Page 41 of Stolen Fate

Evelyn

I wasable to get out at six o’clock on the dot, leaving me some time to spare before we had to go to the airport to pick up Emilia.

Emilia graduated from Bowing’s two years ago, but instead of coming home like we all expected, she was offered a job as a junior trainer for the incoming freshman. She took it without hesitation, and though I was happy for her, I sometimes wished she were home more often—especially for my dad, since I didn’t know if I could continue to be there for him all the time.

Katie came with me, and I had decided to tell everyone together about my decision to move to New York.

It wasn’t far, and I would only be a four-hour train ride away should I need to go home.

The more I thought about it, the more excited I was becoming. Elliot was such an easy kid; it wouldn’t be a problem to care for him. And though I was attracted to his dad, I didn’t see that as a problem.

I would just have to keep myself in control.

That shouldn’t be hard…

It didn’t matter. My decision had been made.

I found Dad and Ethan at the café we said we would meet at, inside the airport. We wouldn’t be able to meet Emilia at the gate, so she was going to find us here, which was perfect because I didn’t want to brave the airport crowd, and it wasn’t convenient for Dad to walk far or for a long period of time.

Katie followed me as we moved through the crowd and into the quiet coffee shop. Dad’s face lit up when he saw me, which made the fact that I was going to tell him that I was leaving in two weeks that much harder.

But I couldn’t stay in Boston to make my dad happy at the expense of my own feelings.

I shot him a smile that I was sure didn’t quite reach my eyes, because Dad’s smile dimmed a bit, though it was still heartwarming.

I loved my dad.

I had always been closer to my mom—possibly because the position of “Daddy’s girl” had already been filled by Emilia, but that didn’t mean I didn’t get any affection from him growing up, nor did I ever question his love for me.

“Hey, Dad,” I said, taking a seat on the table across from him and Ethan. “How are you feeling?”

“Good, good,” he said, though I knew he wouldn’t say any different even if his leg had started bothering him again. Ethan would need to start paying closer attention to him, since he was the only one still living at home.

I turned to my brother. His green eyes brightened a bit when I caught them, though the last time we saw each other still played in my head. It was the night of the bar, the same night I met Jace.

“Hey, Ethan. What’s new?”

He shrugged one broad shoulder. “Nothing much. Still working.”

My brother was doing much better than he had been six years ago. I knew a part of him picking his life up had to do with his guilt for all that he had put me through, but I was glad. It meant one less person in my life I had to worry so much about.

Ethan was now working as a tattoo artist at a local parlor in Boston, and he was good at it. More importantly, it seemed like he loved what he was doing.

At least one of us had that figured out.

I suddenly felt Katie stiffen beside me. Katie and my brother had a problem liking each other, which wasn’t the case six years ago when she had been living with Liam. But she was the only one who knew the full extent of what I did to pay off the house, and I knew she blamed Ethan for it.

She may also blame herself for being the one to tell me about it, but I was past blaming anyone for my decisions.

Ethan turned to her. “How are you, Katie?” he asked politely.

“I’m fine. Thank you. What about you?”

Ethan nodded and I looked to my dad. I was sure he could sense the awkwardness in the air. He patted my hand, as if to say he would take care of everything, and changed the topic.

“Tell me, how is work at the hospital?”

“It’s good,” I answered. I had already put in my two weeks’ notice, and the hospital was generous enough to work around my schedule with Elliot. “Now that you mention it, there’s something I wanted to talk to all of you about. I wanted to tell you all when Emilia arrived…”

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