He hadn’t had any other toys. And the dinosaur wasn’t a toy. It was a memory. He felt a tightness in his chest. “I’d forgotten about it.”
“I always thought it had something special to do with your mom. Maybe it’s time for you to take it back.”
He wasn’t ready for it. Wasn’t ready for the memories. But he took it anyway, slipping the small dinosaur into his pocket.
“You can talk about it whenever you’re ready, honey.”
“Thanks,” he said too quickly, almost as if he had to cut her off.
“I also wanted to say something else.”
He laughed, maybe a bit too loudly. “You always have something else to say.” And what she said was always spot on.
“Paige is good for you. Really good. And I know you.” She poked his chest. “You’ve been telling yourself that you’ve somehow stepped over to the dark side. The wrong side of right and wrong.”
“Mom,” he said, trying to head her off.
But Susan headed exactly where she wanted to go. “I’ve got eyes in my head, honey. I see the way you look at her. And the way she looks at you. Especially after last night.”
God. She wasn’t going to talk about sex. Please, no. And yet what he’d done with Paige was not just sex. It was so much more.
“I know I don’t need to have this talk with Paige. You’re the one who needs to hear what I have to say. I see how much you’re struggling. You can’t look at her, but you can’t look away either.”
“Mom,” he said again.
“Paige is such a wonderful woman, in every way. You had your eyes set on the wrong sister from the very beginning.”
How utterly right she was. And the words just seemed to burst right out of him. “I never felt like that with Whitney. Last night was…” He didn’t have adequate words to explain the full joy of having Paige lying so close to him, her heart beating against his. Of being with her at last. Even the simple act of holding her. “Nothing has ever meant so much.”
Susan touched his arm. “I know. It was written all over you when you walked in this morning.”
“But it can’t be right.” His voice felt harsh in his throat. “She’s my sister-in-law. I’m not even divorced yet.”
Susan laid her hand on his chest. “You’re divorced in here.” She patted right over his heart. “Nothing you feel for Paige is wrong. You aren’t cheating.”
“The world isn’t going to see it that way. And I’ve got too much freaking baggage to dump on Paige.”
“You know I believe in second chances. But they’re not always easy. Sometimes, taking the risk for that second chance seems impossible.”
Evan wondered if she was talking only about his falling for Paige—or also about second chances with his birth mom. He thought of the small dinosaur in his pocket.
“And sometimes,” she continued, “it’s the hardest road you’ll ever walk. Hard, but worth it. Of all my boys, you’re one of the strongest, Evan.”
Evan was surprised at that. He’d never been the Maverick who had his fists raised.
She tapped her hand over his heart again. “Here. You were so tough that it took us years to get through, to prove to you that we loved you. So tough you refused to give up on your marriage when anyone else would have walked out long ago. And you’ve always been toughest on yourself, even now, when you’re thinking about giving up the best thing that’s ever happened to you.”
“You and Bob are the best thing. And the Mavericks.”
“We were,” she agreed. “But now you have a chance for even more.” She didn’t add for true love with Paige, but he heard the words as clearly as if she’d shouted them through a megaphone.
Chapter Twenty-Five
It was still early afternoon on the West Coast when Evan’s plane landed in San Francisco.
They all stood out on the tarmac saying their thank-yous and good-byes. Evan had hired a car to take Tony, Kelsey, and their mother back to Modesto. The twins intended to stay for the evening and return to San Francisco later that night.
“It was so good getting to know you better.” Paige gave Theresa a heartfelt hug. Then the twins.
Evan’s hug for his siblings was easy. He clapped Tony on the back and actually placed a little kiss on the top of Kelsey’s head. It was so darn adorable, Paige’s heart felt a huge tug. But Theresa? Paige had witnessed their conversation in the dining room, and though she hadn’t been able to hear it, she’d known instinctively that it was a start. And now Evan hugged Theresa, though their arms were wide, as if to keep contact to the bare minimum. But Paige wasn’t about to get picky on the kind of hug, because at least there was one.
Shoulder to shoulder, they waved as the car carrying his siblings and mother pulled away.
So what now?
Her heart was screaming to know.
They’d made beautiful love over and over at the hotel. But she’d promised herself she wouldn’t be a pushy female who kept asking, When will you call? And most of all, When will you finally realize you love me too? She hadn’t clung to him, hadn’t tried to lay claim to him in front of his family, hadn’t pressured. In fact, she’d tried almost too hard, to the point of practically ignoring him from the moment they’d arrived at Susan and Bob’s until now. But she also hadn’t missed a single one of the looks he sent her, looks that told her he wanted to touch her, kiss her too.