Holding on to Chaos: A Small Town Love Story (Blue Moon Book 5)

by Lucy Score

  “You know, Mom. I couldn’t agree more,” Eva smiled sweetly, even though the word stuck in her throat. “That’s why instead of enabling you with another ten grand, I decided to do something even better.”

  “Where’s my money?” Agnes demanded.

  “Oh, you’ll get it. But this time you’re going to earn it.” Eva smiled sweetly, almost enjoying herself. Growing a pair felt pretty damn amazing after a lifetime of guilt-ridden people pleasing.

  “What the fuck are you talking about?” Agnes spat out the words.

  “Well, family takes care of each other. So when I told Grandma and Grandpa that you were in trouble and needed help, well they drove straight down from Connecticut. We’ve lined up a sixty-day stay in rehab for you. Once you complete that and pass a weekly drug test for six months in a halfway house, then we’ll put you up in an apartment here in town. Maybe you can work part-time at Dad’s restaurant or with Emma? You’ll be surrounded by family, clean and sober, and enjoying your grandchildren.”

  “I want my money!”

  “You’ll get it as an investment in your healthy future,” Eva chirped. “We’ll cover rehab and your costs in the half-way house afterward. We’ll even help with the security deposit for your apartment. You’ll finally be part of the family again, a productive member of society.”

  Agnes reached out, quick as a flash, gripping Eva’s wrist. “Just give me the money, and I’m gone. I won’t come back. Out of your life forever.”

  “Oh, but Mom. We’re family,” Eva replied. “We’re going to get you the help you need. So, let’s get in my car, and we’ll drive to Dad and Phoebe’s. She’s really looking forward to meeting you by the way. Grandma and Grandpa are waiting. Let’s go.”

  “I’m not going anywhere with you! I want my money!” Agnes howled. Her nails dug into Eva’s wrist.

  Eva used the woman’s grip on her to start dragging her toward the door. “Now, I know a life of sobriety sounds pretty scary,” she said conversationally. “But I think you’ll find in the end it’s so rewarding.”

  Agnes released her grip and took a step backward. “I want my money, and you’re going to regret it if you don’t give it to me.”

  Eva plowed on as if she hadn’t heard her and opened the front door. “Naturally with your parents in town, I had to tell everyone about our ‘relationship’ for the past few years. And Grandpa thinks it’s only fair that you pay me back for all the loans I gave you. We can work that out later. But, just a head’s up, Emma and Gia have a lot of questions for you. Like a lot. So it’s probably best if we head over there now.”

  Agnes’s crepey skin flushed an angry pink. “You’re going to regret this, Evangelina.”

  “Oh, not as much as you,” Eva promised. “But life is full of regrets, isn’t it? I think I’m done regretting things.”

  “Is everything okay?” Eden asked. She was standing in front of the now closed door to the dining room.

  Eva winced. She hadn’t meant to have her showdown so publicly in Eden’s place of business. “Everything’s great,” Eva said, trying to telegraph an apology to Eden. “My friend Agnes here is checking out today.”

  “We’re sorry to see you go, Agnes,” Eden said without a hint of sincerity.

  “Now, go pack your things. Everyone is going to be so excited to see you,” Eva promised.

  “You’re going to be sorry,” Agnes said, pointing a jagged fingernail in Eva’s direction as she backed away from her. She turned and stormed toward the stairs.

  “What. Was. That?” Eden asked, her eyes wide.

  “I’m so sorry,” Eva whispered. “I can’t explain it yet, or possibly ever, but I’m so, so sorry for putting you in the middle of this.”

  “Hey, everyone’s got shit, right?” Eden shrugged. “I’m not saying I won’t be throwing an internal party when that woman leaves. But I’m also not going to charge you the $500 penalty for her smoking in a non-smoking room.”

  Eva winced. “I owe you so big for all of this.”

  “Yeah, pretty much,” Eden agreed, leading the way to the desk. “I’m just glad I didn’t have to call the cops on the two of you or hose you down.”

  Eva was glad too. Especially about the cop part. “Thank you for your restraint.”

