The Hearts We Mend (27 page)

Evie had fallen head over heels in love with Max at the age of fifteen, but even when they were chasing each other around the neighborhood and sharing Popsicles in the Morettis' sandbox, she'd been drawn to his outgoing personality, so different from her own. If the old adage was true that opposites attract, they were destined to be together.

But there were times—times when Evie had been alone too many evenings in a row—when she'd wondered if Max regretted getting married so soon. Or if she was one more thing he'd conquered and then lost interest in.

“Evie?” Jack prompted softly.

“I know Max loved Cody and me, but sometimes I wish he would have enjoyed the ‘nows' instead of always focusing on the ‘somedays.' Like you.”

Jack looked as stunned as if Evie had clobbered him over the head with a two-by-four.

Saying the words out loud, even if they were true, felt like a betrayal of Max's memory somehow. “I shouldn't have said that.” Evie ducked her head and tried to get around him.

Jack was faster.

He caught her shoulders and turned her around, walked her backward, his hands forming a warm buffer between her and the wall. And then he was kissing her. Not a tentative first kiss. A kiss
that was searching and sweet and a little untamed. A kiss that told Evie he'd been thinking about it for a long time.

She wound her arms around Jack's neck and felt the rapid beat of his heart. Heard a low groan catch in his throat when her fingers tangled in his hair.

And then, just as suddenly as Jack had taken her in his arms, he broke the kiss and his lips grazed a path down her neck. And then—

Thump
.
Thump
.
Thump.

Jack was pounding his forehead against the wall. The sound was so unexpected that a laugh slipped out before Evie could stop it.

“What are you
doing
?”

“That's a good question,” Jack muttered against her hair. “I didn't mean for that to happen, Evie.”

Didn't mean . . . Evie melted against the wall. Not that her knees would have been strong enough to hold her upright.

Maybe it
had
been an impulsive kiss.

Jack tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I'm sorry.”

Even worse. Because Evie wasn't.

“It's okay. I . . . I understand.”

No, Jack didn't think she did.

Evie was trying to let him off the hook. And by the time she got home, Jack knew she would find a way to blame herself for his total lack of control.

He hadn't planned to kiss her, but there'd been moments—more than a few lately—that he'd imagined it. The real thing had been a hundred times better. The way Evie had melted against him, the scent of her hair, the taste of her lips.

But the reason Jack hadn't kissed Evie was because he was
afraid that if he took her in his arms, Max would still be the one in her head.

Evie had shared something about her marriage that Jack suspected no one else knew. And by sharing a glimpse of her heart . . . maybe it meant there was room for someone else.

Room for
him.

The thought blew him away.

Evie slipped underneath Jack's arm, but there was no way he was letting go when she'd just let him in.

“Evie . . . wait.”

She pulled free, the fingers that had sifted through his hair a moment ago knotted together at her waist.

“I'm not sure what to do right now.” Jack had thought apologizing was a good idea until he'd seen the stricken expression on Evie's face.

“Neither am I.”

They stared at each other.

“I like spending time with you.” Crown him king of the understatement. “But I'm thinking I skipped a few critical steps. Like two or three dates before I finally scraped up the courage to kiss you good night.” Jack blew out a sigh. “Do you have any idea how long it's been since I've even asked—”

“Yes.”

“Yes you know how long it's been?”

A shy smile teased the corners of Evie's lips, and it took every ounce of Jack's self-control not to reach for her again.

“Yes, I'll go on a date with you.”

C
HAPTER
31

T
he first thing Evie saw when she sat down at her desk on Monday morning was the Post-it note stuck to her computer screen.

Parking lot. 4 o'clock.

It had been difficult to concentrate the rest of the day.

At three forty-five she finished her outline for an upcoming meeting with the women's ministry team from another church and spent the next fifteen minutes trying to subdue her rising panic.

A date. With Jack.

She rose and walked over to the window. Adjusted the vase of fresh flowers on the table.

“Those are pretty.” Pauline poked her head in the doorway. “You don't usually see wild flowers made into a bouquet.”

You did if the flowers had been picked from the field across the parking lot.

Evie felt her cheeks get warm. Maybe Pauline would attribute it to the sunlight streaming through the window.

“I've been swamped with phone calls or I would have popped in sooner. Do you have time to look over the agenda for the annual business meeting? Pastor wanted me to make sure everyone who's involved in ministry has enough time to present an update.”

“Now?”

Pauline glanced at the clock on the wall by Evie's desk. “It should only take fifteen or twenty minutes.”

“Tomorrow would work better.”

“Oh.” Pauline blinked. “Okay. I didn't see anything on your calendar so I assumed you were free.”

“Not today. I”—Evie hesitated—“have plans.”

“Tomorrow it is then.” Curiosity burned bright in the secretary's eyes. “Does eleven o'clock work for you?”

“That will be great.”

Two more people stopped Evie as she made her way to the parking lot. It was almost quarter after four by the time she slid into the front seat of her car.

Another note was attached to the steering wheel.

