The Glittering Life of Evie Mckenzie

by Delancey Stewart

  She stared out the windows of the car at the people walking down the sidewalks around her, moving forward because nothing in their lives was shattered and ruined. She envied them. She envied Janie and Evie, who both had other things propelling them forward.

  ‘I have nothing,’ Tug breathed, feeling a hollow space open up within her. Her mind spun itself to exhaustion, trying to figure out what she could use to fill that space, how she could right the wrong she’d done, but nothing came to mind. She felt hopeless.

  Finally, she drove herself home. She checked on her father, but he wasn’t home. He was more like a drunken boarder than a parent. He was a ghost.

  Tug made herself some toast and milk, and finally went to bed, though it was early in the afternoon.

  *****

  Tug woke up in a darkened room to the sounds of her father crashing about in the kitchen. She rubbed at her eyes and got out of bed, realizing that she wasn’t the least bit tired now, and had a full night ahead of her with nothing to do.

  She went downstairs, to find her father frying meat on the stove.

  ‘Hi Pop,’ Tug said, feeling just as miserable as she had before.

  ‘Oh,’ he said, looking surprised to find that she was home. ‘Didn’t know you were here. Don’t you have to be somewhere?’

  ‘Not tonight,’ she said.

  He turned and faced her. For once, Tug thought, he actually looked sober. ‘Everything all right, Liz?’

  ‘I hate it when you call me that,’ Tug muttered. Her mother had called her Liz when she was young, and as far as Tug was concerned, the name had left with her when she’d gone to find a better life without her family.

  Tug’s father came to sit at the little table by the wall where Tug had sunk down to trace circles on the yellow tablecloth. ‘What’s wrong, Tug?’

  Tug looked up into the face that she hadn’t seen up close in what felt like years. The lines she remembered had deepened and widened. Her father, who once was a respected city clerk, had become shrunken and withered. The man who sat before her was a shell of the man she’d known when she was a child. The kindness in his eyes was still there, though they were bloodshot and watery. Much had changed, but the man who had swung her around in his arms when she was small still sat before her, finally asking her about herself.

  Tears sprang to Tug’s eyes and she felt the hollow space widen within her for all that she had lost in her life and for the wrong she’d done. ‘Oh, Daddy,’ she whispered, the tears finding paths down her face. ‘I’ve messed everything up, and I just don’t know what to do.’

  ‘Hey, darlin’,’ her father’s face saddened. ‘It can’t be that bad. What can I do?’

  Though she loved his willingness to believe that he could help, Tug’s father had been little help with anything since her mother had left and he’d turned to the bottle for companionship. ‘There’s nothing to be done, Daddy.’

  It was true. At least there was nothing he could do. Tug knew she would have to help herself somehow, and that she was completely on her own this time. And worse, she knew there was nothing she could do to help those who’d been hurt.

  ‘I’d be happy to have something to eat, though,’ Tug said, trying to smile.

  ‘That I can do,’ her father said, rising and returning to the refrigerator. He had always been a good cook, though Tug knew there wasn’t much to work with in the house at that point. Domestic chores had been less of a priority since her mother had been gone.

  Tug smiled at her father and let him do what he could to take care of her, knowing that hers was a life unlike Janie’s or Evie’s. Hers was a life in which she would always need to take care of herself.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Evie

  Evie stayed close to home after visiting Tug, eager for news of Roger and Chuck. After she’d had time to consider, her mother seemed to sense that this was about more than her own social standing, and she did her best to encourage Evie that things would be fine. She didn’t mention calling off the engagement again. She even brought out some fabrics that she’d had delivered, and tried to engage Evie in discussions about her wedding gown, but Evie couldn’t bring herself to consider anything that had to do with marriage at that point.

  Guilt filled her, over her silly suspicions about Roger and the action she’d taken as a result – seeking out Jack. It had been the wrong thing to do, she knew. Roger loved her. The more she thought about it, the more she convinced herself that his absence that night had a perfectly logical explanation. He was probably studying for finals; after all, he would be finishing school as she wrapped up her first semester.

