by Kishan Paul
Taking the Plunge
Since graduating high school, Eve Cambridge has dropped ten dress sizes, became an RN, and dumped her jerk of a boyfriend—all on her own. So when her high school crush shows up in her life, she does what any normal self–reliant woman would do—pepper spray him.
Since inheriting the family plumbing business, Pete Russo has tried to make the best of a career he never planned for. He’s made his share of mistakes, but he’s worked hard to learn from them. Now that he’s run into Eve, he’s not so sure he isn’t making another one. After all, she did almost blind him.
When logic and emotion don’t agree, which path should they follow?
Taking the Plunge
By
Kishan Paul
Copyright © 2015 by Kishan Paul
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval without permission in writing from the author.
Cover design by Taylor Sullivan
Edited by Chris Hall
Interior formatting by Anessa Books
www.kishanpaul.net
Twitter: @kishan_paul
Second Edition
Printed in the U.S.A
Dedication
To Kish’s Collective, my regular bloggers, all my fans. Thank you for buying my books and reading/supporting/reviewing them. You humble and inspire me all at the same time.
Prologue
Eve slid into one of the rusty metal chairs littered across their New York apartment’s rooftop and watched her father play his guitar. As usual, the dimly lit space was empty except for the two of them.
Ten thirty on a Wednesday night meant her mother and brother were both downstairs in bed. All of which suited her just fine. This was her alone time with Dad.
A breeze swept through, tousling his hair. A couple of his copper locks fell across his forehead. People said she and her father looked alike. The same red mane, the same baby blue eyes, even their smiles. She picked at the cuticles of her fingernails as she wondered if the fake grin he plastered on his face looked like the one she’d pasted on her own.
Eve blinked back the tears and flashed her dad a smile when his gaze met hers. He winked and strummed the same melody he’d been playing for months.
As much as he tried to fake it, she could see through him. How could she not? Back on their farm, he always laughed and talked up a storm. The person in front of her rarely did either anymore.
Oblivious to her thoughts, Dad kept his head slightly bowed, his fingers flying across the taunt strings of the instrument.
The sparkle in his eyes had disappeared. Lines of worry replaced the ones of laughter around his mouth and forehead. The thick, fiery–red hair was now sprinkled with white.
She relaxed and got lost in his music, it was the only glimmer left of the father she adored. Every night for the past three weeks, Eve came to tell him about school and the things kids did to her. But each time, she’d see that hint of peace in him and decide to save it for later.
Fat Ginger.
It’s what some of the kids called her. Of course, if she didn’t have the ugly red hair and wear size sixteen jeans, they wouldn’t pick on her. But true or not, it was wrong and she wished they’d stop.
Eve sucked in a breath and opened her mouth to speak, but stopped when she saw a lone tear fall down his cheek. Her chest tightened. Never, not even when they lost the farm, had her father cried.
She cleared her throat, and instead of speaking, sang along to the tune he played.
“How can people be so blind?”
At first her voice was a whisper, barely audible over the horns from the city streets below. But when he looked over with a proud encouraging smile, a tingle of warmth shot through her timid soul.
She did that. She brought that look to his face.
Eve closed her eyes and sang her heart out.
Somehow they’d be okay. She’d make sure of it.
Pete snuck into the bathroom and locked himself in. Not that it mattered. The thin excuse for a door did nothing to muffle his parents’ argument.
“It was not your money to use!” Ma screamed from the living room.
He rested his back against the wall, trying to catch a breath. A hard task to accomplish when a one–ton cement block had parked itself in the middle of his chest.
“You think it was easy for me to do?” Pops snapped back.
“My mother willed that money for our son’s future!”
Pete ground his teeth as his body rocked with emotion. It was gone. Every last fucking cent.
One more year, that’s all he needed. One more year and he’d have graduated high school, taken the money and run like hell to any college that would have him.
“The business was going under, I had no other option. And who the hell do you think will take it over? This is for his future.”
Tears burned Pete’s eyes as he listened to his father. The plumbing business. Was sticking his hands in people’s shit supposed to be his future?
“No. It was his choice, not yours. You could have gone out and gotten a stable job, and not destroy my baby’s life.”
“Pete’s future is with me. Not at some college discussing politics and nonsense. This is where he belongs...”
As he watched his dreams plummet off a cliff, he slid to the floor.
“A college degree won’t pay half as much as he’d earn as a master plumber.”
What a crock.
He put his head between his knees, covering his ears while his body rocked with quiet sobs. In a matter of minutes, his life had been ripped out of his hands. It was hopeless and just not fair.
I can’t do this. Not anymore.
He looked up at the medicine cabinet hanging over the sink. An idea floated into his thoughts, and with it, the weight on his chest lifted.
There was another way.
It would shut his dad up forever.
Pete stood, dug through the cabinet until he found the bottle of sleeping pills.
