by Marie Garner
Directly to the left she saw the deep white sink with a light colored marble counter and white cabinets with the mirror above the sink. In something she hadn’t seen before, he put the old-school claw-foot bathtub under the window on the left side of the room, with another mini sink identical to the first one on the other side of it. Because the bathroom was in an L shape, directly in front of her was the vanity where she could see herself getting ready with the toilet in an alcove with its own door. Despite how much she liked the tub, she was in love with the walk-in shower that had jets from different sides so it made you feel like you were standing under a waterfall. She laughed as she saw the sign he hung to the side of the vanity that simply stated “Primping ain’t easy” with a bunch of bobby pins. It was so her and he seemed to take her mother’s dream and hers to make it her own. She was embarrassed at the tears that wanted to come, but she knew that despite what he thought, he had given her back a little piece of her sanity.
“I don’t know how to thank you,” she gushed and giggled when she saw him blushing. He was not one to blush, and it made him look younger than he was.
He disagreed. “You don’t have to thank me. I was just doing my job.”
She was still staring around the room, not quite believing this was really her bathroom. “I think we both know this is more than a job. You truly have a gift; I just don’t have the words.”
He waved her off, grinning when she looked at the room. “As long as you like it. That is all I care about.”
“Well if you ever need anyone to vouch for you, just let me know.”
“Thanks, I try.” He shoved his hands in his pockets, looking everywhere but her, like he didn’t know what to do with her fawning all over him.
She had a feeling that she knew what he wanted to ask, but she didn’t want to rock the boat in regard to his relationship to Gwen.
He seemed to finally find his voice when he said, “Well I am going to get out of here. It is kind of weird though, because I feel like you are so much more than a client and I don’t know what I am going to do without coming to see you every day.”
“You are so sweet.” She hugged him. “And I feel the same way about you. It is going to be really quiet around here for the rest of the summer.”
He laughed and pointed at her. “There was a time when all you wanted was quiet.”
She laughed, remembering those first couple of weeks in town. “Things change. And I can’t wait to try this bathroom out so I can get ready to get my tattoo.”
“I didn’t know you were going to get a tattoo.”
“Yeah, I am going to get one to remember my mom, and with it being my birthday in two days, Gwen is going to come down and go with me.” She mentally cringed when she saw him jerk as though he had been shocked.
“Gwen’s coming?” She noticed his fists were balled up, but she didn’t know how to help either of them.
“Yeah, I guess she didn’t tell you.” He looked at her surprised, so she told him, “She told me you guys still talk.”
“We do. Friends ’til the end.”
She knew that he had a problem with everything that was going on with Gwen, but she didn’t know what to tell him. Gwen was almost fanatical when it came to sticking with her commitment, and Eva didn’t know how to get her out of it.
“Look, I know that you may have hoped that something would happen between you two…” she laughed, but there was no real humor in it “…but you need to give her time. Gwen is nothing if not loyal, and she is trying to work it out with her husband, even if that is not the best place for her.”
“But you don’t understand, I can’t just sit still while …” He stopped suddenly and looked guilty, as though he had already said too much.
She narrowed her eyes. If something was wrong with Gwen, she needed to know. “Sit still while what?”
“Nothing. Just forget I said anything. I’m glad that you love the bathroom, and I will check back with you later on.”
He stormed out, and didn’t stop when Eva yelled, “Wait!”
What the hell was that about? she thought when he slammed the door shut, but whatever it was, she had a bad feeling about it.
Not even her gorgeous new bathroom could calm Eva’s concerns over Gwen and the weird way Conner stormed out when they started talking about her. That concern only grew when she opened the door to a much skinner Gwen. One of the things she always loved about Gwen was her curves; she truly did have an amazing body. All the guys gravitated toward her, and Eva was always jealous of the attention she got. This was not the same Gwen. She looked like she had lost about fifteen pounds, and she hated Nick on sight. Despite what Gwen said, she knew that fucker probably had something to do with the new weight loss.
She wasn’t thinking when she blurted out, “What the hell happened to you? How much weight have you lost?”
Gwen was oblivious to her reaction, because she spun and said, “Isn’t it great? I have been trying to lose weight for months and I am finally hitting my stride.”
“Why would you try to lose weight? You looked great before,” she said, hugging her as she ushered her into the house.
“Well, Nick loves it and that’s what I am going for.”
“Who the hell cares about Nick? Are you really that happy with it?”
“Nick is my husband, and it is my job to please him. I think that was part of the problem before. I wasn’t able to please him. He was always a little critical of my weight so he loves this.”
Eva had to count to ten, then count again, before she felt comfortable saying something that would not offend Gwen. She didn’t know what the hell happened to Gwen in the time that she had been home. The girl had only been there about three weeks and she talked about him like he said and did nothing wrong. Did she forget the reason she originally left? The motherfucker cheated on her, something Eva was not going to forgive, regardless of what Gwen thought.
