Finding Eva (Highland Creek Series)
Page 12
His dad was, as usual, manning the grill when he walked to the back of the house. He had stopped to get Eva, but seeing as her car wasn’t outside, he figured she was doing those errands that she mentioned this afternoon when he’d called to ask her to the cookout.
“Hey, old man.” Aaron’s dad, Ian, turned around with a smile, ready to greet his son. That was what he loved about his parents—they were always there with a ready smile, and he was very thankful that he had such an amazing family.
“Nothing, young punk,” his father answered, as was their custom. Aaron always accused his dad of being an old man while Ian always called him a young punk. He continued to flip burgers and brats as he asked, “When is your girl getting here?” Aaron glanced at his watch, noting the time.
“I don’t know, any minute now I guess. She was running errands with her friend Gwen and then she said she would be here. I’m excited for her to meet everybody,” he started before he could stop himself. What the fuck was he doing sounding like a girl? He must have it worse than he thought, and although his dad didn’t give him shit for it, he did look at him like he wasn’t fooled.
“I am sure everyone will like her. She seemed like a really nice girl.”
“You’ve met her?” That was news to him.
“Yeah, she came over the other day to talk to your mother briefly. Mom wasn’t here, but I met her and she seemed like a really great girl.”
Aaron just stood there at a loss for words. “Huh.”
His father turned from watching the meat. “Why are you surprised? I mean, damn, Son, we live next door. Coupled with the fact that your mother was her mother’s best friend, there are bound to be questions.”
“I guess,” he said, still not convinced but had to hold that thought as he heard running and giggling, a sure sign that Kelly was here.
“Uncle A,” she squealed before slamming into him, wrapping her arms around his thighs before he picked her up and swung her around.
“Hey, baby doll,” he kissed her on the cheek before nuzzling her neck in a way that always caused her to laugh full out. “What have you been up to?”
“Nothing.” She smiled as she put her arms around his neck. “I missed you. You didn’t come see me!”
He smiled apologetically. “I know. I’ve been busy. How about we make a playdate for this week?”
“Ok!” And then in a way only four year olds could, she shifted her focus to her grandfather. “Papa!” She held her arms out for Ian, who gladly took her before hugging her.
“Are you Papa’s girl?”
“Uh-huh.” She nodded seriously, latching onto him as though she hadn’t seen him in months as opposed to days. “Can I help you cook?”
“Cook?!” He tickled her stomach, making her giggle. “Papa grills! Wanna grill with me?”
“Yes!” She pumped her hands up and down. Aaron laughed, loving his niece and his family in general, always thankful for the time he had with them. He turned at the hand slap on his shoulder, figuring it was his brother coming to check on Kelly.
“Hey, man.” He gave him a one-armed hug. “How have you been?” He hadn’t really talked to his brother about the pending divorce in the past week or so, but he knew that it was close to being finalized.
“I’m good, great actually, now that all that shit is behind me.”
“So you’re done with Ash?”
“Yeah.” He sighed deeply and rubbed his hands down his face. “She agreed to everything that I asked for, but the one thing that bothers me is the shit with Kel. She willingly, without my asking, signed over her rights to Kel and told me that she never wanted to be a mom. I mean, I knew she wasn’t the best mom, but who does that to their own child?”
“Your ex-wife.” Aaron barely restrained from calling her a bitch. He never liked Ashley, but knowing that she was pulling some emotional bullshit on his brother and niece pissed him off even more. They didn’t know what went on with his brother and Ashley, but he had a feeling it was some bad shit. His brother never discussed it, but they all thought the same thing. “Has Kel said anything about her?”
“Not really, and that makes me feel worse. If Ashley had been a good mom, then Kelly would want her, but why would you want someone who made it very clear that you were an inconvenience? I am going to see how she does, but I have thought about putting her in therapy if she has problems down the road because I know when she gets older she will eventually want to talk about Ashley.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe how fucking wrong I was about her.”
Aaron patted him on the back. “It happens to the best of her. Although Ashley was never my favorite person, she was never a crazy bitch until about two years ago.”
“I know.” Bryan turned when he heard their sisters coming down. “Let’s finish this later…” he gestured his head toward the sound of their voices “…and concentrate on meeting your girl. What time will she be here?”
“Any minute now.” He greeted his sisters, who came in bubbly as usual.
Adelaide, affectionately known as Addie, was a bit of a ball buster, but most of that came from working as an investment banker for one of the leading financial firms in the state. She said she had to be better than most, being in a male dominated field, but she never let her choice of profession impact the fact that she was truly a girl. She was always in heels and always had her hair and nails perfect, if the amount of time that she spent at the salon was any indication.
Reagan was truly the baby of the family, and the one that they lavished attention on. She had the beach look perfected, from her wavy curls to those signature blue eyes, and it never failed to amaze her the amount of attention she got from her looks. She was so unpretentious that she couldn’t imagine any guy fawning over her, but Aaron and his brothers always had to beat the boys back with a stick. Not that she knew that. She was still trying to find herself and figure out what she wanted to do, but currently she was substitute teaching to determine if she wanted to teach long term.
