Ever After

by Carolyne Aarsen

  She wanted to remind him that though it was his store now, it had once been his wife’s store. And her mother had always promised that someday this store would be hers.

  But she kept those comments tucked safely away. She heard testiness in his voice that only came out when he was stressed and she didn’t want to push him when he was like that.

  “I said I would sign the store over to you and I will,” he continued. “I’m a man of my word, Evangeline. It will happen.”

  Trouble was, her father was a man of many words and she never knew which ones to believe and which ones to discard.

  “Of course, Dad.” She turned to lean back against the counter, looking over the apartment she had considered hers since she was nineteen.

  “How is Denny making out? You show him the ranch like I asked?”

  “Yeah. I did.”

  “Good. Good. He seems like a hard worker. I think he’ll do well there between his trucking and ranching.”

  “I suppose.”

  “You heard anything from that Tyler guy? He see the light and decide to come back to you?”

  Evangeline stifled a sigh. “Even if he did, I wouldn’t take him back.”

  “He was good for you.”

  And how would you know? she wanted to ask.

  “What did you think of Denny?” her father asked. “How are you getting on with him?”

  “He just had a daughter from his dead ex-wife dropped onto his doorstep,” Evangeline replied.

  “Yeah. He told me he never knew about the baby.”

  Evangeline wasn’t sure she believed Denny’s protestations of ignorance. How could someone not know they have a child and why would his wife have kept that a secret?

  “Where are you right now?” she asked, shifting to a safer topic.

  “Great Falls heading over to Bonner’s Ferry. That’s where I met Denny. At a diner in Bonner’s Ferry.”

  “Mmm-hmm,” Evangeline said, keeping her responses noncommittal.

  “We clicked right away. Got a lot in common. He reminds me of myself when I was younger.”

  And that was part of the problem.

  “I see. Well, Dad, while I appreciate the call, it’s late.”

  “Sounds like you’re trying to get rid of your old man. You aren’t going to tell me about the store?”

  “It’s been a long day.” An interesting and challenging day, she wanted to add. “And I’ve an early start tomorrow.” And no, she didn’t want to tell him about the store in spite of his asking.

  “You make sure to stay in touch. And be nice to Denny. He’s one of a kind.”

  No, he’s not, she wanted to say. He’s just like you.

  Which made him someone she didn’t want to spend much time with. At all.

  Chapter Five

  Denny slowly pulled open the cupboard door, his heart skipping a beat as the hinges screeched. He waited a moment, holding his breath, his hands gripping the handle as his ears strained to hear something from Ella’s room. He waited a full ten seconds.

  Nothing.

  He exhaled slowly, then gently set the glass in the cupboard. With one quick motion he shut the door, the hinges letting out another brief squawk.

  He waited again. Again, nothing.

  He glanced around the kitchen with bleary eyes. The dishes were finally done and the groceries he and Evangeline bought yesterday had been put away.

  He had a few of his own boxes left to unpack and they stood by his bedroom door, mocking him. Ordinarily it would have taken him maybe another fifteen minutes to finish the job.

  But ordinarily, he didn’t have a toddler waking up every half hour, screaming, then taking another half an hour to settle down only to start the cycle again. Denny figured he had snatched a maximum of two hours’ sleep the entire night.

  The first few times he’d felt bad for the little munchkin. He’d walked and rocked and paced the floor for probably ten miles, trying to get her to sleep.

  The whole while he did this he’d wondered if Ella had been the same way for Deb. For Lila. He struggled with his anger toward Deb for not letting him know. Toward Lila’s parents for not contacting him.

  He had snatched a few moments last night to text his sister Jodie, asking her to come and help him, but so far no answer.

  He yawned as he stumbled over to the couch and fell onto it, fatigue dropping on him like a heavy blanket. But no sooner did his eyes close than a memory of Lila slipped into his mind. He shook his head and sent up a prayer for her soul. Lila hadn’t gone with him to church when Denny had started going back. But she would listen to him when he read the Bible at dinnertime, the few times she was actually around. And she would bow her head when they prayed.

