by Marie Garner
One Year Later
“Brea!”
“Lance!”
Here we go again, Brea thought ruefully as she and Lance smiled brightly while they walked arm in arm down the red carpet of Lance’s latest movie premiere. The lights were blinding, but they always were, and the thrill of screaming fans vying for their attention never got old. Brea thankfully was still doing what she loved, and she was proud to support Lance in his latest venture.
“Is that an engagement ring on your finger?” someone shouted. She glanced at Lance, who smirked and straightened his tie, letting her know it was her news to tell.
“Yes, it is!” She winked and wagged her hand. The clicking cameras were deafening, and they gathered around like sharks in a feeding frenzy. Lance laughed at her, kissing her softly on the cheek. The last year had been amazing; she and Lance had grown stronger every day. They had gone back a couple of times to visit his family and hers, and each time she considered it a blessing. While the proposal wasn’t completely unexpected, the manner in which he did it was true Lance fashion. She should have known something was up when he arranged for a romantic dinner for two last week on their vacation to the Dominican Republic, but she was completely blown away by the words he spoke, with promises to love and cherish her forever. It still brought tears in her eyes when she remembered.
“This has been amazing.” Brea leaned her head back on Lance’s shoulder when he put his arms on either side of her and gripped the yacht railing. They were on a private sunset cruise Lance had chartered, completed with dinner and an adventure in whale watching. It was on Brea’s bucket list, and she didn’t realize Lance was paying attention when they discussed it a couple months before until he whisked her away to Punta Cana as their last hoorah before they started working again. He had thought of everything: breakfast in bed, a couple’s spa package, a candlelit dinner on the beach, and turndown service every night. It was the last evening of their vacation, and Lance said he wanted to surprise her, which he had in spades.
“Hmmm,” he hummed his agreement, kissing the side of her neck while they watched the sunset before them.
“Did you get enough pictures?” he teased, because she had taken about a million pictures since they started the cruise, not wanting to miss any of the whales. She turned in his arms, looking up at him and pouting her lips while she drilled her finger in his side.
“Yes,” she answered, smiling when he leaned down for a kiss.
“Good,” he said when he pulled back. “But I have one more surprise.”
“What is it?” she asked, part anticipation, part fear. He still liked to do stuff for shock value; it always kept her on her toes.
“This.” He stepped back and kneeled in front of her. Brea gasped, her hand covering her mouth as her eyes watered. She shook her head, not believing what she was seeing. In his hand, he held a ten-carat cushion diamond ring, complete with two carats of diamonds on the side and band. It could poke someone’s eye out, and it was simply breathtaking. She and Lance had been doing amazingly, and though she knew they were heading toward marriage, never in her wildest dreams would she have imagined this was his surprise.
“Brea Richards, when I met you I wanted you, but that was pure lust because you were hot as Hell.” Brea chucked, wiping the tears as they fell before Lance continued. “Never in a million years would I ever believe what started as a simple flirtation would turn into so much more. You are loyal, loving, and one of the most amazing women I have ever known. You challenge me, you complete me, and I couldn’t imagine walking through this life with anyone but you. Would you do me the immense pleasure of being my wife?”
“You know I will,” she smiled, wiping the happy tears falling down her cheeks. Lance got up from the floor before he slid the ring on her finger, complete with a bruising kiss to match.
“You know what this means, right?” He grinned like a Cheshire cat while he continued to hold her with her hands on his shoulders.
“What?” She studied the ring where it sat on her finger, loving everything about it. She wanted to ask if he had help picking it out, but she didn’t want to ruin the shine of the evening.
“I finally one-upped you. You didn’t even see this coming!”
“You did not one-up me.” She slapped his arm so he knew she wasn’t amused, but he was correct when he said she didn’t see it coming. She simply kissed him, figuring her own surprise could wait until tomorrow. The baby wasn’t going anywhere for eight months.
“That ought to keep them occupied for a while,” she whispered into his ear.
“Good call,” he agreed, rubbing her side lightly. To anyone watching, it would look like he was lovingly caressing his fiancé. Only a handful of people knew he was actually caressing their baby. She was only two months along, still too early to show, but she figured if they threw the media a bone with their engagement, they would leave her alone.
“Let’s get this show on the road,” she said, eager to get beyond the flashing lights and prying eyes. They still had too many paparazzi for her tastes, but at least they stopped coming by incessantly taking pictures. As far as the other stuff, everything worked out in the end.
Alex had another six months on his probation, and then he was moving to LA. She had finally convinced him he would have more opportunities here and had even offered to front him the money for his shop. Alex told her he couldn’t accept, but she kindly reminded him who provided the money for her to leave all those years ago, and sent her away on a wing and a prayer. She told Lance it was fate. He told her it was because she was so damn annoying when it came to something she wanted, she wore him down. He didn’t get laid for a couple days after that, her most effective form of how-to-get-Lance-to-do-what-I-want.