  “Well, I figured if you wanted the cops to be involved, there would be a very tall, very broad-chested sheriff already with you. Plus, your makeup is seriously flawless today. Hosing you down would have been a travesty.”

  Eva laughed. “Thank you on the makeup. The rest of it is this planetary crossing. Everyone is insane,” Eva explained.

  Eden printed out the room invoice, and Eva gaped at it. “Christ. This woman ate like a high school football team. Corn nuggets?”

  “Yeah, I had to barter with Shorty’s to get them for her. She was very insistent. Traded him for my Belgian waffle recipe for an emergency delivery.”

  “I think I owe you at the very least a really nice purse. This definitely feels like a purse-level apology,” Eva mused.

  “How ‘really nice’?” Eden asked, swiping Eva’s credit card.

  “I think we’re looking at a Michael Kors level.”

  “I knew we’d be friends,” Eden laughed.

  They both turned toward the front windows at the sound of tires screeching.

  “There she goes,” Eden observed as a rusted out blue coupe careened around the first turn of the winding drive.

  Eva grinned as she watched the little car disappear. She felt lighter than she had in years. She’d done it. Vanquished the enemy. Now the only thing to do was to come clean to Donovan. And if she could scare her mother out of her life, then she could be brave enough to give Donovan a real shot.

  Eva scrawled her signature across the receipt. “We should go out for drinks to celebrate that thing that I can’t tell you about.”

  “We definitely should. I’ve had a stressful day. A hard-to-please guest left under mysterious circumstances.”

  Eva glanced around at the lobby’s soaring ceiling and thick molding. The staircase was a spectacular combination of ornately carved wood and plush carpet. “Can I have a tour while I’m here?”

  “You going to write about an innkeeper?” Eden asked.

  “Depends. How sexy is your life?”

  “Well, I don’t bake biscuits naked. If that’s what you’re asking.”

  Eva grinned. “I don’t know. You look like you’ve got some smolder in you.”

  “The smolder died a long time ago,” Eden quipped. “It’s mostly smoke and cobwebs at this point.

  --------

  Eva was examining an oversized clawfoot bathtub in the third story of a fanciful turret listening to Eden describe the hand-painted wallpaper in the bathroom when her phone rang.

  “Aunt Eva?”

  “Yeah, Evan. What’s up?”

  “There’s someone in your house.”

  Eva’s stomach dropped. She held the phone in a white knuckled grip. “What do you mean ‘someone’?”

  “There’s some weird lady. Frizzy hair. I heard glass break, and she went inside, and I don’t think she used a key. Roar’s at a sleepover and Mom and Beckett are out with Lydia and I—”

  “Evan lock your doors. Right now.”

  “Okay.” She heard the snick of a lock and Diesel’s big dog bark.

  “All of them, okay, bud? I’m on my way.” She’d pushed too hard. She thought she finally had the situation under control, and she’d only made it worse. And now Agnes was striking back.

  “Should I call the sheriff?”

  Damn it all to hell.

  “I’m calling him right now, and then I’m going to call you back. Don’t open the door for anyone, okay? And keep Diesel with you.”

  “Geez. Okay. Okay. Is she crazy?”

  “She’s not nice,” Eva said quickly. “And I don’t want you anywhere near her.”

  With a rushed promise that she’d call
him right back, Eva hung up and dialed Donovan.

  “I need your help,” she said, choking on a sob. “Someone broke into my house, and Evan’s at home alone.”

  “Eva—” he began.

  But there was no time for explanations. Not with Agnes just steps from Evan. “Just please, Donovan, get there fast. I’m on my way now.”

  “Eva, stay where you are—”

  But she was already hanging up on his order as she pushed the accelerator down. She dialed Beckett and Gia’s house, but the line was busy. She alternated calling the house phone and Evan’s cell. The minutes dragged on, achingly slow. Even as she whipped the wheel around One Love Park, Eva felt as if everything was in slow motion. She couldn’t get there fast enough. She’d pay for this. That’s what Agnes told her.

  Eva beat Donovan’s police cruiser into the driveway by half a second. She jumped out and sprinted for the back door of the house. “Evan!”

