Chapter Twenty-Three #2
Eve drew the line at detailing Madden’s physical attributes, but she gave Veda a telling look. The other girl crossed herself
in response.
“Next you’re going to tell me he’s obsessed with going down on you.” Veda laughed. Eve kept her expression neutral. No need
to rub in her good fortune. Even if it was temporary. “Do you worry about him being in New York?” Veda then asked after a
few moments, her expression genuinely curious. “I mean, in terms of women and how they tend to gravitate toward pro athletes.
Do you worry about that?”
The thought hadn’t even crossed Eve’s mind. There was no rule against him pursuing other women during their six-month arrangement.
She simply knew Madden wouldn’t. “No. I’m not worried.” She narrowed her eyes. “Do you worry about Smith?”
“Are you serious? He’s a musician. I worry about him meeting other women when he’s sleeping.” Veda sighed. “It’s slim pickins
out here, bro. Not all of us can lock down a stacked athlete. Just you and my sister.”
“Oh.” Now, this was interesting. Not wanting to spook Veda, Eve pretended to scan some of the paperwork on her desk. “Have
Elton and your sister seen each other again since we introduced them?”
“Yeah, I think once. And they’ve been texting.” Veda’s leg started to bounce up and down, somewhat violently. “Like, there
is literally no better match, right?”
Eve gave a noncommittal sound.
“She wants to settle down. Yesterday.” A long swallow shifted Veda’s throat. “Just like Elton, right?”
There was no way around that truth. “Yeah. For as long as I can remember, he’s been a serial monogamist. His fatal flaw is
getting too committed too fast. It’s led to him getting his heart broken more than once.”
Veda hadn’t blinked in a full minute. “Really?” After an extended silence, she shook herself. “Yikes.”
“You’re not the settling-down type?”
“No,” Veda said vehemently. “Well. I mean, eventually. But that’s not my dream.”
“What is your dream?”
No one had ever asked her about her aspirations—Eve could see that truth in the way Veda’s chin jerked up at the question,
eyes vulnerable. “I want to perform, yeah, but . . . in my own place, like this one. I want to be the place musicians come
to be discovered.”
Eve processed that, her affinity for Veda growing. “I think that says a lot about you. That you want to put out a stepladder
for other people, instead of climbing it yourself and leaving everyone else behind on the floor.”
Veda tried to suppress the pleasure that flooded her features but didn’t quite succeed. “Thanks.” She exhaled and changed
the subject back to Eve. “Madden is obsessed with going down on you, isn’t he?”
Thankfully, Eve’s phone rang, saving her from having to answer the question.
“Oh.” She held up her phone so Eve could see Elton’s name scrolling sideways across her screen. “Speak of the devil.”
Veda’s leg finally stopped jiggling.
“Hey, Elton,” Eve answered. “What’s up?”
“Hey.” He was silent for a moment. “Is that construction I hear in the background? You’re really doing this, aren’t you?”
“Yup. Me and Veda.”
He took two breaths. “Yeah. How is she and toothpick boy?”
“Good with lumber, actually,” Eve said smoothly. “Do you think he makes his own toothpicks?”
“Do I care?” He coughed. “Veda. She’s . . . good, though?”
“Uh-huh.”
Veda frowned, obviously confused by her inability to hear Elton’s side of the conversation. “What did you call about?” Eve
asked.
“Right. Me, Robbie, and Sky are going to the Yankees game on Saturday to watch Madden. I sweet-talked him into getting us
into one of the team boxes.” He paused. “Mad sent extra tickets. I’m guessing in the hopes you’d come.”
That casual speculation made breathing harder, but Eve kept it together while looking at the calendar on her desk. “You want
me to go . . . three nights from now?” Yeah, wow. That excited leap in Eve’s chest told her she really wanted to attend, but
leaving town was impossible. Not with the construction just getting underway and two kids at home. Impossible. “I can’t. The
kids . . .”
“I can babysit,” Veda said, sitting up straighter. “Whatever it is, go.”
“Veda is there?” Elton fairly shouted in her ear.
“Yes, she’s volunteering to babysit, but—”
“No, my parents will babysit. Sorry. I left that part out—I asked them before I even called you.” He paused. “Actually, one
of the tickets was going to be for Alexis, but she can’t go. Does, uh . . .” He coughed. “Does Veda want to take the ticket?”
It took every last one of Eve’s facial muscles to hide her smile. “Do you want to go to a baseball game on Saturday?” she
asked Veda, lowering the phone. “That would put it right before the fundraiser. Might be too much?”
