The Arrangement

by Hilary Hamblin

  Slowly he surveyed the rest of the darkened room until he spotted two figures near the restrooms. They stood close to each other and gestured with exaggerated motions. Evie’s white pants gave her away.

  Eli shook his head. Had she faked her tears all along? Did she escape his table to meet with Ben in the darkened shadows of the restroom? No, the conversation between Evie and the man Eli assumed to be Ben appeared to be more of a confrontation than a romantic interlude between a clandestine couple. Should he rush to her aid? Eli wondered.

  As he slipped the napkin from his lap back onto the table and began to rise from his seat, he caught Evie’s gaze. Her eyes widened, and her mouth opened slightly. With a subtle shake of her head, she instructed him not to assist her, and he sank back into his seat.

  A gnawing sensation grew in his stomach as he wondered about the scene taking place between his date and another man. Was he naïve enough to believe she harbored no feelings for Ben? After all, they broke up not because of some unfixable problem, but because her parents ordered her to leave him or leave their money. Eli chastised himself for being stupid and believing she really cared about him. He considered just leaving and letting Ben take Evie home, but his honor required him to stay.

  Several minutes later Evie returned to their table with flushed cheeks and red-rimmed eyes.

  “Maybe we should go,” Eli suggested.

  “No.” The gentle touch of Evie’s fingers on his surprised him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t expect to see him here. I’ve moved on, so why shouldn’t he? It just surprised me.”

  Eli rested his hand underneath hers on the white tablecloth and enjoyed the warmth and softness of her skin. Was this how moving on felt—warm and soft? If so, why did those feelings hurt Evie so much? “What did he say?” Eli asked, unable to resist his pressing curiosity.

  Evie closed her eyes and opened them again. “He asked who you were and made a couple snide comments about how quickly I had moved on to someone ‘more appropriate.’ ” She wiped a stray tear. “I can’t say I acted any better. It just feels like he came here to rub my nose in his dating again.”

  Eli raised his brows. “Why wouldn’t he come here? You said you really liked this restaurant. I guess I thought you and Ben came here a lot.”

  “We did.” She shrugged. “But I always paid. Did I forget to mention Ben barely has enough money for rent and tuition every other month? He works several jobs all day just to put himself through school. He doesn’t have extra money to spend here.”

  “Oh.” Eli tried to put the pieces of their relationship puzzle together. “Lots of girls pay for dates now, so that’s really not a big deal,” he said, hoping to keep Evie from feeling as though Ben had used her for her money.

  “I guess I wonder how he can afford it now unless he’s found another girlfriend who is willing to foot the bill.” Her soft voice echoed with defeat.

  Eli searched his mind and his heart for the right words. He ate a few more bites of pasta as she pushed her food around on her plate. A heartbroken expression had replaced the playful, happy one from minutes earlier. “If you’re finished, why don’t we just go?” Eli finally suggested.

  Evie looked up, her eyes still red, and nodded. Eli placed several bills in the folder with their check and followed her out. As she turned and walked from the restaurant, Eli noticed she did not glance around for Ben. He gently placed his hand on her back as they walked into the now cooler night air.

  “Where to now?” Eli asked as they walked toward his car.

  “I think I’m just going to head back to the house,” Evie said.

  “Okay.” Eli nodded in agreement. On a whim he took both of her hands in his. He rubbed his thumbs over the smooth skin of the back of her hand. “I’d really like it if you would come to church with me tomorrow,” he asked without considering whether or not she would accept. If he did not ask now, he doubted he would have the courage to call her and ask again later. His mother’s question about whether or not Evie attended church echoed in his mind. If she had no interest in spiritual things, then maybe they would be better off not taking the relationship any further.

  Evie tilted her head, as if considering. Then she said, “That sounds nice.”

  His pulse thrummed at her acceptance. He gave her the name of the church and the time services started. They stared at each other for an awkward moment before saying good night. Eli resisted the urge to at least kiss her on the cheek. Instead, he squeezed her hands before letting go. He watched her walk down the sidewalk several steps before climbing into his car and driving home.

