Eva pressed her face against his shirt, breathing in the scent of his cologne. Her heart was heavy, her eyes scratchy from the tears she had shed on the drive over. She had finally decided to tell her father about the pregnancy and he had taken it as well as she had anticipated given their recent fighting.

She had never seen him so upset, not even when her mother had died. He had told her in no uncertain terms that she was ruining her life being with him and that she needed to look into termination or putting the baby up for adoption so that she could still have ‘a normal life’. Eva had never screamed at her father before, but her screams had caused more than one person, including Brenda, to see what all the commotion was about and Eva had stormed out, running to the only stable thing in her life right now.

“Shhh,” he was saying, rubbing circles into her back lightly. “It’s going to be okay, I swear it. Your old man will realize he’s wrong about all of it once we’re married.”

Eva wiped her nose on her sleeve and stepped back. Looking into his trusting eyes. “Are you sure? I’ve never seen him so mad before.”

He gave her a tender smile, pressing a kiss against her forehead. “Of course I’m sure. You are all he has now and though he’s mad at the moment, it won’t last for long. Trust me, he won’t want to drive away his daughter.”

He then grabbed her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. “I love you. We are going to be happy together, you just wait.”

Eva nodded and fell into his arms once more, feeling safe and secure. She had finally decided to move forward with the elopement. Once they were married, her father would have no choice but to accept his new son-in-law and grandchild.

Either that or she would be gone forever.

But, Eva didn’t like the fact that her father—probably her entire family—was against this marriage. What if they don’t accept it? Can I live with the fact that I have driven a wedge between them?

“Have you gotten your dress yet?”

Eva sighed and rubbed her cheek against his shirt. “I picked it up yesterday.”

“Good,” he said, his voice rumbling against her cheek. “Focus on that then, Eva. Focus on the wedding that we are going to have in Ireland.”

She closed her eyes, allowing herself to drift away from the hurt that was in her chest. He was right. They were going to have a wonderful, lovely wedding in Ireland, just the two of them.

So why did she not feel elated?

* * *

“Are you sure you want to do this Eva? You can back out, you know.”

Eva placed the last article of clothing in her bag and zipped it closed, looking around at the room she had shared with Brenda for as long as she could remember. There was the cork board filled with useless things, concert ticket stubs, and silly pictures that they had taken together over the years.

There was the closet still full of their clothing, as they had given up on trying to separate them a long time ago.

Most of all, there were the memories; memories that she could not replace with anything.

“Oh, don’t cry!” Brenda exclaimed, patting her back. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to question you. I won’t say anything else.”

“It’s not you.” Eva sniffed, wiping her eyes. She truly was about to leave everything she had known, everything safe to strike out on her own with him and their child. It was the right thing to do—or at least that was what she kept telling herself.

Picking up her bag, Eva slung it over her shoulder and gave Brenda a watery smile. “Well, I guess I’m off.”

Brenda climbed off the bed and wrapped her arms around her cousin. “I hope that it’s everything you dream it is. Really, Eva May. I just want you to be happy.”

“Thanks, cousin.” Eva sniffed again, hugging Brenda tightly. “I’ll call you when it’s all done. I want this baby to know her aunt.”

“But I won’t be an aunt…” Releasing Eva, Brenda sniffed, too.

Eva shook her head. “You were always like a sister to me.”

Brenda’s eyes clouded with tears once more but Eva was already walking out of the room, attempting to hold it together for just a little longer. It wasn’t just the pregnancy causing her to be so emotional.

Walking down the stairs, Eva paused at the bottom, looking at the entrance to the den, where she knew her father was sitting, watching his TV show and drinking his whisky. She really wanted to see him one last time, to not leave with such strife between them, but she was afraid that he might catch wind of what she was about to do and try to stop her.

That she couldn’t let happen.

“I love you, Daddy,” she whispered, hurrying past the den and out the door before she could change her mind.

Hopefully he would understand. Hopefully he would be able to forgive her.

Climbing into the car, Eva backed out of the driveway and headed down the dirt road to the main highway, pointing it toward his place. She would stay there until they made their way to Ireland, where her new life would begin.

But it didn’t mean that she wasn’t leaving a piece of her heart behind.