Page 22 of Wish You Faith

Rosie nodded. “Mom was a librarian for many years.”

“Five feet tall, huh?” Evan said in between eating chili. “You must’ve taken after your dad. How tall was he?”

“Six two. I have his tall genes, even though I’m really only five eight, but I have Mom’s traits,” Rosie explained. “She and I make quick decisions—except when we disagree with each other.”

“I know how that is.”

“How what is?”

“Disagreements with Mom.” Evan sighed. “Sometimes I wish she’d understand me more than criticize me.”

“That means she cares.”

“Oh? When I have a bad day at work and all I want is a hug, I go to Mom’s house for dinner, and she rails at me for not being as smart as Connor.”

“Connor?” Rosie finished her bowl and didn’t want any seconds.

“My older brother. Perfect GPA. Wharton MBA. Perfect wife. Perfect everything.”

“You know you’re exaggerating,” Rosie said quietly. “You used the word ‘perfect’ that can only be applied to God.”

Evan didn’t say anything.

“So your brother went to Penn.” The University of Pennsylvania was quite far away from Seattle. “Why not go somewhere in Washington or in the neighboring states?”

“He wanted to go to Stanford, where his wife went. He didn’t make it, though. So he applied to Penn, got in, and then she transferred. She was a year ahead of him, but they’re the same age.”

“You went to Vanderbilt. Did you try for Ivy League schools like your brother?” Rosie recalled their conversation at the masked ball about Vanderbilt, but she hadn’t asked about any other colleges he might have applied to.

“I avoided going anywhere near Connor.” Evan laughed. “I knew Mom would show up to see him, and I really wanted to avoid Mom.”

Rosie was surprised at Evan’s candor.

“I only applied to Vanderbilt and UCLA. Got in both, and picked Vanderbilt because it’s in landlocked Nashville, and Mom had no reason to go there.”

Rosie felt sorry for Evan. She said a quick prayer for him in her heart. Unless there was something irreconcilable, she hoped that Evan could learn to honor his mother—even from far away. However, at this juncture, it seemed that they had a fractured relationship.

“What about you? Why UGA?” Evan asked.

“Oh, you remembered that I went to UGA.”

“You told me at the masked ball.”

“I’m impressed at your memory.”

“And I, you. You recalled that I went to Vanderbilt.”

“Seems like we don’t need too much time to get to know each other since we remember a lot.” Rosie smiled. “To answer your question, I went to UGA because that’s far enough away from Mom. I couldn’t wait to get home to Savannah every chance I could—more so in my senior year after Dad died. I drove eight hours round trip multiple times a year, and didn’t go to summer school.”

“That’s nice of you to spend time with your mom,” Evan said. “She seems easy to get along with.”

“She is friendly to everyone, including strangers.”

“Connor gets along better than I ever could with Mom, so I leave the mother-son socialization to him. She likes him because he’s an overachiever.”

“I don’t have an older sibling, but I have friends who are high achievers.” Rosie pushed her bowl aside. “They spur me on, if you know what I mean. I don’t feel like I’m in their shadow at all. They motivate me to be what I want to be, and they cheer me on.”

“I’m the younger brother who can’t get a break or my own stage.” Evan sounded like he was complaining.

---