Finding Eva (Highland Creek Series) (31 page)

“Are you serious?” Mark had made his position very clear when he found out, and he clearly hadn’t budged on his thought that Gwen should let him go.

“Of course. He has done everything I asked him to and more. It is coming to be decision time, and I think I want him back in my life. We talked about it, and I think we are going to do it this weekend.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to think about it some more? What is the rush?” This was the first time Eva was hearing about it, and she wondered what was really going on to prompt a quick decision.

“We decided it was time the other night. Now I need my friends to support me through my decision.” That shut them up, although Eva didn’t think this would be the last they heard about it.

After that depressing bit of news, dinner was a much more subdued affair. Eva didn’t mind. It matched the mood she had for weeks, and it meant that she didn’t have to talk about her current situation with Aaron.

“Did you mean what you said earlier?” Gwen asked as they walked to the car after dinner.

“About …?”

“Nick. When you said it was too soon. Did you mean it?”

Eva thought about it for a minute, not wanting to offend Gwen. “I did. You guys are trying to work through it, and I commend you. I know that it’s not easy and I couldn’t imagine ever being in your place. But from everything that you said over the last couple of weeks, you weren’t trying to move back with him quite yet so I am wondering why the about face.”

“I have my reasons …” Gwen looked away, and Eva knew she was hiding something. What, she didn’t know, but she wasn’t going to push her tonight.

“I’m not saying you don’t. I am just saying make sure you are doing it for the right reasons. For Gwen, not for Nick.”

Something flickered in Gwen’s eyes and Eva knew she had hit pay dirt, but she could tell by the set of Gwen’s jaw there was no way she was getting more information from her tonight. It was just as well because Eva was too tired to try to continue to be happy with her current situation.

“Are you over Aaron?” Gwen asked, and Eva knew the subject of Nick was definitely closed.

“Not really,” she admitted. Why lie to Gwen? She knew her better than anyone. “But I am getting there. I think.”

“Have you even tried talking to him about what was said?”

“No, he made his choice and so did I. No need to rehash it.”

“You know I still talk to Conner.” That was news to her. She figured they would just fizzle away as more time went on. Eva didn’t know why she was bringing him up, but she didn’t like the way this conversation was headed.

“That’s nice. I’m glad you still have your friendship, but my life there is over.” Gwen looked doubtful, but Eva didn’t have time to argue with her. As much as she loved her job it was always draining the first week or so and all she wanted was her bed.

“If you say so,” Gwen said before she got in her car.

Unfortunately, Eva knew that look. Gwen was up to something, she was just scared that she was going to be on the losing end of whatever plan she had.

T
hree weeks and three days. That was the last time Aaron had spoken to Eva, and he was slowly going crazy. How much longer was he going to be able to be without her? He tried to give her space, but he couldn’t last much longer without contacting her. When he went to bed he constantly thought about her, had refused to change his sheets for a week after she left just so he could smell her. The big question was why. She didn’t elaborate on what was going on, she just said she was selling the house and moving on without him. The only thing that helped keep his mind off her was work, but he found he was running himself into the ground. That was part of the reason he was at Bryan’s house, because he needed to get away and because he promised Kelly that he would come visit her.

Everyone in his family knew that he and Eva were over. He tried not to involve them in his problems, but he knew he had been a bit crazy lately asking for advice from everyone. They had tolerated him nicely at first, but he could see their patience was wearing thin with the whole situation. His sister finally told him the other day that he should go to her house and wait for her there or stop complaining. He knew then he had to either let it go or give it a rest. He was trying to let it go, but it was turning out to be harder than he had originally anticipated.

“How have you been?” Bryan asked as he gave him a one-shoulder hug before letting Aaron into the house. Aaron shrugged, not really knowing what to say. Bryan knew everything that happened, he told his brothers the day after the second blowup, so they understood he was struggling.

“Uncle A!” Aaron heard Kelly before he saw her, and she ran excitedly toward him as he bent down and picked her up before spinning her.

“Hey, pretty girl.” He kissed her loudly on the cheek, nuzzling her neck as she giggled. “You ready to play?” She nodded solemnly and wiggled before he put her down. She went to her Legos, picking them up and dropping a pile where he sat.

“You play with those…” she pointed at his pile “…and I’ll play with these.” She gestured to her pile before picking some up and starting to build with them. With Kelly occupied, Aaron figured it was a good time to continue his conversation with Bryan.

“To answer your earlier question, I have been ok, catching up on some of the work I had been avoiding before.”

“Gotcha. Have you talked to her?” Aaron didn’t have to ask who she was; Bryan knew the situation.

“Not really. I have texted her and called her, more times than I am willing to admit, but she never answers me.”

“Do you have any idea what happened?”

“No…” he shook his head “…and that is the thing that bothers me the most. She was here and interested, wanting to keep the house that her mother gave her one night, and then the next day she decides to leave. Doesn’t want to have anything to do with her mother anymore and sends me away with a ‘thanks for the sex but I am not interested any longer.’”

“That’s what I don’t get. What the hell happened between the party and the next day? Because she was fine there.” He and Bryan had spent many a night pondering what happened to cause her to flip, but they couldn’t figure it out.

