An Unlikely Match

on top of his head. Evelyn was wearing hers, mostly to sneak glances at himwithout him noticing. The sun shifted behind the clouds as if in hiding, then presented itself full force, the process repeatingcontinually. With a nice breeze, it made for perfect weather.
“Thanks for doing that,” he said. “But I would have taken you to lunch.” He rubbed his hands together. “What are we having?”
“Chicken salad on homemade sourdough bread, potato chips, pickles, and red velvet cake.”
Jayce smiled. “You’re kidding, right? Did you make all of that?”
Evelyn fought the urge to swell with pride, but it overtook her just the same. “Ya, I did. And I brought tea.”
“It sounds great. At home we eat out most of the time. Dad doesn’t cook, and he doesn’t like me messing up his kitchen.” Jaycerolled his eyes.
“So, before this job, did you have another job?” Evelyn had tried to envision Jayce’s life in Los Angeles. Surely he livedin a fancy house with his father, and he probably drove an expensive car.
“I haven’t had a real job for about a month. Not since my father got me blacklisted.”
Evelyn didn’t know what that meant, so she waited for him to go on.
“My dad and I have never really gotten along. On my eighteenth birthday, he turned over a trust fund he and my mother hadset up when I was a kid. It was a substantial amount of money, and my dad had a long list of opportunities he wanted me topursue, all related to the film industry.” He paused to take a deep breath. “I didn’t want anything to do with his business.It’s a shallow world filled with cutthroat people competing to write the best screenplay or get hired by the best directorsand so on. I had something else in mind.”
Frowning, he turned to Evelyn. “So I went against my dad’s wishes and opened a deli. Not just any deli. It was upscale in a nice part of town.” He stopped again and shook his head. “Dad hated that I wasn’t following in his footsteps, so to speak. He refused to eat there, encouraged others not to, and the place ultimately failed. To be fair, I can’t blame it all on my dad. He didn’t support me, and he certainly spread the word about how horrible the food was, even though it wasn’t. But I made some business mistakes too. So I have to shoulder part of the blame.”
Evelyn had never met a man who was so open about his life. His vulnerability was visible even though he didn’t seem to realizeit. The men Evelyn had dated before always started out trying to impress her. Then little by little, their personalities revealedthemselves. In the end none of them had completely meshed with hers. She enjoyed hearing about Jayce’s life. It offered herthe freedom to share about her own in ways she wouldn’t normally. Maybe that was why she’d acted so spontaneously when shekissed him. Admittedly, his looks played a part in her bold move. But he also made her feel comfortable.
“If you and your daed don’t get along and you don’t want to work in his business, why did you choose to make this trip?” It was a rather nosy question,but she was curious and didn’t think he’d mind, based on everything he’d already told her.
“He’s paying me a lot of money for this job. Neither of us have admitted it, but we both want me to get my own place. In amonth that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
“Why did he sabotage your deli if he wants you to move out? It seems to me he would want you to succeed, to make enough moneyon your own.” She was afraid of overstepping, but she was having a hard time understanding Jayce’s relationship with his dad.He sounded like a cruel man.
“You would think so, huh?” There was a faint tremor in his voice as though some raw emotion were pushing to the surface. “My childhood was no picnic. But despite everything, I always wanted my dad to be proud of me. He wanted me to succeed in the movie business. When I chose not to, our relationship got even worse.”
“I’m sorry about that—and about your deli.” Evelyn couldn’t imagine such a relationship with her father, who was a stern butfair and supportive man. “What will you do for work when you get home?”
Jayce shrugged. “I don’t know yet, but it won’t be a deli or any type of eatery.” He paused, glanced at her, then sighed.“Whatever I choose to do, I’m going to give it a lot of thought. The first priority is to get away from my father. He dragsme down, and it’s just not a healthy relationship.”
Evelyn didn’t know what to say.
“Okay, so that’s my sad story. What’s yours?”
Evelyn thought for a few seconds. “I’m sorry. I guess I don’t have a sad story.”
“Oh . . . Don’t apologize. That’s refreshing to hear.” He scratched his head. “But I thought everyone had some sort of sadstory.”
“Hmm . . .” She looked his way and smiled. “Do you want me to make something up?”
Laughing, he said, “No, that won’t be necessary. But can I ask you some questions?”
She stirred uneasily as she considered what he might want to know. “Ya, sure.”
Evelyn slowed the buggy when she saw the park up ahead. She was nervous about what he might want to know but pretty sure she’d answer anything he asked. She recalled some of her dates in the past. She’d tried to impress her suitors in the beginning too. She didn’t feel that way with Jayce. Maybe because she’d already broken the ice with the kiss. But it felt . . . different. Like he wouldn’t judge her.
“Okay.” He rubbed his chin and stared at her. “Why do you all dress the same?”
She’d expected a more personal question, but this one was easy. She’d been asked before by outsiders. “We don’t compete witheach other. We keep everything universal so no pride is displayed. Our clothes are the same, along with