The Heart of Christmas by Brenda Novak Read Free Book Online Page B

asked. “You’re not supposed to be climbing the stairs.”
    “Who said? The exercise is good for me, as long as I don’t fall.”
    “Falling’s what I’m worried about.” After trying for two years to get this baby, and resorting to what she’d resorted to, Cheyenne would be devastated if she lost it.
    “I’m being careful. I just wanted to let you know...” She winced as if what she had to say wouldn’t be welcome news.
    “What?” Eve prompted.
    “Your parents are back.”
    Eve’s hand flew to her mouth and she spoke through her fingers. “No!”
    “Yes. They’re waiting downstairs in the small parlor. They feel terrible that they didn’t make it in time for your birthday, so they had the part for the RV flown in, which cost them a lot more, and now they’re anxious to give you their present.”
    Her parents were too good. They had to be the best, most supportive people in the world, which was partly why Eve felt so embarrassed about her recent behavior.
    “You don’t think they’ll hear about last night....”
    “No! Of course not! Who’d tell them?” Cheyenne plastered a reassuring smile on her face, but Eve could see right through it.
    “You
do
think they’ll hear.”
    She let her smile wilt. “I’m afraid they might. We
are
talking about Noelle. When Kyle dropped by to give her his spousal maintenance, she had that other waitress over—Casey? He said they were talking and laughing about...the situation.”
    Casey hadn’t even been working on Thursday night.
    Eve closed her eyes as she pinched the bridge of her nose. She had to get out of this town. She felt trapped, stifled. As much as she loved Little Mary’s and Whiskey Creek and all the people she’d grown up with, she needed something new. But it seemed odd that this realization had burst upon her so suddenly. Did other people question where they were in life at only thirty-five? Was she having a midlife crisis before she ever hit midlife?
    Maybe she should take whatever money she’d saved and travel across Europe....
    “I’ll finish up,” Cheyenne said. “What’s left?”
    “Nothing.” As Eve wound up the vacuum cord, she thought once more about telling Cheyenne that Brent Taylor was the man she’d slept with, but changed her mind. She didn’t want Cheyenne to find out that he’d lied to her about his name. And even if he didn’t check out today, he wouldn’t be in Whiskey Creek for long.
    “Want me to go down with you?” Cheyenne asked. “Would that help you face them?”
    “No. I’ve got to put the vacuum away first—and I’m not going to let you carry it down those stairs so don’t even offer. Just tell them I’m coming.”
    Cheyenne gave her a quick hug. “You’re in your thirties. If they do hear about last night, they probably won’t say anything.”
    Of course they wouldn’t. They weren’t intrusive. It was what they’d
think
that troubled Eve.
    Again, she felt a desperate need for more space, a change of scenery, a chance to figure out if the person she’d become was the person she wanted to be. Maybe she’d been treading water, hoping for the kind of love some of her friends had found, but it didn’t look as though that was going to happen for her. At least not here... Maybe it took her thirty-fifth birthday to make her realize she had to go in a different direction.
    She listened to Cheyenne’s footsteps recede. Then she lifted up the vacuum. But before she could collect her cleaning bucket, she noticed the luggage tag on Brent Taylor’s suitcase and set the vacuum down.
    There
was his personal information. She should make a note of it in case there was some reason he didn’t want to give it out. Say...if the FBI happened to be looking for him. If she was going to be stupid enough to sleep with a stranger, a possible fugitive from the law, she should do what she could to point the police in the right direction if they came knocking at her door.
    But the tag didn’t say the suitcase