  Donovan caught her around the waist, lifting her feet off the ground and spinning her around. “Stop.” He gave the order with a steely calm that had the fight leaving her.

  He put her back on her feet, one strong arm still holding her around the waist.

  “Trust me, Eva.” He started for the backyard, hand on his gun.

  “I’m coming with you,” she announced, shadowing his long-legged gait.

  He swore quietly. “Stay behind me.”

  She heard more car doors slam in the driveway, felt her heart clutch when she saw the broken glass on her front porch, the door now ajar.

  “Oh, hey guys.” Evan appeared on the back porch a cereal bowl and phone in hand. Diesel, fur still bristled, pranced down the porch steps to sniff Donovan’s pant leg and roll over on his back.

  “Where is she?” Eva asked.

  Evan shrugged. “She left about two minutes ago. Carrying a buncha stuff. She tried to get in the back door, but it was locked, and Diesel jumped at the window and scared the heck out of her.” He took a bite of cereal, milk dribbling down his chin.

  “Oh, my God, Evan. I’m so sorry,” Eva said, wrapping him in a hug and spilling milk and cereal all over them both.

  “Evan!” Gia and Beckett rushed around the side of the house with Lydia squalling on Beckett’s hip. Gia tossed her phone to the ground and hit them at a dead run knocking them to the porch boards.

  “Everything under control?” Deputy Layla jogged around the side of the house.

  “Clear the cottage,” Donovan said briskly, nodding in the direction of Eva’s house. He waded into the pile and pulled Evan to his feet.

  “You’re going to interview me, right?” Evan asked. “Cause I’m a witness.”

  “That’s right.”

  “Who would do this?” Gia demanded as Beckett plucked her off the porch before he wrapped Evan in a tight hug.

  Donovan stared down at Eva, slowly pulling her to her feet. Guilt had her knees buckling. He held her up, but she could see the hurt, the anger.

  “Eva, you’d better tell me right now whether this had anything to do with your hypothetical bullshit last night,” Beckett growled, taking a step toward her.

  She opened her mouth but found herself facing Donovan’s back.

  “You’re gonna want to calm down, Pierce,” Donovan said, slapping a hand on Beckett’s chest.

  “What’s going on?” an out-of-breath Emma demanded as she and Niko ran into the yard.

  “Is everyone okay?” Niko asked, scanning the tense faces.

  “Eva knows who did this,” Beckett said coldly.

  “That may be,” Donovan said evenly. “But taking a swipe at her now isn’t helping me find whoever did this.”

  Gia grabbed Beckett’s arm. “I know this was terrifying, but I can’t see how yelling at my sister is helping anything!”

  “Eva, start talking,” Beckett demanded.

  “Stop yelling!” Gia yelled.

  “Back off,” Donovan warned him. There was no hint of the decades-long friendship between them in that order.

  “If you all can sideline the pissing contest, the house is clear but wrecked,” Layla announced hopping off the cottage’s front porch and crossing the yard. She took an easy stance next to Donovan. But Eva noticed she kept her hand near her cuffs.

  “This is all my fault,” Eva said, scrubbing her hand over her face.

  “Eva, what are you talking about?” Emma asked, climbing the steps of the already overcrowded porch. “Do you know why someone would break in?”

  Donovan, careful to keep himself between Beckett and Eva, turned to look at her.

  “I know why, and I know who,” she admitted, her eyes welling with tears. She willed them away, but there was nothing she could do about the lump in her throat, the ice in her belly.

  “Let’s go inside and talk,” Donovan said quietly.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  They filed into Beckett’s kitchen, and while Gia fussed with bottles of water and glasses of iced tea, Eva sat, face pale, lips tight. Donovan made sure to keep Beckett on the other side of the room. His friend had no idea how close Donovan had come to losing his cool. He was furious with Eva, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t stand between her and any threat.

  “Who was it, Eva?” Donovan asked, keeping his tone calm, his voice quiet. Layla readied her notebook. It was highly unusual to interview a victim with so many other people present. But this way, Eva would only have to go through it once.

  “Agnes.” Eva answered quietly.

