Lawson still looked primed for a good yell, but he just stood there, glaring at her and cursing under his breath.
“I didn’t tell you because I didn’t think you’d want to know,” she went on. “You always made it clear that you never wanted kids. And things were so bad between us when I left. We were both grieving Brett’s death, blaming ourselves, and I just kept hearing the last words we said to each other.” Eve looked up at him. “You remember those words?”
The muscles in his face didn’t exactly relax, but his shoulders dropped a little. “I wish to hell I’d never met you.”
That was it verbatim, which meant it’d stuck with him over the years, too.
“I know you said that in anger,” she continued. “I also know you had a right to say it because of Brett and because I was leaving. But those are the words I heard when I picked up the phone to call you and tell you I was pregnant. Needless to say, I didn’t make that call.”
“You should have,” he snapped.
Roman was poised on the steps as if waiting to see if he should intervene. Lawson’s snap caused him to go up a step, but Eve didn’t want him to come to her aid. She was feeling so low that she didn’t deserve anyone on her side right now.
“Yes, I should have,” she agreed. “And plenty of times I wanted to do just that despite the words in my head. But the years went by, and I convinced myself that I had done the right thing. If you didn’t want to be a father as a teenager, then you probably wouldn’t have wanted to be one as an adult.”
Eve sent an apologetic look Roman’s way because he’d gotten his high school girlfriend pregnant, and when she’d skipped out on him shortly after giving birth, Roman had ended up raising the boy on his own.
“How the hell could you have managed to keep something like this a secret?” Lawson demanded.
“Lies and secrets. Something I’m good at. The studio used body doubles and Photoshop to help cover it up. And the other actors and crew signed nondisclosure statements. Even with all that, though, no one was more surprised than I was when it stayed under wraps.”
Lawson’s eyes narrowed. “I’m pretty sure I’ve got you beat in the surprised department. Does Tessie know?”
Eve shook her head. “Well, she knows she’s not adopted, but she doesn’t know you’re her father.”
And she braced herself for Lawson to say that was soon going to change, that he was going to drive to Austin right now and tell Tessie everything. Of course, Lawson could take a different direction. He could repeat those words that had served him so well nearly eighteen years ago.
I wish to hell I’d never met you.
This time though, he wouldn’t be just saying them out of anger. But because they were true.
She could see the hate in his eyes. At least she thought it was hate. Hard to tell because the tears were making her vision blurry. However, even blurry vision couldn’t stop her from seeing the limo driving toward the house.
“Kellan,” she muttered. She definitely didn’t need this now.
“Sorry, I left the gate open,” Roman explained. “I was in kind of a hurry to stop an impending apocalypse. Are you two going to play nice now, or do I need to stay awhile longer?”
Eve could promise him that playing nice wasn’t something Lawson had in mind, but there was no need for Roman to put in any more time here. If Lawson got violent, it wouldn’t be with her. Kellan might be fair game though, but she had too much else on her mind to worry if his often smart-mouth was going to put him in the path of Lawson’s fist. Besides, she wasn’t exactly pleased that Kellan had been the one to spill her secret, not when it should have come from her.
Oblivious to the shit-storm that was happening on the porch, Kellan was talking on the phone when he stepped from the limo.
“I’ll get rid of him,” Roman volunteered.
Eve was considering that when she heard him say something to the person on the other end of the phone line. “Don’t worry, Baby-Cakes, Jr. I’ll talk to her. That sort of thing is my specialty.”
To the best of Eve’s knowledge, Kellan only called one person by that ridiculous name of Baby-Cakes, Jr.
Tessie.
Now it was Eve who did some barreling. She ran off the porch, going past Roman. “Why are you on the phone with Tessie?” she snapped.
Kellan lifted his eyebrow as if the answer was obvious and that she was stupid for even asking, and he put the call on mute. “Tessie knows the cowboy told you about the drinking, and I’m here to try to smooth things over. Or at least I think that’s what she wants me to do. It’s hard to tell with all the crying. The girl knows how to turn on the waterworks.”
Nothing in the world could have stopped Eve from snatching the phone from Kellan. “Tessie?” she said the moment she unmuted it. But that was the only thing she managed to say before Tessie interrupted her.
“Mom, don’t overreact.” There was no chance of her not doing that, either. And yes, Tessie was crying. “I’m taking care of things. I don’t need or want you here.”
That wasn’t something the mother of a teenager wanted to hear. “I’m coming to see you right now.”
“No. Don’t. They won’t let you in.”
Again, not something a mom wanted to hear. “What do you mean? Where are you?” This time, Tessie didn’t answer though Eve could hear some muffled chatter. “Where are you?” Eve practically shouted it into the phone.
“Miss Cooper?” someone finally said. Definitely not Tessie.
“Put my daughter back on the line,” Eve demanded.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t. Tessie’s not allowed any phone calls until she’s had her assessment.”
“Assessment?” Lawson repeated, and that’s when Eve realized he was right behind her, listening to every word.
“Yes,” the person verified. “Tessie’s just checked herself into rehab.”
*
EVE WAS CERTAIN that if she sat down, she was going to fly apart. No way could she keep seated, so she just paced across the floor of the waiting room of the Hope Sanctuary, the private rehab facility where Tessie was apparently now a patient.
And Eve wasn’t pacing alone, either.
Lawson was right there with her in the small twelve-by-twelve-foot area. Considering there were chairs and a reception desk behind security glass, that didn’t give them a lot of room to maneuver, and they kept running into each other.
Literally.
But the two times that had happened, Lawson had moved away from her as if she’d scalded him. An extreme reaction, considering he got routinely kicked, butted and stepped on by broncos and assorted cattle. Still, Eve couldn’t blame him. At the moment she wanted to get away from herself.