He did, from start to finish. Except the part about kissing Paige. Or how exponentially his feelings had grown for her in the past week.
When he was finished, she said, “I’m just so glad Paige has been there for you. Just like she’s always been.”
Yes, without question, Paige had always been there when he needed her. He owed her so much. Flowers and an expensive dinner weren’t enough. He just couldn’t wrap his mind around anything that would actually show Paige how grateful he was. “I can tell,” Susan continued, “how pleased you are to have met your brother and sister. But what about seeing your mom again?”
He stared out at San Francisco Bay, deciding he’d answer with the facts. “She obviously did a good job raising them. They got scholarships for college. Kelsey is a CPA. Tony is getting a master’s degree.”
“You’re thinking that she did a lot better for them than she did for you.” Though Susan spoke softly, she didn’t hold anything back. She’d tried to teach all of the Mavericks to express what they felt, what they believed. Some of them had learned it better than others.
“It’s not polite to read people’s minds,” he teased, in lieu of facing her statement head on.
She laughed before turning serious again. “Maybe she was trying to make up for what she did in the only way she could. What she was never able to do for you, she tried to do double for them.”
He hadn’t thought of it that way. But even though Susan made sense, it didn’t lessen the ache inside him. “She did one thing right,” he finally said. “She let me stay with you and Bob.”
“I love you too, honey.” Then she added the kicker. “I’m sure she’s hoping she can rebuild her relationship with you. Any mother would want that.”
Susan and Bob had taught him to always be honest. Even when it was difficult. And damn, it was hard to admit to her, “I don’t know if I can do that.”
“Evan, honey, have you ever thought that reconciling with your mother might be less about what she needs and more about what you need?”
“I don’t need it.” He had Susan. He had Bob and the Mavericks. Theresa had been gone so long that he couldn’t even relate to her as a mother.
“When you didn’t know where she was, you didn’t have to think about it. But now she’s brought back all the shadows. You can’t have those shadows hanging over you if you’re ever going to move on. Especially after what Whitney did.”
He’d come home from Europe intending to move on, promising himself that he wouldn’t let Whitney steal another moment of his life. But one of the reasons he hadn’t gone into Paige’s apartment last night was Whitney. If she’d ever found out, there would have been hell to pay. Which meant he was still giving his ex all the power she had never deserved.
“Just think about what I’m saying, okay?”
He smiled despite his dark mood. “I always think about everything you say.”
“Sure you do,” she teased. But then she gave an excited little yelp. “I just had the most marvelous idea. Why don’t you fly the twins and your mom out here? Just for the weekend. So that Bob and I can get to know them too.”
He pulled the phone away from his ear to stare at it. “This is a joke, right?”
“I’m totally serious. I’d love to meet your brother and sister. And our house is a nice, safe environment for everyone to get to know each other better. Plus, that would keep your mom away from the ex-boyfriend in Modesto for a couple of days. I’m sure this first weekend will be the worst for her, when she’s alone in an empty house.”
“This is crazy.” Yet he felt an odd kick inside at the thought of a weekend to get to know his brother and sister better, especially with Susan and Bob there to keep Theresa busy.
“What do you think?” she pressed.
“If we did it,” he said slowly, “there’s not enough room for all of us at the house, so I’d book a hotel for myself.”
“Of course there’s room for everyone, but I get it. You want to make sure you have somewhere to go, if you need it.” She barely paused before saying, “So, you’ll ask them to come this weekend?”
He knew firsthand just how good Susan’s intentions always were. But while Tony and Kelsey were great, Evan was wary about getting too close too fast, before he knew more about them. After all, that had been his problem with Whitney—he’d seen only what he’d wanted to see and had stupidly let her in. And of course, he wasn’t interested in going out of his way to reconnect with Theresa.
Knowing him well enough to guess that his silence was a mask for his reluctance, Susan said, “What if Paige could come too?”
His heart stopped. Paige? God help him. He wanted a weekend with her so badly, he felt lightheaded. Wanted more time with her—talking, laughing, kissing—any way he could get it.
Hadn’t he been thinking he needed to stay away from her for her own good? Yeah, right, like that was going to happen. Not when his heart jumped at the first opportunity to see her again.
“She’s so good at smoothing over rough patches,” Susan continued. “And I know how much you enjoy her company.”
His heartbeat kicked up. Does Susan know? Could she read his feelings about Paige as easily as she could read everything else about him?
“She’s been a good sister-in-law.” He used the phrase deliberately, reminding Susan—and himself—exactly who Paige was. Whitney’s off-limits sister.