Eve had locked herself away in the house for days.
She didn’t have the strength to scrape herself off her bedroom floor but she knew if she walked out of the house she would be driving back to Roman. She wanted to know why. Why he’d tricked her again, why he couldn’t love her.
The weight of his betrayal paralyzed her. Wrecked her. She’d never known that her heart could hurt so much and affect her ability to do anything else. Roman had been her air, and now he was gone.
He had been so gentle, so perfect that she had fallen deeper in love with him. She didn’t think she could pick herself back up this time.
When she was all cried out, she dragged herself to the bathroom and sat under the shower spray and every single moment she had spent with Roman played in her mind like a movie. The times before she had walked out when she’d had a contract but he had still come and made her feel like the centre of his world one day a week. When he had made love to her and taught her what her body was capable of. When he had taken care of her afterwards as a lover did.
And then after the contract when he had said and done everything right.
She had fallen right into his trap and actually initiated things herself. She’d thought it was her choice to sleep with him again but Roman had been relying on the way she responded to him. Like a puppet. Just like the night she’d signed the last contract.
The water started to cool and she remembered where she was. She didn’t have the luxury of long showers here because the boiler played up. This was her real life. By the time she’d quickly washed, the water was freezing cold.
But today she had to get back to her real life. She had to find a job because the bills wouldn’t pay themselves.
Once she had dried her hair, she found one of the nicer outfits in her wardrobe and her trusty pair of winter boots. Then she grabbed her old coat and headed downstairs. There were still a lot of her parent’s things here. The equipment the council had given her dad, all their photos on the walls. But the boxes they had not been able to unpack in this small space were gone, as well as the stuff they used every day.
She didn’t know what Roman would do with that house now. Would he kick them out? She was dreading telling her mother that she had been right but she had to. She had played with their lives, too. But maybe she would put it off until she found another job that would tide things over until she went back to university.
Because she was going back. She couldn’t destroy her life so completely over Roman. She’d get her degree and make her parents proud of her again. And she’d have more opportunities to make a decent living.
Without Roman.
She blinked her tears back as she walked out of the house. Roman’s car was still parked outside the house but she walked past it to head to the bus stop. She should have left it in London but she hadn’t been thinking straight. Now she would have to find a way to return it.
But that was a problem for another time.
As she approached the gate to Roman’s house, she plastered a smile on her face before she pressed the button. And when the gates opened, she was surprised to see how… festive everything was.
In all her misery she had forgotten that it was almost Christmas. Her parents loved Christmas but she hadn’t expected them to celebrate it this year because of their circumstances. But now there were lights on the house, on the trees. There was a reindeer on the roof. Where had they got all this stuff?
In the last conversation with her mother, she had complained that she couldn’t afford to miss a shift. Well, they definitely couldn’t afford to pay for any of this.
The door opened before she had reached it, and her mother stood there with a smile on her face.
She hadn’t expected smiles.
“Evie,” her mother said as she pulled her into a hug. “Come in before we let all the heat out.”
Though she had seen the house when it had been completed, it now looked lived in. Homier. As she hung her coat up, she couldn’t help the pain in her heart when she saw it. This could have been their house.
“I’m so glad you’re here. We have a lot to talk about,” her mother said.
She walked into the kitchen after her mother and stopped in her tracks when she saw her father outside. He was in his wheelchair and had a coat on but he had a smile on his face. A real one.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Tessa whispered.
Eve wiped at the tears she hadn’t felt coming. Even though summer was gone, her father was poking at what looked like an accessible barbecue stand and had a beer in his other hand.
“I was so angry that I had to move him when he was already so depressed. But once we got here… I haven’t seen him smile like that in a long time,” her mother said. “I’ve got my husband back.”
She hugged her mother and couldn’t stop the tears this time. Her father was smiling again and she was here to wipe the smiles off both their faces.
“Don’t cry, my girl,” her mother said. “I know what I said about your boyfriend but I was just terrified he was playing with you again. But after you sent the Christmas stuff and all that paperwork I just…”
She pulled back from her mother and wanted to ask what she was talking about. But on closer inspection, Tessa looked stress-free for the first time since her dad’s accident.
“I’ll put the kettle on. Why don’t you take another beer to your dad and you two talk? I think it’s time.”
She chickened out of commenting about the decorations and the paperwork. Whatever Roman had done had supposedly come from her, and she didn’t want to worry them by admitting she was in the dark.
“I was going to ask you when you would be coming down from London to see us, so I’m glad you’ve come. I wanted to talk to you before we sign anything,” her mother continued. “Have you come alone?”
“Yes. Um, Roman is very busy,” she lied.
“I guess he had a lot of work to catch up on after playing house with you,” Tessa said with a laugh when she turned back to face her. “Go on. Go and see your dad. We’ll be eating soon.”
She dried the rest of her tears and pulled a beer out from the fridge. She had no idea what the hell was going on here, but her parents were happy. And her dad…
When she walked out onto the deck, she took a deep breath to prepare herself. Maybe his smile would be fake again when he saw her. Maybe she had destroyed their relationship beyond repair.
“Hi, dad.”
Her father turned his wheelchair around.
And then he smiled. The first real smile since the day she’d broken his heart.
“Hi, baby girl. Come and hug your old man.”