All About Eve

by Liliana Hart

  Eve felt lighter at the woman’s words. Jake should have never doubted her love for him. Everybody makes mistakes, especially in relationships. She should know that better than anyone.

  “I just wanted you to know that I gave Jake hell last night before he left. Someone needed to be in your corner, and Gran was out of commission because she drank a few hot toddies to ease the ache in her feet, but I always thought hot toddies were for colds, so I’m not sure if that was the truth or not. I think she probably just wanted to get drunk without us griping at her.”

  “Are you allowed to say hell?” Eve asked, getting the hang of Melissa’s constant change of topics and unusual thoughts. She was definitely Ruth’s granddaughter.

  “Hell is a place,” Melissa replied. “It would hardly seem fair if I couldn’t talk about a location now would it?”

  “No, I suppose not.”

  “Now tell me how you’re going to make Jake suffer.”

  “I’m not going to make him suffer. I was just as much at fault as he was, and something I’ve learned in my line of work is that sometimes you have to swallow your pride. I’m going to enjoy my week off even if it kills me and hope that he’s just as miserable. And if that doesn’t work, I’m going to get down on my knees and beg for forgiveness.”

  “That ought to teach him,” Melissa said, tipping her coffee cup in a salute to the oddities of love.

  ***

  Jake was more than miserable. There wasn’t a word to describe exactly what he was feeling—he just knew it wasn’t good.

  The inside of his mouth felt like sandpaper and his head was no longer attached to his body. His own grandmother had turned against him and decided he didn’t deserve to live.

  It had taken less than twenty-four hours for him to get loose ends tied up for the business and less than twelve to realize he’d been an idiot to leave Eve. He’d stood outside her room for what seemed like hours and listened to the heart wrenching sobs from the other side of the door. He’d felt like the lowest kind of life form, but he’d left her anyway only to run into Melissa’s sharp tongue on the way out.

  His house was to be his refuge, but then Ruth had shown up on the pretense of missing Edward. She’d just happened to have two bottles of Jameson’s in her handbag. She’d told him in no uncertain terms that a Murphy that couldn’t handle his alcohol was no blood kin of hers, so he, Ruth and Edward made their way through both bottles. Though now that he thought about it, Ruth and Edward had seemed perfectly fine when they’d gotten up to find their beds.

  The smell of meat from the kitchen and rattling pots and pans did equal justice to his stomach and his head.

  “Are you going to sleep all day, Jake? It was just a little whiskey,” Ruth said, opening the drapes in the living room so bright sunlight hit him right in the face. The scream that came from his lips made Ruth chuckle. Jake closed his eyes and wished for death. And then he wished for Eve. If he hadn’t been so stupid this would have never happened.

  “I hope you’ve learned your lesson, young man,” Ruth said, putting her face less than two inches from his own and scaring the hell out of him when he opened his eyes. “Relationships don’t work if one partner only takes and the other only gives. Listen to your Gran, honey. I didn’t bury six husbands without learning a little. How are you supposed to make babies when you’re miles apart?”

  Jake groaned and turned his head slowly away from the light and his grandmother. Not even sex sounded good to him right now, that’s what sorry shape he was in.

  “Of course,” she went on like he hadn’t just dismissed her, “Eve’s a beautiful woman. There are probably plenty of men that would be glad to take your place. Edward has a grandson that’s just Eve’s age who sells insurance. He’s very nice,” Ruth said, sitting on the floor Indian style in front of the coffee table and waiting for Edward to set her breakfast down.

  “Please join us, Edward,” Ruth commanded before he could leave again. “Jake your breakfast is getting cold.”

  Jake growled at the thought of Eve with anyone but him and then groaned as the smell of food overpowered him. He used what little strength he had to run to the bathroom before he disgraced himself, and he used the last of it to curse his grandmother.

  It wasn’t until after he’d showered and gotten dressed, planning how he could throw himself on Eve’s mercy and beg for forgiveness when he found out she’d gone to spend a few days with her family.

