Chapter 11

Evie

"I have to admit, I thought this would be weird."

"Weird, how?" Fraser"s smooth, deep voice drifts through the speaker on my phone, while I"m finishing off some bracelets.

"Like, I thought it would feel like I"m talking to myself."

"Don"t tell me you never talk to yourself? You"re a prime candidate for self-talking."

"What"s that supposed to mean?"

"It means you love to talk. You talk back to the TV."

"When I"m watching a game."

"Oh, well, in that case…" Fraser lets out a rusty chuckle. "I"ve seen you talk to your flowers."

"Yes, and notice how they always last for a long time? I"m convinced plants respond to kind words."

"I bet they do. But what I"m getting at is that I think it"s interesting you find talking like this, over the phone, so novel. Don"t you call your friends all the time?"

"Nope. We have a group chat."

"Levi?"

"Texts, mainly."

"Your mom?"

"I have dinner with my parents every Thursday, which gets me out of having to call her during the week."

"Right. So this whole phone-talking thing is new for you."

"It really is."

"Well, you"re doing remarkably well."

I smile even though he can"t see it. "Thank you."

It"s our first chat date, and I"m acing it, apparently.

This was such a great idea.

I can"t make it to any of Fraser"s games for the next few weeks because I"m needed at work, and since my numbers are back to anemic, I"m in no position to ask for time off to fly around the country to watch my boyfriend play hockey.

Oops, fake boyfriend. I keep slipping up on that.

I lay down the bracelet I"ve been working on. "So, what now?"

"Nothing. We just keep talking. I"m a classic man, favoring the traditional back-and-forth method where one of us says something, the other listens, and then we switch. But I"m also open to the Evie Freeman method."

I smile and sit up taller. "Enlighten me please."

"Well, I have to say it"s evolved over time. It used to be harsh hockey critiques sprinkled with occasional musings on a variety of random topics."

"The random musings are still trademark Evie."

Fraser laughs. "They are. But there"s been a shift. Hockey feedback has mellowed. I no longer have my therapist on speed dial."

"Speed dial. Talking on the phone. This is all so "90s. Are you sure you"re really twenty-five and not a freakishly young-looking forty-five-year-old man?"

"I may have the knees of a forty-five-year-old man, but I can assure you I am, indeed, twenty-five."

"Gosh…" I pick up a piece of fabric and twirl it between my fingers.

"Gonna need more than that, Evie. See, the thing about chat dates on the phone is that I can"t see what your face is doing."

"My face is grinning. And the gosh was me remembering when you being two years older than me felt like this massive age gap. Now it"s nothing."

"It"s totally nothing."

"And I have to say, this whole fake-dating thing is going better than I thought it would."

"How so? Oh, and for the record, because you can"t see me, I need to tell you that I"m lying on the bed in my hotel room."

"Not brave enough to venture onto the carpet?"

"No. There are…stains."

"I don"t want to know."

He laughs. "Me neither."

I get up from my desk and lie down on my stain-free floor. "Well, for the record, because you can"t see me, I need to tell you that I"ve moved from my desk and have joined you in the lying down thing. Although, I"m on my floor since, well, I was going to say my floor doesn"t have stains, but that wouldn"t be entirely true. But at least I know I"m the one responsible for all of them. Well, me and the food companies I use to make all my meals."

Fraser laughs again, and the rich, warm sound settles in my chest. I love being able to make him loosen up like this.

"So tell me why you"re liking this fake dating thing more than you thought you would," he says.

"Well, my social media numbers have skyrocketed."

"And I know how obsessed you are about that."

I bring out the most Valley Girl voice I can. "It"s, like, literally the most important thing ever."

I"m treated to another laugh.

"I"m loving how well the team is doing," I continue, a little more seriously now. "Plus, it"s great to get flown out to see more games. But I still think nothing beats the atmosphere of a home crowd, if you ask me."

"I wholeheartedly agree with you on that one."

"The me being a good luck charm thing has worn off, which I"m very glad about. It was a weird pressure to have to bear."

"Also in full agreement with you on that."

I hesitate for a second. "But do you want to know what my absolute favorite thing is?"

"I do. Tell me."

"This."

