Chapter 16 Eve
EVE
Eve kept her eyes on the narrow dirt road ahead, hands steady on the wheel despite the thoughts churning in her mind.
Lila, who was sitting beside her and Brian in the back, was still buzzing about their discovery at the historical society, but Eve’s thoughts kept drifting to Mia.
Mia, who was getting ready for a date.
A real date.
The memory made Eve smile despite everything else swirling in her head.
An hour ago, Mia had rushed into Eve’s room, her face flushed, her eyes bright with something that looked an awful lot like panic mixed with excitement.
“He asked me out,” Mia had said, breathless.
Eve had looked up from where she’d been sorting through her clothes for the barbecue. “Who, Nolan?”
“Yes.” Mia nodded, her eyes glazed. “Like on a date. An actual date.”
“Mom?” Lila had appeared in the doorway, drawn by her mother’s voice. “Nolan asked you on a date?”
“Yes,” Mia nodded again, still looking dazed.
“Did you say yes?” Lila had bounced onto Eve’s bed, her face lit with delight.
“Yes.”
“When are you going?” Eve had asked.
“Tonight.” Mia had snapped out of her trance-like state, reality crashing back. “Oh, I’m sorry... I was supposed to go with both of you to meet David...”
“No!” Eve and Lila had said in unison. “You go on your date. You can meet David another night.”
When Eve and Lila had left to fetch Brian, Mia had still been getting ready, standing in front of her closet with that bewildered look on her face that said she couldn’t quite believe this was happening.
Eve really hoped the night went well for her.
“Can you believe what we may have found?” Lila said, pulling Eve back to the present.
Brian leaned forward from the back seat. “I tried to ask my gran about William having a daughter, but my gran told me not to be nosy about other people’s business.” He rolled his eyes. “Which, considering who my grandmother is, is ironic.”
“We don’t know for sure if Mary was Williams’ daughter,” Eve pointed out, though her own mind was still reeling from what they’d seen.
“All we have right now is a picture of William’s grandmother wearing the same locket that Mia has.
” She glanced at Lila. “There could be more than one of those lockets in the world.”
“Very unlikely,” Lila said firmly. “That locket of Mom’s... there’s something not quite right about it.”
“Honey, you’ve seen what’s inside it,” Eve sighed. “Just a picture of your mother and grandmother.”
“I’m telling you there’s a lot more to it than both of you think,” Lila insisted.
Her voice grew more animated. “It’s heavier than it should be for its size.
The clasp is weird. The ruby sits slightly raised, like there’s something beneath it.
And the way Mom never takes it off, ever, even in the shower?
That’s not normal attachment to jewelry. ”
Eve had to admit Lila had a point about that last part.
“Anyway,” Lila continued, “it distinctly said that the portrait was of William’s grandmother, Isabella Lillian Moore, wearing what became a very distinct Moore family heirloom. Designed and made by Isabella herself.”
“Well, Mia has always said that it was a gift from Mary to her on her eighth birthday,” Eve reminded them. Then she glanced in the mirror at Brian. “Did you find your photo, Brian?”
“No,” Brian said, his eyes darkening. “I know it sounds silly, but... I feel like I’ve lost a part of my dad.”
“It’s not silly at all,” Eve assured him warmly. “Don’t worry, I’m sure it will turn up...”
“Aunt Eve,” Lila said suddenly, urgently. “We just shot past the turn.”
“What?” Eve slowed down, checking her mirrors before executing a careful U-turn. “Where?”
“There,” Brian pointed.
Eve turned down what looked less like a road and more like a track carved through dense forest. Trees pressed in on both sides, their branches creating a canopy overhead that blocked out most of the fading evening light.
“Are you sure this is a road?” Eve asked, her hands tightening on the wheel.
They traveled for what felt like forever, the SUV bouncing over ruts and roots, and Eve started to feel genuinely unsure. Had they taken a wrong turn? Was this even the right—
Suddenly, the thick trees surrounding them on each side opened up, and there were two well-spaced cabins in front of her, lights glowing warmly from their windows.
Relief poured through her.
Her heart skipped a beat when she saw David step out of one cabin, flanked by a dog that looked remarkably similar to Brandy from the Inn.
David’s face lit when he saw them, and Eve felt that now-familiar flutter in her chest.
She parked, and they all climbed out.
“You made it,” David said, his smile warm and genuine.
The dog bounded forward, tail wagging.
“This is Chaos,” David said. “You may have met his sister Brandy at the Christmas Inn.”
As if on cue, a couple emerged from the second cabin.