  She’d left him.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Eve felt better than she had in a long time. The visit with her family had been exactly what she needed. Her mother had welcomed her with a hug and then demanded to know what the hell was going on, and if she was still in love with the man who’d been seducing her with his words over the radio. Trust her mother to always cut straight to the heart of the matter.

  She’d vented her frustrations and fears, assured her mother that she loved Jake with all her heart, and then promptly received a verbal kick in the pants for running away from her problems instead of facing them head on. There was nothing like family to bring you back down to earth.

  She’d gone by the house to drop off her bags and see how her house guests were faring. Ruth and Melissa had decided to stay on and look after the place while she was away. Melissa told her she was staying so that she didn’t miss anything exciting if Jake happened to stop by, which was almost exactly what Ruth had told her not ten minutes before in another room.

  Eve was comfortably dressed in black sweatpants and a gaudy red sweatshirt with real Christmas lights that blinked on and off and a picture of a giant Santa head in the middle. It was time for her favorite show of the year, and her hands only shook a little when she opened the door to the studio. She was almost to the point where she didn’t think about the phone call she’d received five years ago to the day. Almost.

  A pitiful Christmas tree stood in the hallway between the elevators and the control center, and the booth was lit with dozens of sparkling lights. There were cookies set out cut in the shape of erotic elves and dipped in green and red sugar crystals. It wasn’t such a bad place to spend Christmas Eve.

  “Have some eggnog,” Lucy offered, as Eve waited for the booth to be clear so she could go in.

  In Eve’s opinion, it looked as if Lucy had been hitting the Eggnog all day. “Are you all right, Lucy?”

  “Never been better,” Lucy chirped with a crooked smile. “I’ve got a copy of your program, and there are plenty of people to screen calls. It will be a great show, just like always.”

  Eve put her hand on Lucy’s shoulder lightly and watched as the woman before her crumpled like a rag doll. “Suzanne said she needed some space, and the house-hunting was making things a little too serious,” Lucy said, sniffling.

  “Oh, Lucy. I’m sorry. It’s been a hell of a week, hasn’t it? I haven’t done so hot in the love department either. You’re welcome to spend Christmas with me.”

  “No, I’m leaving tonight to get to my folks place. I should be there in time to open gifts in the morning. My brothers and their families will all be there, just like every year.”

  She straightened her shoulders and dashed the tears away. Sometimes Lucy was too tough for her own good.

  “Well, maybe you can stop by for New Year’s,” Eve said, already planning an impromptu party. “I’d love for you to see the house.”

  “Can I get drunk?”

  “Absolutely,” Eve said, laughing.

  “I’ll be there,” Lucy said, returning her smile. “Now let’s get this show on the road.

  Eve entered the booth with her notes and a bottle of water, just like she did every night she was on the air, and felt her confidence slip with every minute that passed bringing her closer to air time. She knew what she had to do, but no one said it would be easy.

  She listened to the music that led to her intro and wiped her damp hands on her sweatpants. “Merry Christmas,” she said. “This is Dr. Eve Lovegood coming to you with a four hour
Christmas Eve special. I hope you’re having a joyful holiday season, whether you’re spending it with family or friends, a lover or on your own. Christmas is a season that makes us think about what we have or don’t have in our lives, what we want versus what we need. And when you’re with someone you love, the season only becomes sweeter. On the other hand, if it’s a time when you’ve experienced loss, nothing can make this particular holiday seem more painful.”

  Eve looked at Lucy through the glass to her office, saw the woman take another drink of eggnog and knew, from her own experience, she spoke nothing less than the truth.

  “Before I tackle the subject of love and loss around the holidays, and before I take your calls, I’d like to take a minute to talk about something personal. I think sometimes you as listeners don’t realize that I face the same problems you do. That I sit in this booth and hand out advice based on what I learned from the different degrees that hang on my wall. But I want to tell you that I struggle the same as everyone else when it comes to relationships. The heart is not logical but emotional, which is why my degrees are meaningless when it comes to my own troubles.”

