Sins of Sevin(14)
What the fuck was going on?
My heart pounded out of my chest as I silently mouthed, “Sienna?”
She quickly shook her head frantically, a silent message for me not to say anything further.
Lance was the first to speak. “Sevin, this is our other daughter, Evangeline. She’s very sorry she’s late.”
Her hand trembled as she reached it out to me. “Pleasure to meet you.”
“Evangeline.” It came out more like a question. I took her hand and squeezed it in an attempt to communicate my anger and confusion—a silent what the fuck? I wasn’t even sure if I was angry at her or at the sick joke life was playing on me right now.
“Why are you so late?” Elle asked her.
Unable to look at her anymore, I stared down at my plate.
“A friend needed help,” I heard Evangeline say.
My chest tightened. Evangeline. There was no Sienna. I was still processing everything, trying to figure out why she even lied about her name. At first, I wondered if maybe she did it because she knew who I was. But that made no sense because she’d freaked out when I told her my name was Sevin.
Emily was talking to Lance about some of the American history she learned in class. Elle and her mother were discussing a recipe. The sounds of their conversations, and the clanking of silverware all blended together. What was most deafening, though, was that which was unspoken. At one point, I looked up at her across the table from me, and we made eye contact before she looked down in shame.
The dinner went by in a blur. Managing to force myself to eat the chicken and dumplings, I wasn’t able to stomach the lemon merengue pie for dessert. I mashed it up so that it looked eaten.
Unable to take any more of this, I needed to process it alone. My chair skidded against the wood floor as I got up. “I think I’d better turn in early tonight. Tomorrow is my first day at the plant, and I want to be alert.”
“Looking forward to showing you around, Sevin,” Lance said.
“Thank you so much for dinner.”
Elle stood up. “Can I walk him back to the guesthouse?”
“Sure, honey,” Olga said. “Evangeline, go on ahead with them.”
She’d been looking down and lifted her head. “Excuse me?”
“Please accompany Elle and Sevin to the guesthouse.”
“I’m really not feeling well. Can Emily go?”
“No. You’ve been extremely rude tonight. I think you need to go and apologize to them for your behavior while you’re at it.”
She looked humiliated, and my heart clenched. She reluctantly got up and followed us out the door. Elle grabbed my hand as Evangeline quietly walked alongside us.
Elle turned to her sister. “Did something happen to Lorraine? Is that why you’re acting like this?”
“No. She’s not doing well, but nothing’s changed.”
“Then, what is it?”
“It’s nothing, okay? Please just drop it. I promise, nothing is wrong.”
Feeling compelled to rescue her from an inquisition, I said, “People are allowed to have bad days, Elle.”
Evangeline looked over at me for the first time since we started walking, and our eyes met briefly. Her expression softened as if to thank me for deterring any further prying.
We arrived at my doorstep, and I intentionally didn’t invite them in because the walk itself was already too much stress for one night. “Thanks for walking me. I appreciate it.”
Elle was still holding my hand and swung it playfully. “See you in the morning for breakfast.”
“Alright. Good night.” I stayed in my doorway watching them walk away. Elle ran ahead of her, and Evangeline surprised me when she briefly turned around to meet my stare.
Goodbye, Sienna.
CHAPTER 7
EVANGELINE
Three days had gone by, and I’d managed to avoid Sevin almost completely with the exception of dinnertime. It was like a sport—dodge Sevin—instead of dodgeball or something.
Luckily, Daddy had him in training a good chunk of the day. They usually didn’t return from the plant until after seven-thirty at night. The most challenging part, though, had been attempting to act normal around Elle. Over the past several months, I’d listened intently as she boasted to me about the man courting her. I’d shared in her enthusiasm and participated in endless conversations about the wedding.
Elle and I both worked upstairs in the business offices of Sutton Provisions. While I would typically sneak over to Adelaide’s after work, Elle would often ride her horse, Magdalene, in the late afternoons. But we were together almost all day until our shifts ended at three-thirty. Having to maintain the same attitude now was hard. Even harder was figuring out why I was making this so difficult. Nothing had really happened between Sevin and me. My attraction to him was my own issue. In reality, we’d just had an interesting conversation after I’d helped him with his car. Neither of us knew the other’s identity at the time. It was all one big innocent misunderstanding. So, why did I feel so guilty?