"Define this, please. For all I know, you"ve looked under your couch and found a half-eaten pack of Oreos."

"Fraser! I would never"—I cast a quick glance under my couch. Nothing. Damn—"do that. What I mean by this is this. Hanging out with you privately. Actually, hanging out with you in public isn"t that bad, either. But when we"re alone it feels…it feels really nice."

"At the risk of repeating myself, I couldn"t agree with you more."

Actually, it"s more than nice, but I"m not ready to tell him that just yet.

Being with Fraser is unlocking parts of me I hadn"t even realized I"d locked away.

I guess I"ve always felt a little on the backfoot for not wanting to progress to anything more intimate than kissing with the guys I"ve dated, so I tried to make up for it in other ways. I suppressed who I was—or tried to, at least—toning down my quirkiness, my messiness, my lack of food making-ness.

It never worked, clearly.

But fake dating Fraser means I can just be me. Even the parts of me that aren"t the greatest. I mean, he didn"t instantly dismiss the idea of me eating a newly rediscovered half-eaten packet of Oreos…and yet, even if that"s what I had been doing, I get the feeling he wouldn"t have minded. It"s as if he likes all of me, which is probably why my walls are starting to crumble and my crush is returning.

Big time.

But unlike in high school, this time it"s different. Because this time, it"s not just a one-way thing.

I"m confident Fraser feels something happening between us as well.

We almost kissed again when he came over to my place.

He"s opening up to me like he used to, even if he got oddly guarded when the topic of Dawn came up.

And he"s the one who suggested these chat dates.

That has to mean something…doesn"t it?

Fraser

"Wow. Two calls in two days."

I wince. "It"s too much. I"m calling too much, aren"t I?"

Silence hangs in the air.

I pull my phone away from my ear.

The call is still connected. Evie"s still there. Probably trying to find a diplomatic way to reply to that.

"It"s fine," she says eventually. "More than fine, actually."

"Really?" I double check to make sure.

"Really. I"m usually so exhausted by the time I get home I don"t have the energy to do anything. I wouldn"t say I"m lonely, but it"s nice having someone to talk to while I chill out in a face mask and sweats."

Picturing Evie in a face mask and sweats should not set my imagination on fire. What is wrong with me?

"How was your day?" I ask, settling into a comfortable position on the bed.

She tells me about the ridiculously early start she had today to join her friends on a sunrise walk, which, according to her, should be renamed to a pre-sunrise walk for accuracy reasons since she needed to drag herself out of bed while it was still dark to make it to their favorite vantage point in time to see the sun rise.

I smile and listen as she tells me more about her day, loving hearing her voice, feeling like she"s close to me when in reality, we"re on opposite sides of the country.

I"ve been thinking about her all day.

During the bus ride from New York to Philadelphia, when I caught up on a bunch of her segments I"d missed.

Throughout practice.

Training in the gym.

While I was having a massage.

Evie was all I could think about.

Which isn"t good.

My self-restraint is slipping.

Let me rephrase that. My self-restraint has bolted out the door, left the building, and is now five blocks away, looking back at me and laughing maniacally.

I shouldn"t be doing this.

The control I"ve kept tightly woven for years is unraveling, and yet…I"m the one who suggested these chat dates because the thought of having no contact with her during this busy period wasn"t okay. I couldn"t let that happen.

I feel like I"m on borrowed time anyway.

We can both see that the media"s focus has shifted from us, laying the groundwork for a quiet breakup and an end to this whole fake dating thing.

But I don"t want it to end.

As selfish as it may be, I want to keep this going for as long as possible. Time is slipping away, and I may not get to share many more moments like this with her ever again.

"So," Evie says, her voice taking on an unmissable firmness. "Let"s talk about your game tomorrow. I have some notes."

I smile, staring up at the ceiling. "Tell me everything I need to know."

Evie

"This is a surprise," is how Fraser answers my call.

"Sorry, I realize I"m calling in the middle of the day."

"No. I mean, that you know how to make a call. I"m impressed."

"Ha. Ha." I"ve ducked away into an empty meeting room. Fraser has a game tonight, so I figure we won"t be able to talk later. Even though we did only speak last night. "Are you busy?"

