by Nicole Casey
I heard Terra chiding him in a low voice, but I knew no amount of reasoning would change his mind.
He had disowned me.
Any family I had was gone forever, just like Nick.
As I fell into the rainy street, oblivious to the happy banter of Christmas shoppers and Salvation Army Santas, I wondered if I would ever recover from the losses I had experienced over the past year.
I couldn’t imagine a world where that was possible.
“Eve! You’re needed outside!” Sister Kate called to me.
I smiled briefly at the boy on my lap and patted his cheek softly.
“Off you go, Mikhail, I will be back after I unload the supplies,” I told him in Russian.
His haunted brown eyes seemed disappointed, but he scurried off my legs to allow me to help with the incoming load.
I paused to grab my mittens and jacket.
The thaw was slow coming this year and although the calendar claimed it was April, it still had the harshness of February in the air.
I pulled my coat over my head and hurried toward the truck where two men were unloading to Sister Kate and Sister Audrey.
“I’ve got this,” I muttered, stepping before the elderly nuns.
Time froze as the man’s back tensed and I felt my bowels turn to water.
“Eve?”
I gasped, my knees buckling as Nick stared back at me, his blue eyes wide with shock.
He leapt from the lip of the vehicle, grabbing me by the waist and spinning me around in a massive bear hug.
“It’s really you!” he cried. Tears filled my irises and I gaped at him, unsure of what to say.
“What are you doing here?” I croaked, looking at the nuns in panic.
He shrugged nonchalantly, pointing at the truck.
“I’ve been delivering supplies to the missions all over Europe and Africa for the past two years.”
I stared at him in disbelief.
“This is what you’ve been doing with your money?” I asked, and he nodded almost sheepishly.
“After you left, I had no sense of direction,” he told me, brushing a strand of hair from my forehead. “I wanted to be connected to you if I couldn’t be with you, but I think I always knew one day our paths would meet again.”
I felt my heart kick in my chest for what felt like the first time in years and I looked at the man who had spun my life completely upside down.
“Say something,” he begged. “Anything.”
What could I say?
I became pregnant with our child and didn’t tell you?
I gave birth to our child and didn’t tell you?
I gave our child up to my brother and she will have nothing to do with me now?
“Eva?”
His voice was laced with worry and I knew there was only one thing I could say.
“I am so glad you found me,” I whispered, pulling him close. “We’ll never be apart again.”
“No,” he agreed. “I will never let you go and nothing will ever keep us apart.”
But as we kissed, I wondered how much he meant that or what he would do if he ever learned the truth about Hope.
Epilogue
NICK
As I returned to the workshop, I felt a slight sense of unease. It wasn’t unusual for Eva to grow melancholy over the holidays, but it seemed that as the years passed, she was becoming increasingly discontent.
No matter how often I tried to coax her make amends with Matthew, the subject seemed off limits for some reason I couldn’t comprehend.
Matthew cannot be so stubborn that he is angry with his sister after all these years. I understand why he would still be mad at me but Eva?
I continued to work on the inventory, pausing to glance out the snowcapped window panes toward the main house which Eva and I had bought on the outskirts of Moscow.
We still did our missionary work together, but we lived away from the center of the city, so we could indulge in our passions for one another without the prying eyes of the nuns.
I was relieved that Eva had never taken her vows, but I confess, sometimes, I took naughty enjoyment in the fact that my wife had almost become a nun and I had lured her away from the path of righteousness with my manhood.
Even from the distance between us, I could make out Eva staring out the window into nothingness.
Sighing, I decided I had enough.
I am doing this for Eva, I told myself, gritting my teeth as I turned toward my computer. Personal feelings aside, family is family.
I reminded myself that once Matt had been like a brother to me also.
Taking a deep breath, I opened my email and began to type before I could change my mind.
It took me half an hour to finish it but when I finally hit “send” I felt a huge weight lift off my shoulders.
I managed to keep bitterness from my tone. After all, it was Christmas. If Matthew ever got over himself, I could yell at him face to face like real families did.
I sat back in the simple chair, folding my arms across my chest with a small smile on my face.
No matter what happens, at least we can say we tried, I thought. And it will never be on Eva’s conscious again.
I reveled in my self-satisfaction a while longer before returning to the daunting task of loading up the truck for Christmas deliveries in the morning.
The barn door swung inward, and Eva stood, her face pale.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, sitting up to stare at her.
She took a deep breath and stepped forward.
“There’s something I need to tell you,” she whispered, her luminous eyes filled with tears.
“What is it?” I demanded, worry seizing me. I had never seen her look so gaunt.
“Sit down,” she instructed, and I sank into the chair near the computer.
“You’re scaring me, Eve,” I told her. “What is going on?”
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
“You and I have a daughter,” she blurted out. I stared at her uncomprehendingly.
“What?” I asked, sure I had misunderstood. “We have a what?”
She shook her head miserably.
“We have a daughter. Matthew is raising her.”
A thousand thoughts flew through my mind, but I still did not know how to respond.
“You can’t email Matthew because he has forbidden me from contacting him.”
I gazed at her, a knife twisting in my chest.
“He can’t do that, Eve!” I yelled. “That’s our child!”
She shook her head miserably.
“Not any more. I signed all the papers – “
She dissolved into a puddle of tears and all I could do was jump up to console her.
How could I blame her for what she had done? I had not been there for her when she needed me. What choice did she have?
I embraced her tightly and felt her tremble against me.
We would make it through this, that I was sure of but how? Would we fight for our daughter? How could we take her away from the only parents she had ever known for a decade?
The computer dinged suddenly, indicating that I had an email incoming.
I set my wife back and turned to the computer, my heart racing.
“Matthew emailed me back,” I told her, turning my eyes on her as my fingers clicked on the keyboard mouse.
Eva’s face went ashen as she waited for me to read it.
I scanned the words, my head growing light.
“What does it say?” she gasped. “Is he threatening legal action?”
I shook my head.
“No,” I replied slowly. “He wants us to come home and meet our daughter.”
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- END -
Author’s Note
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my book. I hope you have enjoyed reading this book as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it. If you enjoyed this story, please consider leaving a short honest review on Amazon. I w
ould love to know what you think. Your support REALLY means a lot and keeps me going.
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