Finding Eva (Highland Creek Series) (11 page)

She grabbed his arm. “I’m sorry,” she said, still laughing, “I can’t help it. You look so sad, and I do feel bad. I have a feeling I am going to be very fond of that part, and I would never do anything to hurt it.” She blinked adoringly at him, and he laughed despite the pain because she looked so funny trying to make sure he wasn’t mad at her.

“Just know next time you hurt it, I will expect you to kiss it and make it better.”

She leaned in with her lips pressed slightly to him. “I would kiss it anytime to make it better.” She leaned closer and their lips connected in a whisper before she turned and left to go inside. Aaron was forced to adjust himself yet again, now uncomfortable for a completely different reason.

E
va didn’t even pause when she heard the crash from upstairs, something she had gotten used to in the last couple of days that Conner had been working. She had settled into a pattern of some sort, going through her mother’s stuff during the day as Conner worked on the bathroom, which still looked like someone had set off a bomb inside. After going through the letters the other night, none of her mother’s other belongings had anything that pertained to her. Even still, she felt like all the clothes, knickknacks, and journals that she read gave her insight into the woman that had birthed her. Her mother had an extensive travel journal, and reading about what she thought of different places while looking at the stuff she collected made her feel closer to her. Just by seeing the Gombey ragdoll she got in Bermuda, the pashmina from India, and the set of antlers she got from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Eva began to see her as an eclectic person that enjoyed local flair wherever she went.

From the whimsical to the practical, she saw different shades of her mother in everything. She had a penchant for Royal Dalton dolls; Eva had found fifteen at last count, and she had yet to see if there were even more in the attic upstairs. One thing she could say about her mother, she had a lot of shit. It was going to take her at least two months just to get through it, and Eva started to wonder if her mother was a mini hoarder trying to fill the void that she was missing somewhere else with stuff. As she was going through another box of dolls, she stopped when her stomach started growling. She looked at the time, shocked to see it was close to 12:00. Eva had been at this for hours and only felt like she had made a slight dent in the stuff.

Oh well, I guess a lunch break is in order
, she thought, with her mind immediately turning to what Aaron was doing. She had seen him a couple of times since dinner, but it was really quick because he seemed to be super swamped with work. She missed him, something she never thought she would do given the fact that she hadn’t known him that long and she was sick to death of all the damn prancing around. If she didn’t have sex with him soon, she would burst. Their kisses tended to burn hot, but every time she thought they would move it along something happened to interrupt them. She was getting to the point to where she just wanted to tie him down on the bed and not let him go until they got it done. She was irritated with all the stuff she had to deal with at her mother’s house, and on top of that she was sexually frustrated, cringing when she thought about how long it had been since she had gotten laid. Thinking about him and how nice it would be to get primed before their date tonight, she decided to bring him lunch. If she happened to find herself in a mid-afternoon make out session, she wouldn’t complain.

With her mind made up, she waved goodbye to Conner, who was in the middle of what he’d told her this morning was the plumbing rough-in, whatever that meant. She had no clue, nor did she care as long as it looked good and was clean when he was done with everything. She struggled to find the keys that seemed to get lost in the black hole of her purse, finally victorious as her phone rang, which meant another frantic search to see who was calling. She inwardly groaned when she saw Gwen’s name, knowing this would not be a quick conversation. Eva hadn’t heard from her since that original voicemail four days ago, and every time she called the phone went straight to voicemail.

“Hello,” she said, trying not to sound winded as she balanced her keys and tote while trying to open her door.

“Eva …” Gwen sobbed, immediately putting Eva on alert. Gwen never cried, it was so bad people often made jokes about her inability to shed tears, so Eva knew something was horribly wrong.

“What’s wrong?” her mind racing with worst case scenarios because Gwen just sat on the phone sobbing loudly.

“It’s Nick …”

“What happened to Nick?!”

“Nothing happened to that fucking asshole!” she screeched and sobbed. “I went to his job to surprise him and … and …” she continued to sob, making it difficult for Eva to make out all that she was saying, but a sinking feeling was taking over in the pit of her stomach.

“I saw him … with … his … secretary!” All those late nights trying to make “partner” made sense now, and it was apparent that my unease with the whole situation was not unfounded.

“Gwen, I’m so sorry. When?”

“Last week.” She seemed to have calmed down enough so Eva could at least understand what she was saying.

“I went to meet him after work, but I was a little early …” She paused to take a breath, as though she couldn’t keep going. “I didn’t think anything was wrong with that.” Gwen started crying loudly again, breaking Eva’s heart because she had never heard her this upset.

“Of course nothing is wrong with that,” she tried to reassure Gwen, “shhh … it’s ok.”

“It’s not ok! It will never be ok again! He was fucking her on his desk. And when he saw me, he didn’t even stop, he yelled…” she paused and composed herself “…that asshole yelled at
me
to get out!”

Eva gasped, outraged on her behalf. “Are you fucking kidding me?!” She was going to castrate Nick the next time she saw him, the bastard.

“Yes! With his assistant! How cliché is that? And here I am, the little wife sitting at home waiting for her husband, when he is fucking his old-ass secretary!” Eva couldn’t stop the laugh, regardless of how inappropriate or sorry she felt for Gwen.

“Wait, did you say his secretary?”

“Yes, that old bitch! She is like forty and married herself. I am so fucking tired, Eva, all I have been doing is crying for the past four days. He called me over and over, and I finally had to turn off my phone. I don’t know what to do; I just know that I need to get out of here. Do you mind if I come to you?” Eva took a mental inventory of everything she had to do and tried not to groan aloud. All she needed to add to the current craziness was Gwen and all her current issues, but she put on her big girl panties and decided to be a good friend. Besides, it would be pretty damn selfish for her to refuse Gwen’s request just because she felt like everything was spiraling out of control. Hell, Gwen was in the same damn boat and they could commiserate together.

