and down her back. “Come on. Let’s get you home.”
She doesn’t speak, letting me guide her out. I’m missing something here, something big. How she is being treated isn’t right. And some fucker has been turning her mum against her. I can’t imagine how she’s feeling right now.
After getting her back into the car, I shut the door, then pause at the back of the car, where I pull my phone out and dial Jaxon.
It rings twice before he answers. “Hello?”
“Hey, I need a favour.”
“What kind of favour, because the last time you asked for one, I ended up in a cell for a night.”
I snort. It wasn’t my fault he got into a fight with Landon when I asked him to drop a package off to Jimmy at The Ginn Inn.
“I’m with Evie. She just went to see her mum and it went badly. Her mum attacked her.”
“Fuck, is she okay?”
“Yeah, but I didn’t get a good vibe from the place. They treated Evie like she didn’t belong. She’s distraught, man.”
“What do you need?” he asks straight away, and I close my eyes. I can always count on my family.
“I need you to let her have the day off tomorrow.”
“Whatever she needs. It’s only one day,” he explains, sounding slightly confused as to why it would be a problem.
“And I’ll be with her,” I rush out, hearing him groan.
“Wyatt, we’re booked up.”
“I know. But you haven’t seen her. I’m not just saying this to get out of work. I’m going to take her out for the day.”
Another heavy sigh echoes through the phone. “Okay. But you can make it up by doing longer hours next week.”
“Thanks, brother.”
“Go see to Evie,” he orders. “Check in later.”
“Will do,” I tell him, before ending the call.
I head around the car to the driver’s side, before opening the door to get in. Evie’s turned away, staring out the window, her cheeks wet with tears.
I remain silent, leaving her to her thoughts as I put the car into gear and pull out of the space.
*** *** ***
I pull up outside her flat, putting the car into park before turning to face her. “I know this is a ridiculous question, but I’m going to ask it anyway. Are you okay?”
“I’m sorry you had to witness that,” she whispers, unable to look at me.
“You don’t need to be sorry. I’m sorry you had to go through that,” I softly reply.
She forces out a dry laugh, wiping under her eyes. “It’s nothing new for me, Wyatt.”
“Still, it upsets you.”
“Yeah,” she croaks out.
I undo her belt and pull her to me, wrapping my arm around her shoulders. “If I could make it right, I would.”
“Thank you,” she replies, pressing into me. “Why don’t we go and eat the beef stew I have cooking?”
I’m surprised she would want to. She’s no longer in a zombie state, but I can tell she’s still reeling over the effects of her mother accusing her of poisoning her.
If anything, I would have thought she’d want to be alone. Which I wouldn’t let happen. She needs someone with her, whether she knows that or not.
“Are you sure?” I ask, only to be polite. She doesn’t really have much of a choice since I’m not going anywhere. She doesn’t know that though. I’m being a gentleman and polite in letting her think she has a choice.
“Of course. After tonight, I just want to relax.”
“Well, feed me then,” I demand lightly, letting her go.
She chuckles under her breath as she grabs her bag from the floor. “Yes, because you are deprived of food. You probably ate a full meal before arriving.”
I reach out, my fingers wrapping around her arm. She stops with her hand on the door, turning to look at me.
“No, I wouldn’t do that to you. In fact, I skipped lunch today and I didn’t binge on any snacks.”
Her eyes widen as she pulls back, hearing the sincerity of it. I love my food—what male doesn’t? I can see it means something to her when her eyes flash with adoration.
“Why did you do that?”
I reach down and link our fingers together. “Because I want this to be special. I don’t want to ruin it by being full.”
She studies me, her lips curving into a smile before she bursts out laughing. “You wanted to be hungry enough that if the food was horrible, you’d still eat it.”
Affronted by the truth, I narrow my eyes at her, although my lips twitching gives me away. “Of course