  )

  Eli waited outside Grace Community Church, drumming his fingers on his Bible. He checked his watch and determined if Evie had not arrived in another five minutes he would go inside without her. He hated the idea of her arriving without anyone to greet her, but he did not want to miss any of the music at the beginning of the service.

  He watched families climb from their cars and hurry through the parking lot to the large brick sanctuary. A mother pulled a curly haired boy from a car seat in the back of their family’s mini-van while the father straightened the stiff cotton dress on their daughter. He wondered if he would ever act as part of a family so nearly perfect. He could not imagine Whitney showing as much concern for her children as this mother. In fact, he knew Whitney held no desire to have children unless they would secure her marriage or support her appearance as the perfect political family.

  A sudden glimpse of Evie’s BMW slowing at the edge of the parking lot brought Eli back to reality. He strode across the lot to where Evie sat with her tanned legs swung outside the driver’s side door. He suspected she was applying yet another coat of lipstick.

  Before he reached her car, she planted her black high heels firmly on the ground. A stunning red dress flowed just above her knees highlighting her blond hair swinging freely at her shoulders. He forced himself to continue toward her instead of freezing to drink in her beauty. She always surprised him by looking more amazing each time he saw her.

  “Sorry I’m late,” she gushed. “Girls always take too long to get ready.”

  Eli chuckled at her attempt to be cliché. “Five more minutes and I would have gone in without you,” he teased with only a hint of seriousness.

  “It looks like a full house this morning,” she commented as she fell into step beside Eli.

  “Actually most Sundays are this full. Have you ever been here?”

  “I grew up here. My family has been a member here for years. Do you really think I’m that much of a heathen?” Defensiveness clung to her words.

  “No.” Eli realized how his question sounded. “I know you grew up in this town, but many other churches carry on services here as well. I’ve seen your brother and his wife here, and your parents come occasionally, but I hadn’t seen you here, so I thought maybe you went somewhere else.”

  Evie glanced at him. “I…haven’t been to church much since I moved away to college. I always have so much studying to do and then we have sorority obligations. I’m usually so tired by Sunday I sleep in.” She paused and then grinned. “Maybe I am a bit of a heathen.”

  Eli opened the door to the church and allowed Evie to walk into the cool respite of the foyer in front of him. Evie’s heels sank into the light blue carpet as she walked toward the door leading into the sanctuary.

  “Good morning, Harvey,” Eli greeted a man with a ring of gray hair circling his bald head.

  “Morning, Eli. Good to see you. How’s the golf game?” the man asked.

  “Not any better than it was last week,” Eli joked as they walked into the sanctuary.

  Without thinking Eli placed his hand on Evie’s back to guide her into a pew about halfway up the middle section. Even through her dress, the warmth of her skin drove a tingling sensation through his hand, up his arm, and directly into his heart. He tried to force away his growing smile. He immediately opened the order of service when they settled int
o their seats.

  “Do you know William and Katherine Holmes?” Eli asked as he read their names listed on the paper in front of him.

  A spark lit Evie’s eyes as she nodded. “Mrs. Katherine taught me Sunday school when I was a kid. She’s the sweetest lady.”

  “They are celebrating their anniversary this week. They are a testament to how marriage should really be.”

  “How long have they been married?” Evie asked.

  “Sixty years,” he replied, reading the announcement from the paper in front of him.

  “I can’t imagine being with someone for so long,” she added. “But isn’t that what marriage is supposed to be? Loving each other, going places together, enjoying just being together? Imagine having all of that for over sixty years….”

  “Didn’t you think you and Ben would be together that long if you got married?” Before his tongue thrust the last word into the air, Eli chided himself. Great question, Eli. He looked up to the organ and piano sections and then over to the choir loft and pulpit. Come on, guys, help a fella out. Start playing something, anything to stop this train-wreck of a conversation.