"We"ve just finished our game day skate. I"m about to take a shower, and then we"re heading out for a team meal. But I"ve got a few minutes."

"This won"t take long. I just wanted to wish you good luck."

He doesn"t say anything.

"For the game."

Still nothing.

"That you"re playing. Tonight."

I can"t spell it out any clearer, can I?

"Um. Thank you. That"s really nice of you, Evie."

"What sort of girlfriend would I be if I didn"t call to wish my boyfriend all the best?"

He chuckles, but it comes out a little garbled. Must be a bad connection.

"Look, I won"t keep you," I say since Fraser sounds like he"s in pre-game mode, and the last thing I want to do is break his focus. "Have a great game. I"ll be watching."

"Yeah…Thanks for calling. I mean it."

"No worries. Bye, Fraser."

"Bye, Evie."

Fraser

"Oh my god, you were amazing! Another hat trick! I am so freaking proud of you."

I"m still riding the post-game high.

Another big win—5-2—against Philly, who beat us every time we played them last season, making tonight"s victory even sweeter.

I"m back in my hotel room after celebrating with the team. It was good to blow off some steam with Culver and the rest of the guys, but when I saw Evie had been texting me, I decided to call it a night. I couldn"t wait until tomorrow to hear her voice again.

"Thanks. The guys did incredible."

"Don"t be so modest. So did you. You were the star. I haven"t heard Dad yell so loud in a long time."

It makes me happier than it should knowing Evie watched the game with her old man. Alex Freeman is a personal hero of mine. Not just a living legend of the game, but one of the best men I know off the rink, too.

He"s dedicated his post-game life to contributing to scholarship funds to help young people pursue their educational goals. It"s inspiring and makes me want to follow in his footsteps when I leave the game.

"Hang on a minute." I glance over at the clock on the nightstand. "What time is it there?"

It"s almost one on the east coast, which means…

"It"s five to ten."

"And you"re working tomorrow, right?"

"I am."

I grimace, hating that I"m calling when she should probably be sleeping. Start times in morning TV are ridiculously early. "Sorry for calling so late."

"It"s fine. I couldn"t fall asleep anyway."

"Why not?"

"It"s nothing."

"What"s wrong?"

"Nothing. I don"t want to be a downer on a night like this. We should be celebrating your win."

"Evie."

"Fine. My boss wants to speak with me tomorrow."

"Why are you making it sound so ominous?"

"Because she scheduled the meeting in my calendar."

"I may never have worked in a corporate setting before, but isn"t that something normal people who work in offices do?"

"It is. But Margo isn"t normal people. Her meetings are impromptu walks around the office. Or chats in the cafeteria. Occasionally, the toilet stalls, if you"re really unlucky."

"Do I want to know?"

"Believe me, you don"t."

She lets out a sigh, and it tears me up being so far away and completely powerless to do anything to help her.

"It must be serious if she"s calling me into her office," she says.

We"ve spoken a few times about her low ratings, so I"m guessing it"s probably got something to do with that. Unable to offer any specific assistance or advice, I go with, "Look, whatever it is, you"re strong, Evie, and I"m sure you"ll be able to handle it."

She yawns, and as much as I want to keep talking and reassuring her, it"s late.

"You need to get some rest."

"I really do. I"ll need it for tomorrow."

"Let me know how it goes, okay?"

"All right. I"ll text?—"

A guttural growl bubbles up in my throat.

She must hear it because she stops, then amends. "Fine. I"ll call."

"Good—" I grunt, then snap myself out of my unexpected detour into caveman land.

Since when am I a grunter?

"Goodnight, is what I meant to say."

"Uh-huh. Okay. Goodnight, Fraser, and congratulations again on an awesome game."

Evie

I head toward Margo"s office, my belly fluttering with nerves. Despite feeling a bit better after Fraser"s assurances last night, I get the feeling I should prepare myself for some bad news.

Margo"s been in LA all week, meeting with the network bigwigs. It"s not a coincidence she"s scheduled a meeting first thing in the morning on the day she returns.

I stop before reaching her open door, take a deep breath, remind myself that I"m strong and can handle whatever comes my way, and step inside.

"Hey, Margo."

"Hey, hon."

