Sarah-Beth, to her credit, does try to take up for me. Her cheeks flame scarlet as she tries to quiet her bossy little friend. What Allison lacks in stature she makes up for in temperament. “Stop it, Allison,” Sarah-Beth hisses. “This is not the time or the place.” She tries to lead her friend away. “I’m sorry, Grady.”
But the smaller woman pulls against Sarah-Beth, fighting to get back to Evie. “You see, sweetie,” she goes on, and I see a small smile pull at Evie’s lips. I am genuinely and immediately scared. “Truth is Grady Parker is afraid of commitment.”
Evie looks at me. “Are you afraid of commitment, Grady Parker?” she asks me.
“Um, not that I’m aware of.”
She turns back to Allison. “Not a commitment-phobe, then. What else you got?” Evie rubs her hands together like she’s itching to dig right in, like a kid at Christmas.
Allison takes the bait. “He led my friend here on, making her think that he would marry her.” She snaps her fingers. “Then suddenly one day he said he didn’t love her anymore.”
To be fair, I was a little nicer than that. But whatever.
“Did you fall out of love, Grady?” Evie asks me solemnly.
I lean close to her ear. “Never was in love,” I whisper so only she can hear me. She pats my arm, satisfied.
“Did you love Grady, Sarah-Beth?” Evie asks. She tilts her head while she waits for an answer.
“I think so,” Sarah-Beth says with a nod.
“Love doesn’t get measured in I-think-sos,” Evie says kindly. With Sarah-Beth, she’s as gentle as I’ve ever seen her be with anybody. “My grandma says that love either comes on like a cannon blast, or it grows slowly like a slow-spreading plant. If it comes at you like a plant, you suddenly wake up one day and realize it has taken over your heart and there’s nothing you can do about it.” Her voice grows gentler and kinder. “I think you liked him a lot, and I think he liked you a lot. You two parted as friends, right? You can still be friends.”
“You have lost your mind if you think they can be friends!” Allison rushes to say, as she takes a step toward Evie like she wants to get in her face.
“You better be prepared to hold me back, Grady,” Evie says clearly, so all parties can hear her. “Because if she gets in my face, I might feel led to punch her right in her face.” I see Evie’s fist opening and closing. She isn’t kidding.
Sarah-Beth grabs her friend and jerks her back.
“You’re a piece of shit, Grady Parker!” Allison says loudly. And now we have the attention of everyone in the area. Oh, joy.
“Sarah-Beth,” I say softly, “it was good to see you. I hope you’re doing well.” Because it seems like the only gentlemanly thing I can do.
“I’m sorry, Grady,” she rushes to say. “I didn’t know she’d react like this.”
Allison rushes to me and puts her finger in my face, which means she has to reach up really high. “You’re a lowdown sorry ass for what you did to Sarah-Beth!”
“Right. I think that’s quite enough. Can someone remove this deranged woman before I do something I really won’t regret later?” Evie says, as she steps between me and Allison. I try to move Evie over, to get her from between us, but she’s strong as an ox when she’s pissed. I should have expected that. She plants her feet and moving her feels a lot like trying to move a tank. “And if you don’t get that finger out of my face, I’m going to bite it off.”
“She’s not lying,” someone in the crowd calls out. “I saw her do it when we were kids! Had to get twelve stitches in that poor girl’s finger!”
“Thank you, Robbie,” she calls back.
“Anytime, sweetheart,” he replies.
Allison slowly lowers her finger. “You know what I think? I think you’re going to end up hurt too, just like my friend.”
Evie looks over her shoulder at me. “Are you going to hurt me, Grady?”
I shake my head and drag a hand down my face.
“There. No problem. You should probably go now.” Evie dusts her hands together like she’s done with this conversation.
But Allison isn’t quite finished yet. “Have you told her that you’re in love with someone else, Grady? Have you?”
“Are you in love with somebody, Grady?” Evie asks.
I blow out a breath and say nothing. I’m no fool.