“He’s fine,” she huffs out. “He ate, and he’s playing his game.” I shake my head. “I’m in the house. It’s not like he’s alone.”
“Whatever,” I say, disconnecting the phone and getting into my black Range Rover SUV. I slip on my gold aviator glasses and put the address to the restaurant in my GPS.
The phone rings on my way there, and I see that it’s Becca, my agent. “Hello?”
“Hey,” she says. “I know you have the meeting tonight with the people from Hauer.” She mentions the big hockey equipment chain that sponsors me. “Just so you know, this restaurant is a supper club.”
“Ugh,” I say with a groan. “What, why? Why would they do this?”
“I know, and I just searched it,” she says. “Anyway, I booked you a room in the adjoining hotel just in case you get wild and let loose tonight.”
I chuckle. “The last time I let loose was . . .”
“Next to never.” She laughs. “Yeah, I know. Anyway, I got you the suite. The key will be delivered to the hostess desk for you.”
“You think of everything,” I say.
“No, I just don’t want you to get caught drinking and driving, and lose all the money that I make off you,” she says. It’s my turn to laugh. “Anyway, I have to go. Have fun and let loose. Just, you know, don’t make it onto SportsNet.”
“I’ll try my best,” I say, parking the SUV in the valet spot and disconnecting the phone. I get out of my SUV, and the valet guy notices me right away. “The keys are in the SUV,” I tell him, and then I take a deep breath and walk toward the door.
Chapter 2
Evelyn
“You’ve been home for a week, and you already have plans on Saturday night,” my sister-in-law, Veronica, says over the phone with a laugh. “And you didn’t know if you should move back home.”
I laugh as I walk through my new house; the smell of paint still lingering. “I’ve been gone for fourteen years,” I say as I make myself a green tea. “Who comes back home at thirty-two?”
“Well, I know we are all glad you came back,” she says, and I smile.
“I have to be downtown at seven,” I say. “Remind me again why I agreed to this.”
“Well, she’s one of your best friends, so it’s only normal you would be her bridesmaid,” Veronica reminds me, and I roll my eyes while I sip my hot tea, walking back to my bedroom.
“I mean, remind me again why I thought a bachelorette party was a good idea?” Entering the en suite bathroom, I turn on the bath. “The last thing I want to do today is get all dressed up and go out.”
“You need to get out there,” she says. I hear the water running in the background and then hear the plates clink together. “Drink a bit, dance a lot, and if you end up going home with a guy, we can call everything a win-win.”
I laugh now. “I have never in my life had a one-night stand. Not even in college, so I doubt I’ll do it in my thirties.”
“How are you getting there?” she asks.
“I was going to drive, but then I thought about it, and I’m just going to take an Uber. I think she said the girls are renting a room in the adjoining hotel, but I’m not sure I want to stay out all night. Besides, if I get home drunk, it’s always better to wake up in your bed in the morning.”
“Okay, well, can you promise me one thing?” she says, and I almost groan. “Have fun.”
“I will. Kiss the kids for me,” I say and hang up. I put my phone down on the white marble countertop and then change my mind, opting to take a shower instead of a bath. If I take a bath, I’ll want to slip into my pjs, and that will be the end of the night for me. Sliding off the robe I was wearing, I step in and close my eyes.
Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would come back home. When I turned eighteen, I packed up my room and left to go to school in Chicago. Since I was a little girl, it was my dream to move there. I don’t know what it was, but I just thought if you lived in Chicago, you had made it. I was caught up in the hustle and bustle of Chicago and loved it in every sense of the word—from walking down the Magnificent Mile to getting out on the lake each weekend.
I pushed myself hard in school, and it’s where I met Dex, Joshua, and Ally. The four of us took to studying together. My relationship with Dex grew without us even knowing. Then we found out Joshua and Ally also started dating, so the four of us were always together. We all got jobs as soon as we got our master’s degree. We each built our portfolios until we decided to take a leap and start our own financial firm.