The Hearts We Mend (18 page)

Jack had silently added that to the list. From the rate it continued to grow, he'd be forced to reevaluate his priorities and give something up. Like sleep.

“I appreciate the invite, Cody, but we should get home.” Jack felt a small, wet hand slide into his.

“We have to be there 'cause people are coming over for supper,” Lily said matter-of-factly. “But Uncle Jack makes spaghetti, not hamburgers.”

Raine made a humming noise. “Spaghetti sounds really good.”

“Now I know what we'll be having for a late-night snack,” Cody said in a pseudo-whisper.

“You can come over to our house. Everyone does.”

“Everyone?” Raine looked a little bemused as she draped a beach towel around Lily's shoulders.

“Mostly.” Lily nodded. “Sometimes Uncle Jack puts it by their door—”

“Don't you want to say good-bye to Emily and Amanda before we leave, Peanut?”

“And Diva!” The red-and-white striped towel unfurled like a banner as Lily ran back to her new friends.

“Can I drop Lily off at quarter to eight tomorrow morning?” Jack opened his wallet and pulled out the money he owed Raine. Balanced against his peace of mind and Lily's shining eyes, it didn't seem like nearly enough.

“That will work. I get up early so I can spend some time with Cody before he leaves for work.”

“She makes pancakes.” Cody tucked his arm around Raine's waist. “I'm going to be the only firefighter at Second Street Station who won't be able to climb a ladder.”

“It's not fair that I'm the only one who's gaining weight.”

“You're beautiful,” Cody whispered in his wife's ear.

Envy streaked through Jack. His one not-so-long-term relationship, with a college student named Julie Powers, had crashed and burned when Jack found out she'd started dating him so her dad would agree to let her study abroad for a year. In those days he'd been as wild as his brother. If the situation was reversed and Jack had had a daughter—a grown-up version of Lily—he wouldn't have wanted her to date him either.

Jack's perspective on dating had changed roughly about the time God had changed his heart. He was no longer interested in spending an hour or two with a woman in some shadowy corner of a club, hours that ended up leaving shadows on his soul the next day. Jack's parents hadn't exactly been the poster couple for happily-ever-after
either, although once in a while he met a couple, like Coop and Anne, who made him wish he'd done things differently.

God had forgiven his past mistakes, but Jack wasn't sure a woman would be as understanding.

Especially one like Evie.

Jack couldn't think about Evie. Not like that anyway.

“I'll see you tomorrow, Raine!” Lily returned after round two of the good-byes.

The golden retriever escorted them down the sidewalk to Jack's truck. Lily scrambled into the cab, twisted around to find the seat belt, and spotted the boxes lined up along the backseat.

“That's my mushroom chair.”

Jack's first thought was that he'd messed up. Lily hadn't seemed upset when they'd boxed up her clothes and some of her stuffed animals after church on Sunday. But she looked upset now.

God, you're going to have to help me out here. I can restore houses, but I have no idea how to fix the broken things inside of a person.

“I thought you might want to put it in your room.”

“Where is my room going to be?” Lily whispered.

Jack finally understood the source of her fears.

“With me, Lily. I don't know when you're going to be with your mom and dad, but I'm your family too. You aren't alone, and I want you to think of the apartment as home. It's not my place . . . It belongs to you, too, and I want you to be comfortable there.”

“Can we paint it pink?”

“The apartment?”

“No.” Lily's low giggle was music to Jack's ears. “My room.”

“We'll stop at the hardware store to get paint tomorrow when I get off work.”

Jack would paint rainbow stripes on every wall in the building if it would make this easier on his niece.

He turned onto Fairview Street. No fancy metal archway here—just a misshapen street sign separating Jack's neighborhood from the rest of the town.

“There's Evie!” Lily pointed to a woman standing on the sidewalk across from his building.

“No, it—”
Can't be
, is what Jack had been about to say.

But it was.

Evie had been staring at the vacant lot for the past fifteen minutes, and she still couldn't see a garden.

How could Maggie McClain take on a project this size on her own?

The low rumble of an engine raised the hairs on Evie's neck. The driver of the last car that had slowed down had invited her over to his place for a drink . . .

“Evie!”

She whirled around at the sound of a familiar voice. Lily jumped down from the passenger seat of Jack's pickup and ran over to her.

“Hey, you.” Evie caught her up in a hug. “Did Raine take you to the pool today?”

“I was playing in the sprinkler with Emily and Amanda.” Lily flipped her damp ponytail over her shoulder. “They're my new friends. I got to play with Diva too.”

“It sounds like you had a busy day.”

Jack reached into the backseat of the truck and pulled out a large cardboard box. The gingham quilt stuffed inside made a snug cocoon for a white lampshade with pink tassels. He anchored the box against his hip and strode over. “I didn't expect to see you here.”

It hadn't occurred to Evie that Jack would think she'd been waiting for him.

“I'm trying to catch the vision.”

His lips quirked in a smile. “You're going to have to explain that.”

“How much time do you have?”

Evie had been joking but Jack didn't respond in kind.

“Enough.” His gaze locked with hers over Lily's head, and Evie felt that shimmer of awareness again.

The one that told her to get back into her car and drive back to Rosewood Court. She could talk to Jack at church in the morning and find out what had happened when Travis and Cheryl appeared before the judge. If the cardboard boxes in the back of his truck meant that Lily's stay would be longer than a few days.

“You should stay!” Lily clapped her hands. “We're having spaghetti.”

“Again?”

“Yes, again.” Jack's smile expanded to a full-blown, heart-stopping grin. “But I'm using the noodles shaped like little seashells this time, just to shake things up a bit.”

