“You’re lucky your friends came with you,” she said. “I wouldn’t have opened the door for you alone.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m not proud of what I did, and I try to forget about it.”
Darius watched her for a second. Seeing her now, he saw how self-centered she’d always been.
“Well, I’ve never been able to forget about it.” He turned to leave.
“I’ll let you know, one way or the other.”
“Thank you.” He glanced over his shoulder. “I’m heading to Scotland, so there’ll be a time difference.”
Melanie didn’t say anything. All Darius could do now was hope.
21
“She needs somewhere to rest for a few days before we take her home,” Eve’s mother was saying, her voice soft.
Eve kept her eyes closed, hoping they hadn’t heard the change in her breathing when she woke.
“I don’t want to see him.”
“She wants you to do this. You told her you would.”
“Isn’t it enough that I broke my promise to myself by coming here—forher?” It sounded like her father had gotten to his feet because his voice was moving around the hospital room now.
“It’s time to let it go.” Her mom must have gotten up too. Eve chanced a peek and found her mother with her arms around her father, her head on his chest. Her voice had taken on an emotional edge as though she were fighting back tears. “We almost lost our baby. You’ve already lost your brother and could have lost your father. I know you say you don’t care about him, but I saw the look on your face when you heard about his stroke. Isn’t Eve more important than what happened in the past?”
Her father let out a deep breath but didn’t say anything for a couple of minutes. They stood like that in each other’s arms.
“I’ll do it,” he finally said, “but only for her. And you.”
When they started to kiss, Eve closed her eyes again. She moved a hand, and her finger brushed the corner of the envelope that had shifted while she slept.
Her thoughts drifted back to that night when she’d called her dad. She’d thought she knew Darius, that it was simply a matter of getting reacquainted again and filling in some of the gaps. Hearing that he’d walked out on his fiancée had changed how she’d viewed him, turned it upside down. How could she possibly look at him the same way, knowing that he’d done that?
Please understand there’s more to that story, but it’s not only mine to tell.
What couldn’t he say? Had he met someone else, like her fiancé had, and only realized at the last minute that he was marrying the wrong woman? But hehadn’tmarried anybody else. Had it not worked out between them? Maybe the other woman had decided she couldn’t marry a man who would jilt his fiancée. That would actually be a little ironic to have the woman who he cheated with decide she didn’t trust him.
None of it felt right though. She hadn’t been able to see it at the time, so overwhelmed by old hurts, but it didn’t fit him. The boy Eve had known in school had always been solid, someone she could count on to speak up, speak out. Nothing she’d seen him do or say made her think he’d changed that much. He’d seemed like a more mature version of the boy she’d loved. She heaved out a breath.
“How long have you been awake?” Her mother came over to the bed.
“Long enough. When can we get out of here?” The worst of the drugs should be out of her system by now, and all she’d have to worry about was not overdoing it until her heart had time to recover.
“Is it going to be a problem for you to take off some time?” Her father had come to stand by the other side of the bed. “Are you caught up on your bills, because we can help.”
“I don’t have many expenses since I travel so much, and I’ve got some money in savings.” Eve had no idea what was going to happen now with the job Darius had offered her. Knowing what she knew about him, could she still work with him?
“What’s troubling you?” her mother asked.
“I was offered a job, a permanent one, but I’m not sure if I can take it now,” Eve explained.
“So he was leading you on?” Her father’s voice had turned low, threatening.
“No,” Eve said, thinking back on Darius’s note. “I just don’t know how hard it would be to work with someone I had a relationship with.”
