Chapter 23 - Eve
EVE
The air at Circle Pond was filled with music, laughter, and the smell of grilled food.
Every resident of the development had come out for the big New Year’s Eve barbecue and street party. Children ran between the adults, sparklers in hand. Teenagers clustered in groups, talking and laughing. The older residents sat in lawn chairs, watching everything with warm smiles.
It was joyous. Festive. That electric New Year’s Eve vibe hung in the air, full of promise and possibility.
Eve wished she could feel it.
It had been two days since they’d heard from David, Nolan, Milly, or Dan.
Two days of silence.
Two days of worry gnawing at her insides.
She reached down and scratched Chaos’s head. The dog sat beside her, his eyes scanning the crowd as if searching for his master. An agent had dropped him off the day of the ordeal, not long after David, Milly, Nolan, and Dan had been driven away in those official-looking SUVs.
The agent hadn’t said much. Just handed her the leash and left.
Not even William had heard anything.
Eve watched him across the lawn, playing host with Julie beside him. They moved through the crowd together, greeting neighbors, refilling drinks, and making sure everyone was comfortable.
Julie caught her eye from across the yard. She excused herself from the group she was talking to and walked toward Eve.
“How are you holding up?” Julie asked gently.
“I’m just worried,” Eve admitted. “We still haven’t heard a thing.”
“We will, I’m sure of it,” Julie told her with a warm smile. “You never know what the New Year will ring in.”
“Thank you, Julie,” Eve gave her hand a squeeze.
“It will work out, my dear,” Julie said. “It always does.”
Eve sighed. She wasn’t really in the mood for a party, but she was going to make herself enjoy the night and push the worry out of her mind.
Or at least try to.
“Mom... Aunt Eve!” Lila’s voice came from the entrance of William’s house.
Eve turned.
Lila was walking toward her, and in her hand, she had a hardcover book that looked like one of Mary’s children’s books.
“Sweetheart,” Eve said as Lila reached her. “You’re supposed to be mingling with Brian and meeting all the other young people here your age.” She gave Lila a pointed look. “You’ve been cooped up in your room reading all your grandmother’s books for the past two days.”
“Did you know they were all about Granddad’s life?” Lila looked at her, astonished.
“I do now,” Eve smiled.
Lila had gone from calling him David to Granddad since he’d been taken away. The change had been subtle but profound.
“Honey, are you still reading those books?” Mia’s voice echoed back to them as she stepped away from Brian’s grandparents, who had been monopolizing her time. “You need to get out and meet these people. Brian is dying to show you off.”
Lila’s cheeks pinkened slightly. “Yes, I’ll go.” She paused. “But why have you never read this book to me?”
She held up a book with a cover Eve had never seen before.
The illustration showed three women standing together under a starlit sky, looking toward a house in the distance.
“That’s not one of my mother’s books,” Mia said, reaching out to take it. “I’ve never seen...” She gasped. “Eve...” She looked up, her eyes wide. “Did you know she’d written a book the year she died?”
“What?” Eve gasped. “No.”
“Are you sure Grandma wrote...” Mia said to Lila as she turned to the front page and sucked in a breath.
Her voice shook as she read aloud. “To my daughter, granddaughter, and best friend... I hope your adventure never ends. Love always, Mary.” Her head snapped up, tears shining in her eyes as they searched Lila’s. “Where did you find this?”
“I gave it to her,” William stepped up behind them. “Your mother asked me to give this to you after...” He swallowed hard. “Well, you’ll have to read the book to know.”
“William?” Eve frowned. “What’s going on?”
“Uncle William didn’t invite us here on a whim,” Lila informed them, her voice matter-of-fact. “While you, Aunt Eve, gave him the perfect opportunity and reason to invite us here this year, he was going to anyway.”
Mia was flipping through the pages, her eyes growing wider and wider.
“This can’t be true,” she breathed.
Eve leaned over to see.
The book was called The Christmas Inn Adventure.
While it didn’t use specific names, the story was eerily familiar.
A woman named Eve, who was a doctor, brought her niece, Morgan, and great-niece, Lila, to stay at the beautiful Christmas Inn for New Year’s. Their hearts were heaving with sadness and loss, and they needed a magical place to heal.
At the inn, Morgan met a kind agent named Noah, who taught her to see the world in a new way and helped her remember how to smile again.
Lila, curious and brilliant, met a boy named Brian who lived nearby. Together they solved mysteries and uncovered secrets.
