Chapter 53: Come With Me, Please?
"Yes, honey," Evelyn said with a smile. "I need to meet the new barista today. You can play with Granny while Mommy is working."
Oliver’s little grin lit up the room like sunshine, but it faded just as quickly when he slid into his chair at the dining table.
She placed a golden waffle in front of him, carefully topped with blueberry jam. But instead of his usual excitement, Oliver poked at it with his fork before looking up at her.
"Mommy?"
"Yes?" Evelyn, slightly puzzled, noticed his gloom. "Why do you look so down? Are you tired of blueberry waffles? Do you want eggs and hash browns instead?"
"No, Mommy... Waffles are delicious. I like it..." He smiled and finally picked up his fork to cut into the waffle. "It’s not about the food. I feel worried... about Granny."
"Worried?" she asked softly. "Why, baby?"
Oliver chewed slowly, then looked up at her with eyes too sad, too wise for his age. "If we move to Daddy’s house... Granny will be all alone here."
Evelyn was no longer surprised to hear that because she knew those words would come from his mouth, since her son already thought of Martha as his own grandmother.
She had too.
But, she had not yet talked about it with Martha, as she spent the last week carefully avoiding any mention of moving out of this town. She was unwilling to upset her until she had everything figured out.
Her focus had been on finding a dependable new barista; someone who could run the café and also help care for Martha. She believed she could handle everything quietly and shield Oliver from any worry.
However, it was clear that he was not as easily distracted as she had hoped.
"Sweetheart, Granny won’t be alone. We’ll make sure she’s taken care of."
Oliver’s fork stilled in his hand. "But... you promise?"
Evelyn swallowed hard and nodded. "I promise."
At that moment, she knew she couldn’t keep avoiding the conversation. Martha deserved to know their plans and maybe, just maybe, she’d even agree to come with them.
She could already picture it: opening a new café in the capital, maybe even a little flower shop alongside it, something that would give Martha purpose and joy to move with them to another city.
The thought gave her strength, though her insides were still tangled.
Oliver brightened slightly and went back to eating, shoving a too-big bite of waffle into his mouth. Blueberry jam smeared across his cheek, and Evelyn laughed softly, reaching for a napkin.
"You, sir, are a mess," she teased, wiping his face.
"I’m practicing for when Daddy eats with us. You said boys are always messy, right?" Oliver giggled.
Evelyn feels her blood running cold. Again. Her son tosses Axel right back into her carefully Axel-free morning.
Her mind instantly betrayed her with an image: Axel at the breakfast table, Oliver grinning at him, her... sitting across from him, trying very hard not to stare at the way he licked syrup off his thumb.
’Damn it! Eve... Stop.. Please!’
Heat rushed back to her cheeks, and she fanned herself with the napkin to try to calm her wild imagination.
"Oliver, sweetie," she said quickly, "let’s not discuss Daddy at breakfast, please? Mommy’s blood pressure can only take so much."
Oliver tilted his head, confused but amused. "Blood pressure?"
Evelyn gasped, unable to believe she had just said that in front of her son. Her frustration with Axel for being absent all week had clouded her judgment, and now she was busy trying to find the right words to fix her mistake.
But before she could find something, Oliver smiled as he said, "You mean you miss Daddy so much?"
"Exactly." She stuffed another bite of toast into her mouth before she could dig herself deeper. It’s fine; as long as Axel isn’t here, she will admit it; she misses him.
As she watched her son eat happily, her worries soothed for now. However, a concern slowly emerged in her mind when she remembered that her son was a double agent. He is their former cupid.
’You are doomed, Eve... You are doomed!’
She now tries to pray silently, hoping Oliver won’t reveal her later when Axel returns, or that man will tease her again and send her blood pressure to a dangerous level.
...
After briefing the two new baristas who would eventually take over her duties in the café, Evelyn left. She visited Martha’s house just behind it.
The sight that greeted her made her smile despite the weight pressing on her chest; Oliver was standing on a stool beside Martha, earnestly helping to arrange vegetables on a platter. His tiny hands barged, but his grin was so broad, as if he believed he was a master chef.
Evelyn couldn’t hold back an amusing laugh.
She stepped inside, leaning on the doorway for a moment before joining them. "Oliver, sweetheart, why don’t you play for a bit? Let Mommy help Granny."
Her son looked up, clearly torn between duty and fun, but then he hopped down obediently.
"Okay, Mommy." His little footsteps pattered away, leaving her with Martha.
Evelyn exhaled, her heart tightened. This was it, the moment she had been avoiding all week. If she didn’t talk to Martha now, she never would.
"Why do you look so distressed, Eve?" Martha’s gentle voice pulled her from her troubling thoughts.
Evelyn paused, carefully setting the last dish on the dining table before turning back to her.
"Aunty, will you sit down with me for a minute, please?"
Martha followed with a nod, her hands folding neatly in her lap.
Evelyn sat across from her, swallowing hard before speaking the words that had been choking her for days.
"Aunty... I plan to move out of this town."
Silence stretched for a heartbeat, then Martha nodded, her expression calm.
"I know."
"Y-You know? Since when?" Evelyn’s eyes widened.
"Oliver told me." Martha’s lips curved in the faintest smile, though her eyes shimmered with unshed tears. "And, of course, I knew the moment you officially married him. I pictured this day coming, you moving back to the capital with your husband. It was only a matter of time."
Her calm acceptance struck Evelyn harder. Beneath that composure, she saw the pain; saw the fear of being left behind.
Evelyn reached for her hand, squeezing tightly.
"Aunty... come with me, please? Come with me to live in the capital. Please."
Martha blinked, startled.