“Me? He wants me to go?”
Leave it to Veda to skip over the practicalities, like sleep and time management.
“Put me on speakerphone,” Elton demanded. Eve did as he asked, only wishing she had a tub of popcorn for the show. “What do
you mean, ‘me?’?” he asked Veda, sounding extragrouchy. “You’ve never been to a baseball game before?”
“And that surprises you? What would I even wear?”
“I’ll bring you something.”
“Something of yours?”
“Yeah.”
“Fine.” What an interesting shade of pink Veda’s face had turned. “I-I mean, if Eve is going and everything. I guess I’ll
go too.”
Part of Eve saw this impromptu trip for the bad idea it was. Going to his game to surprise Madden was a total wife thing,
wasn’t it? She should stay in Cumberland, distract herself with the last-minute fundraiser and Jam Jar expansion, take care
of the kids and wait for their six-month verbal contract to end—whether Madden wanted it to or not.
On the other hand, she’d be there with friends. Childhood friends.
Skylar.
Oh lord, if she saw her best friend, she’d have no choice but to finally come clean about being married to Madden. Yes, Skylar
had a new, serious boyfriend, but after protecting Skylar’s feelings for so long, Eve couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit like
a traitor.
But damn, she really wanted to watch Madden play. To celebrate him at the pinnacle of his career. Even at the price of a difficult conversation.
“Eve,” Elton said.
“What?”
“You’re coming. We’ll meet you at the entrance to the VIP suites.”
“Oh. VIP?” Eve reared back a little, exchanging a wide-eyed glance with Veda. “Fancy.”
Elton chuckled. “You’re married to a Yankee. Start acting like it.”
Eve hung up, shooting Veda a wince. “Is it irresponsible to go live it up in a VIP suite when I’m barely covering the club’s
expenses this month?”
“Pshh.” Veda waved off her concern. “We’ve got one fundraiser kicking ass and a second one planned for Sunday. Plus, Full
Bush Rhonda is performing tonight. Those bills are as good as paid.”
“Right . . .” Eve’s phone rang again. Seeing it was Rhonda calling, she tapped the option for speakerphone. “Hey, Rhonda.
What’s up?”
“Eve,” said Rhonda, her tone the verbal equivalent of wringing her hands, “I don’t think I’ll make it in tonight. We can’t
find my new puppy. We’re looking everywhere.”
Eve and Veda exchanged a doomsday look, Veda whipping out her phone to check the time.
She’s onstage in five hours, she mouthed to Eve.
“Oh no. Um . . .” Eve could bring in one of the new hires, but they all lived a good distance away and many of them had second and even third jobs.
It would be a long shot and they wouldn’t bring in the same crowd.
There was only one option—find the dog. “Rhonda, how about Veda and I grab the kids from school and come help you look?”
“Oh! That would be amazing.”
“Send me your address.”
Rhonda “Full Bush” Nieves was, apparently, loaded.
From the sidewalk, Eve and Veda stared up the grand, sloping lawn currently being showered by the sprinkler system, toward
the affluent colonial lit from within. The setting sun cast a golden glow on the lush surrounding gardens, making the home
resemble a New England postcard.
“My car is going to get towed in this neighborhood,” Eve said with a sigh.
“Do you think she’ll adopt me?” Veda let out a low whistle. “Imagine the basement. A musician’s dream, for sure.”
Their jaws unhinged when Rhonda opened the front door in a cashmere leisure set and waved, signaling she’d join them in a
moment. As they watched, a man who resembled a young Antonio Banderas came up behind Rhonda and wrapped her in a bear hug
from behind, saying something into her neck that made her giggle.
“Maybe this is my sign to stop waxing,” Veda remarked, sounding pensive.
Eve bit back a snort.
Rhonda and the man who appeared to be her significant other joined them on the sidewalk, Rhonda kissing Veda’s and Eve’s cheeks,
sending a pinkie wave to the twins. Her canoodling partner gave the group a slow, debonair wink as he passed, sauntering a
few yards away to light up a thin cigar.
“Thank you so much for coming to help us, ladies,” Rhonda said. “This is my boyfriend, Sebastian.”
Sebastian winked at them a second time but said nothing, continuing his slow saunter down the sidewalk, wreathed in pungent smoke.
“He doesn’t talk much,” Rhonda said, smiling. “I find silence an admirable quality in a man. Tell me I’m pretty or shut up.”
“What is your life?” Veda demanded to know, stomping a foot.
