Page 22 of The Challenge

“Ah, so I’m your garbage disposal.” I sat down. “I’ll take it. This looks great.”

“Well, you seem like you’d be into fancy bowls.” He winked.

“I am, but I still appreciate a nice toasted Pop-Tart from time to time. I think of you whenever I have one.”

“And then you stab it with a fork?”

“Yes.” I winked. “Exactly.”

I took my first bite and smiled. It tasted as good as it looked. “How did Effie’s braid come out this morning?”

He nodded. “Pretty good. It wasn’t quite as tight as yours because we didn’t have all that much time. But she was happy with it. That’s what matters.” He licked the corner of his mouth. “I see yours is still hanging in there.”

“I’d planned to take it out before I saw you again, but…”

“Just like you planned to take off my sweatshirt before I came home?” He smirked.

“I don’t have a bra on at the moment. But I’ll take it off, if you need it back.”

He held up his palm. “Keep it on.”

Thought so.

Chapter 8

CHLOE

After lunch, Evan and I hopped in his truck and headed to the storage place, planning to make the most of the time before he had to pick up Effie.

I unlocked the unit, and Evan looked around. “Okay. Wow. This is a lot. No way you could’ve done all this on your own without a truck.” He turned to me. “Where should I start?”

“I’d like to focus on the big stuff today since your truck is at my disposal.” I pointed. “Those chairs can go, for starters. That small table, too.” I gestured to my right. “Basically, all of the big items that need to be donated are on this side of the room. I’m not keeping any of it. So, you can pack as much as you can fit in the back of your truck.”

He nodded and got to work, taking the larger things out while I sorted through some of the smaller stuff and put the donation items into one of my white garbage bags. I tried to busy myself in the endless pile, operating at warp speed to avoid having Evan notice how painful this was for me.

Evan caught me at one point, though, staring down at a family photo. “You don’t have to pretend to be strong on my account,” he said. “I know how much your family means to you.”

Continuing to look down at the photo, I shook my head. “From time to time, I come across something that takes my breath away.”

“This responsibility shouldn’t fall solely on you.” He paused. “Is Fawn coming at some point, too?”

“Her nanny job is less flexible. She has to be there every day. She’ll lose the position if she leaves. And I haven’t put pressure on her. It’s not gonna change anything if it’s the two of us being sad going through our memories instead of just me.”

“It might seem that way now, but I’d bet if she were here, you’d feel better.”

“Misery loves company?” I shrugged. “Now that I’m here, I don’t feel like it’s urgent that she comes. The hardest part was getting here.”

His eyes wandered over my shoulder. “Holy shit.” He walked over and picked something up. “The waffle iron.”

“Wow.” My chest felt hollow. “We made some mean waffles with that thing.”

After Evan had returned from the Army, I’d looked for excuses to hang out with him. He’d commuted to school an hour away at the time, so I’d often gotten up early to join him in the kitchen. One morning, I’d made waffles before he woke up, and somehow that became our thing—getting up before everyone and eating waffles together. Some mornings he’d beat me to it and already have a batch made when I got up.

“Do you mind if I take this back to the house?” he asked.

“Not at all. It’s yours.”

“Effie would love to try homemade waffles. I don’t think she’s ever had any except the frozen kind.”