“He plays bingo down at the senior rec center every Saturday,” Lilah told them when they finally sat down to eat.
“Oh. I thought he was just sick of us,” Evie said. She took a sip of the tiny glass of wine Vega cleared her to try.
“That too,” Lilah said with a smile. “Okay. Wait. Have you been photographing any of your meals since you got out of the hospital?”
“No.”
“Okay. Hold on.” Lilah jumped up and played with the dimmer switch, adjusting the lighting. “Your phone, please.” Evie handed over her phone, trying not to notice that there were no new texts from Zach—and watched as she moved her plate around.
“Here, post that.”
“My assistant is still in charge of all that. I’ll send it to her.” She sent the pictures off to Raquelle, and Nicole for good measure, and then to Blaire just because she liked sharing things with Blaire. “Okay. Let’s eat.” What followed was a few moments of perfect silence as they all took their first bites. Evie didn’t want to get ahead of herself, but she thought it wasn’t half bad. She loved the creaminess of the sauce and the bite from the parmesan cheese. The bacon added just the right texture to the slick noodles. She wanted to know what Lilah and Vega thought, but figured she could put off grilling them for their opinions for at least a few minutes. Polite conversation seemed like the better move for now.
“Miss Leona said your family lives in wine country?” Evie asked Lilah. Maybe that was the wrong question to ask, because Lilah’s expression dropped. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”
“No, it’s okay. You’ve had plenty of drama lately. It’s only fair if one of us shares ours.”
“I mean. I’m technically on the clock so I’m keeping my drama to myself, but you two have at it,” Vega said.
Lilah chuckled a bit and shook her head before she went on. “I don’t know if Jesse or Zach told you, but I have a bunch of brothers. Six, and I’m the baby.”
Evie tried to imagine growing up with Zach, Jesse, and Sam times two, and then being the only girl.
“Okay, that’s a lot,” Vega said, taking the words right out of Evie’s mouth.
“It was great growing up. They are great. I love my brothers. My dad just—he’s old-school. Too old-school. He tried to marry me off.”
“Wow,” Vega and Evie said at once.
“Yeah. To a man twice my age. He wanted me to be taken care of, ’cause it’s 1840 in his mind? I don’t know.” Lilah let out a deep sigh and sat back from the table. “So Jess and Zach have the ranch and my other uncle, Curt, has his medical practice.”
“Right,” Evie said, encouraging her to go on.
“Well, we have the winery, complete with horseback tours and a bed-and-breakfast. My oldest brother, Jack, helps run the wine business, Brandon and his wife run the bed-and-breakfast. Kelly plays pro football, so he’s not involved in any of the businesses right now. The twins, Thomas and Micah, just started their own construction company. They’re off to a rough start, but they’re doing it. And Walker is in veterinary school. My other cousins are all still in grad school. I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to do, but I figured I had a little time to figure it out.”
“But your dad had other plans?” Evie said.
“Oh yeah. A real estate investor who will not be named. My dad thought he was really doing me a favor when he invited this man over for dinner and pretty much announced our engagement without consulting me at all. I’d met him like twice. My dad didn’t think I’d actually leave home. I’m just glad my grandma didn’t send me back. And that Jesse trusted me enough to hire me. I was not cut out to be that kind of wife.”
“Man, that’s a lot. My dad is just happy that I’m employed,” Vega said. “That’s all he wanted for me.”
“Yeah, less unrealistic pressure is better,” Lilah replied. “Anyway, I haven’t talked to him since I got here. I message my mom, but I’m afraid to call her because I know she’ll put my dad on the phone and I know that makes me a horrible child, but I’m stillpissed.”
Evie’s thoughts went back to the photos of her own parents. What had they wanted for her? Did they want her to get married and have kids? Would they be happy with the way her life had gone—minus the whole amnesia thing? She liked to think they would be proud of her.
Lilah leaned forward again and took a healthy bite. Evie watched her face as she sat back and seemed to analyze everything about the dish. Finally she swallowed and took a swig of wine.
“Well?”
“You still got it.”
“Don’t lie to me, Lilah,” Evie teased, even though she was completely serious.
“I’m not,” Lilah said, a real smile returning to her face as she laughed.
“She’s not. It’s good, Evie. Really good,” Vega added.
“I just followed the recipe,” Evie replied. She took another bite herself and yeah, it was really good. So good she was already planning on having a second helping.