by Lucy Score
“I was hoping you’d say that,” Donovan said, pasting a cocky grin on his face. “Did you know extortion is a Class D felony? That’s seven years. Throw in the rest of it, and you could be facing up to ten years in the cage. And if you knew how much I loved your daughter, you’d know how badly I want you to say ‘fuck the deal.’”
“I want a lawyer.”
“You heard the lady,” Donovan said lazily to Jamal.
Jamal hauled Agnes to her feet. “You’d better get real comfortable in a cell,” he said cheerfully.
“You’ll never lock me up!” she shrieked.
“News for you, lady, you’re already locked up,” Jamal reminded her.
“Guilty plea, and three years in and out. Or we push for trial. We’ve already got over a dozen witnesses happy to talk about what kind of person you are,” Donovan grinned. “I really hope you don’t take that deal.”
Jamal half-dragged, half-pushed, Agnes down the hallway. Donovan could hear her yelling the entire way.
“Any new injuries?” he asked when Jamal returned.
“Maybe a ruptured ear drum. Nothing a beer and some aspirin won’t fix,” the man promised.
There was a knock on the door. The desk sergeant poked her head in. “More coffee?” she asked, holding up two fresh cups.
“God, yes please,” Donovan sighed.
They sipped in silence for a moment.
“Think she’ll take the deal?” Donovan asked.
“If her lawyer’s got any sense, she will. But I don’t think she’s figured out the rest.”
“You mean the part about how, now that she’s behind bars, all those other bench warrants will come back to haunt her?
“I may have taken the liberty of alerting a few states to the fact that we’ve got Ms. Merill in custody,” Jamal grinned.
“That must have been satisfying,” Donovan guessed.
“Felt pretty damn good,” Jamal said, raising his coffee cup.
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
Dawn was breaking when Donovan left the Cleary Police Station. His body was tired, but his mind was revving as he turned onto the town’s main drag. He needed to talk to Eva. He reached for his phone before remembering it had gone down a sewer drain about a hundred years ago. He couldn’t afford to be without a phone right now.
He spotted a 24-hour pharmacy up ahead and pulled into the parking lot. There was a Mini Cooper just like Eva’s parked on the side. He parked next to it just to feel closer to her.
He got out, stretched, and went in through the automatic door.
“Morning,” he said, greeting the girl behind the register. “You got prepaid phones here?”
She looked up from her tabloid and cappuccino. “Yep. Aisle Seven.”
He headed across the brightly lit store and was halfway to Seven when a flash of red hair caught his eye.
Eva. Every cell in his body sang. It was as if he’d conjured her up out of nowhere.
She was staring at a product display chewing on her lower lip and didn’t notice when he strolled down the aisle.
“Well, aren’t you a sight for exhausted eyes?”
Eva’s eyes widened in shock. Something fell out of her hand onto the floor, and Donovan bent to pick it up.
“What are you doing—”
His question was cut off when he realized what he held in his hand. A generic brand pregnancy test with a man and woman laughing on the box.
She was frozen in place staring in horror at his hand, and the look in her eyes telegraphed everything.
“Are we—”
She snatched the test out of his hand and bolted down the aisle and ran for the front door.
“Hey! You gotta pay for that,” the clerk yelled after her.
Eva ran through the front door, and Donovan heard the rev of her engine before he got the feeling back in his body. After last night, he’d thought there was nothing in this world that could surprise him again.
He was wrong. Big time.
His body started responding to his brain, and he jogged to the front of the store, tossing a ten at the woman behind the register.
“It’s always the pregnancy tests,” she muttered.
Donovan threw his car in gear and peeled out of the parking lot. He could see the blue of her car at the next stop light. There was no way he was letting her get away. He flicked on his lights and siren and took off after her.
--------
“Oh, my God. Oh, my God,” Eva chanted to herself. This was the dumbest thing she’d ever done in her entire life.
The knock on her car window startled her even though she expected it.
Looking straight ahead, Eva pushed the power window button.
“Do you know why I pulled you over, ma’am.”
She closed her eyes. “Because I might be pregnant with your baby even though we haven’t even gone out on a date yet, and I panicked and accidentally shoplifted a pregnancy test because I wanted to be sure before I told you.”
“Also, you went through a yellow light while speeding, and if you are carrying my child, I’m going to have to ask you to be more careful in the future.”
“How can you even joke at a time like this?”
“A time like what?” he asked, leaning in the window.
“Donovan! We might be having a baby!”
“Do you have to drive with it like that to find out if you’re pregnant,” he asked, tapping the crumpled box she had clutched between her hand and the wheel. “I thought you just peed on it.”
Eva dropped her head onto the steering wheel.
“Don’t you think you should lecture me about responsibility and timing and… I don’t even know at this point.”
“You know what I know?” he asked.
“What?” she asked in a tiny voice.
“I know that last night was the roughest night of my entire career, but I made it through because I had you. You had my back and were there when I needed you most.” The woman had set up a prison with twenty minutes’ notice, for God’s sake.
“You’re not mad?” she asked, peeking at him.