She gets up, and I assume she"s coming over to greet me with a hug, but nope, she walks right past me and closes the door instead.

Yikes. A scheduled closed-door meeting. This is serious.

She gestures toward the L-shaped sofa in the corner of her office. I plop down on the couch, and she joins me a few moments later.

"I have some bad news, I"m afraid."

"You went ahead with that hideous back tattoo and now you"re regretting it?"

She has the grace to smile at my weak attempt at humor. "We can revisit my pre-midlife-crisis plans some other time. As you know, I"ve been in LA."

"I do."

"What you may not be aware of is that ad revenue is down across the board, affecting almost every show."

"How bad is it?"

"Terminal. The network needs to make some cuts."

"Oh no." I cover my mouth. "I"m getting fired."

"Not yet. I managed to buy you some time."

"How much time?"

"A month."

"A month? That"s…that"s nothing. I may as well start packing up my stuff now."

"It"s not nothing, Evie. It"s a chance. Your last chance to make a splash. You need a big story."

My shoulders slump. "Why are you doing this? Why are you battling so hard for me?"

"Because I hired you, so I"m personally invested. But more than that, because I believe in you. Not just in the stories you"re telling, but also, your approach."

"My approach?"

Margo gets up and wanders over to the big window. "When I was young, all I wanted to do was to get out of my small outback town in the middle of nowhere—which, in Australia, we have a lot of nowhere—move to the city, and make something out of myself. My drive, hard work, and persistence took me to Sydney, then Singapore, followed by stints in Paris, London, New York, and finally, Comfort Bay."

"I feel so bad for all those other places. They"ve got nothing on Comfort Bay."

She smiles and sits back down next to me, a little closer this time. "They really don"t. I spent my twenties and a good chunk of my thirties chasing my dreams, reaching my dreams, only to realize dreams coming true aren"t so great when you"ve got no one to share them with."

"You"re talking about your husband Hamish?"

"I am. Fifteen-year-old feminist me would die knowing that I"d give up my glamorous, jet-setting career, where I was making serious headway to becoming the head honcho, to settle down in a small town for a man, pop out a couple of kids, and run a local breakfast show."

"I"ve always admired you for that very decision, Margo. When my mom gets on my case that I should pursue a "real career," I think about what you did. Your decision to give it all up for a small-town life. That inspires me so much."

"Thank you. But here"s the thing, hon…It doesn"t feel like I gave anything up. I still love what I do for work. It"s just that now I have a husband who supports me and two children who fill my life with more meaning than I ever thought possible."

She gives my knee a gentle press. "I can"t speak to where your mother is coming from because believe me, I know a thing or two about overbearing parents, but I can tell you this. I admire your decision to pursue the type of career you want."

"Even if no one tunes in?"

She shrugs. "I don"t know what"s going wrong, Evie."

"What about the Rademacher effect?" I ask. "Why isn"t that working? I am still the girlfriend of one of the—correction—of the hottest player in the NHL."

"You know the press as well as I do. It"s old news now. You and Fraser have been together for months, so the novelty of the redemption story and the good luck charm angle has worn off."

I drop my head. "So what do I do?"

"I"ll tell you what you don"t do. You donot give up, Evie. You have a month. That"s enough time to convince that hunky hockey-playing boyfriend of yours to sit down for an exclusive interview."

"I can"t." I angle my head to face Margo. "Fraser will never go for it."

"Have you asked him?"

"I don"t need to. I know him."

"True. But…for someone who hates the press, he"s also dating someone who is the press."

"Your point?"

"My point is that maybe whatever blocks or issues Fraser has with the media could be sidestepped if you were the one conducting the interview."

"I highly doubt it."

"There"s only one way to find out. Why don"t you put a package together, something that you can present to Fraser so he sees for himself that he won"t be exploited or taken advantage of, that addresses whatever his reasons are for not trusting the media. If he sees that, he might change his mind."

I huff out a despondent breath. "That"s my only option?"

"Well, no. The network needs you to pull out something big. Personally, I think an interview with Fraser is your best bet for achieving it, but if you can come up with something else, then by all means, go for it. But Evie?"

"Yeah?"

"You only have one month left."

At home that night, I take out my phone and open The Vinaigrettes group chat.