“Whatever. Know that this conversation is not over, because you are really starting to worry me with all the shit you have been saying about pleasing Nick, and how you were the problem in your marriage, and now we have dramatic weight loss. We will definitely be talking tonight, but for right now we need to get to the tattoo place.”
“Fine, but we are not talking about this tonight.” Gwen put her hands on her hips in a gesture that Eva recognized as stubborn Gwen about to come out.
“It’s my birthday tomorrow, and if I want to talk about it, we will.” It was a low blow, especially the way Gwen’s eyes narrowed, but drastic times called for drastic measures. This shit was crazy, and she was done having to put up with it.
“So talk,” Eva said over pizza with Gwen that night.
Gwen had been able to avoid the conversation all throughout getting the tattoos, but time was up. Gwen stared at her tattoo, the infinity symbol with the anchor on one in that said “I refuse to sink” to draw strength from the permanent ink she had put on her wrist.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” She put her head in her hands in defeat. “I have been working really hard to try to make my marriage work, but I don’t think it is going to happen.”
Eva was getting pissed, sounding harsh when she asked her, “Why do you keep spouting off shit that the therapist is saying, which is a very critical toward you?”
Gwen sighed. “Well, she keeps saying that if I say something often enough that it would make it true. She told me that I need to repeat the things that we talk about during therapy to help me internalize them.”
“What the fuck, Gwen? Do you believe what you say?”
“I don’t know.” She pouted and Eva couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. “The problem is that although I don’t believe it all, especially all the stuff about me being mostly to blame, it seems to be helping my marriage. Nick has been more attentive, we have been going on dates, and I am really starting to fall back in love with my husband.”
Was Eva the only one with any sense in this situation? “Can�
�t that happen without you believing you are the problem?”
She focused on scratching her nail on a spot on the table. “Probably. And Nick has been really weird lately, saying stuff like he is really glad that I have gotten my act together. I didn’t know that my actions were such a problem. He never said anything, so why is it an issue now?”
“I am going to ask you like I asked you before; do you want to make it work?”
She focused on Eva now, nodding her head forcefully. “I do. I took a vow to stand by my man through better or for worse, this just happens to be worse.”
“While I agree with that sentiment, you didn’t sleep with anyone else, Nick did. You can’t, regardless of what your therapist says, take responsibility for that. She is crazy if she says it is your fault. Were there problems in your relationship? Yes. Did you cause them all by yourself? No. You can’t keep running yourself into the ground because your husband ran around on you. And why aren’t you eating?”
“I eat.” Gwen tried to defend herself. Eva just pointed at the half-eaten slice of pizza.
“Really? Because two months ago you would be on your second piece, and that doesn’t include the breadsticks. You were healthy before, now you just look like a stick.”
Gwen picked it up, taking a dramatic bite before she threw it back down on the plate. “I’m trying, ok? I am just really stressed, and I have been so worried about all this stuff with Nick that I’ve had too much on my mind to eat. It has been really hard with you here; all I have done is sit in the house and think about Nick and his cheating and what I can do to make him stay faithful.”
“Gwen.”
“What?” Gwen picked at her pizza, not looking at Eva. Eva put her finger under Gwen’s chin, lifting her head so she was facing Eva.
“Nick is not your father.” Eva stared into her eyes, willing Gwen to believe her.
“I know,” she whispered, turning away with tears in her eyes.
Eva touched her arm, making Gwen turn back to her. “Do you? Because you are starting to sound like your mother.”
Gwen nodded her head, wiping away the tears that fell. “I know he is not my dad. He wants to try to work it out. I guess I am just too much of my mother’s daughter to not worry.”
“It will be ok.” Eva handed Gwen a paper towel, which she used to dab her eyes.
“Yeah, I know.” Gwen breathed in raggedly, exhaling loudly.
Eva pressed on, wanting to make sure Gwen understood what she was trying to say. “But I am just going to say this … if you want your marriage to work, you have to be you all the time. Nick needs to rediscover Gwen, not some creepy Stepford wife.”
She exhaled again, no longer crying. “Got it, boss. Now what about you?”
Eva pursed her lips, confused by the subject change. “What about me?”
“What’s going on with your boyfriend?” She smirked, signs of the old Gwen coming out.
Eva blushed, embarrassed to be in the hot seat. “Nothing. I am still leaving in two weeks, and I don’t know how I am going to be able to do it. The company is great, the sex is amazing, and we have been spending most of our free time together.”
Gwen’s eyes widened. “That’s going to be hard when you go back.”
“Tell me about it. And to top it off, we finally said that we love each other a couple days ago.”
Gwen clapped excitedly. “That’s great! Why am I just now finding this out?”
“It was still so new; I didn’t want to spoil it. We still don’t have any long-term plans and I am a little nervous because I’m leaving in a couple of weeks to go home.”
Gwen leaned over, propping her arm against the table and playing with her hair. “He hasn’t said anything about one of you guys relocating?”