After shooting the shit with his sisters for a couple of minutes, both of them playing with Kelly while quietly probing him about the girl that he was bringing, he was happy to see his mother coming down with his girl. His girl? He didn’t know when he started thinking of her as his, but somehow it fit the feelings he was currently having.
“Hey, guys,” he said, his mother sending him her silent permission to introduce the two. “I would like to introduce you to Elizabeth’s daughter Eva.” Eva waved and Aaron could tell from her sheepish expression that she was a bit embarrassed.
“Hello,” she said softly.
“And this is her friend, Gwen.” Gwen was a bit more outgoing, coming up to shake his sisters’ hands, and he was thankful that the attention was off Eva for a minute.
He came and hugged her, noticing that her hands were trembling, before he whispered in her ear, “You will do great.” She seemed to straighten her spine and that and turned to introduce herself to his sisters and brothers.
Bryan greeted her with a handshake, nodding his head toward Aaron. “It’s a good thing you got here when you did. I thought he was going to track you down if you didn’t come soon.” Eva laughed and looked at Aaron, who shrugged. He knew that he was going to have to deal with some good natured ribbing; he only hoped that it would not be too harsh.
“Nice to meet you.” Reagan hugged Eva, surprising her with the welcome reaction. Aaron knew that was just his sister’s nature, and he was thankful for it. Adelaide held back a little bit, but he knew once she got to know Eva she would love her as much as he did.
“What the hell?! Where is everybody?” They heard from inside the house. No one was surprised that Conner was the last to get there, other than he was screaming. He tended to make a big entrance.
“And there’s your brother,” his mother said, turning to chastise Conner for screaming in her house when she noticed the six pack in his hands.
Susan put her hands on her hips. “Why did you bring beer?”
Susan laughed at him. “Well, no, but I don’t want Eva to think my kids are a bunch of raging alcoholics.”
Conner pointed his two index fingers at her. “Your kids, or yourself?”
His mother slapped him on the chest. “Shut up. Eva, ignore him, he’s an idiot.”
Eva laughed good-naturedly. “I am well aware of what Conner is capable of. Last week when he was working on the bathroom, he flipped the breaker and had me thinking that the power was out.” Everyone laughed—all but Gwen—knowing that he could be a bit of a jokester.
Conner put his hands on his chest, shaking his head in disagreement. “Hey, it could happen to anyone.”
“Right,” Eva said sarcastically, cocking her head, “and what about the bitter coffee?”
Conner laughed, remembering when he switched out her normal coffee for an especially bitter brew. “Ok, that was me. But moving on before my mother or Bryan kills me for making fun of you in the middle of a job, how are you?” He hugged her and she found herself missing her own brother.
She smiled, green eyes sparkling. “Good, thanks.”
Everyone started to break up into various groups, and Eva was able to mingle with all of Aaron’s family. She found her sister’s kindred spirit in Reagan, and a serious business-minded one in Adelaide. She could see how much they really loved their brother and seemed genuinely interested in learning more about her and her family. She couldn’t help but notice that Gwen and Conner gravitated toward each other and talked for a long period of time, and although she tried not to worry, she couldn’t help herself. She was finally able to extract herself from his sisters as she made her way over to where Aaron was talking to Bryan.
Aaron was happy to see how well everyone got along, wrapping his arm around Eva as she moved closer before kissing her on the head. “How was the lion’s den?”
She chuckled, and he knew she was recalling her earlier nervousness. “It was good. I really like your family.”
“You do?” Bryan said, “That’s great, because this guy right here…” he pointed his thumb at Aaron “…has been doing some serious drooling over you. If I had to hear him whining one more time about you and the whole situation with your mother, I would have killed him.”
“Really?” Eva looked at Aaron in a way that clearly told him he was going to be hearing about it later on.
He cleared his throat, drinking his beer. “Well, I may have asked for his advice about helping you.”
Bryan laughed at his response. “Is that what we are calling it now? He was horrible, conspiring ways to help you out without your knowledge.” She took a step back out of his arms, and Aaron would have happily punched his brother in his big fat mouth.
Eva glared at Aaron. “He did?”
Aaron could feel his face getting red and scratched his neck as he thought about how to crawl himself out of his current hole. “Mom?”
“Yeah, hun?” she replied, blissfully unaware of the hot seat her current son was sitting on.
“Is dinner ready?”
“I just have to get a couple of things from the kitchen before we’re ready. Want to help?” Aaron took off like his ass was on fire, and if the look on Eva’s face was any indication, he was going to be hearing about it later on.
Aaron briefly thought of beating the shit out of his brother, but he knew that wouldn’t do any good. She probably would have found out about his poking around anyway; he just wished it wasn’t in the way she had. He quickly helped his mother, making sure everything looked good before they sat down.
He noticed how his family seemed to gravitate toward Eva, everyone making sure that she was comfortable before he sat down behind her. Despite her irritation at him, he noticed that her attention was on Gwen and his brother. Interesting, he thought and hoped that they knew what they were doing. From what he’d heard about Gwen she didn’t need any additional crap, and he knew that his brother tended to be a one-night stand king.
