by J. L. Wilder
“Evelyn,” her mother said. “Please don’t be hasty.”
“I’m not being hasty, Mom. He doesn’t want me here. He’s made it clear.”
“That’s not what he said,” her mother protested. “He just doesn’t want you to do anything you’re going to regret later.”
“Well, I’m at a point in my life where I can make those decisions for myself,” Evelyn said. “I wasted twenty years with Marty. I’m not going to waste any more time trying to impress anyone who doesn’t want to let me have a say in my own life. I left Las Vegas because I didn’t want to be controlled anymore, and I’m certainly not going to be controlled here.”
She turned and walked out of the kitchen, buzzing with adrenaline and disbelief that she had really stood up to her parents. She hadn’t even spent one night there and she was already going to go off on her own. It did seem a little hasty.
But there was no way she was going to stick around if this was the way her father was going to treat her. She had made mistakes in her life, and she knew that, but she didn’t deserve to be treated like a child. She was forty-two years old. She had plenty of life experience under her belt, and she could take care of herself.
I’ll be just fine.
She gathered her things. It didn’t take long—she had left Las Vegas with almost nothing. She was able to fit everything she wanted to bring with her into a small denim backpack that had belonged to her as a teenager.
Holding the backpack, she hesitated for a moment. Her parents had kept this for twenty years. They did love her. She knew that. Her father meant well.
But she couldn’t stay. Not if this was how it was going to be.
When she emerged from her bedroom, her parents were in the hall. Her mother looked remorseful, but her father’s face might have been carved from granite.
“Let’s sit down and talk,” her mother said. Her voice broke, and Evelyn felt a hard pang of guilt. “Don’t just leave like this, Evelyn. We just got you back.”
She looked at her father.
Her father said nothing.
“I won’t be far away,” Evelyn said. “And I’ll call you when I’m settled, Mom. I promise. I’m not disappearing again. But I have to be able to live my life.”
She forced herself to walk out the door without looking back, without checking to see whether they were watching her or not. She was sure they were. She could practically feel their eyes on her as she made her way down the block and around the corner.
She didn’t stop walking. There was only one place, realistically, that she could go right now.
She just had to hope that he wouldn’t mind.
Chapter Fourteen
BRADY
“Back already?” Brady asked.
Evelyn was standing at his door, a little backpack slung over her shoulder. It had been less than an hour since she’d left, and as much as Brady would have liked to believe that she’d just returned for another roll in the hay, he could tell by her expression that that wasn’t it. Something was wrong.
“Can I come in?” she asked.
“Of course.” He stood back and let her into the house.
She went to the living room and sat down. He followed her in. “Do you want something?” he asked. “A drink? Something to eat?”
She looked up at him. “I don’t suppose you could do a cup of tea?”
“I could, actually,” he said. “Hang on a minute, okay? Put on the TV if you want to watch something. I’ll be right back.”
He went into the kitchen to heat up some water. A moment later, he heard the sound of voices that meant the TV had been turned on.
Trying not to focus on his worry about what might be wrong with her, he pulled down a couple of mugs and put tea bags in them. He poured the hot water over the tea bags, picked up the steaming cups, and carried them back into the living room.
She muted the TV when she saw him come back in. He went to sit beside her on the couch and handed her a cup.
For a moment, she sipped in silence. He didn’t try to rush her. Whatever she had come to say, she would say it when she was ready.
Finally, she put the tea down on the table beside her and turned to face him.
“My father threw me out,” she said.
He was stunned. “He did what?” Brady had known the Matthews family all his life. Mr. Matthews was gruff, certainly, but he had never thought of the man as cruel. “Why would he do something like that?”
Evelyn sighed. “I’m not being fair to him,” she said.
“You’re not being fair to him?”
“He didn’t really throw me out. He didn’t tell me I had to leave. But I think you would have left too in my position. If you had seen the way he was treating me, the way he was talking to me—”
“How was he talking to you?”
“Like I was a child,” she said. “Like the last twenty years never happened, and I was still a naive kid who didn’t know anything about the world.”
“Was he mad at you for staying here last night?” Brady had been worried that she might face some criticism for that.
“He was,” Evelyn said. “But I could have dealt with him judging me a little for that if that was all it had been. The problem wasn’t that he thought I’d messed up by staying with you. The problem was that he thought he had the right to tell me what to do going forward.”
“What was he trying to tell you to do?”
“He doesn’t want me to see you again. He doesn’t want me to get involved with anyone.” She took a deep breath. “And it’s not even that I want to be involved with someone, necessarily. But I just got out of a twenty-year relationship with a guy who tried to control everything I did, who told me what I could and couldn’t do every day. That’s the last thing in the world I need right now.”
Brady nodded. “I think you did the right thing,” he said. “For whatever that’s worth.”
“You do?”
“Absolutely,” he said. “You’re right. You shouldn’t have to deal with a situation like that. It’s exactly what you came back to Chicago to get away from.”