“Hi,” Milly and Dan emerged from the cabin beside David’s. After they all had something to drink in their hands, sitting around a slowly dying fire pit, Eve found herself relaxing despite the strange day they’d had.
“We need some more wood for the fire pit,” Dan said, motioning toward the sorry-looking fire in the fire pit.
“I’ll go get it,” David said.
“I’ll help,” Eve heard herself say.
David’s eyes met hers, something warm and electric passing between them. “I’d appreciate that.”
They walked around the back of David’s cabin to where a large stack of cut wood sat covered by a tarp. David pulled back the covering and began loading logs into a wheelbarrow.
“It’s so peaceful out here,” Eve said, breathing in the scent of pine and wood smoke. “I can see why you chose this place.”
“I’ve never slept better in my life,” David admitted, setting another log in the wheelbarrow. “No traffic noise. No city sounds. Just the woods.”
“I can imagine,” Eve said, reaching for a log at the same time David did.
Their hands touched.
Both froze mid-reach.
Their eyes met.
And the next thing Eve knew, David’s lips were on hers, and the world faded around them.
The kiss was everything. It was urgent and tender, passionate and careful, like he’d been holding back for so long and finally couldn’t anymore.
When he pulled away, they were both breathless, hearts pounding.
“I feel like I should apologize,” David said, his voice rough. “But I really don’t want to. I’ve wanted to do that since we first bumped into each other.”
Eve found herself smiling, her hand coming up to touch his face. “I’ve wanted you to kiss me since then, too.”
They stood there, staring at each other in the fading light, the wheelbarrow forgotten between them.
“Eve...” David said, his voice dropping lower. “I...”
Whatever he was going to say was lost as he pulled her to him for another heart-stopping kiss, all words forgotten.
Lila
Lila crossed her legs, trying to focus on the conversation Dan and Milly were having with Brian about the best hiking trails in the area, but her bladder had other ideas.
“Um, excuse me,” she said, standing. “Where’s the bathroom?”
“Yeah, I need it too,” Brian said, looking slightly embarrassed.
“Oh, of course,” Milly said, pointing. “Brian, you can use the guest bathroom in David’s cabin, first door on the left. Lila, the main bathroom is through David’s bedroom at the end of the hall.”
“Thanks,” Lila said.
She and Brian headed inside David’s cabin together.
Lila glanced around as they walked through the front door.
The place was surprisingly neat for a bachelor pad.
It was also cozy, with a fire crackling in the stone hearth, warm wood tones throughout.
There were two bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room, and a dining area, all flowing together in an open but intimate layout.
“How cool is this cabin?” Lila said.
“I know,” Brian agreed before they parted ways in the hallway.
Lila walked through David’s bedroom. It was also neat and very masculine, with a large bed covered in a dark blue comforter, and it had an attached bathroom.
After she finished and washed her hands, she looked around for a hand towel but couldn’t find one. She checked under the sink, in the cabinet, but came up empty.
Frowning, she wandered back into David’s room, looking for where he might keep extra towels.
Her eyes scanned the very male space, along the bed, a chair in the corner with a jacket draped over it, and a small bookshelf filled with what looked like technical manuals and a few novels.
Then her eyes landed on the dresser and came to a stop before widening as they landed on an item sitting on top of it.
“What the?” Lila didn’t realize she’d said it out loud.
“Lila?” Brian knocked on the door. “Is everything okay?”
“Brian, come here,” Lila called, her voice strange to her own ears.
Brian walked into the room and came up behind her.
He stopped. “Is that...” His eyes went wide as they snapped to hers. “We need to go tell Eve.”
Nolan
Nolan ran a hand through his hair for the third time and glanced in the long mirror that was in the hallway of the inn. He was nervous.
It had been a long time since he’d asked a woman on a date. It had been forever since he’d asked out one he’d fallen for.
And he had fallen for Mia.
Actually, he’d fallen for her the moment she’d walked through the dining room door on that first day, her haunted eyes and beautiful face stealing his breath and his focus in equal measure.
This was a terrible idea. He was on assignment. She was a beautiful distraction. But he couldn’t help himself.
Nolan drew in a breath and knocked on her door.
Mia opened it, and he swallowed hard.
“You look gorgeous,” he breathed.
She was wearing a deep emerald dress that brought out the green in her eyes, fitted at the waist and falling to just above her knees. Her dark hair was down, curling softly around her shoulders, and she’d done something subtle with makeup that made her eyes even more striking.
“You clean up nicely yourself,” Mia told him, a slight blush coloring her cheeks.