Page 131 of Chasing Hope

“I don’t,” I say simply, loving the frown she sends my way. “I watch tutorials.”

“Every day?”

“Every day,” I confirm.

Evie’s voice is small and yet full of such awe my heart skips a beat. “Just for me?”

“There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you.”

Her breath hitches. The severity of my words put a little spark back in her gaze, but not nearly enough.

Rising from her bed, both of us still in our clothes from yesterday, I gently tuck a lock of blonde hair behind her ear and murmur, “Let’s freshen up. I’ll get the coffees, you can get the bags ready.”

“Bags?” she asks, confusion swirling in her blues.

“Paddleboarding, remember?”

Her shoulders droop. “Are you sure that’s still a good idea?”

“I think it’s the best idea. You could use some joy today.” Leaning forward, I place a featherlight kiss against her forehead. “And every day that follows.”

With my latte secret out, I no longer have to hide an earphone in my ear to conceal the voiceover of the tutorial. Still, I keep the volume low.

Today’s video is trying to teach me how to create a polar bear with the milk froth.

Does mine look like a polar bear? Questionable.

But like the koala bear I attempted, Evie doesn’t care if it looks like an animal or a blob. By the way her eyes light up, she adores the attempt all the same.

Her patter of feet make their way down the stairs. Quickly pocketing my phone and lifting the mug of coffee, I turn to Evie.

All traces of last night have been wiped away. The mascara streaks, red-rimmed eyes, and tinted nose are gone. If I hadn’t been here to witness the devastation she went through, I would have thought she had a night like any other.

Sidling into the kitchen, she leans against the island, greedily holding out her hands and making the give-me motion.

“Let me see,” she sing-songs.

I hand over the cup of coffee. As I predicted, and have anxiously looked forward to every morning, Evie’s face ignites with happiness as she twists her head this way and that, the bridge of her nose scrunching as she tries to guess what the art is.

This is why I do it.

To see her spark again.

Evie suddenly snaps her head up with wide eyes. “A bear?”

I look down at the latte art, my lips pursing. “How the hell did you know? It’s meant to be a polar bear.”

She cackles with laughter. “I’m on a roll recently.” She points with the tip of her nail. “I can tell by the neck.”

“The neck?”

“The neck, Valenti. Always the neck.”

I have no idea if we’re still talking about polar bears, but I nod along like I know what she’s saying because truthfully, I hate when she isn’t talking.

Peering past her shoulder, I spot her bag on the floor. “All packed and ready to go?”

“Yeah, we’re not hiking so not a lot needed this time.”