“I don’t want to compare my father to Marty,” she said hurriedly. “My father isn’t anything like Marty.”
Brady nodded. “I know your father,” he reminded her. “I know him pretty well. He’s a good man. You don’t have to convince me. But good men can make mistakes, and it sounds to me like he’s making a big one by trying to control what you do with your life.”
“I really appreciate you saying that,” she said.
“Well, I admire your courage,” he told her. “You’ve been through a hell of a lot over the past few days, and it would be easy to just take the path of least resistance right now. It’s pretty clear to me that you’re dedicated to changing your life.”
“I am,” she said. “It’s not just leaving Marty. I want to start living a life I can actually be happy with, and I can’t see myself doing that under my father’s roof right now.”
“Where are you going to go?” he asked her.
She took a deep breath. “I was actually hoping you would be willing to let me stay here,” she said. “I could crash on the couch if you’d let me.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Brady said. “You can take the bed. I’ll sleep on the couch.”
He couldn’t suppress a small spark of hope that he wouldn’t actually end up sleeping on the couch at all. The idea of having Evelyn in his bed every night was intoxicating. But he didn’t want her to get the idea that he was only giving her a place to stay because he wanted something from her. If she wanted him on the couch, he would stay there.
“It’s really okay?” Evelyn asked. “I hate to be a burden.”
“You’re not a burden,” he assured her. “It’d be great to have you here, actually. I’m looking forward to getting to know you again, spending more time with you. This will give us that opportunity.”
She smiled. “Thanks, Brady,” she said. “I really appreciate that.�
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“Do your parents know you’re staying with me?” he asked. “It’s fine if they don’t. I just don’t want to accidentally spill the beans to my folks if we’re keeping it secret.”
“No, it’s fine,” she said. “I’ll let them know. I don’t want to act like a teenager, sneaking around behind their backs. They’re already having enough trouble seeing me as a grown woman.”
He nodded. “I think that’s for the best,” he said. “But I still won’t say anything to anyone until you’ve had a chance to tell your family.”
“Thanks,” she said. She took another sip of her tea. “I should really call them now, but...”
“It can wait until morning,” he said. “Maybe it’s better to wait. I’m sure things are a little heated between you and them right now. It might be better to talk again when everyone has had a little time to calm down.”
She nodded. “I think so,” she said. “And don’t worry, Brady. I won’t be here long. I just need to get something else sorted out. I’ll hopefully be able to get a job in the next couple of days, waitressing or something, like I was doing in Las Vegas, and once I’ve got a bit more money in my pocket, I’ll be able to find somewhere to live.”
“There are houses available on Linden,” Brady suggested. “You could look at them.”
“I don’t know,” she said. “Don’t they require paying dues to the den to live there?”
“They do,” Brady said. “But if you’re earning money, you’ll be able to do that.”
“Maybe. I feel like I remember those dues being pretty high.”
“Maybe Steve will be willing to put you on some kind of reduced payment plan,” Brady said. “It’s what I’d do given your circumstances. If I were the alpha. I’d let you pay a reduced rate for a certain number of years, until your financial situation was more secure.”
She looked at him. “That’s a really good idea,” she said. “Really generous. It would probably help a lot of people besides just me. But you don’t really think Steve would go for that, do you?”
Brady sighed. “No,” he admitted. Steve was one of the most inflexible men he had ever met. There was no way he would be accommodating.
“I’ll find an apartment somewhere nearby until I can save up enough to pay the full amount,” Evelyn said.
“You don’t have to do that,” Brady said. “You’re welcome to stay here as long as you’d like.”
“Thanks, Brady. But I really don’t want to impose.”
He wanted to protest that it wasn’t an imposition at all, that he wanted her there. But she had been through enough over the last couple of days. He wasn’t going to make things harder for her by forcing her to deal with his feelings on top of everything else. She would ask when she wanted to know how he felt about her.
He just hoped that he would be ready to give a clear answer when that time came.
He got to his feet. “Come on,” he said. “I’ll help you get settled in the bedroom.”
She followed him down the hall and into the bedroom. “I wish you were alpha,” she said. “I hope that’s not a hurtful thing to say. I know it’s not your fault that you aren’t.”
He glanced back at her. “You don’t think that’s my fault?” Regardless of how anyone felt about Steve’s leadership, everyone seemed to agree that it was, in fact, Brady’s fault that he had come to power.
Evelyn shook her head. “It’s complicated, isn’t it?” she said. “Alcoholism, I mean. It’s not just a matter of making bad choices, even though people try to paint it that way.”
“You seem like you know a lot about it,” Brady said.
“Just from watching Marty,” she said. “Not that you’re anything like him. In fact, that’s how I know that the things that happened to you aren’t really your fault. You got help. You clearly did the work in your rehab program. And you’re staying sober now. Those are the choices that matter.”
His heart warmed. No one had ever put it that way before. “I’m glad you think so,” he said.