  Dinner was a quiet affair, both her parents stealing glances at each other and then at her, as if her face might give away some crucial information about Roger’s situation. As they wrapped up the final course, the phone in the hall sounded a shrill cry, startling Evie.

  She heard Buck answer, and then he appeared in the door to the dining room. ‘Miss Evie? It’s Mr White.’

  Relief coursed through her veins, and Evie rose to follow Buck to the hall. ‘Hello, darling? Are you all right?’

  ‘I’m fine,’ Roger said. ‘I’m at my parents’ for a bit.’

  ‘And Chuck?’

  ‘He’s with his folks, too.’

  ‘What’s going to happen, Roger?’ Evie wound the phone cord around her finger as she spoke.

  ‘Dad doesn’t think anything will stick. There’s nothing tying us to the delivery of the stuff that made people sick, and I wasn’t even there that night.’

  ‘I know. I looked for you.’ A brief burst of anger flared in the pit of Evie’s stomach.

  ‘You were there?’

  ‘I went to see you. I hadn’t heard from you all day. I guess I missed you.’ Evie wasn’t sure if that was the reason she’d gone looking for Roger. She’d wanted to see him, but she’d also wanted to see what he was up to. She was suspicious, even if Roger had explained her fears away. There was something going on, and now it was just more complicated.

  ‘I’m sorry, darling. I was stuck at school. Wait, you didn’t drink anything, did you? Are you all right?’

  ‘I’m fine.’ Evie’s mood darkened. She tried to keep herself from admitting what came out next. ‘I called your room. Late.’

  ‘I was studying, honey. I’ve got – well, I would have had – finals.’

  ‘You’re not going to finish?’

  ‘I can’t leave town now. Dad thinks it would be too risky. I’m to stay at home and be watched.’ Roger sighed. ‘Don’t suppose I could pay you a visit, be watched over there?’

  Evie glanced at the shadow falling into the hall from the parlor, where her mother stood eavesdropping. ‘I don’t think that’d be a good idea,’ she said. ‘Public sentiment might not be in your favor.’

  ‘Yours, or your mother’s?’

  Either. ‘My mother’s.’

  ‘Well, I suppose that’s understandable. They have good reason to hate me now.’ Roger sounded tired. ‘Evie, darling, do you think we’ll be able to get past all this nonsense?’

  Evie shook her head, but couldn’t find the heart to tell him what she really thought – that she wasn’t sure she could trust him anymore, that she was angry at him for disappearing and removing the last bit of faith she’d had in him. ‘Maybe,’ she said. ‘But there’s Tug to think about, too. I don’t know what she’s going to do.’

  ‘Tug’s a big girl. She got us into this mess. She can figure her own way out.’

  ‘That’s a bit harsh. She’s drowning in guilt over it all.’

  ‘Well at least she’s not down at the precinct drowning.’

  ‘You didn’t name her, did you?’

  ‘I wouldn’t do that. She didn’t mean any harm.’ Roger was quiet a minute, then added, ‘and Chuck would have killed me.’

  ‘I knew he was sweet on her.’

  ‘That’s putting it mildly.’

  ‘Well, I …’ Evie didn’t know what else to say.

 
‘When will I see you, Evie? Will you come round the house tomorrow? Bring your mother for tea.’

  ‘I don’t know if I can. I’ll try.’

  ‘I’ll have my mother phone and make the formal invitation.’

  ‘That might help.’

  ‘I’ll see you tomorrow, darling.’

  ‘Goodnight, Roger.’

  Evie hung up, darkness hanging over her as she stood in the dim hallway. Something had changed. Something had gone missing from her relationship with Roger.

  *****

  The papers covered plenty about the Upper East Side families recently pushed into the spotlight for dabbling in illegal liquor distribution, and it seemed as though the city might choose to make an example of Roger and Chuck, no matter what pull Roger’s father might have. Evie had little place in his life with the wheels of the law turning slowly toward Roger’s penance, and her own life marched on in a quieter fashion for the next week, with no nightclub visits or dates with her fiancé.

