18
EVE
Eve stood rooted to the spot, her eyes locked on the father and daughter reunion unfolding before her.
David and Mia were on the ground, clinging to each other, both sobbing. Twenty-eight years of separation, of loss, of longing, all pouring out in that single moment.
The world around them had gone silent. No one moved. No one spoke.
Eve felt pressure against her side and looked down, startled to find Lila pressed into her, trembling.
She’d been holding her this entire time without even realizing it.
Lila shifted, sniffing, and looked up at her with tear-streaked cheeks. “Do you have a tissue?”
Eve blinked, pulled back to herself, and fumbled in the pocket of her jeans. Her fingers closed around a small pack of tissues, and she pulled one free, handing it to Lila.
Then she pulled another for herself.
Her hands shook as she wiped at her own cheeks.
Shell-shocked.
That was the only word for what she was feeling.
Shell-shocked and unable to fully process what had just happened.
Questions swirled through her mind, each one chasing the other in dizzying circles.
How had Mary kept this secret for thirty years? Why hadn’t she ever told Eve the truth? What had happened that was so terrible it forced a mother to erase her entire past, change her name, take her daughter, and run?
And David.
Eve’s stomach clenched as images of their kiss flashed through her mind. The way his lips had felt against hers. The heat. The connection. The rightness of it.
She’d just kissed her late best friend’s estranged husband.
Guilt crashed over her like a wave.
“Aunt Eve,” Lila whispered beside her, her voice small and confused. “What does this mean?”
Eve looked down at her, at those green-gold eyes that were suddenly, strikingly familiar. David’s eyes stared back at her from Lila’s young face.
“I think,” Eve whispered back, wiping away fresh tears, “you’ve just found your long-lost grandfather.”
Lila’s breath hitched. She turned back to stare at David and Mia, still holding each other on the ground.
“Uh...” A woman’s voice cut through the silence.
Eve looked up to see the blonde woman, Milly, standing at the edge of the group. Her expression was gentle, but her posture was alert, watchful.
“I’m sorry to interrupt,” Milly said. “But I think we all need to move indoors.”
That’s when Eve saw it.
The way Milly moved. The way the tall man beside her, Dan, scanned the perimeter with practiced efficiency. Military precision. Tactical awareness.
Her eyes moved to Nolan, and for the first time, she noticed his intense, watchful gaze as he, too, checked the surroundings.
