Every resident of the development had come out for the big New Year’s Eve barbecue and street party. Children ran between the adults, sparklers in hand. Teenagers clustered in groups, talking and laughing. The older residents sat in lawn chairs, watching everything with warm smiles.
It was joyous. Festive. That electric New Year’s Eve vibe hung in the air, full of promise and possibility.
Eve wished she could feel it.
It had been two days since they’d heard from David, Nolan, Milly, or Dan.
Two days of silence.
Two days of worry gnawing at her insides.
She reached down and scratched Chaos’s head. The dog sat beside her, his eyes scanning the crowd as if searching for his master. An agent had dropped him off the day of the ordeal, notlong after David, Milly, Nolan, and Dan had been driven away in those official-looking SUVs.
The agent hadn’t said much. Just handed her the leash and left.
Not even William had heard anything.
Eve watched him across the lawn, playing host with Julie beside him. They moved through the crowd together, greeting neighbors, refilling drinks, and making sure everyone was comfortable.
Julie caught her eye from across the yard. She excused herself from the group she was talking to and walked toward Eve.
“How are you holding up?” Julie asked gently.
“I’m just worried,” Eve admitted. “We still haven’t heard a thing.”
“We will, I’m sure of it,” Julie told her with a warm smile. “You never know what the New Year will ring in.”
“Thank you, Julie,” Eve gave her hand a squeeze.
“It will work out, my dear,” Julie said. “It always does.”
Eve sighed. She wasn’t really in the mood for a party, but she was going to make herself enjoy the night and push the worry out of her mind.
Or at least try to.
“Mom... Aunt Eve!” Lila’s voice came from the entrance of William’s house.
Eve turned.
Lila was walking toward her, and in her hand, she had a hardcover book that looked like one of Mary’s children’s books.
“Sweetheart,” Eve said as Lila reached her. “You’re supposed to be mingling with Brian and meeting all the other young people here your age.” She gave Lila a pointed look. “You’ve been cooped up in your room reading all your grandmother’s books for the past two days.”
“Did you know they were all about Granddad’s life?” Lila looked at her, astonished.
“I do now,” Eve smiled.
Lila had gone from calling him David to Granddad since he’d been taken away. The change had been subtle but profound.
“Honey, are you still reading those books?” Mia’s voice echoed back to them as she stepped away from Brian’s grandparents, who had been monopolizing her time. “You need to get out and meet these people. Brian is dying to show you off.”
Lila’s cheeks pinkened slightly. “Yes, I’ll go.” She paused. “But why have you never read this book to me?”
She held up a book with a cover Eve had never seen before.
The illustration showed three women standing together under a starlit sky, looking toward a house in the distance.
“That’s not one of my mother’s books,” Mia said, reaching out to take it. “I’ve never seen...” She gasped. “Eve...” She looked up, her eyes wide. “Did you know she’d written a book the year she died?”
