his arm.
The woman was attractive, petite, with a neat blond bob and a slender figure. She was so tanned that he instantly thought of a tanning bed.
“Oh my! Who is this tall drink of water?” she asked, boldly looking Max up and down.
“This is my son Max,” his dad said. “Dr. Sheffington on campus.”
“You weren’t kidding when you said he was handsome,” she said appreciatively. “If I’d known that, I might have asked him out for a drink!”
Max flinched at the idea, but his father laughed. “Max, this is Evelyn. She’s the reason I’m glad you stopped by this evening.”
Max was stunned, but he managed to walk around the end of the kitchen bar and offer his hand. “Hello, Evelyn. Very nice to meet you.”
She took his hand in both of hers and squeezed it warmly. Max realized, dumbly, that she was speaking, but he hadn’t heard a word she said because he was still trying to wrap his head around this idea that his dad was dating. That there was another woman in his dad’s life who wasn’t Mom. That this wasn’t a recreational thing, this was a real thing. He couldn’t get over how happy his dad looked. Ridiculously happy. Besotted.
“Wine, Evelyn? I am making my specialty—chicken Parmesan! It’s a new recipe.”
“Well, that sounds lovely. And, yes, Toby, I would very much like a glass of wine.”
Max stood firmly rooted to his spot, amazed once more. His dad didn’t drink wine. He’d never seen a bottle of wine in this house in all his life.
“Would you like me to get it?” Evelyn offered.
And she’d been around enough that she knew where this phantom bottle of wine was?
“No, no, you sit. You are our guest. Max can get it,” he said, and gave Max a look as he disappeared around the corner to the pantry. He returned with the bottle, which he thrust at Max.
“Ah . . . corkscrew?”
“Right there, Son.”
Max picked up the corkscrew from the counter and set to opening the wine. He glanced at Evelyn. She was smiling at him sympathetically, as if she knew he was uncomfortable. And, boy, was he uncomfortable. He wanted to leave, to let his dad have his date. He needed time to process this shift in their family universe. But what about Jamie? What would Jamie do when he saw this woman in their kitchen? Had Dad thought of that? Had Jamie already seen this woman in the kitchen?
His dad handed him a wineglass, also a new development. Max poured the wine and handed it to Evelyn, then stood back, not unlike a bartender.
“I’ll have one,” his father said.
Max looked at his dad. “You will?”
“Maxey,” his dad said. “Glasses are up there.”
Max obediently poured his dad a glass. As he handed the stemware to him, a door closed from somewhere down the hall. Max steeled himself—Jamie was about to discover Evelyn. He could be very unnerving when he was surprised, and Max worried there’d be some sort of episode. But when Jamie walked into the kitchen, he looked around, his gaze landing on Evelyn, and said, “Dog show,” and ran his hands down the T-shirt he’d bought in Chicago.
“Very nice,” Evelyn said.
Jamie studied her a moment, then turned on his heel and headed back down the hallway.
Max stared after his brother. And then at Evelyn. “Sooo . . . you’ve met Jamie?”
“I have!” she said cheerfully.
Max turned back to his dad in shock, but his dad was busy with the salad.
“So, Max, you’re the brain scientist,” Evelyn said.
Funny, she said it the same way Carly had in the beginning. “Ah . . . yes.”
“I heard we only use ten percent of our brain. Is that true?”
He really didn’t want to talk about brains right now because there were too many questions rumbling around in his. “No,” he said, and tried to smile. “Not true. Where did you and Dad meet?”
“Tinder.”
Max’s mouth dropped.
“We did not meet on Tinder,” his dad said with a laugh. “Evelyn likes to joke around.”
“You like it when I joke around, Toby.”
“I like it when you do a lot of things.” His dad winked.
“Okay,” Max muttered, and looked around for an escape hatch.
“Toby! Your son is standing right there!” Evelyn said with a girlish giggle.
“He’s a grown man,” his dad said jovially. “He knows how these things go. Max, will you set another place? You’re staying for dinner, right?”
“I wasn’t—”
“I insist, Max!” Evelyn said. “Toby, tell him he has to stay. Please, Max. I’ve so wanted to