  He eased out a sigh, his feelings a confusion of sorrow. Once again he felt a slow thrum of anger with Deb and her parents. Why hadn’t they told him?

  But in spite of his anger blended with his sorrow, exhaustion overtook him; his thoughts became jumbled and he fell into a troubled sleep.

  Then a squawk resounded from the room beside him. Denny shot up, his heart thudding. The squawk soon became a whimper, which became a wail, which became a howl he was growing too acquainted with.

  He glanced at the clock. Seven. He’d managed to grab a mere twenty more minutes of precious sleep.

  Morning has broken, he thought.

  He scrubbed at his face with his hands, his whiskers rasping on his calluses.

  Do what comes next.

  Yeah. Great. But what is next?

  That question was answered for him when he stepped into the darkened room and bent over the crib to pick up a screaming, squirming baby. She was soaking wet from her knees to her chest. She flailed in his arms, tears slipping out from between scrunched-up eyes as her ever-increasing wails pierced his sleep-deprived ears.

  “Easy, girl,” he mumbled as, one-handed, he rummaged through the bag of clothes Deb had given him.

  But holding Ella was like trying to hold on to a baby calf. She squirmed and screamed and pushed at him with her hands.

  Finally he managed to find a dry sleeper. He tossed it over his shoulder and tugged a diaper free from the bag he and Evangeline had bought yesterday.

  He rushed back to the living room, her shrill cries creating an urgency to fix the problem, his shirt growing increasingly damp where she was pressing against him.

  He laid her on the couch and tugged the zipper of her sleeper down. She squirmed, hit at him and turned over, sobbing all the while.

  He tried to move her onto her back but she was amazingly strong for such a little thing. And she had a powerful and untiring set of lungs.

  Above all this noise, he heard a knock at the door.

  “Come in,” he called, jumping up to open it and then stopping as he saw Ella twist around on the couch. He caught her just before she fell, hooked her over his arm and rushed to the door.

  Evangeline stood in the doorway, a half smile curving her lips, her hair falling like a shining wave over the shoulders of a gauzy pink shirt.

  “Everything okay?” she asked, her eyes holding his for a heart-stopping moment that maybe went on too long.

  “Yeah. Well, no.” He shifted Ella, turning so she was pressed against him again, making his shirt even damper. “I’m trying to change her.”

  “Sounds like you’ve been having some trouble. Do you want some help?”

  His usual independence came to the fore and he wanted to say no. He didn’t want Evangeline entering the mess his life had become, but practicality trumped pride.

  “If you’re not busy?” he asked, raising his voice above Ella’s cries.

  She shook her head. “Store doesn’t open until ten. I’ve got some time.”

  He felt as if a rock had been lifted off his back. “Thanks. Thanks so much.”

  Evangeline took the crying baby out of his arms, walked over to the couch and laid her gently on the blanket. With quick and efficient movements she stripped the sleeper and diaper off, at
tached a clean diaper and threaded Ella’s chubby and flailing hands and feet into the clean sleeper.

  “Could you get some milk in a sippy cup for her?” Evangeline asked above Ella’s continuing cries.

  Thankful to have some direction, Denny hurried to the kitchen and quickly got the cup ready. He drummed his fingers on the counter as the microwave hummed. Before it was finished beeping he had the cup out and rushed back to the couch, handing the cup to Evangeline.

  Ella reached out for the cup with her chubby hands, her cries immediately ceasing as she shoved the cup into her mouth. She tipped it back, her eyes closing, tears still glimmering on her thick eyelashes.

  “She was thirsty,” Evangeline murmured in the blissful quiet that followed.

  “She had about two cups of milk during the night,” Denny said, sinking into the chair across from Evangeline.

  “Was she up a lot?”

  “Most of the night.” Denny suppressed a yawn, but another one followed, almost cracking his jaw.

