Page 83 of Fall Into Temptation
“Anyway, Jax was reaching for his checkbook—I love that man. He’d do anything for anyone. But Cardona stepped in. He said if we pay her off this once, she’ll just keep coming back. Even if she makes promises or signs papers. It won’t be the last time. She’d always be in our life or worse, in theirs.” She nodded toward where Caleb and Aurora were chasing Waffles the tireless dog around a tree. “He says the only thing that’s going to work is a no.”
Damn it all to hell. Where had Donovan been the first time she’d scraped out the last forty bucks in her meager checking account in college so her mother could fill her tank to drive to Philadelphia?Agnes had come back every time, always needing more. And every damn time Eva had caved. Until now. Now was the time to finally clean up this mess. She just didn’t know how.
“So, what did you do?” Eva asked, focusing on Joey.
Joey grinned. “Told her to fuck off and threatened her with prison for child neglect and abandonment. Papers were signed and are being overnighted. We told Reva today, and she got pretty choked up. In the good way… I think. We’re going to look at colleges next weekend.”
Eva grabbed Joey in a hard hug. “You, my friend, are a mom.”
Joey shook her head slowly. “I know. I can’t fucking believe it. And my daughter is in there getting ready for her first big thing, and I’m so nervous for her I might puke.”
Eva slid down the bench putting a few inches between her and Joey. “You just give me fair warning if that happens.”
Summer and Carter’s front door opened, and Reva appeared on the porch. She did a slow turn in her midnight blue dress to the whistles and the applause of the crowd in the yard. The sequined bodice caught the sunlight, and the flirty tulle lifted as she spun. Her hair, that lovely doeskin brown, was swirled up in a sassy updo courtesy of Emma’s competent fingers. Summer had outdone herself on Reva’s makeup. It was perfection. Light and bright and highlighting her youth and natural glow.
Joey was damn near chewing through her lip to keep from crying. “Shit. Why does it feel like my chest is caving in?” she muttered.
Eva patted her friend on the back. “I think it’s just love.”
Jax, on the other hand, was having an entirely different reaction.
He stormed up to the foot of the porch steps. “No. Oh, hell no. You’re not going anywhere like that!”
For a moment, Eva thought he was joking. But one look at his panicked face, and she knew he was dead serious.
“Jackson,” Joey said, standing up from the table. “Chill out. She’s practically an adult.”
“I can see that. The wholeworldcan see that in that dress,” Jax argued, pointing accusingly at Reva’s dress. “It doesn’t even have straps! You’re not leaving this house dressed like that.”
Two months ago, Eva thought, Reva would have hung her head and shuffled back into the house. But her time with Jax and Joey had rubbed off on her. She put her slim hands on her hips and stared Jax down. “Yes, I am,” she said calmly.
Jax blinked at his daughter and then turned his rage on Joey. “You see this? This is your fault! She sounds just like you!”
“Me? You’re the one acting like a fucking moron. Sorry, Cale,” she said, tossing an apology at Reva’s little brother.
“That’s okay,” he said, waving amicably at Joey.
“I’m not acting like a fucking moron. Do you have any idea what 17-year-old boys are like?”
“If you’ll recall, I remember perfectly what they’re like,” Joey said, drilling a finger into his chest. “And from where I’m standing, late twenty-somethings aren’t much better!”
“Reva, you look lovely,” Phoebe said, stepping in to smooth it over. Caleb skipped over to her to get away from his shouting parents.
“Thanks, Gram. Joey helped me pick the dress,” Reva said, smoothing her hands over the skirt.
“Youput her in that?” Jax shouted at his wife.
“Excuse me, but last time I checked, you didn’t want to go dress shopping because it was a ‘chick thing.’ So, if you don’t like this gorgeous dress that our gorgeous daughter picked out, you can just shut your damn eyes and your mouth and give the rest of us a break.”
Eva wasn’t sure if anyone else had caught the “our daughter” remark. Their family was so new that they were all still trying to get used to the relationships. On the steps, Reva was standing open-mouthed, watching the argument unfold, a pretty flush on her cheeks. Eva wondered what it must feel like for the girl. Going from being discarded by her own mother to being welcomed into—and maybe a little smothered by—a new family as if she’d belonged there the whole time.
It made her eyes just a little glassy with happiness for the girl who was loved. It’s what the Pierces and Blue Moon did. They welcomed people into the fold, blood or no blood, and made a place for them. They’d made a place for her, too, and in that place, she’d found Donovan.
And for the first time in her adult life, the pieces of a child’s broken heart were starting to mend themselves.
Donovan appeared at Eva’s side and sighed heavily.
“You gonna handle this situation, Sheriff?” Hazel asked, a hint of smile playing on her bare lips.
