The Love of an Angel

Chapter 4 ~ A Guest and a Scandal

The Love of an Angel Chapter 4 ~ A Guest and a Scandal

“Evie, Evie, Evie, Evie, Evie, GUESS WHO’S HERE!” Ben shouted as he came barreling down the hall towards her when she got home from school the next day.

“Slow down, Benny,” Evelyn laughed as he collided with her legs. “I just got home! Tell you what, let me take off my coat and then I’ll guess, okay?” Ben nodded and told Evelyn to meet him in the living room before running off again. Smiling, Evelyn hung her coat on the coat rack by the door and tossed her keys onto the kitchen counter before making her way to the living room, where she could hear Ben talking excitedly to someone.

“Who’s in there, Benny?” Evelyn asked as she walked through the door, and as soon as she did she got the answer to her question.

“Tristan?” she asked in disbelief. “What are you doing here?” She found it slightly creepy that he knew where she lived.

Tristan grinned up at her, his dimples and freckles making him look much younger than eighteen, and answered, “Well, I was on my way to friend’s house to drop some stuff off, and I saw your brother outside and thought I’d stop and say hi.”

“Is he your boyfwiend?” Ben asked loudly and obliviously. Evelyn winced slightly, and Tristan cleared his throat, embarrassed.

“Uh, no,” Evelyn said quickly. “We’re friends from school. How do you even know what a boyfriend is anyway?” she asked in a slightly accusatory tone.

“Sarah from school has a boyfwiend, and they’re icky,” Ben explained as he made a face with his tongue sticking out.

“Children these days,” Evelyn muttered under her breath, but Tristan must have heard her because he chuckled and nodded in agreement.

“So,” Evelyn cleared her throat, a little at a loss for what to say, “d’you want to stay for dinner?”

“Oh, no,” Tristan stood up and looked like he was ready to go. “I shouldn’t, I wouldn’t want it to be like I had invited myself or anything.”

“Then I’ll invite you!” Ben offered eagerly, grasping Tristan’s hand. “You can sit by me, and I’ll show you my favowite foods. Please stay. PLEASE,” Ben begged, dragging out the “ea” in please for at least twenty seconds. Tristan looked back and forth between Evelyn and her brother, torn between his desire to stay and the need to politely refuse.

“Oh, who’s this?”

Mrs. Lincoln appeared in the doorway. Tristan stood up immediately and stepped forward to shake her hand.

“I’m Tristan Callaway,” he smiled winningly. “I go to Evelyn’s school.”

“How nice,” Mrs. Lincoln smiled with no trace of irony. “You’ll be staying for dinner, right?”

“I guess so,” Tristan gave in sheepishly with a glance at Evelyn, who smiled a little bit, letting him know it was all right with her.

“Good,” Mrs. Lincoln said with childish excitement. “Dinner should be ready in just a little bit. Why don’t you show Tristan around while I finish up?” she suggested, looking at Evelyn with that eager smile of hers.

“Sure,” Evelyn agreed sportingly. “You wanna come too, Benny?”

Ben ran up to Evelyn and grabbed her legs. “YES, YES, YES!” he yelled, delighted. “Can I be leader? I wanna show Chwistan my Legos!” As the little boy ran off down the hall, Evelyn and Tristan shared an amused look at Ben’s pronunciation of Tristan’s name.

The two followed Ben’s eager calling up the stairs and down the hall to his bedroom, where he was busy rearranging all of his most prized Legos on the cream carpet.