  Roger called every evening, but their conversations had become stilted and cold. Evie searched herself during these talks for the warm excitement she’d felt for Roger not long ago. What had that been? Was it simply that she was caught up in courtship? She hated to believe that she was so shallow, but it was hard not to be swept away by a handsome man with a ring in his hand. And Roger had everything she was supposed to be looking for – an established family, a good education, and a promising career in finance, not to mention the exciting dark edges that Evie’s had provided. But she couldn’t conjure up the excitement that she knew Roger deserved.

  Evie wondered if any of her desolation stemmed from the end of her namesake club – a place where she’d grown up in many ways. Though it had lived a short life, Evie’s had been the place where Roger had declared his love for her, proposed, and given her an outlet for her desire to find a life parallel to that expected of her by her family. Evie’s had been important to her, maybe more than she’d realized until it was gone.

  Evie penned a column about the producer Lucien Paramour, and the fall of Sadie Hatton, who she learned had gone to school with Janie the year before she and Tug. She hoped that maybe writing about Sadie’s fall might inspire Sadie’s parents – or Annabelle Fairlead’s parents – to seek her out and take her in again before something truly terrible happened to her. Tobias was happy enough, but cautioned her to avoid turning the column into a social welfare piece, and reminded her that she had only a few weeks before the convention began.

  ‘Sir, forgive me, but I’m not a political writer. That’s not where my interests lie,’ she told Tobias after he’d reviewed her piece.

  ‘Well, Broadway starlets and garden parties can only get one so far, Mouse. Do you need help?’

  Evie thought about the pressures of her weekly column and her reduced ability to gather dirt on anyone. ‘Maybe I do.’

  ‘All right, here.’ Tobias handed her a thick formal card with scrolling calligraphy across its face. ‘I’ve got an invitation to this ball at the end of the week. There’ll be lots of bigwigs there because it’s a fundraiser for Smith’s campaign, and he’s got a lot of friends. You’ll need an escort, of course.’

  ‘You?’

  ‘Hell, no!’ Tobias laughed until his jowls shook. ‘I think my wife would have something to say about that!’

  ‘Sorry. Of course.’ Evie stared at the handwritten invitation, the elegant letters engraved into thick paper.

  ‘Can you find someone? Maybe the man who put that rock on your finger?’

  She nodded. Roger might be able to get away, though his presence might cause more commotion than she needed if she was trying to stay on the sidelines so she could watch and listen. Plus, his mother seemed determined to make him a shut-in until the publicity of his shame had died down. She would probably need to find someone else.

  ‘Okay, Mouse. Get to it, then.’

  ‘Thank you, Mr Tobias. I’ll do my best.’ She rose and walked from his office back to the curb where Buck waited. ‘Buck,’ she told him. ‘I’ve just remembered that I have a meeting with one of my professors this afternoon. Could you take me back to school?’

  ‘Sure thing,’ Buck said with a smile.

  Evie looked at him for a moment longer than was necessary, and he glanced back at her, looking uncomfortable. She looked away quickly, not meaning to let her thoughts affect her behavior. She could ask Buck to accompany her to the ball. But maybe that would be her last resort. This provided her an excuse to talk to Jack, if she could swallow her pride and ask him to escort her. She knew it wasn’t exactly proper, but the blue eyes lit her mind every time it was dark, and the touch of his fingers still lingered on her cheek where he’d touched her last. ‘Anything for you,’ he’d said. She would find out if he meant it.

  ‘Thanks, Buck,’ Evie said as she stepped out of the car.

  ‘When should I pick you up, Miss Evie?’ Buck asked.

  ‘I could take a cab, Buck.’

  ‘Not while I’m breathing.’ Buck looked angry that she would even suggest it.

  ‘I just hate for you to be waiting on me,’ she said.

  ‘Well, I don’t mind a bit. I have a paper right here to keep me busy.’ Buck pulled out his newspaper and settled back into his seat.

  ‘Thanks,’ Evie said, waving as she walked away from him.

  *****

  Evie made her way to Jack’s office, rehearsing her words in her mind. She would ask him in a strong voice, letting him know that it was simply a favor, and only that she needed an escort, nothing more. She wouldn’t sigh or melt in his presence, she would remind him that she was engaged to be married. She told herself all these things as she walked.

