Finding Eva (Highland Creek Series)

formatted by
E.M. Tippetts Book Designs

To Will, Emily, and Amanda. Your support, humor, and dedication has been amazing throughout this whole process. Love you guys!

This letter is to notify you that at the behest of Ms. Matthews the property at 2502 Idols Road, Highland Creek, North Carolina is yours. You may pick up the keys at your earliest convenience…

The contents of the letter played over like a slow loop through Eva’s mind. Regardless of what she thought or believed, she couldn’t get away from it. How the hell did she get an inheritance from her mother? The same mother who was supposed to be dead for the past twenty years. There was only one explanation: her mother had been alive all this time, and her father was a liar, which was part of the reason she stood in her parents’ living room having it out with her father.

“Is it true?!” Green eyes flashed fire at the man sitting on the couch.

Hazel eyes calmly stared back, his lips curiously pursed. “Is what true?”

That was what she always remembered—the calming presence her father always brought no matter what was going on in their life. Suddenly, she loathed the one thing she always loved.

“My …” she stuttered, not wanting to say the words “… my mother was alive this whole time? The mother you said was dead!” She ended with a screech and her finger in his face to force him to react, anything to help her through the muddle that had become her life in the time it took to read a simple letter.

His eyes widened, letting her know everything she needed to in one look. Her father, her rock, had lied. About everything.

“Now, Eva …” he pleaded with arms raised, but nothing could sway her.

“No! I don’t want to hear it! Nothing you say to me will ever justify the fact that you lied to me … for years … about my mother. Did Mom know?” Eva called her stepmother
Mom
; it was the only one she remembered. His hesitation was all she needed to get her answer.

“Never mind, don’t worry about answering that. I need to think, and I need to be away from you.”

“You don’t mean that. I can explain.”

“It is a little late to explain now, Dad. I don’t know if I can ever forgive you for this.” She snatched her purse on the way out, ignoring the strangled cry from her father on her quest to get out of her childhood home, the place that suddenly seemed too stifling. Her father and her mother both called several times and left numerous texts. She didn’t care; she wasn’t in the mood to talk to them right now, so she ignored them.
Let them worry
, she thought. She would deal with them later. The only thing she knew was they lied about her biological mother, something she didn’t know if she could forgive. And what the hell was she going to do with a house from a woman who clearly didn’t want her enough to stay?

E
va Matthews collapsed in her chair with a heavy sigh of relief after the bell rang for lunch, her mind preoccupied by thoughts of her mother.

Her best friend Gwendolyn Martin popped her head in Eva’s classroom. “You coming?”

“No, I was going to eat here.”

“Hoping to avoid dumb-ass Davis? He had a sub today.”

Eva chuckled and thought of the English teacher down the hall. “No…” she brushed long brown hair behind her ear “…I just don’t feel like being with people right now.”

“You ok?” Gwen looked at Eva for the first time since coming into the room and noticed her normally full and wavy honey-blonde hair hung limply over her shoulder. Dark circles under her eyes stood out against her pale complexion while her usually bright green eyes now looked dull and listless. “Just had a rough weekend.”

“Want to talk about it?”

“Yeah, but I don’t want to get into right now. Come over tonight? We can talk over wine and takeout?”

“That should work. Nick called earlier and said he had to work late again.”

With their model good looks and unwavering devotion to each other, Nick and Gwen seemed like the perfect couple. The only downside: Nick was a workaholic, on the fast track to partner at his finance firm. He often worked late, which left Gwen alone most evenings. Eva wouldn’t be able to stand it, but Gwen didn’t seem to mind.

“It’s a date.”

“I’ll see you tonight, then. I have to go eat. We all be can’t be fortunate enough to have planning right after lunch, and I need to have sustenance before these students come.”

Eva laughed. “Have fun. Although, these last days before summer vacation are crowd control more than anything else.”

“Tell me about it. I’ll bring Chinese,” she said with a wave on the way out the door.

Eva shook her head ruefully as she heard the doorbell ring promptly at six. That was Gwen, never late and looking perfect. With long auburn hair and light blue eyes Gwen looked like a 1950s pinup girl. She was also so nice Eva often told her she would hate her if she wasn’t her best friend.

Gwen held up two bags once Eva opened the door. “I got shrimp fried rice, sesame chicken, and egg drop soup with wontons.”

“A girl after my own heart.” Eva grabbed the bags and led Gwen into the living room. “I decided to eat in the living room tonight. Red or white wine?”

“Do you need to ask? Red please.” After everything was situated in the living room, food and wine spread out like a buffet, Gwen turned and looked pointedly at Eva.

“Spill it. I know you tried to avoid whatever is bothering you by being secretive, but I am dying to know.”

“I inherited a house.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Gwen continued to stare; sure she hadn’t heard Eva correctly.

“You heard me. I inherited a house from my mom.”

“Your mom?” Gwen asked, confused. “Your biological mom?”

“The one that has been dead for twenty years? Yep.” Eva nodded her head in affirmation. “Only, it turns out that she wasn’t dead before, but she is as of about a month ago. And the real kicker is my dad and stepmother knew the whole time.”

Eva looked at Gwen to gauge her reaction, hoping she wouldn’t see pity, and laughed out loud. Gwen sat there with a shocked expression on her face; lips open with a piece of chicken midway to her mouth.

“Gwen?” Eva snapped her finger in front of her face. Gwen seemed to snap out of it, closing her mouth suddenly as she put the chicken down.

“You mean …?” she started but couldn’t finish.

“Yes,” Eva nodded in affirmation. “My mother wasn’t dead, but she is now. She gave me her house lock, stock, and barrel. And I don’t know what to do.” Eva finished the last sentence on a whisper, frowning down at her food.

“I mean, how often does this happen? What do you do when you find out your mother was alive but wanted her child to believe she was dead?” Eva stared at the same picture of her mother she had all weekend, eyes welling with tears as a few leaked down the side of her face before she angrily wiped them away. “I don’t even know why I’m crying. I’ve been so pissed at her all weekend I can’t see straight. How dare she do this to me? She should have said nothing and just left me with my memories. But no,” she raged, screaming as Gwen could only stare in shock, “she had to give me this damn house that is only two hours away. So my mom lived two hours away but ignored me. And my father…” she spat the word as though she didn’t want to think about him “…allowed her to do so, and told me she was dead. Instead of a mother, I got a house, and I am supposed to pretend like this is normal. It’s not.”