Chapter 27 Eva
Seraphina lies peacefully in her bed as the doctor examines her lifeless body.
I hold Billie tight, proud of her bravery while she pulls herself together as much as possible under the circumstances.
For a long while, Seraphina had been unwell, and Billie’s life was put on hold to take care of her.
Seraphina’s passing comes with mixed emotions.
There’s the grief of losing a mother, a woman Billie has looked up to her whole life, but in that same breath, Seraphina is no longer in pain.
The doctor on call also happens to be Marco.
He explains to us that Seraphina passed in her sleep. Her heart was just too exhausted to function anymore. Marco continues explaining what will happen next and who will come to collect her body.
My arms wrap tight around Billie, doing my best to shield her from the grief even though I know it’s impossible. At times, she spoke about the possibility of losing her mother, but reality never compares.
“I’m just going to call my Auntie June and my Uncle Daniel,” Billie mentions softly.
“I’ll be here,” I remind her with a faint smile, wishing I could do more, but I know just being here is probably all she needs right now. “I’ll stay with Marco.”
Billie takes her phone into her bedroom, leaving me alone with Marco. I watch him take out a notebook. I assume he’s recording important details for the coroner when he starts writing notes.
“She’s not in pain anymore,” I mention quietly.
He shakes his head with his mouth pressed firmly. “The truth is, her heart was weak, and it was just a matter of time.”
I nod silently. My eyes wander back to Seraphina, admiring her beauty even in her eternal sleep.
Then, I think about the funeral and all the moments when Billie will need someone to lean on.
She’ll also need some time off, so I mentally try to plan how I’ll juggle it all, only to remember what happened tonight with Aston.
It all becomes too much, and just like in the car, another tear finally falls.
“Hey,” Marco calls softly, placing his hands on my arms. “It’s going to be okay.”
My lips begin to quiver, wondering how the most genuine man is here comforting me, yet the one my heart has so desperately fallen for is with his family planning his future without me in it.
A future he chose to hide from me.
“It’s just too much,” I sob, trying to control my raging emotions. “Maddy is getting married tomorrow, and I’m supposed to be there for her, but Billie needs me. I can’t be everywhere.”
Marco embraces me, and no matter how hard I try, it’s not the same.
It only shows how strong my feelings are for Aston.
How I’ve fallen so head over heels in love with him without even really knowing.
“There’s no way you can prepare yourself for something like this.
It’s what I tell my patients, and it is that thing we call life.
It comes, and it goes. And sometimes, it’s out of our control.
All we can do is take it one day at a time.
” Marco gazes at me softly. “Do you think you can do that for me?”
Quietly, I nod.
My fingers fumble nervously before I say, “I’m sorry, Marco, about everything that happened between us.”
He remains silent, leaning down and placing his notebook back into his doctor’s bag. “As I said earlier, Eva. Some things are out of our control.”
“You’re too nice to me. I don’t deserve it.”
“Take care of yourself. I’m a big boy, Eva. It’s not the first time things haven’t gone the way I wanted them to,” he says in a low voice, only to tilt his head. “I heard a car outside. It’s most likely Morton, the funeral director.”
I leave the room to open the front door. Morton arrives with his colleague to take Seraphina away at the same time as Billie’s family arrives.
It all becomes a blur.
The loud sobs Billie expels when Seraphina’s body is covered and carried out on a stretcher… I hold on to her for dear life, wishing to God someone could take her grief away. I’m unable to stop my own emotions, as a soreness builds in my throat and lungs from the heavy tears I shed with my friend.
In the late-night hours, people come by to pay their respects.
Instead of sleeping, we make cups of coffee and stay awake as Billie’s family tells fond stories of Seraphina. It’s so lovely that everyone remembers the good times. Just like Marco said, we can only take it one day at a time, and today has been the hardest.
Outside, the sun rises, and the promise of a new day greets us. I sit in the living room with Billie all night as she shows me albums of her childhood. Seraphina was truly Billie’s best friend.
Billie gently touches the photograph of herself dressed in a flower girl dress for her auntie’s wedding. She sighs heavily before she asks, “You think Maddy will understand if I don’t come today?”
“Of course she will understand, Billie,” I assure her. “Please don’t worry about the wedding.”
“Can you maybe not say anything unless she notices?” Billie pleads with hopeful eyes. “I don’t want to ruin her day.”