  The roiling was fierce in her stomach, but she forged ahead.

  “Most of you have followed the caller known only to you as Waiting in Dallas. I won’t tell you his name, but I will tell you that I love him very much. We met by chance, as the fates often deem when it comes to something as intangible as love, and he told me, and you,” she added, “that he fell in love with me the first moment he laid eyes on me.”

  Eve laughed into the microphone. “It wasn’t so clear cut to a hardened cynic such as me, but I eventually realized I was in love with him too. And then, as is the way of relationships, things got complicated. I don’t ever talk about my past, but I feel it’s important to a certain extent to reveal a few things about myself. I had a horrible first marriage. It didn’t start out that way. It was a whirlwind of things that young girls in love always imagine. And then reality found us. My first marriage was abusive to the point where I didn’t really know who the person Eve Lovegood was anymore. Doctor Lovegood was always much easier to know, you see. My first marriage taught me that love is much easier to give than trust. And once the trust is broken, the love is not far behind.

  “I made a mistake with Waiting in Dallas. The love was there, but I wasn’t willing to trust him. Mostly because of what my marriage did to me, but also because I was just afraid to put a part of myself in someone else’s hands and wonder if they were going to nurture what I had given them or crush it to dust.

  “So I want to say to you and to him, that I was wrong. I love you Waiting in Dallas, and I trust you with my heart, whatever you want to do with it. It’s yours. And I hope that it’s not too late for me to hold onto yours.”

  Eve made it through her notes on her original topic as if it were a typical show, and the nerves didn’t resurface until she opened the phone lines. She waited for him to call. She wanted him to call, but midnight came around with no call from Waiting in Dallas.

  “We haven’t done so hot, huh, kid?” Lucy asked, walking out to the parking garage with Eve. It was officially Christmas morning, and Eve couldn’t think of anything more depressing.

  “Nope. I figured I’d celebrate the season by opening a bottle of Dom Perignon I’ve been saving for a special occasion, putting on a slinky negligee and turning on my Bing Crosby Christmas CD.”

  “Not a bad idea,” Lucy said, getting into her bright red Saab. “I’ll keep that in mind for next year.”

  “Drive safe,” Eve said, waving goodbye and slipping into her own car. Miatas weren’t the ideal car for winter weather. Maybe she should think about getting something a little larger. She automatically thought of Jake’s long legs cramped into a little space and shrugged away the thought. He hadn’t called. She had to remember that.

  The city was quiet and still. There was hardly any traffic on the wide streets. She turned the heater up higher and snuggled into her wool coat for the drive home. The warm temperature had only lasted a few days before getting cold again, and already snow flurries were falling against her windshield and on the roads to make mush.

  When she turned onto her street, Christmas lights were still blazing from one house to the next. Her house stood dark at the end of the cul-de-sac, only the soft glow from her tree in the living room showed that she had any Christmas spirit at all.

  Eve assumed Melissa and Ruth had gone to Jake’s to celebrate together despite their proclamations of women sticking together. In the end, blood was thicker than water. She parked in front of the house instead of pulling to the back like she usually did and stood in the cold for a few minutes, the peace of the night surrounding her and numbing the pain in her heart.

  She’d made the decision on her way home. She’d put the house on the market after the first of the year. It had to be done. She couldn’t keep living here with memories of Jake around every corner.

  She dug to the bottom of her bag and walked up the stairs to her front door. It hadn’t been so long ago when Jake had first knocked down her door. The warmth that greeted her was more than welcome, and she shrugged out of her long coat and scarf and hung them both on the coat rack beside the front door.

  The house was still around her, and she realized it was the first time since she’d moved in that there had been complete silence in the large space. Maybe she’d forgo the wine and CDs. Bed was sounding better and better after the night she’d had.

