Chapter 23 - Eve #2
Please, she thought. Please let him be okay. Please let him come back.
“Twenty... nineteen... eighteen...”
The crowd’s energy was building. Excitement crackling through the air.
“Ten... nine... eight...”
Eve opened her eyes, looking up at the stars above Circle Pond.
Mary, she thought. If you’re out there, if you can hear me...
“Five... four... three...”
“Two...”
“One!”
“Happy New Year!”
Fireworks erupted overhead. Brilliant colors exploding across the night sky.
The crowd erupted in cheers. Couples kissed. Champagne corks popped.
Eve felt tears slip down her cheeks.
Then a deep voice spoke directly into her ear, warm and familiar and impossible.
“Happy New Year.”
Eve’s breath stopped.
She turned slowly, afraid she was imagining it.
David stood there, inches away, smiling at her.
He was wearing jeans and a dark sweater. His hair was a little messy. He looked tired.
But he was here.
He was really here.
“Happy New Year,” Eve managed to croak, her voice breaking.
David’s smile widened.
Then he pulled her into his arms, and his lips crushed against hers.
The world disappeared.
There were no fireworks, no crowds, no noise.
Just David.
Just this moment.
Just the promise of everything they could be.
When they finally pulled apart, both breathless, David kept his arms around her.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t get word to you,” he said. “They wouldn’t let me contact anyone until everything was finalized.”
“Are you...?” Eve couldn’t finish the question.
“Free,” David said, his eyes shining. “Completely cleared. My name restored. Twenty-eight years of my life given back.” He cupped her face in his hands. “And I get to start the New Year with you.”
Over David’s shoulder, Eve saw Mia and Lila rushing toward them.
David turned just in time to catch Lila as she launched herself at him.
“Granddad!”
“Hey, sweetheart.” David laughed, holding her tight.
Then Mia was there, hugging them both, and William joined them, and Julie, and suddenly they were all together in a tangle of arms, laughter, and tears.
A family.
Reunited after twenty-eight years.
David
An hour later, David stood on William’s porch, looking out at the pond.
The party was still going strong, but he’d needed a moment.
A moment to let it all sink in.
He was free.
His name was cleared.
Malcolm Kincaid, now known as Preston Langford, was in federal custody facing charges that would keep him locked up for the rest of his life.
Calvin Strand, his accomplice, had already started cooperating in exchange for a lighter sentence.
The corrupt officials who’d protected Malcolm for decades were being rounded up one by one.
It was over.
Really, truly over.
Footsteps on the porch made him turn.
Mia stood there, holding two glasses of champagne.
She handed him one and stood beside him, looking out at the pond.
“I used to love this view,” she said softly. “When I was little, I’d sit right here and watch the sunset.”
“I remember,” David said. “You’d make up stories about the fish in the pond. Give them all names.”
Mia smiled. “I’d forgotten that.”
They stood in comfortable silence for a moment.
“I’m sorry,” David said finally. “For everything. For leaving. For missing your entire life. For not being there when you needed me.”
“Dad,” Mia turned to face him, “you saved my life. You saved Mom’s life. You did what you had to do.”
“But I missed so much.” David’s voice was rough. “Your wedding. Lila’s birth. Your mother’s...”
He couldn’t finish.
Mia put her hand on his arm. “You can’t change the past. But you’re here now. And we have time. All the time in the world.”
David pulled her into a hug, holding his daughter close.
His little Morgan.
Who’d grown into this incredible, strong, beautiful woman.
“I love you,” he whispered. “I never stopped loving you. Not for a single day.”
“I know,” Mia said, her voice muffled against his shoulder. “I love you too, Dad.”
When they pulled apart, Lila was standing in the doorway.
“Are you guys having a moment?” she asked. “Because I can come back.”
“Get over here,” David said, holding out his arm.
Lila grinned and joined them, and David held both his daughter and granddaughter as fireworks continued to light up the sky above Circle Pond.
Eve
At two in the morning, the party finally began to wind down.
Residents drifted back to their homes, calling out final Happy New Years.
William and Julie were cleaning up with a few neighbors’ help.
Mia and Nolan had disappeared somewhere, probably for a walk around the pond.
Lila had gone upstairs an hour ago, exhausted but happy.
Eve found David sitting on the front steps of William’s house, Chaos lying beside him.
She sat down next to him, their shoulders touching.
“Some night,” she said.
“Some night,” David agreed.
They sat in comfortable silence, watching the last of the neighbors head home.
“So,” Eve said finally. “What happens now?”
“Now?” David turned to look at her. “Now I figure out who I am when I’m not running. Who I am when I’m not hunting.” He took her hand. “And I’d very much like to figure that out with you, if you’re willing.”
Eve’s heart swelled. “I’d like that.”
“I have a lot to work through,” David warned. “Twenty-eight years of trauma doesn’t just disappear overnight.”
“I know,” Eve said. “I’m a trauma surgeon, remember? I understand.”
David smiled. “I know you do. That’s one of the many reasons I’ve fallen in love with you.”
Eve’s breath caught.
“I know it’s fast,” David continued. “I know we barely know each other. But Eve, from the moment I bumped into you on that pavement, something just... clicked. And now I can’t imagine my life without you in it.”
“I feel the same way,” Eve admitted. “And you’re wrong. It’s not fast. Mary knew. She wrote it in that book. She knew we were meant to find each other.”
David’s eyes misted. “Nancy always was the smart one.”
He leaned in and kissed her. Soft. Sweet. Full of promise.
When he pulled back, he kept his forehead pressed against hers.
“Stay,” he whispered. “You and Mia and Lila. Stay in St. Augustine. Give us a chance.”
“I have a job in LA,” Eve said. “Mia has hers too, and Lila has school.”
“I know,” David said. “And I would never ask you to give up your lives. But maybe... maybe we could figure it out. Long distance for a while. Visits. Holidays. And then, when you’re ready, when it feels right...” He pulled back to look at her. “Maybe we could build something here. Together.”
Eve looked into his eyes.
Those green-gold eyes that Mia and Lila had inherited.
She thought about Mary’s book. About the story her best friend had written, knowing somehow that this would all happen.
About fate and second chances and new beginnings.
“Yes,” she said simply.
David’s face broke into the most beautiful smile.
“Yes?” he repeated, as if he couldn’t quite believe it.
“Yes!” Eve laughed. “We’ll figure it out. All of it. Together.”
David pulled her into his arms and kissed her again.
And as the first light of the New Year began to creep over the horizon, painting the sky in shades of pink and gold, Eve knew with absolute certainty that Mary had been right.
Their adventure was just beginning.
THE END