Page 71 of Holiday Home 3
He nodded, aware of her meaning. “The drive’s not that long; I plan to come back and visit regularly on the weekends.”
“You might convince her to visit you some,too,” Evelyn pointed out. “She should see your dorm once or twice, at the very least.”
“That’s a good idea. I’ll bring it up to her.”
“Good. It’ll make it more difficult for others to meddle.”
Agreeing but uncertain if he wanted the conversation to bend toward her husband, he simply nodded. A short stint of silence followed. An obstinate thought burrowed its way into his mind, prodding him to ask Evelyn a question before Anna got back. She noticed.
Sipping her drink, her alluring lips curled upward as she sat it down. “I can see a question stirring behind your eyes. Now’s the time to ask.”
Stealing a look in the direction of the restrooms and finding no sign of a beautiful, raven-haired woman making her return to them, he faced the other woman who possessed those attributes.
“I’m just wondering why you’re so much more willing to support me and Anna than your husband was,” he admitted. “You’re in pretty opposite camps about this.”
Evelyn’s smile flickered ethereally. “Unfortunately, that’s not such an uncommon thing in marriage, especially when it comes to topics like this one. Arthur has his…ideasabout Anna’s love life, and I have mine.”
“Would it be okay if I ask your thoughts on his ‘ideas’ for her?” he said.
It was Evelyn’s turn to make sure her daughter was not about to return and overhear her. Once she’d confirmed it, she flipped three coins into his palms.
“Antiquated, absurd, selfish.”
She said no more on the topic, and Liam knew better than to push. So, instead, he redirected the subject.
“How did things end up between you and that guy from Perrymont?”
Evelyn raised a bemused eyebrow. “Obviously not well, given who I ended up marrying.”
He shrugged. “It still could have ended well. Not every breakup has to end disastrously.”
“It does when I’m involved,” Evelyn chuckled. “I was rather different than Anna when I was her age. My past self had more in common with Avril, in fact, though she’s far better put together than I was in my early twenties.”
“You said you also attended Bellmore?”
“That’s right. I even graduated, if by the skin of my teeth and plenty of effort to see that I didn’t. I was married less than half a year afterward, and any thoughts of a career—not that they were ever particularly prevalent in my foolish head—vanished into the wind.”
“Do you regret it?”
“Marrying Arthur, or not pursuing a career?”
Liam began to respond, only to stop himself as their server returned with their food. She wore a worried expression, no doubt having witnessed or heard about what had transpired at their table. After depositing their plates in front of them, she hastily moved to her next table.
At the same time, Anna reappeared in both his and her mother’s peripherals. Offering him a soft smile, Evelyn slid out of the booth.
“A question to be asked and answered at a later time,” she said quietly, throwing on a smile before turning her attention and a warm hug upon her daughter as she returned.
The rest of the lunch passed by without much more excitement or unexpectedness. Following Anna’s return, the three of them carried on relatively cheerfully, much to the confusion of the other patrons around them. Half an hour later,it came time to get the bill, where Evelyn showed off another way in which she might still be somewhat like Avril.
“Put that hand away,” she said, staring him down after he’d begun reaching for the payment device sitting on the table. “I mean, honestly, are you aware of who you’re dating?”
After forcing her credit card into the device’s mouth before anyone else could, he could just make out as Evelyn left a custom tip of two hundred percent for their server. After reclaiming her card, she was the first to stand. Once he and Anna followed suit, they headed out of the restaurant.
“It was a pleasure to finally meet you, Liam,” Evelyn said as they walked through the cold toward their cars. “I never got to meet Elliot formally, so you’re the firstrealboyfriend I’ve been allowed to interact with.”
“Mom!” Anna gasped, alarm dashing across her beautiful features. “You knew about him?!”
“Of course. You and Avril weren’t nearly as sly as you two thought you were in your high school years.” She smiled and located her sunglasses from within her handbag. “You’re a little better at it nowadays.”