  The sight of the fire crackling in the hearth stopped her. It hadn’t been lit when she’d left and surely Ruth and Melissa knew not to leave it unattended when no one was home. She guessed she should be thankful the house was still standing.

  The gasp that left her was quickly contained as she looked closer at the scene. A bottle of champagne was being iced in a bucket and two crystal flutes sat next to it. There were roses everywhere. Dozens. Red and full, the scent was fragrant and sweet. Tears came to her eyes before she could control it.

  “I would have had a glass ready for you, but I wasn’t sure what time you’d get in.”

  Eve whirled around at the voice behind her and laughed as she got sight of him. He was in grey sweats and wore a tacky sweatshirt similar to her own. He looked amazing, like an oasis in the desert after the week they’d spent apart. And to her embarrassment the tears wouldn’t stop.

  “I waited for you to call,” she said when he didn’t come to her.

  She was caught in the rabbit hole and didn’t know how to get out, and her cheeks heated at the slip that she’d wanted to hear his voice.

  “I thought this deserved some privacy,” he said. “I wanted to call in, but I wasn’t sure my voice would work after the things you said. I owe you an apology.”

  “No, you don’t. You were right. I didn’t trust you enough.”

  “Maybe not, but I certainly never did anything to help reassure you that my actions were warranted. I asked you for something without giving you proof that you could trust me. Will you come with me?” he asked, holding out his hand.

  Eve put her hand in his and felt the shock that ran up her arm from a simple touch. “I’ve missed you.”

  “I was just thinking the same thing,” he said, leading her to the fireplace. He popped the cork on the champagne and poured two glasses, handing one to Eve.

  “I don’t think I can wait to do this any longer,” he said bringing his mouth to hers. The kiss was just as potent as their first, full of desire and promises, only now Eve was able to recognize them for what they were.

  “I’ve dreamed about you and ached for you at night,” he said, smoothing the hair back from her face in a gentle gesture—a gesture she’d gotten used to over the past months. “And I want to give you a new Christmas memory. A happy memory. I love you, Eve. More than I did at the beginning, and tomorrow it will be more than today. Spend your life with me. Marry me.”

  Eve buried her head in his neck and wept away the unnecessary pain they’d caused each oth
er over the past week. “I love you so much,” she said, kissing him with desperation.

  “Is that a yes?” he asked, his heart in his gaze. He pulled the diamond he’d been carrying for weeks out of his pocket and slipped it on to her finger. “It looks just right there.”

  “It’s perfect,” Eve said. “Yes, I’ll marry you.” She looked at the brilliant gem flash in the firelight and knew true happiness. “I want children,” she said out of the blue, causing Jake to pause in his kissing.

  “Right now?” he asked.

  “Well, your grandmother does want a great-grandchild by next Christmas.”

  “Oh, well then, I guess we’d better get started.”

  He lowered her to the rug in front of the fireplace and proceeded to do just that.

  EPILOGUE

  A Year Later…

  “An old woman asks for one simple request,” Ruth complained, “and you can’t even come through. This could be my last Christmas, you know?”

  Melissa stifled a laugh at the mutinous expression on her grandmother’s face. “You don’t ask for much, Gran. You’re such an easy person to please.”

  “Shut up, brat. Don’t think that I’m pleased that you’ve come to another holiday without a husband in tow. You’re not getting any younger you know.”

  “I’ve decided I’m never getting married,” Melissa said with a mischievous glint in her eyes. “I’m just going to have dozens of affairs with dashing Counts and Greek gods just like my granny taught me.”

  “Stop teasing, Melissa,” Jake said laughing. He turned his attention to Ruth. “It serves you right for meddling in other people’s business. Besides, some things don’t happen on your time table. You’ll have your great-grandson by New Year’s.” He rubbed his hand gently over Eve’s swollen belly and felt a thrill at the impatient movement beneath. “It’s a late Christmas present, but I don’t even think you can complain about that, Gran.”