  Evangeline gave him a sympathetic smile, which made her even more lovely. Sitting on the couch, her arms curved around Ella, her long, wavy hair slipping across her cheek, she exuded beauty and grace.

  Denny shook off his reaction. He and Evangeline were on completely different planes. He had a five-year plan and even if he didn’t have his plan, he now had Ella to deal with. He had no room for anyone else.

  “I’ll go change the sheets in her crib,” Evangeline said. “I gave you an extra set.” She obviously knew what she was doing because she was back in minutes.

  Ella finished drinking the cup of milk, but her once-greedy gulps slowed with each suck until her eyes shut and the cup slowly slipped out of her grasp.

  “I think she’s falling asleep,” Evangeline whispered, catching the cup and setting it aside.

  “Awesome.” Denny released another yawn, then lifted a hand in apology. “Sorry. Didn’t get much sleep last night.” And though he hadn’t planned to drive today, he still had a bunch of work to get done.

  Obviously that wasn’t happening.

  Evangeline leaned back into the couch, her arms curled around Ella’s slack body, her chin resting on Ella’s blond curls.

  She’s a natural, Denny thought. A beautiful, natural mother. He blinked the romantic notion away then shook his head to settle his thoughts. He sucked in a slow breath, focusing on what he had to do next.

  “Hey, you look done in,” Evangeline said quietly, pulling his attention back to her. “Why don’t you lie down? Grab some sleep.”

  Sleep. The word tantalized, but he couldn’t expect Evangeline to take care of his little girl while he dozed off.

  “No. I have too much to do.”

  “Look,” she reasoned, “I know you’ve got stuff to do but you won’t be able to if you are exhausted. Just grab an hour, maybe two. I don’t mind helping you out right now.”

  He stared at her, reason fighting with the weariness that made his thoughts fuzzy and incoherent.

  “I insist,” she continued. “I don’t want you operating on minimal sleep while driving a gravel truck around the county. I’m just thinking of my community here.”

  He didn’t have to drive today, but she seemed determined to help. And she was right. He was no good if he didn’t grab some sleep.

  “Okay. Just for a few minutes.” He dropped back into the chair, put his stockinged feet up on the coffee table and laid his head back.

  He closed his eyes and as he did he hoped his socks didn’t have any holes in them, and then sleep tugged him down into darkness.

  Evangeline pursed her lips, looking over at Denny, his head off to one side, his features relaxed as he slept.

  This was not how she thought this would turn out. Denny was supposed to have gone to his bedroom and lain on his bed, not dropped into a chair right across from her, looking all vulnerable, tousled and charming.

  She looked down at Ella, who also lay sleeping in her arms, her mouth open ever so slightly, showing tiny, pearly white teeth.

  Like father, like daughter, she thought, shifting her own weight to try to get up. She would lay the baby in her crib and make her exit.

  But as soon as she moved, Ella’s eyes flew open. Evangeline sank back into the soft couch, cradling the baby close, praying she would fall asleep again.

  Not that she felt she had the right to ask God for anything.

  Since her father had told her he would sign the store over to her, she had started making plans for the things she wanted to change. A corner for young mothers to sit and read to their kids. An expanded section for kids with educational and fun toys. The plans had kept her busy, and in the past year, Sundays had been taken up with meeting potential suppliers and attending various conventions showcasing the products she wanted to carry.

  Church and her faith had become less of a priority.

  Maybe her father’s reneging on his deal was a punishment for neglecting her faith.

  She shook that thought off. She knew God didn’t work that way, but she couldn’t stifle the guilt that always accompanied gentle reprimands from Mia, Renee or Sabine when they asked her why she wasn’t in church.

  She stole another glance at Denny, who did go to church. In that way, he was unlike her father.

  He had moved his head, his chin now resting on one shoulder. He looked vulnerable with his stubble-shaded jaw, his disheveled hair and his sleep-slackened features. His eyelashes lay like a dark fringe, making him look even more appealing.

  She thought of the moment when he’d opened the door and their eyes had met. How her heart had done that stupid little hop.

