“Roe …” I whispered, turning toward his chest.
“Evie …” He kissed my forehead.
“You’re here.”
“I’m here.”
“For me …” I whispered over his lips, pressing my palms to his cheeks.
“For you.” He kissed me slowly.
I nestled my face into his neck, no longer caring how much heat our family of four emitted in that room. My Roe had come for me.
“This is our world.” I kissed his neck and ghosted my fingers along his bare back.
“It is.” He slid a leg between mine, probably to keep from falling out of bed.
“My mom is dying.” I would have cried had I not drained the tears earlier. I think by that point I was a little numb.
“Yes. I’m so sorry, Evie.” Ronin buried his nose in my hair.
“I can’t let it shatter our world.”
He inched his head side to side. “It won’t. I’ll hold it together. I’ll hold you together.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“He’s a natural!” Ronin declared, beaming with pride as the skiing crew filed into the house with their newest member—Franz.
My almost four-year-old could out ski me. Lovely.
“Mommy! I did it!” He ran into my arms.
“I’m so proud of you. I knew you’d be amazing.” I kissed along his rosy cheeks and neck until he giggled and squirmed out of my arms.
“Bathroom, buddy.” Ronin pointed toward the hallway, recognizing Franz’s potty dance.
“Be quiet. Anya’s napping.”
For Christmas, Santa brought Franz skis and a snowboard. The previous year, he got a sled. I preferred the sled. It was an activity I could do with him.
“He’s really good,” Graham smirked, peeling off his jacket.
I didn’t even care that my friend used my son’s achievement to poke fun at me. Governor Porter took the day off to see Franz go down the mountain for the first time on skis. My feelings of neglect, from both of my best friends, took a back seat that day because life had changed, and Franz mattered more to me and clearly more to them as well.
“He didn’t get too cold or scared or—” I started my mom spiel.
Lila wrapped her arms around me from my backside, nuzzling her cold nose into my neck as I made hot chocolate for everyone. “I played the mom role. He was fine the entire time.”
“I see. Did it make you want to play the mom role in a more permanent way?”
Lila stiffened just before releasing me. “Ha!” She returned a nervous laugh, which died completely as soon as Graham looked at her.
He didn’t utter a word, and I couldn’t detect any decipherable expression on his face, but something clearly passed between them that was awkward and uncomfortable.
“How’s your Mom? I sent her a Christmas gift, but never got a reply,” Lila grabbed one of the mugs of hot chocolate and sipped it.
“They went to Italy. I told you that in a message I left you.” I couldn’t help but add the jab. Even if Lila had a long list of things she accomplished as the governor’s wife, being a good friend to me wasn’t on that list. Not anymore. After trying and failing to reach her numerous times after my mom shared the news about her cancer returning, I finally gave up and left Lila a message … a freaking message on her phone about my mother dying. I think I could have forgiven her for not answering my calls had she called me back, but she didn’t. Her condolences came in the form of a three-word text: “I’m so sorry.”
Lila ignored my jab. “Yes, but I thought it was only for two weeks.” She sat on the opposite end of the sofa as Graham preoccupied with his phone.
“It was. But then Ronin’s parents invited them to France for two more weeks.”
She stared into her mug of hot chocolate. “Oh, you didn’t tell me that part.”
I tried so hard to bite my tongue, but I felt too slighted by her lack of acknowledging me most of the time. “Well, you only respond to ten percent of my messages, so I probably didn’t figure it was worth mentioning. I’ll make sure to keep you in the loop with the big things … like when she dies.”
“Evelyn …”
I turned as Ronin said my name, a look of shock held hostage on his face. Graham and Lila had the same look.
Closing my eyes, I shook my head. “I’m sorry. That was out of line.”
“A word, Evelyn.” Graham stood, tugging on the sleeves to his thermal pullover.
On a sigh, I stomped to the bedroom, ignoring Ronin’s eyes on me. Graham closed the door and leaned against it.
“We love Lila more. Weren’t those your words?”
I grunted a laugh, gazing out the window at the snowy Rockies. “That was about you and me. This is about me and Lila, about more than thirty years of friendship, about my mom stepping in to love her and treat her like a daughter after Lila’s parents died.”