Evade (The Ever Trilogy) (11 page)

“Annabelle.” He said her name again on a sigh. “There’s so much to talk about. May we”—he glanced at Toby, then me, then Frankie, then over at Jessie and Greg who still stood frozen in the doorway of the kitchen—“go somewhere to speak privately?”

Ted’s odd request for privacy pulled my attention back to him.
Absolutely not.
There’s no way my mom was going anywhere with this guy.

“Yes… I mean, of course. There’s so much to catch up on.”

“I’m sorry, what? Seriously?” I practically shrieked. “Mom.
What
is going on? You
know
him?”

“Ever, honey, please. I just need a few minutes.”

“What? No!”

“Eleanor Victoria!”

What the hell?
She yelled at me? I rocked back on my heels, shocked at the use of my first and middle names, as well as the tone and volume with which she’d said them. This was the woman who never raised her voice.

“Look,” Toby said, stepping away from Frankie and me and taking a step toward Ted. “I don’t know what’s going on here, but your timing is too coincidental for my liking. You need to leave this family—”

“This family,” Ted said the words slowly, as if tasting them. “Yes,
this
family. Once upon a time…
my
family.”

“Holy shit,” Frankie whispered, at the same exact moment the words flew through my own mind. What did Ted just say?

“Ever, honey, please. Give us a few minutes. I’ll explain everything soon.”

I couldn’t find words. I blinked repeatedly, trying to think of something to say, trying to make sense of what I watched. And what I’d just heard.

His family.
His.
And she didn’t deny it, didn’t correct his mistake.

“I see you’ve become protective over this girl, and this family, Tobias. I appreciate that. But I will speak to Annabelle privately now, son.”

“Not your son, Ted.”

“Indeed.” Ted cocked his head to the side and continued, “Annabelle? The kitchen?”

F
rankie grabbed my hand and led me outside. I heard everyone else following behind us and I cringed at the idea of my mom left somewhere in my house alone with
him
. What if he—?

No way.

Turned out that Ted was the least of my concerns. Ariadne stood in my driveway.

“Oh
hell
no. Is this a joke?” Jessie found her words before I did, as usual.

“Trust me, hon, I wish it were.” Ariadne pushed up off Ted’s black Escalade and approached us. “Oh, look. It’s Ever and Frankie. Hello, lovebirds,” she purred.

The screen door closed behind me as Toby and Greg came outside.

“Ooh, Tobias and Gregor are here, too! Why wasn’t
I
invited? That’s not very nice, Ever.”

She moved past Frankie, Jessie and me and stopped in front of Toby. She snaked her hands around his waist, smiling her sweetest smile as she gazed up at him. I seriously loathed her very existence. I imagined punching her.
God it would feel so good.

“Hi, lover. Miss me?”

“Get your hands off me, Ari.” Toby’s words were forced through gritted teeth and dripping with anger. Part of me swelled with pleasure as he rebuked her.

“Oh, calm down, Tobias. I’m only giving our little friends here a show. I know you don’t want
me
anymore.” She shook her head, looking directly at me, and said, “Though why you’d still want her over me is beyond me completely. Especially since she’s chosen
him
.”

She cocked her head to the side and turned her attention to Frankie. “Hmm. Though I can’t say I blame you, Ever. You’re looking pretty damn tasty, Frankie.
Life
looks good on you. And I’m loving the new look.”

She licked her lips, reminding me of every clichéd
other woman
in every movie I’d ever seen—the pouty, sexy, lip-licking thing, trying to be the center of attention—then reached over and ruffled Frankie’s blond hair. Ugh. She was so typical. And yet my stomach clenched in response to her directing her attention toward Frankie.

“Enough, Ari,” Greg said.

Ariadne looked down and pouted as if she was a toddler whose ice cream had just been taken away. “Fine. You guys are no fun. Speaking of fun…did you enjoy your little vacation, Eleanor?”

I tensed, and Frankie’s arms tightened around me in response. I pushed out of his embrace and stepped toward Ariadne, not wanting to be coddled or comforted, or anything else Frankie thought I might need.

“What the
hell
, Ariadne? What were you doing in Mexico?”

“Ooh, she’s a feisty one, isn’t she, Tobias? I can see why you like her now. She’s a bit like me.”

“I am
nothing
like you.”

She leaned down, bringing her gaze level with mine. She stood close enough to me that I could smell the fruity bubble gum she chewed. “You are more like me then you think, hon. Just look at the way you play these two guys. You’re not all innocence and purity after all, are you?”