And Eve met a handsome stranger with kind eyes and a tragic past. A man who had loved Morgan’s mother when they were young. A man who had sacrificed everything for the people he loved. His name was David Dare.
As the story unfolded, secrets were revealed. Families reunited. Love bloomed in unexpected places.
And as the stars aligned and the New Year began to count down, their world was filled with love.
The last page showed all of them together under fireworks, holding hands, starting fresh.
“Lila?” Brian’s voice interrupted the moment. He walked up with a hopeful smile. “Do you want to come and meet some of the other teens? There’s a girl your age who just moved here, and she’s really into codes and puzzles.”
Lila smiled and nodded. “I’m going to go.” She looked at Mia and Eve. “But Gran... she kind of predicted all of this.” She glanced slyly at William. “And Uncle William gave us the gentle nudge that made it happen.”
Eve and Mia were a little stunned and could only nod as Lila walked off with Brian.
Mia closed the book and handed it to Eve with a sad sigh. “Mom was a little off,” she said quietly. “The man I fell for is probably being court-martialed or something right now.”
“Or...”
Julie stepped up beside her, a knowing smile on her face. “Or… He’s walking awkwardly down the street, nodding at strangers as he makes his way toward you.”
Mia frowned and turned.
Eve heard her sharp intake of breath.
Eve turned to see Nolan standing a few feet away.
He stopped as he saw that Mia had spotted him.
They stood for a few moments, just looking at each other across the distance.
Then they were running.
Both of them.
Running toward each other like something out of a movie.
They collided in the middle of the street, Nolan’s arms wrapping around Mia and lifting her off her feet.
His lips found hers.
The kiss was long and deep and full of everything they couldn’t say.
The entire development erupted in applause and cheers.
They pulled apart, laughing breathlessly, and walked back toward Eve hand in hand.
“Now that’s happy ending number two, I’d say. And, Eve, dear, I like to think that everything comes in threes,” Julie whispered to Eve before disappearing back into the crowd.
Mia
Mia couldn’t stop smiling.
Nolan’s hand was warm in hers, and she never wanted to let go.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t call,” he said as they reached Eve and William. “They wouldn’t let us have any contact with anyone until the debriefing was complete.”
“Are you okay?” Mia asked, searching his face. “Did they... are you in trouble?”
“No,” Nolan assured her. “I’m cleared. Fully reinstated. Actually got a commendation.” He grinned. “Turns out breaking protocol to save a beautiful doctor’s life looks good on your record.”
“And David?” William asked, his voice urgent. “Have you seen him?”
Nolan’s smile faded slightly. “I haven’t seen him since they separated us two days ago. They kept us in different locations during debriefing.”
“But he’s okay?” Eve’s voice was tight with worry.
“As far as I know,” Nolan said. “Dan and Milly should be here shortly. They might have more information.”
Eve
The hours passed slowly.
The party continued around her. Music played. People danced. Children ran with sparklers.
Eve tried to enjoy it. She tried to smile and make conversation.
But her eyes kept drifting to the entrance of the development.
Waiting.
Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Dan and Milly arrive just after nine.
They looked tired but relieved. Happy.
Eve rushed over to them, William right behind her.
“David?” she asked before they could even say hello.
Dan shook his head. “We haven’t seen him since the first day. They kept us all separate.”
“But he’s okay?” William demanded.
“He’s fine,” Milly assured them. “Or he was two days ago. They just have more questions for him since he was the primary on the case.”
Eve’s heart sank.
Fine wasn’t the same as here.
The evening progressed. Ten o’clock came and went. Eleven.
Eve found herself standing near the edge of William’s property, staring out at the dark pond.
Chaos sat beside her, his head resting against her leg.
“He’ll come back,” she whispered to the dog. “He has to.”
At eleven forty-five, someone started setting up for the midnight countdown.
A large screen was erected in the center of the street, ready to show the ball drop in Times Square.
People began gathering, filling the street, champagne glasses in hand.
Eve let Mia pull her into the crowd.
Nolan stood on Mia’s other side, his arm around her waist. Lila and Brian were nearby with a group of teenagers. Dan and Milly stood with William and Julie.
They were all together.
Everyone except David.
Eve’s throat tightened.
The screen flickered to life, showing the crowds in Times Square. The glittering ball waiting to drop.
The countdown began.
“Sixty seconds!” someone shouted.
The crowd started chanting. “Sixty... fifty-nine... fifty-eight...”
Eve looked around at all the happy faces. All the couples holding hands, ready to kiss at midnight.
Her chest ached.
“Forty... thirty-nine... thirty-eight...”
She closed her eyes.