“She’s been a good friend,” Susan corrected. “Through thick and thin, Paige has always been there for you.” Now his foster mother was the one carefully reminding him that Paige, rather than his wife, was the one who had stuck by him in good times and bad. “She had such fun in the snow at the wedding, I’m sure she’d love to come back to a white winter for another couple of days.”
If it was just a white winter that would make Paige happy, Evan could book her a weekend at a fancy spa resort in Lake Tahoe. But what Paige loved most of all—more than massages or fancy restaurants or impressive five-star resorts—was family. Paige would choose a weekend in Chicago with everyone over anything else he could offer. This trip was something he could give her, a small repayment for all she’d done.
Yeah, great rationalization.
Because the truth he didn’t want to admit to anyone—especially himself—was that he wanted an entire weekend with Paige. Even if he couldn’t kiss her, couldn’t touch her when they were with his family, at least they would be together.
* * *
He called Kelsey, Tony, and Theresa first. Funny that calling Theresa felt easier than calling Paige. Probably because he knew where he and Theresa stood. Whereas with Paige…
Silently cursing his powerful desire for the one woman he could never have, Evan told his assistant to push back his next meeting, then dialed Theresa’s number for the second time in as many days.
She answered on the first ring, her voice tentative as she said, “Evan?”
“There are a couple of things I wanted to check in with you about. First, I talked to Greg, and he won’t be bothering you anymore.”
“You talked to Greg?” She was clearly shocked, her voice suddenly higher than normal.
“He apologized for hurting you.” He wouldn’t tell her that Greg had asked for money. “But he was also on his third beer in the middle of the day.”
“He has a problem with alcohol,” she agreed softly.
Evan wanted to ask her how she could possibly pick yet another guy with a drinking problem after running away from her abusive, alcoholic husband. How could she be so blind? How could she make such bad decisions time and time again?
But he’d been blind with Whitney, hadn’t he? Marrying her had been the worst decision he’d ever made. Though staying with her so long might have been even worse.
So he understood a thing or two about bad decisions. And turning his back on a woman in distress wasn’t a consideration. He’d hold out his hand even to his worst enemy if he or she was drowning. Hell, he’d probably have given his hand to his father if he’d asked for help, even after everything. But his father had never asked.
“Greg’s not your problem anymore. If he shows up, call me. A friend knows a guy in the Modesto Police Department who’ll drive by your house occasionally.
“Thank you, Evan. You’re too good to me.”
Her words—and how hard they hit him—nearly had him hanging up before he got to the other reason he’d called. But he wouldn’t disappoint Susan. Not when his foster mother had given so much of herself to him—even when he’d been a temperamental, hormonal teenager with a huge chip on his shoulder.
“Susan wants to meet you and the twins.”
“Susan Spencer?” This time, her voice was darn near a squeal of shock. “The woman who took you in after…”
His chest, his gut, everything in him, tightened up as he said, “Yes, she’d like to meet you this weekend. We’d fly out on my plane Saturday morning to Chicago, if that works for you.”
“Of course it does,” she said, “but are you sure about this trip?”
He wasn’t sure about anything right now.
“I’ll check with Kelsey and Tony now, then confirm the travel details.”
“I know they’ll be thrilled to spend more time with their brother.”
Brother. It was amazing how much that word meant to him. Even coming from her.
After they hung up, he called Tony.
“I knew we did the right thing coming to you,” Tony said after Evan gave him the update on Theresa’s ex-boyfriend. “Thanks a million.” Then he laughed and changed it to, “Actually, thanks a billion.”
Evan couldn’t hold back a smile. Tony had charm to spare, even in the worst situations. “I just talked to your mom about a last-minute trip to Chicago.” He explained about Susan—who she was and that she wanted to meet the three of them.
“Chicago sounds great,” Tony said. And then, “She’s your mom too.”
“She is. But there’s too much history to get into it all.”
“Okay.” Tony obviously knew when to let something drop, at least for the time being. “Thanks again. Looking forward to hanging with you in Chicago, bro.”
Evan’s phone rang less than thirty seconds after they hung up.
“You are wonderful and marvelous and the absolute best,” Kelsey gushed. “I’d love to go to Chicago to meet the couple who took such good care of you. And what you did for Mom today is huge. Thank you, thank you.”
Kelsey’s enthusiasm made his heart flip. She made him feel like a hero.
In business and finance, everyone demanded a piece of him. They either wanted his money, or they wanted him to tell them how to make money. But Kelsey was different. She’d asked him to help, out of the goodness of her heart. And somehow, he’d dredged up the goodness inside of him to do it.