Jack was enjoying this. She just knew it.

Swimsuit. Shoes (no heels)

Swimsuit? The last time Evie had worn one in public, Cody had been in elementary school.

She turned onto Rosewood Court, expecting to see Jack's pickup parked in her driveway. It wasn't, so she unlocked the door and went upstairs to find her swimsuit. And shoes without heels.

The first mission was easier.

She pulled a pair of shorts and a T-shirt over her swimsuit, gathered her hair in a low ponytail, and bypassed the full-length mirror in the corner on her way out the door.

While she was debating whether she should pack something to eat, the low rumble of an engine outside drew her to the kitchen window. Jack hopped down from the cab of his pickup. He looked as good in a pair of charcoal-gray athletic shorts and a T-shirt as he did in paint-spattered jeans.

Heat shot through Evie. Desire was another emotion she'd thought had died with Max, but apparently it had only been lying
dormant. Coaxed back to life when Jack had drawn her into the warm circle of his arms, his breath mingling with hers.

Evie opened the refrigerator and let the rush of cool air strip the blush from her cheeks before she grabbed two bottles of iced tea and went outside.

Jack opened the passenger-side door. “Ready?”

“Where's Lily?”

“I arranged for her to stay with Cody and Raine a little longer. They said something about karaoke.”

“I'm terrible at karaoke.”

“That's not what I heard.” Jack winked at her.

“I can't remember the last time I wore tennis shoes.” Evie looked down at her feet.

“You make them look good.” Jack walked around the front of the truck to the driver's side. He pulled the door shut, sealing them inside, and the butterflies in Evie's stomach made their presence known again.

A date. With Jack.

Evie spoke at conferences and retreats several times a year, sharing her story, and she never felt this nervous.

“Where are we going?”

Jack smiled.

“You'll find out when we get there.”

Jack hoped this wasn't a mistake.

The breeze whispered in the leaves and there were golden places where the sunlight breached the canopy above their heads as he and Evie followed an overgrown path through the woods.

Cody had given him directions when he'd dropped Lily off that morning, but suddenly Jack was questioning the wisdom of
bringing Evie here. To a place where the memories of her husband went as deep as the roots of the oak tree that shaded the riverbank.

But he hadn't been able to get it out of his mind. The look on Evie's face when Dan had been talking about the rope swing.

Longing.

Evie hopped over a branch and set her ponytail swinging between her shoulder blades. “It's about fifty feet beyond those trees.”

“What is?” Jack played dumb.

“Sandy Point.” Evie tossed a look over her shoulder. “Unless there's a restaurant around here that I don't know about.”

Because a restaurant is the usual choice for a romantic first date, Vale. You brick.

Fortunately, there was still time for that. Maybe more than he'd planned if this whole thing backfired.

He followed Evie through a break in the trees and sucked in a breath. She heard and a smile backlit her eyes.

“It's beautiful here, isn't it?”

Jack managed a nod.

You do like to show off, don't You, God?

Sapphire sky and trees a vivid, feed-the-soul green were more than enough, but all that beauty was painted on the surface of the water too.

“I wish I'd had access to a place like this when Travis and I were kids.” In their neighborhood, the only thing green was the stoplight on the corner.

“Look.” Evie pointed to a thick rope dangling from the branches of an enormous birch tree. “So much for hoping that Cody was teasing me about the rope swing.”

“I wasn't.”

Jack reached for the rope, and Evie reached for him. “You aren't really going to try it out, are you?”

“No.”

“Thank good—”

“You are.”

“Me!” Evie backed away from him. “No.”

If Jack had seen disbelief, confusion, or even outright panic on her face, he would have let go of the rope. Let go of the whole idea.

But there it was again. The flash of longing Jack had seen the day before.

He'd guessed right.

“This is why you told me to wear my swimsuit?”

“Yup.”

“I thought we were taking Lily to the pool.”

“We'll bring her along on our second date.”

If there
was
a second date.

Evie looked at the rope swing and then the river. Jack could see her working it out, the number of steps it would take to get to the edge, where she might land in the middle.

And then she kicked off her tennies, shucked off her T-shirt and shorts. Even though Evie wore a conservative one-piece swimsuit underneath her clothing, Jack had to look away for a second and pull his unruly thoughts back in line.

“It's higher than I remember.” Her gaze traveled upward, pausing for a split second on each knot in the rope until she got to the one lashed to the trunk of the tree.

“You don't have to prove anything to me, Evie. You don't even have to prove anything to yourself. The only reason I want you to try out that rope swing is because you know you'll be laughing when you come back up to the surface.”

“
You'll
be laughing.”

“Probably.”

A smile ignited the gold dust in her eyes. “I love your laugh.”

And then she was gone.

Jack's breath cinched in his lungs as Evie ran toward the end of
the point. Suddenly he understood why Dan and Max had discouraged her from trying out the rope swing.

What if there was something underneath the surface of the water she couldn't see? A rock? A stump? What if she wasn't a strong swimmer? What if she couldn't swim at all?