Page 48 of Close Match

“Okay,Ev. Spill it. What is the deal?” I manage to corner him as my mother and Linnie are walking around the pool area toward the back steps.

“I don’t understand your question, Monty.”

“What changed between you and Linnie during your last visit together?”What miraculously sprouted out of her mouth to make you suddenly trust her like you’ve known her for decadesis what I want to ask, but I hold my tongue.

“I learned more about her. It cleared up several things.”

“Like?” I demand.

He shakes his head. “If she chooses to share them with you, that’s her prerogative.” We’re following my mother and Linnie through the manicured backyard toward the first horse barn.

“You got to give me something here, Ev.”

I’m surprised when he spins around and gets into my personal space. “No, Monty, I really don’t. That’s my daughter you’re speaking of, not some stranger. I know this adjustment is unsettling, but I won’t have you persistently questioning every word out of her mouth.”

I take a step back in shock. Ev holds up his hands placatingly. “While I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, especially since I’ve become sick, I won’t have you treating her like that. You don’t have to accept her, but you do have to be polite. She is my family. If she isn’t yours, so be it. But she’s a guest in our home, and you will treat her with the respect that is due.” Ev leaves me standing there shell-shocked to join my mother and Linnie. And ever since the first time since I was caught stealing from his liquor cabinet, I feel ashamed.

Taking a deep breath, I relax every muscle in my body. All around me, little sounds fill the air: a buzz of a fly, a horse’s tail swooshing through the air. Just as a horse lets out a snuff of welcome, I hear Linnie’s peal of laughter. My heart starts racing.

How can she be accepted so readily when I feel like it took half my life to find my way to belong? I tip my head back as bitterness and shame wash over me. Ev’s right. I’m not expected to embrace her, but she is essential to him. So, unless I can figure out what is bothering me about her, I will respect her.

After giving them a few more minutes alone, I head in their direction, rejoining them just in time to catch Linnie reach out to touch a delicate bloom growing on the far side of the barn. Her fascination isn’t faked. I imagine with the hard stone and steel of New York, the lush landscape of Virginia has to be an anomaly to her. “This is like visiting a park or a zoo. I can’t imagine the effort that goes into maintaining it.”

My mother laughs. “If it wasn’t for my love of flowers, and Ev and Monty’s love of me, I guarantee it wouldn’t look this pretty. They’d likely have bushes all over the place and call it a day. But if it weren’t for Monty taking over recently, none of the farm would run the way it does, would it, Ev?”

“Not at all. He’s an amazing manager and a terrific son.”

From where I’m standing, I have a clear view of Linnie’s fingers leaving the flower and touching Ev’s. A hesitant but solid bond is being built there that damn if I’m not a little jealous of. How is it she manages to obliterate all of my preconceptions when she says, “I’m so glad you had that—that you all have that. Family ties are…everything.”

Her husky voice is filled with pain.

“Come here, sweetheart.” Mom steps forward. Linnie resists for half a second before accepting her embrace. “Even as you get to know your father, you’re going to grieve your mother. That’s perfectly normal. We understand that.”

And Linnie bursts into sobs.

I back away again, giving them this moment because although it’s vastly different, I too know what it’s like to not have a parent.

And like Linnie, I know what it’s like to gain Everett Parrish as one.

Twenty-Eight

Evangeline

“I’m so sorry.” I wipe my eyes on the handkerchief Ev hands me.

“Why? Is grief supposed to have a time limit?” he questions simply. I shake my head no. Of course not. “Then don’t apologize for loving someone so much you feel so much pain when they’re gone.”

The sound of my breath is wobbly, but my words are clear when I say, “Virginia may be good for me in many ways.”

“I hope so. Now, there’s one more building we wanted to show you. There’s a barn on the right up ahead.”

“Do you also churn your own milk or something?” I joke. “Maybe make your own cheese?”

Ev snorts. “After seeing the amount you ate of that cheese board, that wouldn’t be a bad thing.”

I push him lightly. “Hey, wasn’t it you who asked the waiter where all the cheese was from, and if you could buy pounds of it to go?”

Char laughs. “You two are like peas in a pod.”