  She glanced down at his daughter in her arms; a visual reminder of the tangled relationships Denny dragged behind him. A child he knew nothing about from a divorced wife.

  Denny was handsome, all right, but oh, so wrong for her.

  Evangeline had already made too many wrong choices. She wasn’t letting herself fall into that trap again.

  Remember Tyler. Remember your father.

  And with that litany running through her head, Evangeline focused her attention on the helpless, abandoned baby in her arms.

  Half an hour later Denny still slept and Evangeline dared to slowly get to her feet. She tiptoed past Denny, then into Ella’s room. Carefully, slowly, she laid the little girl in her crib, waited with bated breath while Ella shifted, sighed and then drifted back off to sleep.

  A few minutes later Evangeline was back in the cramped room she called her office, catching up on neglected bookwork.

  She turned on her computer, smiling as she always did at the picture that greeted her. Each day a different cover from a different historical romance showed up on her desktop as her wallpaper.

  Today an elegant duke stared back at her, his one hand clutching the front of his waistcoat, the other resting on a walking stick. His dark hair, á la Mr. Darcy, was fashionably rumpled and his eyes held a glint of humor. He was the hero of the book she had just finished when Denny strode into her store.

  He even looked like Denny, come to think of it.

  She shook the silly notion off. Denny was no hero. Not in her life.

  Half an hour later the bills were paid and she had reconciled her checking account, pleased to see the final amount. Business was good and with the expansion—

  She cut that thought off with a pang of sorrow blended with anger. The expansion wasn’t happening as long as her father still held ownership of the store.

  She pushed herself away from her computer desk and a book fell with a thump onto the floor behind the desk. As she bent to retrieve the book she felt a sliver of guilt.

  Her Bible.

  Her poor, neglected Bible.

  She picked it up and sat back in her chair looking down at it. How long since she had read it?

  Why not now?

  She had to open the store in a few minutes, she told herself. She was supposed to return a call to one of her suppliers and unpack that new shipment of books th
at had arrived yesterday. She didn’t have the time.

  But even as she formulated that thought a nagging guilt followed it. And a memory.

  Her mother would read a Children’s Bible to her every night before she went to bed. In fact, the Bible Evangeline now held on her lap had belonged to her mother. Her mother had always told her that God loved her like a father loved his own child.

  Evangeline closed her eyes, frustration mingled with a wave of sorrow coursed through her. Maybe not the best example.

  She ignored the guilt and set the Bible aside. Maybe another time, she thought. She got up, walked to the door and unlocked it.

  Then she went to the storeroom and pulled out her latest shipment. A faint sense of anticipation sang through her at the thought of the brand-new books waiting to be inventoried and shelved.

  An hour and five customers later, she was partially through the box when she heard the door of the back room open and a voice calling her name.

  Her heart lifted and she caught herself smoothing her hair.

  Denny stepped cautiously into the store, looking around.

  “Over here,” Evangeline said, getting to her feet.

  His hair, tamed and brushed, still glistened from his shower and his strong jaw shone from his shave. He wore a plain brown shirt tucked into new blue jeans.

  “Hey. Thanks so much for putting Ella to sleep,” he said, his slow-release smile making her heart quiver in spite of her resolve.

  “Yeah. No problem.” Evangeline ran her hands down her thighs, nodding. “Is she still sleeping?”

  “Out like a light. I was wondering what I should give her when she wakes up again. She hasn’t had anything but that cup of milk.”

  “Probably some warm cereal. Just follow the instructions. Maybe blueberries, as well?” Evangeline wasn’t sure, either, but threw the suggestions out anyway.

  “That sounds good.” He shifted his weight as he slipped his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. “I better let you get back to work,” he said, taking a step back and giving her an apologetic smile. “I shouldn’t leave Ella alone too long. And about that babysitter...I’m thinking I would prefer if they could come to the apartment to take care of her, but I’d be willing to take her somewhere, too. Whatever works. Just let me know if you know of anyone. I can make the arrangements.”