Going Full Throttle

Chapter 31

"Hunny I just don't know if you should go like this." Twyla hovered by the window of my truck wringing her hands nervously.

"Twyla," I sighed as I gripped the steering wheel. "I have to go. I need to smooth this out with them."

"But—" Twyla bit her lip as she considered her words. She took a deep breath then continued, "I just think maybe you should consider bringing a lawyer."

It was nothing Beau hadn't already told me. They both had offered to help me pay for one. I knew they were scared of what the Evans might say in this meeting and wanted to help me as much as they could.

"I'm not bringing out the big guns until they do," I said for the millionth time. "They might just want to talk. I don't want to go in there guns-a-blazing if I don't need to."

Twyla nodded reluctantly but the concern in her eyes told me she didn't believe it would just be a chat. I didn't either if I were being honest, but I had to hope we could settle this on our own.

"Twyla," I said as I tried to smile comfortingly at her. "It will all be okay. I love you for helping, but we all just want what's best for Finn. I really think the Evans will be reasonable. They wanted to respect Sophia's choices."

I waved her off and pulled out of the driveway before anyone else could try to stop me. I had to hold onto the last threads of positivity. The last twenty-four hours had been hell. Stressing about this internet backlash, stressing about the Evans, stressing about Tyler. I couldn't allow myself to sink into the depressive belief that we were too far gone to fix things.

I spent the drive to the Evans' house rehearsing my speech. I'd agonized over how to approach this conversation. Whether I should downplay it all, or just explain myself honestly. I'd settled on focusing on the one card I kept clutched in my hand at all times—for whatever reason, Sophia had chosen me.

I parked my truck in the Evans' driveway and straightened my spine. I reminded myself that I needed to be calm but firm. I wasn't a child, and they couldn't bowl over me. I had power in this conversation as Finn's legal guardian. Deep down though, I was scared this was about to become a bigger problem.

Within seconds of me knocking, the front door opened. "Hi, Pia," Mr. Evans said quickly. He looked over his should and I got the feeling he'd been waiting for me to walk up so we could have a moment alone.

After checking over his shoulder again he said, "I just wanted to catch you for a second. This might get a little tense but—please—try to stay calm."

"What do you mean?" I asked as my barely-contained anxiety flooded my stomach.

Mr. Evans sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Just please know, I'm working on it. I'm trying to get us all back to normal as soon as we can."

He stepped back after that and let me come in. I steadied my breath as I shuffled out of my jacket and hung it on the hook. Mr. Evans led me into their dining room and took his seat at the head of the table. I hesitated for a moment, then took a seat at the other end.

You have power. Stay calm.

We were only alone for a moment before Mrs. Evans walked in and took a seat next to her husband. Her shoulders were set stiffly and her face was twisted as though she smelt something awful.

"So," I spoke first, hoping to retain some control. "You had something you wanted to talk about?"

Mr. Evans opened his mouth to speak but Mrs. Evans scoffed and cut him off. "Something? Several things. Where do we even start?"