The thoughts forming in Evie's head didn't match the words that came out of her mouth.

“All right.”

“Yay!” Lily danced down the sidewalk. “Don't forget my mushroom chair!”

“Don't ask,” Jack murmured. “It's the kind of thing you have to see to believe.”

A heavyset young man wearing black jeans and a T-shirt with the sleeves shorn off intercepted Jack before they reached the stairs.

“You need some help with that wall tonight, Jack?” He flexed his arm. “I'll bring my own crowbar.”

“Not tonight, Zach, but thanks.”

“Got other plans, huh?” He cast a sly grin at Evie.

“You and Lily can go ahead.” Jack clapped Zach on the shoulder. “I'll be right up.”

On the way up the stairs Lily launched into a brief but entertaining recap of the day.

Diva had found a dead bird in the backyard and
rolled
in it, so they had to give her a bath with the hose and Raine's shampoo and now she smelled like strawberries. They'd had grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch, and Raine cut the bread into hearts. She'd let Lily put the sprinkles on the ice cream sundaes for dessert. Emily and Amanda both had pink bicycles, and Emily promised to let Lily ride hers the next time they came over.

Jack caught the last part of the conversation as they reached the top of the landing.

“Raine is going to be a tough act to follow,” he murmured. “She asked if she could take Lily to the library for story time tomorrow.”

“Ms. Davenport, the librarian, does that every summer. I took Cody there until he informed me that he could read books all by himself. I think I missed it more than he did.”

Lily let go of Evie's hand and raced for the door. “I'm going to check on Bitsy.”

“Change into—”

“Dry clothes! I know!” Lily finished the sentence as she dashed ahead of them.

Late-afternoon sunlight streamed through the windows of his apartment. The painting supplies in the corner were gone, the dark cherry-cola brown walls now a soft shade of blue. As busy as Jack was, Evie had no idea how he'd found time to paint.

Interspersed among the mismatched pieces of furniture were some of Lily's things. A heart-shaped pillow edged in sequins. A stuffed rabbit draped over the back of the sofa. Girlish touches that brightened the space like a smile.

“I like what you've done to the place.”

Jack gave her a quick glance, as if trying to gauge her sincerity. “I call it the pink tide,” he whispered.

“When Cody was that age, I couldn't walk barefoot through the house unless I wanted a building block embedded in the bottom of my foot.”

Jack moved a stack of papers aside and set the box with the lampshade down on the counter.

“You brought the rest of Lily's things over.”

“I thought she'd need them. To make it feel more like home.”

“Did you make it to the hearing today?”

“After Raine and Lily left, I called the clerk of courts to find out what time Travis and Cheryl were scheduled to appear before the judge. She told me they were the first ones on the docket and they'd already been sentenced. Cheryl's probation agent revoked her parole. She'll remain in jail until her trial. Trav”—the name rolled out in a ragged sigh—“he went back to jail too. The judge set his bond so high, Travis would have to sell everything he owned to come up with the money. I went over to the jail on my lunch break and talked to the person in charge. Cheryl had already added my name to her visitors list so I can let her know how Lily is doing.”

The shadow in Jack's eyes told Evie that his brother hadn't. She could only imagine how much that must have hurt.

“I'll be right back.” He pivoted toward the door. “There are a few more boxes in the car. And the mushroom chair.”

“Do you need some help?”

“One trip.” Jack was out the door before she could argue.

Evie crossed over to the window and opened the curtains. On the street below, Jack was talking to the young man—Zach—who'd offered the use of his crowbar.

Realizing she'd been staring, Evie retreated to the kitchen. Two enormous boxes of generic pasta flanked an equally enormous can of marinara sauce like bookends. She turned on the faucet and waited for the water to run clear before she slid the kettle underneath it.

The door swung open and Ron clumped in. “Hey, Blondie.”

Evie set her hands on her hips. “If you remember what time Jack starts dinner every night, I know you remember my name.”

She wished she could take back the words when Ron's eyes went wide and he began to sputter. Maybe Jack was the only one who was allowed to give his upstairs neighbor a hard time. But then she realized the sputtering wasn't indignation. It was laughter.

Jack chose that moment to return, and Ron pointed at her.

“You better keep an eye on this one, Vale. She's a spark plug.”

Evie could honestly say she'd never been described as a spark plug. Oddly enough, she kind of liked it.

Ron collapsed into the chair next to the coffee table, and Harley materialized from underneath the couch. The cat jumped into his lap and began to purr.

“Walking flea trap, that's what you are.” Ron scraped his knuckles under the cat's chin.

Lily skipped back into the living room. She'd changed into shorts and a T-shirt and was tugging a brush through the tangles in her hair. “Do you want to play checkers, Mr. Ron?”

“Cats and kids,” Ron muttered. “Can't get a moment of peace when they're around.” He reached for the board. “I'm red this time.”

Evie folded a white dish towel into a triangle and knotted it around her waist while Jack grabbed a skillet, three times larger than the one she had at home, from underneath the cupboard.

They settled into an easy rhythm, weaving around each other as if they'd made supper together a hundred times before.

A sharp knock on the door announced Bert's arrival.

“Hello, Evie.” Bert didn't look the least bit surprised to see her in Jack's kitchen.

“Hi, Bert.”

Jack stopped what he was doing and gave the woman his full attention. “What's the report?”

“The ceiling fan in Andy's apartment is making a funny noise. He wanted me to tell you when the baby isn't keeping him awake at night, the fan is.”