Page 35 of The Fallen Man

“Uh,” said Jackson, looking even more concerned.

“He’s getting his coat,” Olivia said aggressively.

“He’s getting his coat,” agreed Jackson leaning away from her.

Evan grabbed his coat from the hall closet and scooped up his wallet and keys. He and Jackson could probably find someplace to go for an hour. He jerked his head and Jackson and stepped into the hall.

“Am I interrupting a fight?” asked Jackson once the door was closed behind them. He looked worried.

“Not really. Olivia is trying to concentrate on a work project, but we don’t really have the wall space for her to stare properly.” Jackson’s head cocked to one side, and an eyebrow went up. “She tapes her notes to the wall. Working on a project involves staring at her notes.”

“Ah.”

Evan pulled on his coat and tucked away his items.

“So I foolishly suggested that maybe we should consider moving to a larger place, and she said that was an egregious discussion of change while she was attempting to concentrate. Which is clearly true. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

Jackson laughed. “Plenty of wall space at Deveraux House.”

“Why are you weird?” asked Evan. As if he would move back into his childhood home.

“Wasn’t trying to be weird, but OK. What if you just bought one of the units next door and blew out a wall?”

Evan buttoned his jacket and then opened his front door again.

“Liv, what if we just bought one of the next-door units and blew out a wall?”

Olivia poked her head around the corner of the living room wall.

“Oh! I like that! Let’s do that!”

Evan nodded. “OK, we’ll do that. Be back later.”

“Love you!” Olivia sounded much happier.

“Love you too!” he called back and shut the door. “I’m assuming you didn’t just come over to solve my housing issues?”

“No,” said Jackson. “Want to walk down and get a beer from that place down the street?”

Evan stared at his cousin blankly. “There’s a place down the street?”

“Yeah, it’s like two blocks away? It’s been there for at least a year. It looks like some sort of posh place that people like you drink at.”

Considering that everyone in the neighborhood was someone like him, that was probably accurate, but Evan still had no clue. “We don’t really go out much.” Jackson was giving him a look.

Evan shrugged, and Jackson shook his head. Evan didn’t know how to explain that he’d lost interest in bars the minute hemet Olivia. He’d never liked them particularly. They were just a location that made it socially acceptable to get wasted and hook up with people. But between therapy and Olivia, he no longer needed bars for anything.

“OK, well, can we go there now?” asked Jackson.

“Sure,” said Evan, with a shrug.

“I’m just not sure how I’m the weird one,” muttered Jackson.

“Well, I’m older,” said Evan. It didn’t actually explain anything, but a non sequitur was frequently the only way to win an argument with any of his cousins. This one made Jackson laugh.

They had settled into a booth at what did appear to be an upscale bar with a nice whiskey selection before Jackson returned to the reason for his visit.

“So, I need your advice,” Jackson said, stretching his legs across the space under the table, propping his feet up on the bench seat next to Evan. Evan looked from Jackson’s feet to Jackson’s face. “Oh, my God, that was a total Eleanor.”