  “I never really thought about it,” she answered.

  He barely heard her over the murmur of the crowd waiting for the service to begin.

  “Your parents have been married for a long time, right? So you grew up seeing a good marriage.” Eli hoped he only imagined seeing her cringe as he said the words good marriage.

  “My parents have been married for over thirty years, yes. But I wouldn’t classify it as a ‘good marriage.’ ”

  Eli cocked his head to the side and waited for an explanation.

  “My parents have…” Evie looked upward as though searching for the right word. “…extracurricular activities.”

  The caterpillars dancing through his stomach all morning suddenly morphed into a stampede of elephants as he heard Evie use the same words her father used only days earlier. Extracurricular activities. How can anyone use those words related to marriage without crying in pain or shame? He swallowed hard and spoke his next sentence slowly with an attempt to sound more naïve and calm than he really felt. “What do you mean?”

  “They’ve always tried to hide it. They work together, so full-blown affairs are difficult. They show up at the expected places—charity dinners, school awards, and our athletic events—together. But Dad would rather be at the casino than home with us. If he could manage an afternoon off, he always headed to the poker tables. And Mom took those opportunities to find the affection she needed somewhere else.” Evie’s tone grew quiet as the choir and ministers filed onto the platform. She shrugged as the music began.

  When the service ended Eli knew he could never discuss the pastor’s sermon because he heard nothing the entire time but the echo of Evie’s words: extracurricular activities. Did Thomas and Victoria Barrett truly live as business partners instead of life partners? At first the idea of an arranged marriage shocked and offended him. After all, why should someone else choose his mate? But then he began to think, Who knows Evie Barrett better than her own father? Even in a strained relationship, he understands her love of politics and drive to succeed—two characteristics he shared with her. But now, he wondered if Evie saw marriage as simply another responsibility to endure as the daughter of a wealthy doctor.

  6

  )

  T

  wo weeks later, Evie and Eli walked hand in hand across the grass surrounding the University’s football stadium. Around them alumni, fans, and students laughed and ate with an air of excitement brought only by the anticipation of a rigorous game of football. Evie waved fondly to a couple of her sorority sisters.

  Evie tugged her burgundy leather jacket tighter over a thin brown sweater. The heels on her brown boots crunched the occasional piece of gravel. She studied the girls in front of her in a mental comparison to herself. She felt Eli give her hand a squeeze and turned questioning eyes toward him.

  “Don’t play their game,” he whispered. His lips moved very little as the words slipped from his mouth. “You look beautiful. Don’t compare yourself.”

  Evie jerked her head in the direction of her friends. How did he know? Could he read her thoughts? Did he know she often wished for Stacy’s brown curls or Megan’s curvy figure? And did he really think she was beautiful?

  Evie forced happiness to her face as they approached an area where middled-aged men and women gathered wearing sweatshirts and team hats. She wondered briefly why the students dressed up while the alumni dressed down. Tradition, she reminded herself.

  “Thomas!” her mother called in a sing-song voice. “Evie’s here, and she’s brought Eli.” Pleasure oozed from her mother’s voice.

  Heat rose up Evie’s neck as her parents’ friends turned to look at them. The spicy scent of barbecue chicken drifted from an open grill smoking just outside her parents’ tents.

  Eli nodded toward a couple of the partners in his law firm.

  “Mrs. Barrett,” Eli called as he let go of Evie’s hand to extend it for her mother to shake.

  “Eli, dear, please call me Victoria,” she slurred.

  “Whatever you say, Victoria,” he obliged.

  A gag rose in Evie’s throat. Is this how an actress feels? How much longer can I play the part of a politician’s girlfriend?

  When she finished ogling Eli, Evie’s mother placed thin arms around her in a limp hug. “Smile, sweetheart, everyone’s watching,” Victoria murmured in her ear. Obediently Evie turned the corners of her mouth upward.