And as far as Maggie Beach and The Misses, it was set to premiere in two weeks. Brea had to hand it to the higher-ups. They really tried to stick to firing her and letting the other three go, but the backlash was so severe they knew Maggie Beach was essentially over if they chose not to rehire them. Plus, they decided the evil you know was better than the evil you didn’t, which is what they would be going through if they tried to have a completely new cast. Besides, after being in a ratings war for months, Maggie Beach was able to pull it out at the end, winning in the ratings and raking in the awards. Brea won the best actress award again, one of only a couple handfuls of people ever to do so, and the show won the award for best series.
“What did you think of that meeting?” Lance asked later when they were lounging in bed, referring to the meeting they had with Garrett the previous week. He had told them in no uncertain terms they had received a reprieve last year, but the higher-ups wanted them to lay low and keep their newsworthy actions at a minimum. Then he asked if there was anything they should know about before it hit the papers, but unsurprisingly no one spoke up. It was none of his business anyway. For once, he was staring at Brea and not Raquel, who those talks were usually referring.
“I don’t know.” She rubbed her foot up his leg, not wanting to talk about the show. One of the side effects of her pregnancy was her bottomless libido. Lance didn’t seem to mind, so she told him to keep the orgasms coming.
One Week Later
“We got a problem.” Raquel sounded strange, like she’d been crying. But Brea often joked she had an icy heart, so that couldn’t be right.
“What’s wrong?” Brea asked, concerned.
“My…sister…” Raquel started sobbing uncontrollably and Brea couldn’t have gotten a word in if she tried.
“Raquel, calm down, and tell me what’s wrong.”
“This is horrible! She’s twenty-three!” Raquel started raging, but Brea felt like she was missing an important piece of information. Raquel’s sister, Ainsley, had recently graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Nursing. She had just gotten a job at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center working in Pediatrics, and Brea knew she was going to be a compassionate, dedicated nurse. Ainsley was gorgeous like Raquel, but with a bright and bubb
ly personality, which made all those around her happy.
“What’s wrong with your sister?” Brea asked one more time, hoping to get better answers.
“She’s pregnant! She’s pregnant and alone, and the dad skipped out when she told him.”
“Oh,” Brea said, sitting on the couch. “Well, Raquel, this isn’t the end of the world.”
“I know. She’s just so young to have to shoulder so much responsibility. I want better for my sister.”
“We’re all here to support her.”
“Thanks,” she sniffled. “I knew I could count on you. I just want to make sure Ainsley is okay. My mom flipped out when she told them the other day, and my brother isn’t speaking to her.”
“They’ll come around. I’m sure it was just a shock.”
“I know,” she sighed. “Thanks.”
“Hey, how’s everything else going?” Raquel had recently met with her spin-doctor; the meeting had been a year in the making. Apparently, he was so mad she refused to follow his orders, he told her she could wait until he had time for her. Raquel, being Raquel, said fuck it and ditched him, but after the latest incident, her agent said she didn’t have a choice. Either she needed to get her shit together or he would no longer represent her.
“The meeting was…interesting. He’s going to be a pleasure to work with; he’s a very pleasant man.”
Brea laughed. “I know what that means.”
“What?”
“It means you wanted to claw his eyes out, but couldn’t because you need him.”
“Well, let’s just say he’s lucky he’s gorgeous…”
Read other books by Marie Garner
To all the people who have read this story, I hope you enjoy Brea and Lance’s journey as much as I loved creating it. If you would be so kind, please take a moment to leave a review.
It is not every day that you can merge your passion with your career, something that I have been very fortunate to do. There are not enough words to thank all the people who have been with me throughout this whole process. My family, friends, and all the wonderful people I have had the pleasure to work with and let me bounce ideas of them. To my cover and formatter extraordinaire E. M. Tippets, you always seem to take what I envision and make it come to life. I will forever be grateful for you. To Peggy and Becky at Hot Tree Editing, thank you so much for making the editing process as easy as possible, and helping me produce this amazing story. To all of the authors and bloggers I have had the pleasure to meet on this amazing journey, thank you for your love and support. And to everyone who picked up a copy of my book, thank you.
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Continue reading for an excerpt from
Finding Eva (Highland Creek Book 1) by Marie Garner
Available Now!
This letter is to notify you that at the behest of Ms. Matthews the property at 2502 Idols Road, Highland Creek, North Carolina is yours. You may pick up the keys at your earliest convenience…
The contents of the letter played over like a slow loop through Eva’s mind. Regardless of what she thought or believed, she couldn’t get away from it. How the hell did she get an inheritance from her mother? The same mother who was supposed to be dead for the past twenty years. There was only one explanation: her mother had been alive all this time, and her father was a liar, which was part of the reason she stood in her parents’ living room having it out with her father.
“Is it true?!” Green eyes flashed fire at the man sitting on the couch.
Hazel eyes calmly stared back, his lips curiously pursed. “Is what true?”
That was what she always remembered—the calming presence her father always brought no matter what was going on in their life. Suddenly, she loathed the one thing she always loved.
“My …” she stuttered, not wanting to say the words “… my mother was alive this whole time? The mother you said was dead!” She ended with a screech and her finger in his face to force him to react, anything to help her through the muddle that had become her life in the time it took to read a simple letter.
His eyes widened, letting her know everything she needed to in one look. Her father, her rock, had lied. About everything.
