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Evangeline
“Cara mia, is this an interrogation?” Nick chuckles at Sophia as we all eat dinner together. She’s been peppering me with questions since I sat down. I don’t mind. There’s not a lot to tell about myself. I go to school, and my grandma is all I have.
“I know nothing of my parents, not anymore. Mom left several years ago, but I don’t dwell on that, and I never knew my dad. I’m not so sure either were living a life that was on the up and up.”
“I’m sorry.” Sophia’s eyes soften. “But your grandma takes care of you?”
“Yeah. She’s great.” I nod and take a bite of salad. Grams gets uneasy when I ask about my parents, so I stopped bringing them up a few years ago. It doesn’t matter anyway, because she fills the role of both of them. Sometimes I miss my mom. She was never around a lot, always out doing her own thing. When she did stop by for a while, she would always tell me she loved me and how proud she was of me. But she never stayed long. She had a lot of demons. I can see that now that I’m older.
“So no brothers or sis--”
“Cara mia.” He takes her hand. “Let the poor girl eat.”
Sophia raises a brow. “I remember the first meal we shared together. I believe you ruined my salad. Now you question my dinner etiquette?”
Marco bursts into laughter.
“There was blood everywhere,” she huffs even as Nick kisses her fingers.
Marco keeps on laughing. I don’t know if she’s serious, or if there is some joke that I’m missing. Blood everywhere? I’m also not sure if I should laugh or worry. Nick and Sophia are nothing like I’d pictured. I think after the way Marco talked about Nick, I was expecting some rude gangster criminal. He’s nothing like that. I glance between Nick and Sophia, wondering where this is going.
“I was not sharing the meal with you. You were sharing it with another man.” He gives Sophia a look that would probably make anyone else pee themselves.
“I was hungry! You could have waited,” she snips back, fighting a smile.
“I’m not prone to waiting.” He smirks at her. That deadly look disappears from his face. It clearly has no effect on his wife, because she only rolls her eyes at him. Their smiles are contagious, and I find myself smiling too.
“It’s fine. I don’t mind talking about things,” I tell them, not asking about the blood, not wanting to know any details. I guess everyone has a different idea of what a fairytale should be. Who am I to judge theirs? I take a bite of my steak. It’s tender and melts in my mouth. All thoughts of blood and salads leave my mind as I continue to enjoy my food.
“I promise there will be no blood at our wedding.” Marco winks at me.
Sophia snorts and I feel my cheeks pink with the thought of Marco and me getting married. We just met, and his family is . . . different, and I’m not sure what’s going on, but I have to admit I rather like all of them.
“Good luck with that,” Sophia snorts before taking a bite of her steak. This is how most of the dinner goes. I enjoy everyone’s banter, and they make me feel at home and welcome. Nick feels less scary by the second. Any woman would kill to have a man look at her the way he looks at Sophia. It reminds me of the way Marco looks at me sometimes. I shake that thought from my head, because we’ve only known each other for a short period of time, so how could he possibly look at me the same way? Yet it feels as though he does. I realize his marriage comment was a joke, but I lock away the thrilling feeling it gives me, keeping it hidden until I can take it out later and enjoy it.
“It’s going to be so nice having another girl around here,” Sophia says with a mouthful of bread pudding.
I take a bite. It, too, melts in my mouth.
“With food like this, I will be over daily.” Whoever is cooking here could give my grandma a run for her money. Not that I would ever tell her that. I hate that she still has to work so much. One day I’ll get a job that will support us both. That’s the goal at least. That’s why school is so important to me, and I have to do everything I can to succeed. Even if it means biting my tongue and being nice to that jerk, Trent. So far, I haven't had another run-in with him. I know it’s inevitable with him living on the same property. It’s only a matter of time.
“You’re welcome to come over whenever you like. Even if Marco isn’t home.” Sophia smiles over at me. She’s been so warm and welcoming and honestly, it’s nice to have a girlfriend. I know I’m sort of doing stuff with her brother, but there are some things that I have questions about and she seems like she’d be open to answering them.
“Thanks. I’ve had a really good time tonight. It's usually only my grandma and me for dinner, so the company has been nice.”
“I have a great idea!” Sophia nearly leaps out of her seat. Nick is next to her in the blink of an eye. I’m guessing she startled him. She smiles over at him and gives him a sweet kiss. “Nothing’s wrong. I just got excited. You’re so ridiculously overprotective.” She says it as though she thinks it’s absurd but her eyes tell a different story. “Anyway. Evangeline, you should bring your grandma for dinner.”
I pause for a moment, not sure how Grams would take that. “I can ask. She’s kind of a homebody. After work, she likes to relax.” She’s not as energetic as she once was. I think she’s been working too hard but won’t tell me. She never lets me venture over to the main house, so I’m not sure how much she has to do every day over there. I know she’ll put up with anything if it means keeping me in school at Brightwood. Guilt gnaws at me thinking about it.
“Babe,” Marco says softly next to my ear before kissing me below it. “You okay?”
I look up to see everyone is looking at me. “Sorry,” I whisper, having gotten lost in my thoughts for a moment.
“What did you say your last name was again?” Nick asks. Sophia smacks his arm.
“Knock it off.” Marco shoots a hard look at Nick.
“It’s Garver,” I answer, not understanding the big deal about knowing my last name. It’s not as though it would be a hard thing for someone to find out.