Evie: I need some advice. Is anyone around?

Hannah: I"m here.

Beth: I"m here.

Summer: I"m here.

Amiel: Me, too.

Evie: Okay, the full complement. Excellent. My boss wants me to do something I don"t think is a good idea.

Hannah: Does it involve a dead body?

Beth: Is it singing in public?

Summer: Or dancing in public?

Beth: Ooh, yeah. That"s definitely worse. Amiel, Evie has zero rhythm.

Amiel: Noted. Thanks for the heads-up.

Evie: It"s none of those things, thank you very much. This is serious. Margo wants me to do a story about Fraser.

Hannah: But he"d never go for that.

Evie: I know that. But I need something big. Something to attract massive ratings. I"m conflicted.

Summer: Have you spoken to him about it?

Evie: No.

Summer: Why not?

Evie: Because I KNOW he"ll say no. I should just leave it, right?

Hannah: Is that what your gut is telling you?

Evie: It is.

Hannah: So, yeah, leave it. For now, at least.

Beth: You can always revisit things later.

Summer: I concur. Keep it as a backup plan.

Amiel: That sounds like a reasonable approach.

Evie: Excellent advice. Thank you, ladies!

That really is solid advice.

I can put the Fraser story on the backburner, and in the meantime, try to come up with something that doesn"t involve him.

That feels like the right thing to do.

Evie: How are you settling into Comfort Bay, Amiel?

Amiel: I looove it here. I work in the mornings and spend my afternoons at the beach. This is the life I always dreamed of.

Beth: What are you doing at the beach? Because if you want to pick up hot, rich, eligible men, the marina is where you want to be.

Amiel: Ha. As if a hot, rich, and eligible bachelor would be interested in me. No. I lie under an umbrella, try not to tan—well, peel, since I am a redhead—and get through the pile of great books someone hooked me up with.

Beth: They are pretty great, aren"t they?

Amiel: The best. Especially the hockey romances. I love that they"re clean and sweet but are still so emotional and funny.

Summer: Speaking of hockey players…

Evie: *ducks for cover*

Summer: Come on, girl. Spill. What"s happening with you and Fraser? Give us the latest.

As I think about how to answer that, another message comes through.

It"s from Fraser.

Fraser: Can you please call me when you"re ready? Want to hear how your meeting went.

I jump back into the group chat.

Evie: I have to go. Fraser just texted.

Beth: Oh, I see how it is. You"re that girl who dumps her friends the second her hot high school crush texts.

Evie: I am not.

Evie: Wait. Okay, maybe I am.

Evie: A little.

Beth: Hahaha. I"m just teasing. We"d all do the same thing in your shoes.

Hannah: 100%.

Amiel: For sure.

Summer: But before you go, a quick update. Please! I feel like I haven"t seen you in forever.

Evie: Sorry. Work has been hectic, and his schedule is insane. So we"ve been chat dating every night.

Beth: What on earth is that?

Hannah: I believe it"s using the device we"re all currently on but, like, talking into it? Am I right, Evie? smiley face emoji>

Evie: Exactly. And you know me, I love trying new things.

Summer: How has it been?

Evie: Incredible. Fun. Sweet.

Evie: Even if I keep having to remind myself it"s meant to be fake.

Beth: Let me guess, it"s not feeling fake?

Evie: Not. At. All.

Hannah: Your crush is back?

Beth: Did it ever really leave?

Hannah: I don"t think this is one-sided, you guys. He is ALWAYS buying her flowers. My revenue is way up!

Summer: I saw the latest photos of them having dinner online. He looks genuinely smitten.

Amiel: I saw those photos, too. Nothing fake about the look in his eyes.

Beth: Are you talking about the photos where Evie has ketchup on her chin?

Summer: Yep. They"re the ones.

Beth: Ooh, I missed them. Send me a link?

Evie: Guys, I"m right here.

Beth: Oh, are you? I thought you were abandoning us. smiley face emoji>

Evie: Well, I am now!

Evie: Thanks again for the work advice.

Hannah: Anytime, babe.

Beth: love heart emoji>

Summer: love heart emoji>

Amiel: love heart emoji>

Smiling, I exit the chat and give Fraser a call.