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"Yeah. It's fine—she's fine. I... I'm going to ask Gigi to marry me."
"Max, that's great!" she told him, stepping forward to give him a quick, awkward hug. Evangeline really liked Gianna. She was a sweet girl who was easygoing enough for Max but still fiercely protective when it came to Erin. "When will you ask her?"
"I'm planning on taking her away for a long weekend. I'll ask her then."
"Will Erin stay with your mom?"
"Yeah. My mom is so excited," he revealed with a grin. "She's hoping for more grandchildren."
Evangeline shook her head. "What does Gigi have to say about that? She's still young and her career is just taking off."
He shrugged. "It's completely up to her, of course, but I would love for Erin to have a little brother or sister sometime in the near future."
And there it was—the sharp pain in her chest. Evangeline rubbed at her sternum for a moment, regret and longing swirling inside her. She picked up the dish towel and folded it. "It's really great news, Max. I wish you both all the happiness in the world."
She turned back to her work while she assumed Max did the same. She didn't know because she was too busy trying to keep her shitty emotions from off her face. Goddamnit, why did Beau have to show up in her life again?
"You ready to put your big girl pants on yet?" Max asked.
She turned to look at him. "What? What do you mean?"
"I mean, all night you've looked as if someone has run over your puppy."
"I'm fine," she shot back instinctively. Fuck, she was no good at sharing.Thanks for that, foster families. Max stared at her, waiting... expectant. "Fuck, I'll need a drink if we talk about this."
He grinned, already screwing the cap off a bottle of bourbon. "You're still drinking this, right?" She nodded and pulled two clean glasses off the rack. He filled them up to the top, put the bottle down, and handed her a drink. "So, what's up?"
Evangeline took a large swallow of her bourbon and rode the burn. "A guy I used to know showed up here last night. He blindsided me." She shrugged. "And that's it."
"Just a guy?" he pressed.
She took another sip. "An old boyfriend, actually."
That seemed to get Max's attention. "In all the time I've known you, you've not once mentioned having a boyfriend."
"This was back when I was in college," she clarified. "And maybe he's the reason I've not had a boyfriend since," she tacked on quietly, looking down into her glass.
"What happened between you?"
She glanced up. "I don't know."
"You don't know?" he asked, incredulous.
She frowned and took another drink. "I don't know what happened. One day, we were great and then the next…” She shrugged. “It was like he'd never existed. He just disappeared. From school. From my life. Just gone."
"There has to be an explanation for it." Max refilled their glasses then leaned back on the counter. "Is that why he came here tonight?"
Evangeline nodded, too embarrassed to tell him that she had actually gone to see him after a week of silence. She had received an answer to her question, but she hadn’t been able to understand it. "He told me he could explain everything."
"You don't seem really excited about that."
"I don't know how to explain it, Max. I just feel... indifferent, I guess. He hurt me. Badly."
He lowered himself to the ground, leaning back against the bar fridge behind him. It looked like he was getting comfortable, like he was in it for the long haul. "We've all been hurt before."
"Not like me," she replied. She could feel her eyes becoming unfocused as she stared down into the amber liquid in her glass. Her whole life she'd been disappointed by the people claiming to love her. Why should Beau have been any different?
"You're giving him a chance to explain though, right?"