Pops thought he knew everything. Well then, no reason to leave a note. His dad would spend the rest of his life knowing he was the reason his son killed himself. A satisfied smile stretched across his face.
The ridged lid of the bottle dug into his skin as he pressed and twisted it open. He looked into the full container of light blue pills. Trickles of sweat slid down his temples and down the sides of his neck.
I’m doing the right thing... aren’t I?
He poured about half of the contents into his large palm and stared.
The front door slammed shut, shaking the walls of the bathroom. Like always, Pops had left. In a few hours he’d be back, drunk off his ass, and Ma would be there to clean him up. What a selfish bastard.
Pete brought the pile of tiny oval pills to his lips. His mouth dried and hand shook, spilling a couple of them onto the floor.
What’s this gonna do to Ma?
He sat on the toilet seat and tried to push away the little voice of doubt in his head. The soft musical chords of a guitar drifted through the bathroom’s open window. Every evening a man sat atop their building’s roof strumming the thing. Usually it annoyed the hell out of Pete, but today he listened.
The melody was sad, almost painful to hear. He lowered his hand to his lap, rested the back of his head against the wall and got lost in the music.
Soon a woman’s sweet voice joined the sound. He hadn’t heard her song before, but it was like she knew his pain and sang directly to him.
“There’s a hole in the world tonight.
There’s a cloud of fear and sorrow.”
She sang about anger and disappointment. When she got t
o the part about not letting it bring him down and mess up his life, he bit his lip and sobbed.
The calm sadness of her voice, the smooth way she reached the high notes, all of it soothed him.
Pete poured the sticky pills into the trash. He swiped the tears away as the voice lifted a little of the darkness that surrounded his soul, finally allowing a crack of light to filter in.
Eve’s heart raced as she stared at the door. It seemed like every evil person in the twelfth grade had seventh period Physics including the devil himself, Jacob Rosenthal.
They’re just words. The things he says don’t matter.
But the sad truth was the words did matter. Every night alone in her room, she would cry and think about each sneer or laugh they made at her expense. Things like this never happened to her in Washington. That thought only made her cry more until she’d fall asleep.
After this period, you get to go home. Put on your big girl panties and get it over with.
With a deep breath she walked into the classroom, kept her head down and took her assigned seat—in front of Jacob Rosenthal.
The scrawny, brown–haired kid snickered as soon as she sat down. She stared ahead at the instructor and pretended not to hear.
Thankfully, Mr. Nichols began his lecture, preventing further opportunities for comments.
With five minutes left in class, Eve started to relax. Aside from poking her butt with his shoe a couple times, Jacob had left her alone. For the first time since she’d started this school, she’d gone the whole day without being noticed.
A smile tugged at her lips when the bell rang.
Things were finally getting better.
Eve grabbed her stuff and made it halfway to her locker when Jacob rammed into her. Books and papers scattered along the floor.
Her heart raced and face heated when she looked up at him, wishing for the millionth time she had the guts to stand up and tell him to go to hell.
“Oops, sorry,” he smirked.
But she didn’t. Instead, Eve bent to gather her things. She was everything he and his friends said and a coward too.
As she grabbed the last of the papers, he tipped the stack in her hand, making them fall again.
“Oops, sorry again.”
A crowd began to form, none of who would help. Tears she refused to shed burned her eyes as she stood and stared at the mess.
“Pick up the books.” A deep male voice ordered from behind.
Her mouth dropped when she looked over her shoulder to find the kid from her apartment complex, Peter Russo, glaring at Jacob.
She’d noticed him the first day they moved in. How could she not? At six–feet–tall, thick straight black hair, olive skin and hazel eyes, he was beautiful and completely oblivious to her existence. Not that she blamed him. A big shot on the school football team, he always had some popular girl wrapped around him.
“I said, pick up the fucking books, Jake.”
Jacob flashed a nervous smile at the growing audience around them and nudged his chin in Eve’s direction. “Sorry, man. I didn’t realize you and Fat Ginger were hooking up.”
“Her name is Eve, Asshole, and from now on you’ll call her by her fucking name,” he growled.
Eve’s heart thudded against her chest. She wiped her slippery palms against her jeans. As much as she appreciated the help, the last thing she needed was a fight. If they ended up at the principal’s office, her parents would be called.
“That’s okay. I got it.” When she leaned over to get her things, Peter grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
“No. He dropped them. He’ll pick them up.”
Eve stood still, very aware of his fingers wrapped around her wrist and how his eyes, the color of butterscotch, locked with hers.
It wasn’t until he let go and the crowd snickered that she looked back to see Jacob doing as he was told.
“Now give it to her and apologize for being an asshole and treating her like shit.”
Jacob’s face paled.
Eve blinked. This must be dream. This couldn’t be happening.
He shuffled his feet and looked around. “Come on, man. I was just playing around.”