“Things would be better if you were the alpha,” she said. “I’ve only been back for a day, but I can already see that.”
He hesitated. “To tell you the truth,” he said, “I’ve been trying to reclaim the position.”
She turned to look at him. “You have? Really?”
Encouraged by the look on her face, he continued. “That’s what I was doing at the shifter conference,” he said. “I wanted to make a splash. To impress the pack and show that I was capable of the kind of strong leadership that Steve hasn’t given us.”
“I’m guessing it didn’t work out,” she said.
“Not the way I’d hoped.”
“You shouldn’t give up,” she told him. “If I can leave Marty and start my life over, if I can come back to Chicago and face all the people I embarrassed myself in front of all those years ago, you can do this.”
Brady nodded. She had a point. And seeing the way she had stood up for herself, first with her husband and then with her father, bolstered him in a way he had never experienced before.
“You’re right,” he said. “I won’t give up. For the sake of the den, if nothing else, I have to keep trying to get Steve out of power and to take his position. I could lead this group better than he has. I could change the way we’re all living for the better.”
Evelyn stepped into his arms and looked up at him. The admiration in her eyes was a sight to behold. “I know you can,” she said, smiling up at him. “You’ll be a great alpha one day, Brady. I have complete faith in you.”
God, it had been so long since anyone had had complete faith in him. It had been so long since Brady had felt like anyone had any faith in him at all.
Having Evelyn there really did feel like the start of something new. He hoped she would stay for a long time.
Chapter Fifteen
Six Weeks Later
EVELYN
“Evelyn, your tips are on the bar, okay?”
Evelyn nodded to her coworker, Pauline, and flashed a quick thumbs up to make sure the message got across. Pauline liked to work with earbuds in after the restaurant had closed for the day, so it was difficult to talk to her while they did their closing duties.
That was fine with Evelyn. She liked Pauline, who was about ten years younger than she was. She enjoyed working with her. But she hadn’t gotten this job out of a desire to make friends. She had gotten this job out of a desire to make a decent living for herself, and nothing more.
Besides, there was no way to build a lasting friendship with Pauline. Pauline was pure human. She had no idea what Evelyn was, no idea that she belonged to a den of shifters.
Evelyn was only now realizing what a role she had played in her own isolation when she had been with Marty. He had taken her to a part of the country where there were no other shifters, which had made it all but impossible for her to form the kinds of relationships she needed to have in her life. And she had gone willingly.
Maybe it’s all right for a wolf like Marty to be alone, but a bear needs a den. A bear needs a family.
She went to the bar and collected the money Pauline had set aside for her, stuffing it into her pocket. She wasn’t earning as much in tips here in Chicago as she had in Vegas, which made sense—her big tips had always tended to come from high rollers who had done well at the gambling tables and were eager to throw a bit of money around. But it was all right because her base salary was higher here.
More to the point, she was allowed to keep everything she earned.
She had started a bank account—the first one she had ever had—and she was enjoying watching the numbers grow. She didn’t have enough to look for a place of her own yet, but it wouldn’t be too much longer.
Which means I’ll have to leave Brady.
She was trying not to think too hard about that part.
Staying with Brady, sharing his bed every night, eating meals with him and cuddling in front of the TV in the evenings, having him bring her breakfas
t in bed on the weekends—it was a better life than she had ever dared to dream for herself. Though they hadn’t spoken of it, a part of her wished she didn’t have to leave at all, that she could stay with him for a good long time instead of moving on to whatever would come next for her.
Her workday at its end, she walked home. The restaurant was outside of the neighborhood dominated by her den, but it was only about a mile and a half away, so it made for a pleasant enough walk. She let herself into Brady’s house with the key he kept under the mat, went upstairs, stripped out of her work clothes, and climbed into the shower.
She scrubbed herself under the hot water, enjoying the fact that she could spend as much time as she wanted. Marty had always been very demanding about the time she spent in the shower, accusing her of running up the water bill. If she got in the shower before he’d had his chance, he would order her to use only cold water so that the hot water wouldn’t be gone by the time he got in.
This isn’t even my house, and Brady lets me use as much water as I want.
She didn’t want to take advantage of his generosity, though, so after a few moments of luxury, she got out of the shower and wrapped herself in one of Brady’s fluffy towels. She stood in front of the mirror, combing her hair and thinking about how nice it was that he had allowed her to keep her toiletries on the bathroom sink next to his.
Then, as she stood staring at the toiletries, something occurred to her that froze her in her tracks.
But before she had time to process the thought, before she had time to do the math and see if there was a chance she was correct, the front door slammed.
She spun around, startled. “Brady?” He had been supposed to be at a den meeting for another hour. What was he doing home so early?
She wrapped her towel more tightly around her body and hurried out to find him in the kitchen. He was standing in front of the refrigerator with the freezer door open, rummaging around inside.
“Brady?” she asked.
He kept his back to her. “Do we have any frozen vegetables?”