“Now, Eva …” he pleaded with arms raised, but nothing could sway her.
“No! I don’t want to hear it! Nothing you say to me will ever justify the fact that you lied to me … for years … about my mother. Did Mom know?” Eva called her stepmother Mom; it was the only one she remembered. His hesitation was all she needed to get her answer.
“Never mind, don’t worry about answering that. I need to think, and I need to be away from you.”
“You don’t mean that. I can explain.”
“It is a little late to explain now, Dad. I don’t know if I can ever forgive you for this.” She snatched her purse on the way out, ignoring the strangled cry from her father on her quest to get out of her childhood home, the place that suddenly seemed too stifling. Her father and her mother both called several times and left numerous texts. She didn’t care; she wasn’t in the mood to talk to them right now, so she ignored them. Let them worry, she thought. She would deal with them later. The only thing she knew was they lied about her biological mother, something she didn’t know if she could forgive. And what the hell was she going to do with a house from a woman who clearly didn’t want her enough to stay?
Eva Matthews collapsed in her chair with a heavy sigh of relief after the bell rang for lunch, her mind preoccupied by thoughts of her mother.
Her best friend Gwendolyn Martin popped her head in Eva’s classroom. “You coming?”
“No, I was going to eat here.”
“Hoping to avoid dumb-ass Davis? He had a sub today.”
Eva chuckled and thought of the English teacher down the hall. “No…” she brushed long brown hair behind her ear “…I just don’t feel like being with people right now.”
“You ok?” Gwen looked at Eva for the first time since coming into the room and noticed her normally full and wavy honey-blonde hair hung limply over her shoulder. Dark circles under her eyes stood out against her pale complexion while her usually bright green eyes now looked dull and listless. “Just had a rough weekend.”
“Want to talk about it?”
“Yeah, but I don’t want to get into right now. Come over tonight? We can talk over wine and takeout?”
“That should work. Nick called earlier and said he had to work late again.”
With their model good looks and unwavering devotion to each other, Nick and Gwen seemed like the perfect couple. The only downside: Nick was a workaholic, on the fast track to partner at his finance firm. He often worked late, which left Gwen alone most evenings. Eva wouldn’t be able to stand it, but Gwen didn’t seem to mind.
“It’s a date.”
“I’ll see you tonight, then. I have to go eat. We all be can’t be fortunate enough to have planning right after lunch, and I need to have sustenance before these students come.”
Eva laughed. “Have fun. Although, these last days before summer vacation are crowd control more than anything else.”
“Tell me about it. I’ll bring Chinese,” she said with a wave on the way out the door.
Eva shook her head ruefully as she heard the doorbell ring promptly at six. That was Gwen, never late and looking perfect. With long auburn hair and light blue eyes Gwen looked like a 1950s pinup girl. She was also so nice Eva often told her she would hate her if she wasn’t her best friend.
Gwen held up two bags once Eva opened the door. “I got shrimp fried rice, sesame chicken, and egg drop soup with wontons.”
“A girl after my own heart.” Eva grabbed the bags and led Gwen into the living room. “I decided to eat in the living room tonight. Red or white wine?”
“Do you need to ask? Red please.” After everything was situated in the living room, food and wine spread out like a buffet, Gwen turned and looked poi
ntedly at Eva.
“Spill it. I know you tried to avoid whatever is bothering you by being secretive, but I am dying to know.”
“I inherited a house.”
“I’m sorry, what?” Gwen continued to stare; sure she hadn’t heard Eva correctly.
“You heard me. I inherited a house from my mom.”
“Your mom?” Gwen asked, confused. “Your biological mom?”
“The one that has been dead for twenty years? Yep.” Eva nodded her head in affirmation. “Only, it turns out that she wasn’t dead before, but she is as of about a month ago. And the real kicker is my dad and stepmother knew the whole time.”
Eva looked at Gwen to gauge her reaction, hoping she wouldn’t see pity, and laughed out loud. Gwen sat there with a shocked expression on her face; lips open with a piece of chicken midway to her mouth.
“Gwen?” Eva snapped her finger in front of her face. Gwen seemed to snap out of it, closing her mouth suddenly as she put the chicken down.
“You mean …?” she started but couldn’t finish.
“Yes,” Eva nodded in affirmation. “My mother wasn’t dead, but she is now. She gave me her house lock, stock, and barrel. And I don’t know what to do.” Eva finished the last sentence on a whisper, frowning down at her food.
“I mean, how often does this happen? What do you do when you find out your mother was alive but wanted her child to believe she was dead?” Eva stared at the same picture of her mother she had all weekend, eyes welling with tears as a few leaked down the side of her face before she angrily wiped them away. “I don’t even know why I’m crying. I’ve been so pissed at her all weekend I can’t see straight. How dare she do this to me? She should have said nothing and just left me with my memories. But no,” she raged, screaming as Gwen could only stare in shock, “she had to give me this damn house that is only two hours away. So my mom lived two hours away but ignored me. And my father…” she spat the word as though she didn’t want to think about him “…allowed her to do so, and told me she was dead. Instead of a mother, I got a house, and I am supposed to pretend like this is normal. It’s not.”