  “Agnes who?” Emma demanded.

  “Is this some crazy fan?” Gia asked, sliding a glass of tea in front of Eva.

  Eva shook her head. “Agnes Merill.”

  Gia and Emma froze.

  “Mom?”

  “Our mother?”

  Donovan nodded subtly at Layla who scratched the name down on the pad and quietly left the room to call it in to Minnie.

  “Why don’t you start at the beginning?” he suggested. He could see that his all-business tone hurt her. But that was something that would have to wait until later.

  She began with what he knew. The depression, the drugs, Agnes’s downward spiral.

  Emma and Gia, to their credit, sat quietly, flanked by their husbands, and listened as the story unfolded.

  Emma shook her head slowly. “I knew something had changed in her. She’d just… I don’t know. Disconnected from us.”

  Gia nodded, remembering. “I wonder if Dad suspected. He started making us spend our time after school at the restaurant instead of at home with her.”

  “It explains a lot. I always assumed she’d been unhappy and met someone else,” Emma added. Niko laid a hand on her shoulder. Emma reached up to hold it.

  “I thought I had done something to make her want to leave,” Gia confessed. “She was so angry leading up to her leaving. I hated even having a conversation with her.”

  Eva was shaking her head. “No. Not you. It was me.”

  Emma rolled her eyes. “You were eight years old. What did you do that was so horrible she couldn’t live with us anymore?”

  “I was born,” Eva said matter-of-factly.

  “Don’t be an idiot,” Beckett muttered. Donovan shot him a look. The man was skating on very thin ice, even if Donovan agreed with the sentiment.

  “She told me, off and on, that I’d ruined her life. That there was an Agnes before me and a different one after me.”

  “You have zero responsibility for post-partum depression,” Gia argued.

  “I know that. At least I do now. But I didn’t for a long time. The first time she came to me asking for money, she reminded me that she’d left because of me. Because I’d ruined her life.”

  “That’s bullshit,” Emma snapped.

  “Yeah, well, I was nineteen and naïve.”

  “So, you paid her,” Niko filled in.

  Eva nodded. “She always came back. And if I balked or didn’t have enough, she’d threate
n to come back.”

  “What do you mean?” Beckett asked.

  “She’d make promises about stirring up trouble. Things like paying you all a visit. She’d make comments about how well it looked like Emma was doing for herself in L.A., and she was sure you had some to spare for your poor mother.”

  “And I would have told her to go fuck herself,” Emma snapped. Donovan saw Niko squeeze her shoulder in approval.

  “That’s why she went after me,” Eva whispered. “I was the weak one.”

  “Now you’re starting to piss me off,” Gia announced.

  Eva shook her head. “You don’t understand. I grew up thinking I ruined my own mother’s life. I was young enough, dumb enough, to believe what she was telling me. For a long time.”

  “Why did she show up here?” Beckett asked.

  “Because I told her no.”

  “That’s who Jax and I saw you on the street with,” Niko guessed.

  Eva nodded. “She surprised me seconds after Dad and Phoebe walked out of the coffee shop. Told me she was going to make trouble for all of you if I didn’t pay out this time.”

  “What could she have done?” Emma asked, getting up to pace.

  “I can’t explain what it’s like to have the shadow of this woman hanging over me at all times. Every text, every phone call. Is it her? How much does she need now? Why won’t she leave me alone?”

  “That’s why you moved so much,” Gia said quietly.

  “She always found me.”

  “How much money did you give her?” Emma asked.

  Eva shrugged.

  “Eva,” Donovan said.

  Her sad hazel eyes met his gaze.

  “No more lies,” he told her.

  “Twenty-six thousand dollars.” Anger, hot and fierce, raced through his system, and Donovan wished he could shoot something or at least beat the hell out of someone.

  “Why in the hell didn’t you tell us?” Gia demanded.

  “At first I believed her. That you would blame me if you knew that I was the reason she left. Then I just wanted to keep her far away from all of you.”

  Gia took a cleansing breath and then another one. And when that one didn’t work, she gave up. “I honestly don’t know who I’m more mad at right now.”