Aaron wondered if he should say something, before Eva turned to look at him and gave him a reassuring smile before whispering, “You aren’t off the hook. We will be talking later.”
“Gotcha,” he murmured before asking her to pass the hamburgers, not looking forward to his talk with her later on, if the glare she sent him was any indication. “If it makes you feel any better, I can beat the shit out of Conner if he gets too frisky.”
Eva couldn’t stop the smirk that came from Aaron’s comment, despite her irritation with him. What the fuck was his brother talking about him trying to help her? She knew that he always bugged her about trying to help, but going to his brother was just a bit over the top. Did he not listen to her when she said that she didn’t need or want his help? She would just have to file that piece of information away for later, because now she was thoroughly enjoying the dinner and the company.
She found Aaron’s family honest, generous, and fun. She could tell that they liked and respected each other, if their interactions before and during the meal were any indication. It made Eva miss her family, the easy banter and family dinners she had missed since she had been down here. They also subscribed by the philosophy stretch or starve; they reached for food with gumption, and she and Gwen watched the feeding frenzy before Aaron nudged her and told her to put some food on her plate.
“So how do you like the food?” Susan asked as Eva was in the middle of a big bite.
She smiled and wiped her mouth before answering, “These burgers are great! What is in the middle?”
“Those are my famous blue cheese burgers,” Ian said, his chest puffing with the compliment.
“Well, it is one of the best that I have ever had.”
“I’m glad. How is the house working out for you?”
“It’s good, thanks for asking.” She had come to Susan a couple of days after she gave her the letter to ask about Elizabeth. That is how she was thinking of her mother, as Elizabeth, because she knew that her real mother would always be Linda, who was there throughout all the highs and lows of her life and would continue to be there for her. It was good to share information with Susan and hear her talk about the different things her mother did for Susan’s family.
“I have just about gone through all the stuff and I am trying to figure out where to put everything so I can get the house ready to sell.” She felt Aaron stiffen beside her but chose to ignore it. He knew that she was leaving—a couple of great nights were not going to stop that—and she figured that ignoring that was the best way to go.
“You aren’t going to keep it? Even as a weekend home?” She knew why Susan was asking, it was an amazing house and most people would love to live in it. She was not most people, however, and didn’t know what she would do with a house two hours away.
“I have thought about it, but I am still deciding. I love the house, but I am trying to figure out what I am going to do with a house that is two hours away from where I work. At this point though, I am not seeing a reason to keep it. It isn’t like Highland Creek is a bubbling tourist spot.”
Ian laughed. “You have a point about the tourism, but I would recommend you keep the property, if for nothing else than because you will have a viable asset.”
“I’ll think about it,” she said, glad when Gwen turned to her and asked her a question.
Dinner continued on as it began, with food, jokes, and a bunch of laughter. After dinner was even better, his parents taking advantage of the wonderful summer night to roast s’mores outside by the fire pit. Kelly loved it and she ran around the fire excitedly, begging her Meemaw for more despite her father saying no. It tended to be a running joke because Bryan didn’t look that mad that his girl was getting hyped up on sugar. Eva excused herself toward the end of the night, desperately needing the bathroom, unsurprised when she saw Aaron outside the door waiting for her. He had been a bit clingy that night, mayb
e because he sensed her earlier nervousness when dealing with his family.
“Hey, babe.” He rubbed his hand down her arm, pulling her farther down the hallway into one of the bedrooms. She looked around, noting the sports trophies and the room that looked like a typical high schooler’s room before she asked if it was his.
“Yep.” He brushed his nose across hers as he pushed her against the door. He leaned down to kiss her before she realized that she was still irritated at him.
She shoved him back, pointing her finger in her face. “I’m mad at you. Don’t try to kiss me. What did your brother mean when he said that you were going behind my back to try and see if you could help me?”
He grabbed her finger and kissed it, brown eyes pleading. “Can we talk about it later? I just want to hold you and we don’t have much time before we will get interrupted. He leaned down again, and she found herself caving as he pressed his lips over hers. She opened her mouth, moaning as his tongue slipped in. The kiss went from zero to sixty, which tended to be their MO, and she hooked her leg over his waist and leaned forward, trying to get closer.
“I’m not going to last,” he whispered, and she shook her head no as she reached for her zipper. He freed himself and pumped a couple of times while she pulled down her pants and underwear before he lifted her against the door and thrust into her with no warning, sliding in smoothly because she was already wet for him.
“Right there.” She rocked into him as he helped her move up and down. His thrusts became quicker and quicker before they finally looked at each other, kissing, as he reached down to rub her clit, causing her to squirm. Eva felt herself close to the edge, urging him on with her moans of pleasure, before she bit down on his shoulder, shuddering through her release. Aaron followed soon after, groaning as he shot into her. He panted frantically near her ear, still holding her up against the door through sheer will, and she felt so boneless she knew that if he had let her go, she would have slid happily to the floor.