“I promise I won’t mention anything, okay?”
Billie’s Auntie June enters the living room with a fresh pot of coffee. Like us, she looks exhausted and trying to hold it together. I gently take the coffee cup from her but then glance at the clock on the wall.
“Go on, I’ll be fine,” Billie insists, giving me a little push. “You need to get home and get ready. The wedding’s only a few hours away.”
I sigh, leaning down to kiss her. “All right, but I’ll check in before the ceremony, okay?”
She smiles. “I know you will. Now go.”
As I get into the car and drive back home, my eyes are beyond tired from staying up all night and all the tears I so easily shed. Even with copious amounts of coffee, nothing can take away my level of sheer exhaustion right now.
There’s no time for a nap, so I take a quick shower and then go straight to the Grand Honey Lodge to help Maddy get ready. Once Maddy is done, my hair and makeup shouldn’t take too long.
All I need to do is get through today.
“One more day,” I breathe to myself.
As I pull into the parking lot, I see Aston pacing by the door. The moment he notices my car, he storms toward me with flushed, mottled skin and wide eyes, ready to go to battle.
I get out of the car, only for him to yank my bag from me, pulling out my phone.
“It didn’t occur to you to pick up your phone any of the times I called you?” he hisses, nostrils flaring as he stares at me in a blind rage.
I glance at the screen to see twenty-seven missed calls.
My eyes close, wishing all of this would just go away. My patience has worn fragile, and nothing I say or do will come out rational. I am tired. I am so tired of life and spinning in this vicious cycle with Aston.
“Don’t start,” I warn him. “Not now.”
“I was worried sick about you! God, Everleigh. You could have driven into a ditch last night.”
“I’m not sure why you care. You’ve never worried about me before.” I place my hands on my hips, suddenly angry at him for everything that happened last night. “I mean, you’re going to live on the other side of the damn world. That didn’t seem to bother you in the slightest.”
“Jesus Christ, Everleigh. I wanted to tell you, but—”
“But what? You spent all day with me yesterday. It’s clear I am nothing more than an easy fuck to pass the time while in Cinnamon Springs. Or did Harvey get to you?”
“It’s not like that,” he mumbles, unable to look at me. “We need to talk properly.”
I point my finger at him. “ No , we don’t , Aston. All the talking has been done. You know just how to break my heart, don’t you? So, if you’d kindly get out of my way, I need to make sure my best friend gets married today.”
There are no words left to be said.
I enter the building, making sure to slam the door behind me as hard as possible.
We are done.
I am done.
Nothing, and no one, can change my mind.
All the bridesmaids are dressed with their hair and makeup finished.
During my dress change, I get my period.
Why not add something else to the already fucked-up twenty-four hours I’ve had!
Luckily, I carry tampons, but given that the dress is made from silk, I pray it doesn’t seep through during the ceremony.
It could explain my mood, but it’s no match for walking around with a broken heart.
Everything I do hurts, and no matter how much I try to distract myself, it all comes back to one thing.
It’s over before it even began.
And although it’s the last thing I want to think about, I remember how Aston has been entering me bareback. Even though I’m taking birth control, that’s only 99.9 percent effective.
Thankfully, I am not that 0.1 percent this month.
Ramona and Hailey have drunk a bottle of champagne between them. They offered me some, but I was not in the mood. It’s bad enough that the makeup artist had to use more concealer to hide the dark circles under my eyes. The girls giggled, thinking it was funny.
But they don’t know the hell I’ve been through.
I check the time with Georgina to ensure we aren’t running late. With Patricia in the room, we wait for Maddy to exit the main suite. It takes a few minutes, but she eventually walks out quietly, and we all gasp at how beautiful she looks.
“Maddy, you look perfect,” I gush, helping her with the long veil that follows her from the suite. It’s made from this expensive lace and passed down from Georgina’s great-aunt.
Everyone fusses over Maddy until it’s time to head outside to where the ceremony is being held. When everyone leaves the room, I stay back to have a moment with my best friend.
After last night, Maddy has barely spoken two words to me nor responded to my text about leaving. I narrowed it down to nerves, but after spending the night with Billie, I’m too exhausted to focus on anything else.
I fix her train, then open the door so we can head to the main area, where Mr. Beaumont will meet Maddy to walk her down the aisle.