Damn her for being so intuitive sometimes, but at least she felt comfortable enough to ask the questions. “Yeah, that’s about the time I started to figure it out.”
Hope’s knees ached, and she wanted to get up and move, but she also wanted to stay right where she was and make sure that Eva had her undivided attention.
“Does Daddy know?”
Hope nodded. “He does, yes.”
“So you told everyone before me?” Eva accused.
“Not everyone, no.”
“But the people outside keep asking?—”
“Because they don’t know and they want to know.” Hope settled her hand on Eva’s to connect with her even more. “We haven’t told them yet.”
“But you’ll tell them soon?” A furrow formed in the center of Eva’s brow.
Hope looked over her shoulder toward Angelica to see her reaction to all of this. “I don’t know.”
“Soon,” Angelica said, her voice cracking on the word. “I’m not sure how much longer we can keep it in the family.”
Eva bit her lip, looking directly at Angelica. “Does this mean you’re going to help with my math all the time now?”
“If you want me too, I can.” Angelica seemed must steadier saying that.
Hope’s lips curled upward genuinely this time. Her heart fluttered lightly. She hadn’t exactly been sure how Eva would react to this information, but she seemed to be taking it in stride. She squeezed her daughter’s hand and moved to stand up and stretch her legs. “Daddy’s still going to be in your life.”
“I know,” Eva said, though she did sound a bit despondent this time. Maybe she was just trying to cover everything up for Hope so she’d feel better in the end. It would be like Eva to do something like that. “But I like having Ange around.” Eva threw Angelica a smile, but then she was focused back on her iPad and the math.
Hope wished she could tell if Eva was accepting of this or not, of knowing if this was just it didn’t bother her at all or if she was avoiding actually telling Hope what she was feeling because she was worried about her reaction.
Angelica slipped out of her chair and put her hand on Hope’s shoulder, pulling her toward the door and away from Eva. Hope bit her lip as she followed, not wanting to let Eva out of her sight. She wanted to know what Eva was thinking and feeling, shewanted to help her work through all of this. But Eva didn’t seem to want that right now.
“Give her some time,” Angelica said, running her fingers down Hope’s shoulder and arm to her fingers. “I’m sorry about how this came up.”
“I’m not.” Hope frowned slightly. “I wanted to tell her.” Hope stared down into Angelica’s eyes. “I want her to know that I love you.” Her breath hitched at that sentence. The distance between them since they’d started filming had only seemed to increase instead of decreasing, and this was why. They hadn’t really spent time together, not as a couple. “I do love you.”
Angelica’s lips quirked slightly.
Hope moved in and pressed their lips together. It wasn’t anything beyond a simple kiss, a simple touch of lips, a simple moment of shared understanding and hope for whatever was going to come next. Angelica stayed there, lifting her hand up to cup Hope’s cheek. Her fingers caressed. Hope closed her eyes, sinking into the comfort that she found here before Angelica pulled away.
“She’ll be fine,” Angelica whispered.
“Yeah, she will.” Hope smiled and straightened her shoulders. “We’ll figure everything out.” One more quick kiss and she stepped away.
She reached for the door and froze when it jerked open.
Rex stood on the other side, his eyes wide with fear, and his cheeks pale.
“What’s wrong?” Hope asked.
“The kitchen’s on fire.”
“What?”
“The kitchen…” Rex grabbed her hand and pulled her out the door.
Hope ran behind him as they raced through the hallways and into the dining room and then the kitchen, which was filled with smoke.
