Page 16 of Chasing Hope

for once in my life I agree with Irving

Flopping onto my bed, I hit answer on the call, knowing he won’t stop until I do.

“How is she?” Caleb asks by way of greeting.

My lips pinch as I stare at my bedroom door, knowing she’s just across the hall and yet feels hundreds of miles away. “Not the best, C.”

His sigh is so deep and endless I’m worried he’s going to deflate.

“Carter really did a number on her. When was the last time you saw her?”

Idon’t even need to be beside my best friend to know he’s running his fingers through his blond hair in frustration, the color identical to Evie’s. The second we get off the phone, he’s probably going to find a party to help him unwind.

“Two, maybe three months ago.” He pauses. “It wasn’t willingly. I showed up at her work.”

“I bet that went over well.”

“Actually, she didn’t bite my head off.”

I’m still for all of two seconds before standing, needing to pace. For an apartment, the rooms are astronomically big, though that shows on the price tag. Not that money is an issue for either Caleb or me, but it still catches me off guard.

However, it’s worth every penny for the view we have. The stunning downtown Denver skyline shines bright every night through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows.

“That’s not like her,” I say after the line falls silent for quite some time.

Evie is usually all tongue and sass, full of quips that strike like a serpent.

“No, it wasn’t,” is his quiet response.

Nothing seems to be like her, but I don’t voice that. Part of me would feel like I’m betraying her sharing that with Caleb.

Carter has changed her, made her a smaller version of herself. It’s like he walked into her house and turned off all the lights.

Earlier in the kitchen, the second I pushed back, she receded, her eyes downcast, her voice quiet, her shoulders even hunched for fuck’s sake. In that moment, Evie tried to be small, as small as she possibly could be when she used to be vivacious, loud, and all-consuming.

She used to walk into a room andshine.

Her energy was infectious, something you couldn’t pull your gaze away from even if you tried.

He’s taken that from her.

Stolen it.

If Caleb knew the full weight of how broken Evie is right now, he’d get on a plane in an instant. And as much as even I want to help her, this is something she needs to do on her own.She needs to reclaim herself, because the woman sitting in that room isn’t Evie, that’s for damn sure.

As if our thoughts are on the same wavelength, he blurts out, “I’m coming back.”

“I don’t think that’s what she needs right now.”

He scoffs. “That’s my sister. As if you know what she needs and I don’t.”

My pacing comes to a screeching halt, my head swinging to my bedroom door as if I can see all the way through the wood to the bed she’s lying in. “I promise I’ll be here if she needs me and I’ll look after her, but it won’t do anyone any good for you to come home and smother her.”

“Oh, so wise of you.”

The sarcasm dripping from his voice isn’t missed.

“Come on, C, think about it for a second. Carter was obviously controlling; you don’t stop seeing your family overnight when nothing’s happened. Why don’t you just give her a couple of days to breathe, and if she’s really not getting any better, I’ll let you know and you can come back?”