  As quickly as her mother had swooped down upon the couple, she backed away. “Drinks are in the cooler under the food tent, and the barbecue is ready,” she announced more to the gathering crowd of friends than to the couple she just greeted.

  The low buzz of conversations resumed, and people migrated toward the tables whose white tablecloths were hidden beneath mountains of barbecued meat, steamed vegetables, crusty bread, and moist cookies.

  “Don’t look now, but the Barretts’ newly married son and his lovely bride have entered the tent,” a deep voice whispered in her ear. Evie’s brother slid his arm around her shoulders. “How ya making it, Sis?”

  “Why couldn’t you have shown up five minutes ago?” she growled after shooting a smile toward her sister-in-law, Leigh Anna.

  “Well, that’s not much of a greeting.” His body shook with unreleased laughter.

  “Yeah, whatever.” Evie watched as her parents’ friends loaded their plates with free food and lounged in chairs protected from the sun by her parents’ tents. “Who are all these people?” She recognized only a few faces.

  Eli leaned in toward her, his eyes focused on a table at the end of her parents’ “camp.” “See the guy in the sweatshirt and black cap?” He nodded in the general direction of a table seated with three couples.

  Evie smiled as though he were telling her an amazingly interesting story and nodded in return.

  “That’s Dr. Evans, the new dentist in town, and the woman next to him with the really bad dye job is his wife, Patricia.” Eli pivoted slightly to face Evie more directly. “And the large man with the graying beard loading his plate at the barbecue table sits on the city council. He’s talking to a younger man in a red shirt who just opened a new pharmacy downtown.” Eli continued to point out various political and business leaders in their small community as though he had known them all his life.

  Evie clamped her mouth shut and followed Eli’s tour with her eyes. “How do you know all these people?” she hissed. She grew up in Duncan. She should know who controlled what part of the community. Have I been away that long?

  “A politician always knows who’s in charge.” Eli grinned, his perfectly straight white teeth gleaming.

  Evie swatted his shoulder with the back of her hand and headed for the soft drinks. Ice clinked when she pulled a can from the cooler. The drink inside fizzed when she popped open the tab. Under the food tent,
she plopped some of the steaming meat onto her plate with more ease and comfort than she felt. Beside her Eli copied her motions without speaking.

  When she finished picking from an assortment of fresh cookies for her dessert, Evie turned on her heel to walk to a table far away from her parents’ crowd of friends. Without looking, she charged ahead and ran into a petite, dark figure. “Watch it!” she warned too late.

  “Eeek,” Leigh Anna shrieked at the same time. A soda stain spread over her white tunic. She held her arms away from her body. In one hand she held a soda identical to Evie’s and in the other hand a half-empty plate. “Yuck!” she whispered and brushed past Evie to the table, where she grabbed a handful of napkins and began to dab at the wet spot covering her front.

  Evie followed her sister-in-law, matching her step for step to the table. She set down her plate and drink to help Leigh Anna blot the dark liquid from her top. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know you were there. I should have been watching where I was going.”

  Together they worked to restore the once gleaming fabric to its original white state.

  Leigh Anna dropped her napkin on the table. “This stain will never come out. It’s the first time I’ve worn this shirt. I can’t believe I’m so careless.” She scanned the area where her husband’s family gathered. “Evie, do you remember if Taylor had his jacket with him? Maybe if I put it on, I can cover up this hideous spot.”

  “I don’t remember.” Evie’s eyes roved over the crowd again. She noticed her brother, without a jacket, talking to the city councilman Eli pointed out earlier. Just as she started to break the bad news to Leigh Anna, another idea jolted her into action. She grabbed her sister-in-law by the wrist and nearly jerked her away from the tent.

  “Wha—,” Leigh Anna started to say as Evie cut her off.

  After taking only two steps from the tent, Evie turned to Eli. “If they ask where we went, tell Taylor, Mom, and Dad that we’ll be back. I’m going to get Leigh Anna another shirt.” Without another word she turned back to her prisoner and again escorted her, almost roughly, away.