“No, he still talks about having a long-distance relationship. I have been trying to drop hints, but I don’t think he is getting the message.”
“Have you told him that you would probably be willing to move here?”
Eva shook her head. “Not really. I know he loves me, and I know that he wants to make it work but until I know for sure that he wants a long-term future, I don’t want to put myself out there and get rejected.”
Gwen laughed at her, wondering where her apprehension was coming from. “You’re crazy if you think he doesn’t want you. That guy is crazy about you; he talks about you all the time. And Conner was telling me that he has never seen him this hung up on a girl before.”
Eva perked up, smiling broadly. “That just made my day. I have been really nervous about everything, and debating about whether or not I should just blurt it out, even though I am terrified.”
“You will never know unless you tell him. Think about it like this, there are only two ways this could go: either he is thrilled and you guys make plans for you to move down here sometime soon, or he rejects the idea. If he rejects you, although it will hurt, you will only be down here for another week or so before you are leaving. You could definitely just sell the house, no harm no foul.”
Except my broken heart, Eva thought silently before she told Gwen, “You’re right. I have nothing to lose by telling him.”
Thirty years old. Eva didn’t feel much different than twenty-nine, but she had a renewed sense of optimism since she had come to Highland Creek. She had a great guy, she had closure with her mother, and she was looking forward to what the next year held. Waking up in Aaron’s arms had been amazing; they had crazy monkey sex before he went to work with promises of more that night. She had spoken with her parents and her siblings, who all wished her a happy birthday, and the barrage of texts from friends left her feeling loved and appreciated.
She was spending the evening with Aaron, who had promised her a surprise, and she couldn’t wait. The only thing not going great was Gwen; although Eva had decided over the last day Gwen stayed with her that she was an adult who had to decide how she wanted to be treated. If she wasn’t willing to demand respect from her husband, Eva was not going to put herself in a position to argue with her best friend. Her phone pinged and she glanced to see the text from Aaron.
Aaron: You on your way?
Eva: In a minute. Have to look great for you ;)
Aaron: You always look great for me. Hurry up
Eva: lol … Hold your horses … Leaving in five.
Eva had decided earlier that since it was her birthday she should be able to get whatever she wanted. This was why she was going to tell him tonight that she wanted to move here within the next year, because she figured he would have to agree. Better wait ’til the end of the night, she thought warily, in case he rejects you. She wasn’t normally so unsure of herself; the only thing she could figure was because Aaron really mattered. She didn’t think he would tell her no; they had a pretty solid foundation and he seemed to be committed to making a relationship work. This was not like her at all. They hadn’t known each other every long, but she had a feeling they would last.
Although Eva thought it was odd he wanted her to come to his house because he normally picked her up, she was just excited for her surprise. He came to the door, leaning in to kiss her hello.
“Hey, babe. Happy birthday!” He rubbed his hands through her hair, kissing her again, pulling back before they got to the good stuff.
“Let’s go back here.” He pulled her toward the back where she saw lights twinkling on the back deck. He obviously put some thought into this, and she couldn’t help thinking how lucky she was to have met this amazing man regardless of the circumstances.
“Surprise!”
She screamed, shocked to see all of her family as well as his on the back deck. Eva rushed forward to give her parents a hug, happy to see them. This was better than anything she could have wished, having all the people that loved her there to celebrate her birthday. After she hugged her parents, as well as his, she felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see Gwen.
“I thought you went home this morning! You lied!”
Gwen laughed. “Guilty!
I was dying not telling you, but I wanted it to be a surprise. Plus, Aaron threatened to kill me. I’ve just been hanging out at Aaron’s house, lying low and helping with the party.”
Eva turned to the guy in question and gave him a loud smacking kiss on the cheek. “Thank you for this.”
He grinned down at her. “Always, babe.”
Eva rubbed her hand down his chest. “I was just thinking about how I am really lucky to be where I am right now, and a large part of that is because of you.” She could see her speech got to him the way his jaw worked to keep his emotions in check.
“The same can be said for you. I didn’t realize what I was missing until you came into my life.” He kissed her with all the emotion he didn’t want to show before whispering in her ear, “I hope that I am in your life for a long time to come.” He had no idea how much his words made her heart soar and smoothed over her nerves about what she would be telling him tonight. She knew that he would want her here, and she couldn’t wait to see his reaction.
“Alright, guys, if everyone has said hello, foods up!” Aaron’s dad seemed to be the guy that kept everyone on track with regard to the food. Eva thought back to the cookout with Aaron’s family, but with seven people they needed someone to keep them in line. She noticed that Gwen sat next to Conner, but she didn’t say anything because she was trying to mind her own business about all of drama surrounding Gwen.
“Have you had a good birthday?” Aaron’s mother asked from across the table where she sat with Eva’s mother and father.
She smiled at them, thinking about the assistance Susan gave her in the beginning. “It’s been great. I always wondered what I would feel like turning thirty, but I couldn’t be happier with the way things are going, everything considered.”