The Match (It Happened in Charleston 1)

I open the door and get out to help Sam and Daisy in and then wave back at Will and his wife, Beth.

Beth calls out, “So sorry you had to come all the way here in the middle of the night, Jake.” Okay, well, it’s ten o’clock, so not exactly the middle now is it, Mrs. Exaggeration? “We tried to get her to stay, but she wasn’t having it.” Beth’s voice annoys me for some reason. I think it’s because she’s looking at Sam like she thought it was a bad idea to invite her in the first place. It’s a pitying I-told-you-so look. As if my daughter is the first young girl in the history of girls to want to leave a sleepover early.

“No problem, Beth. I was glad to come get her.”

“Oh,” she says suddenly, tilting her head to get a better look through my window. “Sorry, I just noticed you have a friend with you.” She’s squinting hard, trying to get a good look at Evie, and I just wave and shut my truck door so the tinted windows will hide Evie’s face.

Beth is queen of the rumor mill at Sam’s school. She’s on the board and is also the cheer coach. That woman doesn’t like for anything to happen without her express knowledge and permission. I can see her chomping at the bit to catch a glimpse of my young, hot date so she can text everyone in her circle of moms that I now have hussies (that would be her word, not mine) sleeping over at my house, and no one should trust their daughters in my care anymore.

“Night! Thanks again,” I say, opening the truck door and slipping in quickly before Beth gets a peek at my mysterious woman inside. I think I’d make a good bodyguard if this architect thing doesn’t work out, because Beth isn’t awarded even the tiniest glimpse of Evie.

The moment I turn the key and start the engine, Evie leans over to me and says quietly, “Stupid robes, right?”

I wish I could kiss her right now, but I don’t know how Sam would feel about that. “You don’t like the matchy-matchy couple style?”

She grimaces and shakes her head before turning her whole body around in her seat to face Sam like she always does. It’s not safe in the least, but it’s sweet, so I allow it. “How’s it going, darlin’? Everything okay?”

I was literally opening my mouth to ask that very question. Why do I like it so much that she beat me to it? I shut my mouth and look in the rearview mirror to catch Sam’s answer, but her downcast expression worries me.

“I’m sorry, Evie. I tried. I really thought it would be fun. But…I just couldn’t stop feeling scared and wanting to go home.”

“Oh, Sam. Why are you apologizing to me for that?”

She shrugs. “Because I know that that’s why I have Daisy—to make me feel more comfortable and keep going on with my normal life like you do with Charlie. But even though I had her by me, and I knew she’d do her job, I just still kept feeling scared that I would have a seizure while I was sleeping. I just felt nervous and wanted to go home.” She pauses and looks at me now. “I’m sorry I put up such a big fight to go, Daddy.”

Her words pierce me. She thinks I’m going to be disappointed that she came home?

No way. I think she’s brave as heck for even fighting to go in the first place. Once again, I’m about to say all of this when I notice Evie unclick her seatbelt and start climbing over the center console to get in the backseat with Sam. For a split second, her butt is in the air beside me, and I have to remember to concentrate on the road.

She settles in beside Sam and wraps an arm around her shoulders. The sight shakes me, and I feel speechless now.

“Listen to me, darlin’, and remember this for the rest of your life: it’s always okay to go home. Anytime you feel uncomfortable or scared, never worry about what anyone else is going to think if you call your daddy and have him come get you. Your house is a safe place, and you love being there, and that’s something to be proud of, not embarrassed about.”

A car honks at me, and I realize I’ve nearly just sat through a whole green light as I’m listening to Evie give my daughter the best speech I’ve ever heard. I kind of just want to roll down my window and wave the jerk behind me to go on by. Can’t he see that I’m having a moment here?

“You’re not disappointed in me?” Sam asks Evie, not me.

It also strikes me that Sam is not even questioning why Evie is in the car. It’s like she knew she would be. Like she’s a part of our life now. How do I feel about that?

Evie squeezes Sam. “Never. I’m so stinkin’ proud of you for even giving it a try. Do you know that it took me a whole six months with Charlie before I felt brave enough to go anywhere without a friend with me? But there was nothing wrong with that either. We all find our bravery at different times, and that’s perfectly fine.”

Sam smiles and settles her head on Evie’s shoulder. “Thanks, Evie.”

“Anytime, sweetie.” She kisses the top of Sam’s head and brushes her hair away from her face.

The sight is tearing me up inside. In my little rectangular mirror, I see the most perfect picture of a woman that doesn’t have to be here, caring for my little girl who adores her, and their service dogs on either side of them.

Evie connects with Sam in a way that I will never be able to. This should upset me, but for some reason, it relieves me. Maybe I won’t have to do everything on my own after all. Maybe Sam will get to have a mother that cares for her like she deserves.

And dang it.

Those thoughts do not sound casual. They sound a lot like commitment.

Chapter Twenty-Six

EVIE

The morning after the best date of my life, I’m trying hard to focus while training a handful of our volunteers how to teach the newest batch of puppies to walk with loose leashes. But I can’t keep my brain from wandering off back to last night and how it felt to sit on Jake’s counter and kiss him.