“Baby. What have I been saying this entire month?”
“That you’re insane and you want to marry me.”
“I want kids, Eva. I want kids with you.”
“Well, I want them with you, too. But I would have preferred to have a little time with you first—Hey!”
“What?”
“It’s November 1.”
He looked up at the sky where the sun was breaking over the horizon. “So it is.”
“The planetary crossing?” Eva asked.
“We survived it.”
“And you still love me?” She felt dazed.
Donovan opened her car door and tugged her out. “I still love the hell out of you, Evangelina.”
“Even if I screwed up my pills and we’re having a baby?” She needed confirmation.
“Even if we were both irresponsible and we’re having a baby a little earlier than we would have planned,” he promised, kissing her fingertips.
“I think I need to pee on a stick,” she said, staring up into those denim blue eyes.
“I think there’s two things that we need to take care of before then.”
--------
Eva felt calm and wondered if she was just too tired to worry anymore. She looked up as the cop led Agnes into the room. Her hands were cuffed in front of her. The orange of the jumpsuit made her skin look even more yellow. The bags under her eyes were practically suitcases.
“Your boyfriend talk some sense into you?” Agnes sneered, sinking down into the chair across from her.
“Here.” Eva tossed a pack of cigarettes and a lighter across the table. “This is the last thing you’re ever getting from me.”
Delivering the line had been worth the walk of shame back at the drug store. After running out of the store with a pregnancy test and then returnin
g to buy a pack of cigarettes, Eva had felt the need to blurt out the entire story. For some reason, it felt very important to convince the clerk that she wasn’t really a horrible human being.
“Uh-huh,” was the woman’s only response to Eva’s confession.
Greedily, Agnes snatched up the cigarettes. She lit one and blew out a cloud of blue smoke.
“I want you to bail me out,” Agnes announced. “And get me a lawyer. Maybe that brother-in-law of yours? If he can dress that well, he’s got to be good. I’m gonna sue every last one of these assholes for wrongful imprisonment.”
Eva waited for her mother to run out of steam.
“Here’s the thing, Agnes. I’m done with you. Prison or no prison, we’re done. I don’t owe you anything. I’ve got too much going on right now to pay you another thought. I’ve got a man out there who wants to marry me.”
Agnes snorted. “I don’t care what you’ve got going on. Or how many assholes you marry. You’re getting me out of here.”
“No.” She said it calmly, firmly, feeling the word resonate within her. “I’m not. I let you make me feel guilty for things that weren’t my fault. You want someone to blame for how pathetic and shitty your life is? Go look in a mirror.” She jerked her chin toward the two-way mirror on the wall. “I’m done with you.”
“I’m your mother!”
Eva shook her head. “No, see that’s where I was wrong. Just because you gave birth to me doesn’t make you my mother. My real mom is Phoebe.”
Agnes stubbed out her cigarette, her motions jerky. “Look. Maybe I haven’t always been there for you. But—”
“That’s just it. You weren’t there. And you made me feel like I didn’t deserve to have people there for me. You made me feel like if people got to know the real me, they’d find out just how undeserving of their love and attention I was. And you know what? That’s on you for the childhood years. But it’s on me for not figuring it out sooner. I could have saved myself a lot of time and a lot of money.”
“Eva, I need your help,” Agnes rasped, desperation etching itself on her face.
“No, Agnes. You need your own help. It took me quite a while to figure out that I’m worthy, and hell, I’m fucking awesome. I don’t know what’s on the inside of this,” she circled her finger in front of her mother’s face. “Maybe there’s something worthwhile inside. But nobody else is going to see it until you do.”
“I need money. I need a lawyer!” Agnes tried to stand, tried to make a grab for Eva, but her hands were cuffed to the desk.
“No, Agnes, you need a lot more than that. And I just don’t have the time or inclination to give you anything anymore.”
Agnes started to shriek.
Eva got up and knocked on the door. “We’re done here,” she told the guard.
She walked out into the hallway and into Donovan’s arms. The door closed behind her.
“Are you okay? How do you feel?” he asked, running a big hand down her back and pressing her just a little closer.
“I’m good. Really good.”
“Good because there’s one more thing we need to take care of.”
“Two things,” she corrected him.
CHAPTER FIFTY
Together, they pounded on Beckett and Gia’s front door intermittently ringing the bell until they heard footsteps. “Jesus, what the hell are you two doing here?” Becket yawned. He was shirtless and his pajama pants were untied. Gia was behind him wearing one of his law-school t-shirts. Her hair was a crazy snarl of curls.
“We need your help,” Eva told them.
“I used up all my lawyering last night into this morning,” Beckett grumbled.
“We don’t need your lawyering. We need your mayoring,” Donovan grinned. “We’re getting married.”
“Congratulations,” Beckett yawned and began to shut the door.
Donovan slapped a hand on the wood. “Today. We’re getting married today. You’re officiating.”
Gia, suddenly awake, launched herself at Eva. “You’re getting married?” she squealed.
“What’s going on?” Evan grumbled from the foot of the stairs.
“Your Aunt Eva and Donovan are getting married.”
