Fresh tears sprang to the corners of her eyes at the sound of Corie’s voice. This time Evie laughed. “Hey, Corie. Is Miss Leona around?”
“Yeah, one sec.”
A moment later she heard Miss Leona’s soothing voice on the other end of the line. “Yvonne. My sweet baby. What’s going on in the Big Apple today?”
“Um, not much. Nothing good.”
“Oh? Well then, it’s a good thing you called me. Tell me what’s going on.”
At first, Evie told herself that she just wanted to hear Miss Leona’s voice. They’d only spoken a few times for a few minutes since she’d left Charming, but the next thing she knew she was telling Miss Leona everything. AboutThe Dish, and the fear that Melanie would reappear and violate the restraining order just for kicks. She told her everything. Well, almost everything. She left out the fact that she desperately wanted to share all this with Zack. She didn’t tell Miss Leona just how much she missed him and how, for some ridiculous reason, she thought stepping into his arms would make all of this go away. If only for a few minutes.
“I’m sorry I’ve been rambling on,” Evie finally said. She’d have to ask Dr. Manzo if chronic weeping could be a side effect of traumatic brain injury or if her life was that much of a mess.
“I don’t mind the rambling. Would you like an old woman’s two cents on an industry that’s tried to get rid of me more than a few dozen times?”
Instantly, Evie felt so foolish. She’d called Miss Leona for the grandmotherly shoulder to lean on. She’d almost forgotten that the woman also knew her way around an industry deal gone wrong.
“I would love to hear your opinion. Please.”
“Fuck ’em,” Miss Leona said, her voice stern.
A rough burst of laughter came from Evie’s mouth. “What?”
“I said, fuck ’em. From what you’ve told me, this show is Troy’s baby, an ex–football player’s fall-back plan. He’s calling the shots now. Okay, fine. The question is, what is your dream, your baby? What does Chef Evie Buchanan want to show the world?”
Evie almost lied and said she didn’t know, like speaking her dreams out loud would somehow taint them, but the idea of withholding the truth felt so exhausting. She said what was in her heart. “I want to open my own restaurant. That’s all I’ve ever wanted, and truthfully? It’s the main reason I took the gig onThe Dish, but now, I don’t know. Now I feel like I’m going to miss being in front of the camera. I’m not sure I’m ready to give it up.”
Evie was shocked to hear herself offer up that bit of information, but it wasn’t the whole truth. She didn’t want to stay atThe Dishforever, but having the rug pulled out from under her like this was not what she had in mind.
“Hmmm,” Miss Leona said. “Well, let me make some calls—”
“No, please—”
“Let me finish.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Let people help you. Let me make some calls and we’ll see what we can get going for you next.”
“I just—I appreciate that. That’s just not why I called, you know, for your connections.”
“I know, but that’s what I’m going to do. I know you and Zachariah had a rough go of it, but I need to own up to my part in all this too.”
“What do you mean?” Evie asked.
“I didn’t pull you closer when Amelia died, and I should have. Not that I should have stopped you going back to culinary school, but I should have opened my home to you at every possible turn because you’re one of my babies too. You lost your mom and your daddy and then your nana too, and I just let you walk away. I was wrong and I’m sorry.”
That was the last thing she’d expected to hear. She figured Miss Leona had just been staying out of their drama. Evie supposed in the back of her mind she could have called her if she needed to. Maybe she hadn’t because Miss Leona reminded her too much of her grandmother. Maybe she’d created another reason in her mind to stay away. She never imagined Miss Leona felt like she’d messed up in any kind of way. It was also really strange to hear someone she respected so much apologize toher.
“I—I appreciate you saying that. I didn’t know how to speak to Zach, but I should have called you.”
“I say we call it even.”
More tears threatened to fall from Evie’s eyes as a small knot made its way up her chest. “I think I can live with that.”
Chapter 25
Evie refused to change again. Three times was plenty for a lunch with a man she swore she no longer had feelings for. She refused to get dressed up for Zach Pleasant. She definitely didn’t need to dress up for Sam. A week ago Sam had called and said he’d be in the city for a few days and asked if she wanted to meet up for a few hours. He was considering a project and wanted input from someone who didn’t share his last name. Evie eagerly agreed and then instantly reconsidered when he mentioned Zach would be with him.