My eyes widened.
Play?
I didn’t think I played them at all…I didn’t…
did I?

“Why were you in Mexico?” Toby asked. “It’s a pretty strange coincidence that you followed Ever and led a Seeker straight to her, don’t you think?”

Ariadne’s eyes widened as she straightened and brought her focus back to Toby. If she wasn’t really shocked, she was doing a great job pretending.

“A Seeker? In Mexico?”

“Don’t play games with me, Ari,” Toby said through a clenched jaw. “There’s no way you’re innocent in all of this.”

“Oh please, you guys, I had nothing to do with a Seeker finding Ever. He must have”—she looked down at the ground, thinking about her next words—“he must have followed me. I swear I didn’t know.”

“Yeah right! You expect us to believe that? I’m going to delight in punching you again, you know it?”

Ariadne rounded on Jessie, a challenge in her yellow eyes. “Take your best shot,
bitch
.”

“Your dad,” Frankie said to her, clearing his throat loudly and changing the subject as Greg stepped between Jessie and Ariadne. “Your dad is inside right now. Why?”

“I don’t know,” she answered with a shrug and a slight flick of her wrist. “I’m just here for the view.” She winked at Frankie.

“I really should punch her again,” Jessie snarled.

I didn’t have to see her smile to know it was wicked.

The Seeker showing up in Mexico momentarily forgotten, I remembered the more pressing issue. “They
know
each other, Ariadne. Your dad and
my mom
. What’s going on?”

Ariadne rolled her eyes. “What do you mean
‘they know each other’
? You’re all foreboding about it—they were next-door neighbors, Eleanor. I imagine they’ve met before.”

“No, it’s not like that. This is something
more
. Tell me what you know. Why were you following me in Mexico? Why are you here now? Why did you lead the Seeker to me?”

“Oh get over yourself, little girl. You should be
thanking
me. All I was trying to—”

“Ariadne. Enough.” Toby’s jaw clenched tightly. He turned and glared at Ariadne, and I smiled as I watched her she shrink under his stare. How he could put so much power into just two little words, I had no idea. “This is all a bit too coincidental. First the stunt you pulled with Ever and Frankie, then the Seeker, and now this.” He waved his hand toward the front door of my house.

“What? Don’t look at
me
! I don’t know any more than you do!”

I found
that
hard to believe.

“Ha!” Jessie obviously shared my thoughts.

Toby turned back toward the door, making eye contact with me, then Greg. I followed his movements and watched as Greg nodded at him and then nodded at me, inclining his head toward the door, indicating I follow Toby inside. Apparently, we were going to deal with Ted now and Ariadne later. I grabbed Frankie’s hand and pulled him back inside.

Toby stopped abruptly, squaring his shoulders as if trying to keep Frankie and me—or probably just
me
—from seeing whatever stopped him dead in his tracks. We stopped so quickly that Jessie bumped into my back, and upon the second slight shove, I realized Ariadne had probably bumped into Jessie’s back as well.

“What the
hell
is
this
?”

When I pushed my way past Toby, I saw my mom and Ted sitting on the small loveseat, so close it was obvious they knew each other—or once
had
known each other—quite, quite well.
Intimately
even. My stomach turned when I caught their hands clasped together between them.

My mom jumped up, startled. Ted quickly stood beside her, placing a hand on her back. His easy familiarity with my mom made my skin crawl.

“Mom?”

“Ever. I… I was just—”

“Sit down, please. I’d like to talk to you both.” Ted spoke with authority. Like
he
could tell
me
what to do! And by
both
, who was he referring to? There were six of us standing here with our mouths open.

“Both?” I asked, my voice much more timid than I’d have liked.

An indecipherable look passed between my mom and Ted.

What the hell is going on here?
I felt like a little kid about to have a stern talking-to from Mom and Dad. Only this was
not
my dad. And this mom…
this
mom was definitely
not
the same mom I’d known since my dad’s death.
This
mom had color in her cheeks and a gleam in her eyes that I hadn’t seen since…well, since before the car accident.

No one made a move to sit down, as Ted had requested. This moment between my mom and Ted we’d just interrupted, this intimate moment between two people who
should
have been strangers…it had my full attention, and apparently, the full attention of my friends and Ariadne.

I looked up at Toby’s face, briefly surprised to see anger. The tight set of his jaw, the vein in his forehead…

Without thinking, I reached out with my free hand and gently touched his clenched fist. He looked down at my hand, and then at me, his face softening just a bit as our eyes locked.