“Yippy.” Evan yawned and headed for the stairs.
“When and where is the ceremony?” Gia demanded.
“This morning at Donovan’s place,” Eva announced.
Donovan squeezed her shoulder. “This morning at our place,” he corrected.
“Oh, my God! This is so exciting! Wait.” Gia froze. “Does this have anything to do with any lingering effects of the planetary crossing?”
Eva grinned up at Donovan. “Even if it does, we’d be crazy not to.”
“Ugh, fine. Let’s get this over with,” Beckett sighed.
Gia slapped him in the chest. “Get excited about this immediately, Beckett, or I won’t be having lunch with you for the rest of the week.”
“Lunch means afternoon delight,” Eva translated for Donovan.
“Right now I just want twelve hours of sleep. Is that too much to ask?” Beckett muttered.
Gia stood on tip toe and whispered something in his ear. His eyes opened the whole way. “Okay! Let’s get this show on the road!” he announced.
“Dress code is casual,” Donovan told him. “But I really need you in at least a shirt.”
--------
An hour later, Donovan, in his dress uniform, paced back and forth in front of his own porch steps. His father dropped a hand on his shoulder. “You’re wearing ruts in the grass, son.”
Donovan stopped and then began fidgeting with his tie. “She’s coming out right? She didn’t come to her senses and change her mind?”
“She’ll be down in a minute. Your mother just texted.”
On cue, the front door opened, and Donovan nearly jumped out of his skin. His mother, still in her deputy uniform, and Phoebe, in a dress she threw on after Eva and Donovan woke her and Franklin up, stepped out onto the porch.
“She’s ready,” Phoebe grinned.
“Places everybody.”
They stood in a semicircle facing the house. His friends, his family. People he had known and loved his entire life. They had his back when times were tough and stood up for him during the good.
Carter and Summer, each juggling a twin beamed at him. Jax and Joey stood with arms around Reva and Caleb, a united unit, a family finally. Beckett stood next to Donovan. He was the only one who bothered with a suit. Gia and Emma were anxiously peering over Niko’s shoulder trying to give him advice on angles and lighting. “This damn town is turning me into a wedding photographer,” Niko complained.
“Shut up and capture my beautiful baby sister on the happiest day of her life,” Emma sniffled.
“Anything for the mother of my child,” Niko winked.
Evan and Aurora passed their baby sister Lydia back and forth. “Everyone just keeps getting married,” Evan rolled his eyes. “Can’t anyone just date anymore?”
“I can’t wait to get married,” Aurora sighed. “I’m going to have a huuuuge dress and a giant cake!”
Niko’s parents, still glowing from their impending grandparenthood, held hands and stood close in the morning chill.
The quiet moment was broken by a police cruiser fishtailing up the lane, lights flashing. The car slid to a halt, and Layla hopped out from behind the wheel. “You didn’t think you were doing this without us, did you?”
Colby jumped out of the passenger side and opened the back door. Minnie in her rumpled Sunday best stepped out. “You better not have gotten married yet!” she said, pointing a finger in his direction. “I work for you for five years, and I get a text from your bride-to-be?”
He owed Eva big time. It seemed like his bride was a fast learner when it came to sharing. He never would have heard the end of it from Minnie if he’d neglected to invite her to his wedding.
“I thought you all would
be sleeping off last night,” Donovan admitted.
Colby slapped him on the back. “We wouldn’t miss this for anything.”
Layla punched him in the arm. “I promise I won’t spread it all over town if you bawl like a baby,” she said, loyally.
“She won’t, but I will,” Minnie sniffed.
“Thank you for being here,” Donovan said, drawing Minnie in for a hug. “I’m sorry I didn’t insist on it myself.”
“Well, don’t let it happen again,” she said primly.
He would have answered, had intended to, but the front door opened again. Eva in russet red beamed on her father’s arm. Together they descended the front steps stopping in front of him. The morning sun shone like fire on her hair. She was beautiful, glowing. And she was his.
“Family and friends, we are gathered here today to join Eva and Donovan in marriage. Who gives this woman to be married to this man?” Beckett asked.
Franklin held out his free hand to Phoebe who took it and joined them. “Her mother and I do,” Franklin answered.
Emma’s sniffle turned into a wail. “Hormones,” Niko whispered in apology.
Eva’s parents kissed her and hugged her, and Phoebe wiped the single tear that escaped Eva’s eye.
“Good luck,” Franklin whispered to Donovan, shaking his hand firmly.
And then he was handing Eva over to him and Beckett was talking again. But all Donovan saw was Eva. His bride was smiling up at him as if he had given her all the happiness in the world. He wasn’t even aware that he was moving until he felt her lips under his. He kissed her with everything that he had, everything that he was. Today, on this frosty morning, was the beginning of their lives together. A new chapter.
“Hey, we didn’t get to that part yet,” Beckett said, prodding Donovan in his shoulder.
“I guess I got carried away.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
Eva drummed her fingers on the bathroom vanity where she perched nervously. “I never thought I’d be taking a pregnancy test on my wedding day,” she hissed.