Sins of Sevin(11)
“Son of a gun. Really?”
“It was one of those old Ford 100s with a flat V-8 engine? Two of the plug head wires came loose, so I reconnected them.”
“That’s my girl. Proud of ya, honey.”
“Thanks. Anyway…after that…we talked for a while, got into some personal stuff, but we hadn’t even exchanged names. He finally asked me for mine, and I told him it was Sienna.”
“Sienna? Now, why would you go and do that?”
“You know I’ve never liked my name, Addy. I just wanted something pretty. And I honestly assumed I’d never see him again.”
“I never understood why you feel that way about your name. Anyway…go on.”
“He told me his name, too.”
“What was it?”
Swallowing hard, I closed my eyes and said the word as it if were painful, “It was Sevin.”
“Sevin…” Adelaide covered her mouth when she figured it out. “Sevin? THE Sevin? The guy who’s coming here to court Elle? The guy who’s moving onto your family’s property? THAT guy? Oh no.”
“Oh yes.”
“Oh shit.”
“I know.” I buried my head in my hands and spoke through them, my voice muffled, “I know! I’m mortified.”
“That’s some crap luck and timing. Had you never seen a picture of him?”
“No. Elle never showed me an actual photo. She described him, but he was nothing like I pictured. She made him sound like a saint. But the guy I met was a little rougher around the edges. It was almost as though maybe she’d painted whatever picture she wanted to of him. I mean, they talk on the phone every day, and she’s head over heels, but he was nothing like I imagined. He’s not straight-laced at all, let’s put it that way. He had this aura about him.”
“Did you tell him who you were?”
“No. He still has no clue! That’s the problem. As soon as he said his name was Sevin and I put two and two together, I got up and said I had to leave. I came straight here. I wasn’t looking forward to him moving in before this, but can you imagine how I feel now? I can’t go back there! I can’t face him.”
“You have to.”
“I know.” I stared down into my tea for a while then said, “He touched my face.”
“What?”
“I had some grease. It was innocent. He rubbed it off with his finger. But when he touched me, it was like I felt it throughout my entire body. One simple touch. I’m so embarrassed.”
“Don’t be. That’s a natural reaction to physical attraction.”
“But I can’t be physically attracted to my sister’s soon-to-be husband.”
“You didn’t know, Vangie. It was an innocent mistake.”
“I know, but how am I going to undo it now?”
“You may not be able to. You just have to be strong, accept this as one of life’s freakish coincidences and face it head first.”
“I’m so caught up in my own damn problem, I didn’t even ask you how Lorraine is.”
“Oh, honey, don’t feel bad about that. She had a pretty crappy day, though. The meds are making her sick. But thank you for asking.”
“Let me know if there’s anything I can do, okay? Maybe pick up some more of the slack around the shop so you can be with her longer during the day.”
“I appreciate that, but Marty and Jermaine are doing a good job. I’ll let you know if things change. Tonight, though, you need to go home and face the music before it gets too dark to head back. You know I worry about you on that bike at night.”
“Okay. I have no idea what I’m going to say or do.”
“Don’t overthink it. Just deal with each moment as it comes. I’ll be here tomorrow if you need to talk again. And I’ll save you some soup for lunch.”
“Thanks, Addy. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“You won’t ever have to find out.”
I rode toward our house as if in a race against time with the fading sunset. As I passed the same grassy knoll where Sevin and I sat, guilt crept in. It wasn’t because of what happened. I felt guilty because I knew that even if given the choice to go back and erase our moment in time, I wouldn’t have changed a thing.
CHAPTER 6
SEVIN
When I pulled into the Sutton ranch, Lance, his wife, Olga, and Elle were all waiting for me on the farmer’s porch. The sun cast a bright orange glow around their massive house that sat up on a hill. A few grazing horses were scattered about. It was hard to believe that this vast property was my home now.
Elle looked beautiful in a long, white dress with multi-colored flowers. She was beaming as she ran down the front steps toward me. It seemed strange not even being able to hug her after all this time. Lance’s rules had been made very clear: Elle and I couldn’t have any close physical contact until we were married. Since we were unofficially engaged, though, hand holding was allowed in a chaperoned environment.