When You Were Mine (Second Chances 2)

She watched as Maureen held up her hands in surrender and then felt guilty.

“Sorry, sorry,” Cora said. “Clearly, I’m not fine. It was weird. It’s been six years but everyone still knew it was going to be weird.”

“The dead silence didn’t help either, I’m sure,” Maureen added.

Cora shook her head and laughed. “Not in the least. Thank you, though. I’ll survive.”

A little over an hour and a half later, all of the women and children had migrated to the rooftop of the building. When Evan had purchased the building, one of the first things that he’d done was turn the roof into a large outdoor seating area with a grill, a fire pit, some large picnic tables and a greenhouse tucked off to one side.

The family all mingled upstairs now as Evan manned the grill. When she went over to say hello, she spied several rib eye steaks in varying stages of doneness. She poked him in the ribs and said, “Hey there.”

“Hey Cora,” he said, leaning over to give her a quick one-armed hug as he tended to the steaks. “Good to see you! How’s it goin’?”

“Not too shabby,” she said. “My dad sends his best. He got stuck going to some mandatory work retreat this weekend. He wanted to be here. He sent a gift along though.”

“Sophie will be thrilled.” After a short pause, he asked, “How’s he doing?”

Her adopted mother had passed away last year. It still stung to think of her. She read the unasked question on his face as well so she answered in kind for both of them. “There are good days and bad days. We just move forward, ya know?”

“I guess that’s the only thing you can do,” he murmured, giving her arm a squeeze.

“I hear you’re looking to open another location,” she said, remembering that Taryn had mentioned that the last time they’d gotten lunch.

She couldn’t help but have a soft spot for Evan. He was a good guy. Anyone that was able to make her sister that wildly happy was clearly a keeper.

A grin spread across his face and he said, “Yeah. I think after the baby is born, I’m going to open up a shop in Burbank. We’re looking at space.”

“That’s awesome. You’re going to have to hire on more staff, right?”

He considered for a minute and said, “Yeah. Probably. Kate, my part-timer is looking for more hours, but I’d need a full-timer, too.”

“Sounds like you’ve got a lot to consider,” Cora said.

“Yeah. That’s why I want to hold off until the baby is born. Taryn’s morning sickness has been hitting at really random times. We were up all night last night. I don’t want her to be any more stressed.”

“She mentioned. You were up too?”

Evan snorted and then asked, “Can you imagine how much trouble I’d be in if she was throwing up all night and I was snoring away in bed?”

“Smart man,” Cora said. “Is this ready enough to start bringing up the side dishes, do you think?”

Evan poked at one of the steaks with his finger and said, “Yeah. Just about. Can you try and make her sit down? She’s been running around all day.”

“I can try,” Cora said. “You, of all people, know how stubborn she is.”

“True story,” he said as he tipped his bottle of beer at her in salute.

Cora moved toward the door that led downstairs into the apartment. She grabbed Jane, Maureen, Christine, and Patty along the way. Between them, they managed to get the side dishes together and mostly upstairs before Taryn wandered into the kitchen.

“Hey. What the hell, guys? Why didn’t you come get me?”

“Because you’ve been running around since I got here, and probably before,” Cora said.

Christine piped in, “Have a seat, honey. We can handle getting everything up there. You must be exhausted.”

“Oh Jesus,” Taryn said, a startled expression on her face. “Do I look exhausted?”

“Oh shut up. You look all glowy and radiant. Even on three hours’ sleep. Just let us take the damn food upstairs, Taryn,” Cora said.