going to miss you.”

Surprise danced over her expression and then she regained her composure. “Of course, you will. Most days, Tina can barely remember her own name.”

She pulled away quickly and went to the door. She opened it, turned, her expression unguarded and soft. “Tell Violet the best woman won.”

Then she left.





Our plane touched down in Seattle late that afternoon. I introduced Violet to the guys in the band. She was an instant icebreaker, warming over the cold front I’d presented to them for so long. By the end of soundcheck, we felt more cohesive as a band then we had the entire tour, and I cursed myself for being such a dick. For holding myself back from giving a shit about anyone.

Holding myself back, I realized, had caused more problems for me than it had ever solved. My dad floated in on the tail of that thought, but I batted him away.

That’s different. He wrecked us. He held himself back from us.