  And forgot them promptly when she arrived at Jack’s open office door. He stood in the far corner, looking for something in his bookshelf, his dark hair and strong back to her. The cut of his suit revealed the taper of his waist, the broad expanse of his shoulders. He leaned over slightly to look on a lower shelf, and Evie was struck again by the way he moved – like a dangerous animal.

  She watched him search as long as she dared, and then cleared her throat.

  Jack spun around, surprised, and an expression of wonder crossed his face before it was quickly replaced with his usual cool facade. ‘Miss McKenzie,’ he said, his voice a silvery rumble. ‘What a nice surprise.’

  Evie felt self-conscious in front of Jack, as she always had. At least back in the days when he’d been a club proprietor and she’d been a debutante sneaking out of her parents’ house, she’d had the buzz of alcohol to cover her discomfort. Here, in the light of day in an office at the University, she had no such help. ‘I hope you’ll forgive the intrusion,’ she said.

  Jack crossed the small room, and gestured to a chair in front of the large dark wooden desk.

  ‘No intrusion,’ he said, still not smiling. There was amusement dancing in his eyes, though. He knew how unsettling his presence was to Evie.

  She sat as indicated, and then stared at her hands for a long moment. Finally, she remembered her promises to herself. Strong, decisive. Just asking for a favor. ‘I …’ She felt incapable of speech.

  ‘Are you concerned about your grade, Miss McKenzie?’

  She looked up at him. ‘Please, Jack. Call me Evie.’

  The line of his lips softened, and something in his eyes warmed. He nodded slightly.

  ‘That’s not it. I came because I’d hoped you might be willing … that you might, ah …’

  ‘I’m willing,’ he said quickly, taking the chair beside her.

  She laughed. ‘But you don’t know what I’m about to ask!’

  ‘You’re nervous,’ he said, smiling. ‘So I have a few ideas what you might be about to ask.’

  ‘Well, it’s a favor, really. It’s just … It’s something Roger can’t do for me.’

  ‘I believe there might be a good number of things that Roger can’t do for you.’ Jack raised an eyebrow.

  Evie felt the color crawl
up her cheeks. She cleared her throat as Jack leaned forward slightly. ‘Well, you see, there’s a ball. And I need an escort. It’s for work.’ She added the last part quickly and then regretted it.

  ‘Work? I didn’t realize you had a job, Evie. Tell me, what is it that you do?’

  Every word from his lips sounded as if it dripped with suggestion, though the words themselves were not incendiary in any way. Evie felt as if she’d need a bath once she finally left his presence; the reactions he caused within her were humiliating and seemingly uncontrollable. She crossed her legs tightly.

  ‘Yes, well.’ She pulled at the collar of her blouse, though it was nowhere near her neck. ‘I’m a reporter, actually. And this is a political affair, so I’ll need to go and speak with some people …’ She felt as if she were rambling, but Jack seemed to hang on each word. ‘Will you take me, Jack?’

  Jack smiled wide. ‘I would like nothing more.’ He said it simply, and there seemed to be no subterfuge in his words or his manner. Evie suspected it was the first honest sentiment he’d ever offered her. ‘Tell me when to come for you.’

  Evie dug the invitation from her bag and held it out to Jack. He took it from her grasp, letting his long fingers overlap hers for a brief moment. The touch sent chills through Evie and an embarrassing wetness developed between her legs. She pulled her thighs together more tightly.

  ‘This weekend?’ Jack mused. ‘Not much notice. I think that will be fine, though. Shall I pick you up at your parents’ house?’

  Oh God, her parents! Evie hadn’t thought of what a stir having Jack arrive at her house might cause. ‘No,’ she said, her mind spinning. ‘I’ll meet you at Maison. In front.’

  ‘That doesn’t seem proper.’

  ‘I’m engaged. There’s a lot about this that isn’t proper.’

  Jack smiled again, and this time the devilish look returned to his eye. ‘True,’ he said. ‘I’ll wait for you there on Friday, then.’

  ‘Thank you, Jack.’ She said the words quietly, and Jack leaned in, as if he was absorbing them from the very air between them.