“Ever,” he said with a sigh, and Frankie’s hand tightened around my other hand. I quickly pulled my
adulterous
hand away from Toby’s.

The sound of his voice, the look in his eyes—it was all so strange, like he’d already figured out the puzzle in front of us and I was once again the dummy with no idea what was going on. I was a bit tired of the whole always-in-the-dark thing, and beginning to feel a bit slow on the uptake.

“Tobias. Sit down.”

Toby stepped forward. I battled the odd temptation to reach for him again, so I was glad for the distance he put between us.
What is wrong with me?

“You. You did this.
All
of this. I get it now. You brought us here for her, didn’t you?
You
…you
caused
all of this.” Toby’s words were soft. I’d never heard him sound so…defeated.

“Yes. You are correct. I knew Annabelle years ago, Tobias. And yes, I came here for her.”

“How? How could you be so selfish?”

“Selfish?” Ted glanced at me, then Frankie, and back to Toby. “I think you know exactly how selfish love can make a man.”

“Love?” I could barely get the word out.

“Yes,
love
. I’ve loved your mother since the day I met her.”

Whoa. What?
I still wasn’t fully catching on. It was all too confusing.
Love?

“And when exactly was that?” I was surprised I even found the ability to speak.

“Twenty-one years ago. Almost to the day.”

My mother’s eyes lit up, and she looked at Ted when she spoke next. “Yes, you’re right. I can’t believe you remember. It was a Tuesday in September… I remember it like it was yesterday.” She gazed at him like he’d just created the earth, hung the moon, captured an effing star with his bare hands. It was disgusting. Anger boiled up inside of me, along with my lunch.

“Excuse me. I hate to get in the middle of this creepy little reunion, but have you forgotten about Dad? Geez, Mom. He’s only been dead a few months!”

“Oh, Ever, I loved your father. I still love him with all of my heart. Please never doubt that, honey.”

How can I not?
The way she leaned toward Ted, the odd look in her eyes—her body language alone told me my dead dad was the last thing on her mind. How could she be so comfortable with another man so soon after my dad died?

“Tobias. Eleanor—”

“Oh, no. Do
not
call me that. You don’t even know me.” Rage filled me to the brim. Bile burned my throat. I felt like I had the worst case of acid reflux ever.

Frankie squeezed my hand.

Ted cocked his head, waiting for a brief moment before speaking again.

“Tobias.
Ever.
And, Franklin, is it? Please sit down. Give me a chance to explain things.” He looked behind us and motioned to Ariadne and Jessie. “Girls? Gregor? If you would also sit, please?”

“We’ll stand.” Ariadne’s voice was firm and angry. She came forward and settled on the other side of Toby. A spark of jealousy flared up and I squashed it down deep.
She can stand next to Toby all she wants. I’m with Frankie.

“We’re waiting, Ted.” Toby sounded strong, but in truth, I wondered if he wasn’t feeling similar to how I was feeling. Lost and confused and completely rocked. I had a really, really bad feeling.
I think I need to sit down for this, after all.
Again not thinking, I grabbed Toby’s hand in my free hand, not stopping to notice the intense feeling of our skin connecting, and I pulled him and Frankie over to the couch to sit down. They sat on either side of me, and I couldn’t help but feel a bit strange sandwiched between the two of them.

Ariadne, Greg and Jessie came to stand behind us. I felt like it was us against them. My mom and Ted: a pairing I would have said was impossible just mere minutes ago. The six of us grouped together against them was equally odd. Well, Ariadne’s inclusion in that group of six was the most peculiar part.

Who was I kidding? This was
all
peculiar.

“Well then, kids, where to start…” Ted extended his arm, indicating for my mom to sit back down on the loveseat. Once she’d settled, he sat down next to her, and I was again shocked by the close proximity and obvious ease between the two of them.

“I fell in love with your mother over twenty years ago, Ever. But please don’t get the wrong idea about me. Or your mother. Your father was not a part of her life yet.” He watched her while he spoke, a broad smile on his face. “We had an amazing year together. We were young, and happy, and carefree. Much like the two of you are.” He motioned to Toby and me.

“Were,” I corrected him quickly. “I’m not with Toby.”

“Indeed,” he responded with a slight nod of his head. “You must forgive my forgetfulness.”

Frankie placed his hand on my leg, his need to stake his claim surfacing again. I didn’t blame him. This must have been a very awkward moment for him as well—sitting next to me as I was sandwiched between the two of them.