Page 81 of Wish You Faith

Evan nodded. “A trust fund owns the condo. They will only rent it to you and your mom, so don’t worry about any eviction as long as your mom is alive.”

They stopped at the water’s edge to watch the shore birds run back and forth with the waves.

“Cavanaugh Lane. What’s the story?”

“Oh. You took a nice picture of it. Decades ago, Grandpa bought the land with some friends and they built their own vacation condos. They drew lots to see who would get his or her name painted on the street sign, and Grandpa won.”

“I see. Did he gloat for years?”

“Until the day he died—even though it’s a tiny lane.” Evan waited for the next question.

“What about the Honor Scholarship?” Rosie asked.

“I know nothing about that.”

“So it was fortuitous that Mom got the scholarship?”

“I think so. Maybe God wants to give her a nice Christmas present,” Evan suggested. “I think that people are more generous toward the end of the year. Maybe the donors saw that elderly people were on waiting lists for SSLR and wanted to help. They get tax write-offs too. Anyone can contribute to the scholarship. That’s no secret.”

“However... No one would know the identities of anonymous donors.” Rosie sounded like she was fishing.

“Right.” Evan guessed where she was heading. “No, I’m not one of those private donors. My parents are, but I doubt they added extra into the bag. My parents are not that generous. Mom always wants something in return for any good deed.”

Uh-oh. He’d spoken too much.

“Did you need your mom’s approval to rent the condo to us?” Rosie asked.

“Everything needs Mom’s approval.”

“She must be nice.”

Nice?

Evan wouldn’t call Mom nice. He had indentured himself to Cavanaugh Shipping for ten years of hard labor as a part of the trade to buy Grandpa’s condo to guarantee permanent rental for Rosie’s mom. The condo would still stay in the family.

Dad stepped in after Evan told him that he wanted to marry Rosie and no one else in his entire life. Next thing Evan knew, Grandpa’s trust fund lawyer called him and sold the condo to Evan’s trust fund.

Dad was a hopeless romantic.

When they returned to the condo, Sonya had company. Dottie and Marcella were wearing Christmas sweaters and eating popcorn as they watchedWhile You Were Sleepingon Netflix. It was a classic movie that Mom loved.

Rosie had seen it several times on account of Mom.

“When’s dinner?” Dottie asked.

“Popcorn hasn’t filled you up?” Marcella laughed.

“We still have ham, don’t we?” Mom asked.

Evan stepped into the kitchen to find two pies on the table. “Who made these pumpkin pies? They look delicious.”

Marcella raised her hand. “My daughter made them.”

“So she’s in town?” Rosie stood next to Evan. Evan rubbed her shoulders.

Rosie stepped away. She looked shy in front of her mom and friends. Evan chuckled. They were standing behind the peninsula counter, so he lifted a foot slightly to rub Rosie’s calf.

Rosie mouthed “not now” to him.

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