“No, really,” Eve jumped in. “Satisfy our curiosity. You obviously don’t need a side hustle, Rhonda. What are you doing working
for me?”
“Staying young.” She shrugged a sensual shoulder. “Keeping everyone guessing. Reminding myself to love this body, even as
it ages. And at the end of the day, I just like people cheering for me. Is that a crime?” Rhonda squinted up at her lavish
house. “The last time I danced, I was a single mother putting myself through night school. Landed a job with a tech company
after I graduated. That job was boring as hell, but it put my kids through college. Now I get to stay home and play dress-up
with my dogs. And Sebastian.”
Eve and Veda laughed.
“Speaking of your dog, do you think we should split up into two search parties?” Eve asked. “You two head in one direction,
me and the kids will head in the other?”
“When do we get to see the dog?” Landon called from the back seat.
“I’m petting it first,” Lark sang.
“Aunt Eve said we’re petting it at the same time,” her brother said through his teeth.
“That’s right, Landon.” Eve turned toward the kids and vigorously rubbed her hands together. “We have to find the puppy first,
though, don’t we? Are you guys ready for an adventure?”
“Yeah!”
“Yes!”
“I knew I could count on you two.” Eve crouched down to put them at eye level. “And you know, when we find this dog, we have
to celebrate. What do I always say about celebrations?”
“They suck unless there’s ice cream.”
“That’s right.” Eve turned to face Rhonda. “What is the dog’s name, so we can call for him?”
Rhonda hesitated, her attention straying to the twins. “She’s a teacup poodle, you see . . .”
Eve raised an eyebrow.
“Her name is Pocket Rocket.”
“Of course it is,” Eve deadpanned.
Veda doubled over laughing.
And so, minutes later, Eve, Landon, and Lark walked through the prestigious Thornwood Estates of Lincoln, Rhode Island, calling
for Pocket Rocket.
“This is definitely going to be my show-and-tell on Monday,” Lark announced.
“Great,” Eve said, shining the flashlight on her phone beneath a parked Mercedes. “Can’t wait for that phone call.”
“What phone call?”
“The one from your teacher to tell me how well you’re doing.” Being the only adult in on the truth made her miss Madden. A
lot. She’d only had one single day of him helping with the kids and already, his absence was so much more . . . profound.
He would have known exactly where to look for this dog. He’d have been so casually confident helping them in the search, answering the kids’ questions without having to overthink.
He’d be holding Eve’s hand.
Who knew she’d ever miss having her hand held so badly?
Madden’s steadying touch would reassure her right now, when she felt kind of . . . wobbly. Why did she have two kids out in the dark looking for a dog named for a portable vibrator? Didn’t children need more stability than this?
She had to be doing this wrong.
“Aunt Eve?”
“Yeah, Lark?”
The little girl stopped to perform a spin. “Can we do this every day?”
“Oh, um . . .” Eve glanced down at the twins, warmth spreading in her chest at the identical grins staring back up at her.
“I don’t know if we want the dog to get lost every day, right? We want him to stay inside where it’s safe.”
“But this is fun!”
“Dog hunt!” Landon growled. “You make everything fun, Aunt Eve.”
A boulder hit her in the chest. “Really?” She shook herself. God, that sounded needy. “I mean, yeah. It is fun. It’s fun because
we’re together, right?”
The twins smiled at each other. It was only fleeting.
But it made Eve feel like she was doing something right.
An urge to text Madden rose up swiftly, but she didn’t have a chance to follow through because when they came upon the next
car, also a Mercedes, they stopped in their tracks at the faint sound of yelping.
Lark and Landon gasped. Then they looked at Eve for guidance.
Okay. Maybe I’ve got this aunt/guardian thing handled. As well as I can.
Eve got down on her knees and shined her flashlight beneath the car. “Pocket Rocket?” she said, hoping the owner of the closest house wasn’t listening. “Pocket Rocket, your rescue team has arrived.”
The smallest dog Eve had ever seen came scuttling out, shaking its one-inch tail and snarfing, his little nails clicking happily
on the ground.
“Can we get a dog?”
“No. But we can get ice cream.”
Chants of Pocket Rocket echoed down the manicured block, slowly transitioning into the twins in a barking competition. With the tiny pup cradled
to her chest, all Eve heard were two happy voices and the beginning of a feeling.
Contentment.
Temporary, sure.
The kids weren’t hers to keep forever.
Neither was Madden.
But the feeling exceeded her expectations.
Made her want to dream about forever. Just dream.