Peter inched his face closer to Jacob’s. “Unless you want me to kick your ass in front of everyone, and we both know I will, tell her you’re sorry and won’t ever mess with her again.”
With his eyes on his shoes, Jacob stuttered through the words. “I’m sorry, Eve. It won’t happen again.”
Unable to speak, she nodded and watched the kid escape down the hall and not look back.
By the time she turned to thank Peter, he was gone too.
Unsure of what else to do, Eve hugged her books to her chest and headed to her locker.
Chapter 1
Eight years later
Eve pounded the solid wood door for the thousandth time. Her knuckles throbbed; knocking and ringing the doorbell didn’t seem to work. Maybe a strong authoritative approach would help in this situation.
“Dean Simmons,” she yelled. “You need to come to the door now.”
She smooshed the side of her face against the rough surface and listened for a response.
“Please.”
Nothing.
“It’s Eve Cambridge with Cambridge Properties.”
Silence.
“Evie,” a deep male voice screamed through the cellphone glued to her other ear. “Get your ass out of there now. You hear me?”
Describing her uncle as loud would be an understatement. She pulled the receiver away before he caused permanent hearing loss and stepped back to scan the area. Aside from hers, there were no other cars parked out front.
“If your father knew I sent you out there in the first place, all hell would break loose.”
She punched the access code into the keypad and pushed at the door, just in case, this time, something different might happen. Of course it didn’t because the tenant had left the deadbolt on. But why?
Eve looked over the lovely two–story property. She knew the place well. Her family moved in a week after she graduated high school and spent their entire summer overseeing the renovations. By the time they finished, a once rundown barn had become a beautiful four–bedroom, three–bath home. A perfect vacation rental for families within walking distance from the beach. It even had a swimming pool in the back.
Hmm, speaking of which.
“Hey, Uncle Danny, did you ever put a deadbolt on the patio door?”
“It doesn’t matter. Get your butt in the car. Now.”
In other words, no.
“I’m serious, Evie. Get out of there.”
She wandered over to the side of the house while making a mental note to get her uncle into some sort of yoga or meditation class before the poor man gave himself a heart attack.
“Calm down. The place is deserted, and regardless, I’m not going to do anything stupid.”
“Calm down? If something happens, your Dad’ll kill me.”
She rolled her eyes. “Thanks. Glad my life means so much to you.”
He chuckled. “You know you mean the world to me, Sweetheart, but if Dave finds out I sent his baby girl to the property alone, he’ll kick my ass. And I kinda like my ass just the way it is.”
While her uncle rambled, Eve checked the unfenced backyard.
“It sucks that we’re all out of town right now.”
A swell of pride filled her chest as she scanned the grounds. Its four decks, gazebo and large swimming pool were completely surrounded by lush greens and ornamental shrubs. The spot was breathtakingly beautiful and the result of their hard work and sweat. No wonder it continued to be one of Uncle Danny’s hottest rentals.
“Are you in the car yet? I just texted one of my contractors and see if he’ll drop by and check things out.”
Ignoring his question and his nagging, she peeked into the windows lining the back of the home and inspected the interior. “I bet Dean Simmons left through the garage and forgot to unlock
the deadbolt on the front door.”
“I’m thinking the same, but it doesn’t matter. Get out of there. It was stupid of me to even ask.”
“Don’t be silly. After everything you did for us, it’s the least I could do.” Eve slid into one of the patio chairs on the back porch and stretched her legs on the coffee table. Working as an ER nurse in one of New York’s busiest pediatric hospitals meant she stayed on her feet for 12 hours at a time.
“Sweetheart, you need to stop saying that. You don’t owe me anything. We’re family, and family takes care of its own.”
She closed her eyes and rested her head on the back of the chair as he rambled.
“For the record, bringing you, your brother and parents to New York was the smartest decision I ever made. My properties didn’t do half as well as they are now with your folks in charge. They’re the hardest working people I’ve ever met. Speaking of which, this is the last time I will say this. Get your ass home and to bed, you must be beat from working all night.”
Home, a shower, and plopping into bed sounded like a great idea. After promising to leave, Eve hung up and pulled herself out of the chair. She turned back and stared at the digital keyless entry on the door. There didn’t seem to be a deadbolt in it. What if it used the same code as the front?
If she got inside and unlocked the front, the cleaning crew could get in and prep the place for the new tenants arriving tonight.
Eve searched through her texts until she found Uncle Danny’s with the code. A second after punching it in the keypad, the green light flashed and the lock unbolted. A smooth turn of the knob later, the door opened without any resistance.
A smile of pride stretched across her face. Sometimes, she amazed herself.
Feeling a bit cockier than a second ago, she pulled out the pepper spray hanging on her key ring. Although all signs indicated the place was empty, she didn’t want to take any chances.
She poked her head in and surveyed the space. “Hello, it’s Eve Cambridge with Cambridge Properties. Anyone home?”