“Your guess is as good as mine.” Aaron shrugged. “I have tried to talk to her and she ignores me.”

“Has she sold the house yet?”

“Not that I know of. I asked Mom and she said that it’s just as she left it, but that she hasn’t been back and there is no for sale sign in the yard.” He didn’t want to admit how close he came to stalking her mother’s house in town, constantly finding some way to go to his parents’ just to be sure she hadn’t tried to sell it. That day would kill him, knowing that it was well and truly over. As long as she kept the house, there was a possibility she would come back, something he was hoping for.

“Do you want her back?”

Aaron thought about it, and all the shit that he had been through with her in the last few weeks. Then he thought of all the fun times they had together and the stupid dreams he had begun to make in his head when they were together and answered honestly.

“Yes. But short of kidnapping her, I don’t know what to do with her.”

Bryan was saved from answering by Kelly, who wanted to show him her latest creation. “What is it, honey?” he asked, not wanting to insult her by trying to guess. He had guessed wrong before and it led to a half hour of crying.

“My new school,” she said happily, jumping up and down while holding the square block of boxes.

“School.” He attacked her, tickling her as she lay down giggling. “Do you like school?”

“Yes!” she shouted from her prone position with Aaron lying over her while he continued to tickle her. He loved his niece, her innocence and sweetness always bringing him happiness despite everything that was going on with him.

This was the first time Aaron had seen her since she started the new preschool so he asked, “What do you like about school?”

Kelly had switched schools after some trouble with Ashley. This was the second preschool she had been in the past two months, but Bryan really wanted her to be in school before starting kindergarten next year. Unfortunately, Ashley had found out about it and made trouble with Bryan. Bryan didn’t elaborate on what happened. All he said was that everyone involved thought it was best if he moved her daycare. He hoped Ashley didn’t continue to be a problem. She had signed her rights away and Bryan had recently been granted a no contact order.

“Everything! My teacher is really fun; she has a boy in my class.”

“Her son is in the class,” Bryan clarified for Aaron, who didn’t understand what was she was talking about.

“You got any friends in this class?”

“Tatum,” she said with a smile while she spun in place. “She’s my bestest friend in the whole wide world.”

Aaron smiled, wishing adulthood was as easy as childhood. “So she likes it, huh?” he asked his brother with a laugh.

“You think? All I hear is Ms. Molly this and Tatum that. She loves her teacher, who is this really nice woman that has taken Kelly under her wing, and Tatum has been a godsend. I have only met her a couple of times, but she seems to be a really good girl. Kelly is loving Tatum and loving school. Plus Ash doesn’t know where she is, and I couldn’t be happier.”

“That’s great, man. You guys deserve all the good things that come in this life, crazy ex-wife aside.”

“Thanks. It’s taken a while to get there…” he picked up Kelly when she came asking to sit in his lap, kissing her softly on her head “…but I feel like we finally turned a corner. Now if only we could get your stuff worked out.”

“I know,” he said, glancing down with confusion when he looked down at his phone and saw the unknown number.

“Hello?” Surprise was putting it mildly when he heard Gwen’s voice on the other end. He held up one finger to his brother before going into the other room to continue his conversation.

“How did you get this number?”

“Do you really care how I got the number? I got it, get over it!”

“Damn, Gwen, I was just wondering.”

“Well, stop wondering and don’t worry about it. Do you love her?”

“Love who?”

“You know, you have a law degree, which tells me that you are very intelligent person. Within the last fifteen seconds you have questioned my ability to ferret information and acted intentionally obtuse when I asked if you loved my best friend. Remember her, that girl you claimed to love wholeheartedly. I don’t have time to deal with this, so just tell me yes or no.”

“Why are you asking?”

“Why are you so difficult? Yes or no.”

“Yes, damn it!” He was getting irritated. Gwen called him and then she was the one trying to rush him through a conversation. Give him a break; he was a bit taken aback by her even calling, so it was going to take him a minute to catch up. “I have told that girl over and over that I loved her and she disappeared like we meant nothing to each over.”

“Was that so hard?” Aaron growled into the phone, irritated at Gwen and the flippant way she talked about everything. She was driving him crazy, and if she took much longer getting to the point he was going to hang up.

Her laughter told him she knew she was getting on his nerves. “Ok, so I am about to make your, day lover boy …” she started as she gave him the real reason why Eva left.

Aaron came into the kitchen ten minutes later while Bryan and Kelly were cooking dinner.

“Aaron?” Bryan asked, noticing the shocked look that Aaron wore walking in the room. “Who was that?”

“Gwen. She wanted to know if I loved Eva?”

“Why?”

“She just wanted to make sure I was serious about her before she told me everything about why Eva left.”

“So why did she leave.”

“She overheard the wrong conversation.”

“What conversation?”

“The one I was having with Reagan. She thought I was talking about her.”

Bryan thought about what he knew of that night, his eyes widening when he realized what it was about. “Are you serious?”

“Yes. That stupid girl.”

“Uncle A, you said the S-word.”

“I’m sorry, baby.” He kissed her on the head before he told Bryan, “I have to go. I’ll call you.”

It took him three days to get everything together and clear his schedule before he could leave to head out and get his girl. Fingers crossed. If she would talk to him.