Page 7 of You've Got Male

Evie stood in front of said dress, blocking her mom’s view. “I’m not trying to best him. And I just picked the dress up from the dry cleaners.”

“Well, you should wear it. People underestimate the power of a good dress. I still remember the dress I wore the day your father asked me to marry him,” Moira said, her voice thick with nostalgia. “I knew he was going to propose.”

“You never told me that,” Evie said. Her mom rarely talkedabout her life before the closet had been thrown open on her marriage. “How did you know?”

“I can read your father like a book. He can’t hide anything from me.”

“Mom, he’s gay,” Evie pointed out.

Moira took in a deep, trembling breath. It didn’t sound like heartbreak or sadness, more of anIf I could turn back time.She walked to the bed and sat on the edge of the mattress. “I think deep down I knew that, too. But I’d found my soulmate and love can blur the truth until all you see is color. And your father is the most colorful person I know. Bright, brilliant, and so warm he felt like home. He’s still my home.”

Evie sat next to her mom and took her hand. “I’m sorry, Mom.”

Moira patted Evie’s hand. “Lenard is my soulmate. I have no doubt about that. No matter how he came to be in my life, all that matters is that he is.”

“Why do you think he proposed when he knew it was a lie?”

“When Lenard was younger, maybe sixteen, he fell in love with a boy from his neighborhood. They kept their relationship a secret, then Ken was drafted and he and your dad would send love letters to each other,” Moira said. “One day, his mom was putting away his laundry and found the letters. Your grandparents confronted him and said, ‘This ends now.’ That was it. No conversation, no acceptance, no trying to understand. Then they stood there and made him rip up the letters.”

Evie could barely speak through the enormity of the conversation. “I can’t even imagine a parent turning away from their child when they needed them the most.”

Moira cupped Evie’s face. “That’s because you’re a good mother. Now you know why it’s so important to your dad that the heart of his business doesn’t get cut with budgets and minimizing overhead. He built the safe place that he dreamed about having as a child. A place where all people are welcomedand can come together to celebrate love and friendship. Some of our regulars have been coming since we opened thirty years ago. And my answer as to why he proposed, he said if he could make it work with anyone it would be his best friend.”

Evie couldn’t tell whose eyes were mistier, hers or her mom’s. Her parents might not have the most traditional of love stories, but it was a love story nonetheless. When Evie was ready to start looking for a partner, and that was a questionablewhen, she hoped to find the kind of loving and supportive partnership her parents shared as the foundation for more. Only one that was more than platonic.

“Now, about that blue dress,” Moira said conspiratorially.

“Tonight isn’t a blue dress kind of night.”

Moira didn’t look convinced as she patted Evie’s knee and stood. “You’ll know when it is. Now, I think I’d better light that candle and let you get ready. Is there anything else I can do to help you, honey?”

“I’m good. But thanks.”

Moira blew her a kiss, then closed the door behind her. Evie didn’t waste time. She yanked off her uniform and, in nothing but her cotton boy-cut undies with gnomes on it and “Gnope” written across the butt and her weekend bra, fumbled through her closet, dismissing one outfit after another. None of them were the blue dress, but if her mom caught on that she was dressing up more than usual, then Jonah would certainly notice—and he’d say something. Then she’d be forced to lie—again.

Gah.She was a terrible liar. It’s why she still hadn’t told Camila about the wedding.

“White pencil skirt?” She pulled it on and looked at her butt in the mirror. “Looking nice, but it’s too late in the year to wear white.”

Next came a yellow romper. “Shows off your legs but does nothing for the girls.” She cupped her breasts and lifted themto where they sat before childbirth, and with a sigh tossed the romper onto the bed.

Next came a flowered sundress. “Too soccer mom.”

How hard was it? She just wanted one take-charge, boss-girl outfit that didn’t betray the fact that she’d stayed up all night trying to figure out how to save her dad’s shop and all day with her head under a frother.

The panic had nothing to do with Jonah coming to the meeting. Not a single thing. She was just thrown by seeing Mateo and his new fiancée,that was all. It was perfectly natural to want to feel a little sexy after bumping into your ex while holding toasty balls.

She draped a silky pink top across her chest and imagined herself in a pair of dark fitted jeans and swayed back and forth. It was sophisticated without looking like she’d tried too hard and had this sweeping neckline that bordered between sensual and sensible.

“How many more outfits can you possibly try on, Evie?” she asked her reflection.

“I’m hoping the entire closet,” a familiar male voice said from the doorway and her heart flip-flopped.

A lump of horror materialized in her throat as she rewound the last five minutes, wondering just how much Jonah had heard—and seen.

Grabbing the first thing she could find—her robe, luckily—she held it to her body and spun around. Thankfully, he had his back turned her way. She slipped on her robe, heart still pounding away in her chest. “You can turn around now.” As he started to, she asked, “What areyoudoing here? Come to bring me another fruit basket?”

He put a finger to his lips to shush her and that’s when she realized, sitting in the crook of his arm, was a pissed-off Waverly, eyes red, cheeks flushed, and dressed in a duckie-covered footed pajama set, with already shed tears streaking her face. Jonah on the other hand wore a pair of faded jeans, a blue T-shirt, and his hair looked as if he hadn’t slept in a week.

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