Page 2 of The Challenge

I offered her an apologetic smile before she stormed off, bouncing the ball all the way to her bedroom. I’d wanted to look at her longer, examine her face and wallow in the enormity of Evan having a little girl.

“Obviously, if I’d known the situation, I would’ve never put myself in this predicament,” I told him. “I’ll need to figure out another place to stay now.”

“What are you doing in town?” he asked.

“Visiting my mother. She’s not well.”

“That’s rough.” He momentarily closed his eyes. “I’m sorry. I heard she has dementia.”

I inhaled. “It was time for me to come home and face it.”

Evan nodded. “How long are you staying?”

“As long as I need to go through my family’s storage unit and be here for Mom.”

He scratched his chin. “I see.”

As silence settled around us, I again noticed that Evan was even more ruggedly handsome than I remembered. Dark facial hair traced his perfectly angular jaw. His eyes were a deeper brown than I recalled, and his black hair was as thick as ever, though looking a bit flattened, as if he’d worn a hat earlier. This man’s effect on me certainly hadn’t changed a bit in all the years we’d been apart.

We stared at each other for a few tense moments before I shook my head. “Well, I’d better get going on finding another place to stay.”

“You might have a hard time,” he warned.

I knew he was right, but asked anyway. “Why is that?”

“It’s peak deer hunting season. A lot of people travel in and stay here this time of year. There are only so many rooms. A buddy of mine tried to book something in town the other day and was told they were all sold out.”

Shit. That had been my experience as well. Still, feigning confidence, I stood straighter and pushed my shoulders back. “Well, I’ll find something. Surely there has to be at least one space open in this whole damn town.”

“What about your father’s place?” he suggested. “Could you stay with him?”

I shook my head. “I’m barely speaking to my dad. And there’s no way I’m staying with him and his new wife.”

Evan’s eyes widened. “He remarried?”

“You didn’t know that?”

“I didn’t.”

“I would think this town is small enough that you might’ve heard.”

He sighed. “I have a lot going on. No time to keep up on the gossip. But I did know your parents had gotten divorced and sold the house. That surprised me.”

His daughter reappeared. “Daddy, I’m hungry. Can I have a snack?” She turned to me and repeated her question from earlier. “Who are you?”

“I’m Chloe,” I answered before Evan could intercept.

“Chloe?” She blinked, seeming confused. Either she hadn’t heard me clearly, or she’d heard my name before.

“Yes.”

“I’m Effie.”

“Nice to meet you, Effie.” I smiled.

“Why are your cheeks red?” she asked.

I brushed my fingers along my face. “Are they?”