“Of course you can come,” she said soothingly, barely avoiding the urge to cringe before getting over her selfishness. “When do you want to come?”

“Three hours.”

“Uh … I’m sorry, did you say three hours?” She mentally rearranged her schedule, running through the errands she planned to do before she had to be home for Gwen.

“Yeah, is that ok? I am
not
staying here any longer than I need to. I am literally going to run home, pack my shit, and hit the road. That asshole is at work—thank the Lord—so I will not have to run into his dumb ass. You know I have never been a violent person, but he made me want to beat the shit out of him the other day. Do you have a washing machine? I need to wash my clothes and haven’t been able to since I was at the hotel, and I am not even trying to stay long enough for him to come home and corner me. Although why would he? He has his work bitch with all the vagina he wants.”

There was the Gwen that Eva knew and loved. Once her mind was focused on something else, she just went with it full speed ahead, often because she was trying to avoid the problem. She had been doing it for years, and Eva knew that she was just trying to deflect attention from the problems within her marriage. But Gwen would have to face it soon, if not now then eventually, because she couldn’t just pretend her marriage didn’t exist. Her ability to change the subject on a dime often gave Eva whiplash trying to follow the many directions that Gwen’s conversations would take.

“Gwen, you know that you are always welcome here. Anytime, for as long as you need. I know that you are pretty upset with Nick right now, the situation is beyond shitty, so you are more than welcome to come and chill here for a couple of days.”

“Thanks.” She sounded calmer. Maybe all she needed was the ability to get out of dodge for a couple of days, but Eva knew that sooner or later she was going to have to deal. She just didn’t want to have to think about how that was going to play out.

Eva ended the call with Gwen, eager to go to the office and see Aaron. He could always brighten her day, but she also had to tell him that they would have to change their plans. They were supposed to go out and hopefully do the deed, but with Gwen coming in town, she didn’t know if she wanted to leave her.

Eva hurried into the office, ready for a little afternoon action with her guy. The front office was empty. She guessed Mary was on lunch break, so she just walked toward Aaron’s office. It was the voices that stopped her, the woman someone who clearly felt as though she had a run of the place.

“I don’t understand why the thought of a commitment is so hard for you. Would it be too much to ask of you to not stick your dick in someone else’s vagina?”

WTF?!
Who the hell was the woman talking to? Was she having sex with someone’s boyfriend? After all the shit that was going on with Gwen, how the hell did she suddenly become the other woman? She left quickly, accidently bumping into Mary on the sidewalk. She didn’t stop to talk; she was unable to coherently form words. Three weeks ago her life was golden—she had a good job, great friends, an amazing family—and now her life was shit. She just wanted to forget about the day and everything in it. Aaron could go fuck himself and his girlfriend for all she cared.

She didn’t remember the drive to the house; all she knew was she made it. She was so focused on getting the hell out and getting inside she didn’t realize until it was too late that her keys were inside her locked car. What else could go wrong, save for death or dismemberment?

“You have got to be fucking kidding me!”

“What’s wrong?” She didn’t know when Conner got there. It must have been right after her because he wasn’t there when she pulled in.

“I locked my keys in the car! Now I have to wait for Gwen!” she kicked the door angrily. “And that just puts a fucking cap on my day!” Her breaths came in short pants, mind racing through everything that happened so far.

“Whoa, stop that.”

She stared at him, still breathing heavily as she tried to quell the tears that threatened to escape.

He held his hands out in defeat. “I am not kidding, I hate tears. We can get more keys. It’s not a big deal. My brother has a copy of the house key. I left mine at home because you are always here so I will just get him to come with his.”

The mention of Aaron sent her over the edge.

“Do not call him!” She huffed, throwing herself on the front porch and putting her head in her hands as her shoulders shook uncontrollably. She vaguely heard him talking on the phone, no longer caring as she lost herself in her mini breakdown.

“Someone will be here in a minute.” Worried about upsetting her, Conner carefully sat beside her. He patted her awkwardly in an attempt to offer comfort.

“You … can … go.” She gulped through tears.

“I’ll wait.”

She risked a glance and saw him staring upward as he rubbed his hands together, clearly wanting to be anywhere but there. Taking deep breaths, trying to stop to torrent of tears, she wiped her eyes, catching the new tears as they came.

“I think I’m ok.”

He rubbed the back of his neck, getting up before putting his hands in his pockets, kicking at an imaginary stone on the ground. “No offense, but I am just going to sit right here and wait until Aaron gets here with keys.”

“You called him!” she shrieked, feverously wiping at her tears but unable to stop the continued onslaught.

“Well, yeah,” he spoke slowly, still not sure after her emotional breakdown, “he has a set of keys. I would have called Mom, but she and Dad are on a ‘date night,’” he said, quoting the last words.

“I told you not to!”

“I ignored you.”

“Is that a family trait?”

“Why are you mad at me?”

“Because I said not to call your brother, which you ignored, something that your brother is good at doing.” His reply was cut off because Aaron pulled in, looking upset as he got out of the car. He just stared at her as he took in her red puffy eyes, causing her to shift uncomfortably from his scrutiny.

“Alright, I’m out,” Conner said as he walked to his car, patting Aaron on the back when he passed him. “Call me later,” he yelled before driving off, but it wasn’t as though Aaron heard him, his eyes were still focused on Eva.