CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
The banter between the Cardonas fascinated Eva. They had their own language interspersed with call codes and memories of Blue Moon past. She liked seeing him with his family, seeing how he’d become the man he had.
But it also gave her a little tickle of doubt. Donovan came from solid stock. A sheriff and a fire chief, heroes by profession and good citizens by practice. While Eva’s father was above reproach and just about as perfect a human being as one could get, points were lost on her mother. A child-abandoning drug addict who repeatedly bilked her youngest daughter for money? That could be reason enough to make Donovan and his parents think twice about welcoming her with open arms.
She left them to their conversation, each taking turns at the kettle paddle, and wandered over to where Joey was drumming her fingers on the picnic table and staring at the front door.
Eva sat down next to her. “You look like you’ve got something on the brain.”
“Don’t try to mine me for novel plotlines,” Joey said, without taking her eyes off the front door. “Reva’s in there getting ready for Homecoming. Emma’s doing her hair.”
“And why are you out here?”
“She said my pacing was making her nervous.”
Eva grinned. “Are you nervous?”
Joey gave a sullen, one-shouldered shrug. “This is the first big thing for her since she moved in with us. I want it to be great, perfect even.”
“What’s there to worry about?”
Joey shot her a look. “How long has it been since you were a teenager? Or did you block out those years?”
“Right. I forgot. Unpopularity, parents who just don’t get you, sweaty boys with roaming hands…”
“Exactly. Reev’s had enough shit in her life. She deserves the good stuff now.”
“Donovan said the P.I. tracked down Sheila,” Eva prompted.
“Yeah, and you know what that fucking shitbag of a douche mother did?” Joey said.
Eva blinked. “I’m guessing it wasn’t good.”
“She said she’d sign the papers for twenty grand.”
“Jesus.” Eva blew out a breath. The situation hit just a little too close to home for her.
“I mean, can you imagine a mother extorting her kids for money?”
Eva shook her head. “No.” Yes. She could and without trying too hard either.
“Anyway, Jax was reaching for his checkbook—I love that man. He’d do anything for anyone. But Cardona stepped in. He said if we pay her off this once, she’ll just keep coming back. Even if she makes promises or signs papers. It won’t be the last time. She’d always be in our life or worse, in theirs.” She nodded toward where Caleb and Aurora were chasing Waffles the tireless dog around a tree. “He says the only thing that’s going to work is a no.”
Damn it all to hell. Where had Donovan been the first time she’d scraped out the last forty bucks in her meager checking account in college so her mother could fill her tank to drive to Philadelphia? Agnes had come back every time, always needing more. And every damn time Eva had caved. Until now. Now was the time to finally clean up this mess. She just didn’t know how.
“So, what did you do?” Eva asked, focusing on Joey.
Joey grinned. “Told her to fuck off and threatened her with prison for child neglect and abandonment. Papers were signed and are being overnighted. We told Reva today, and she got pretty choked up. In the good way… I think. We’re going to look at colleges next weekend.”
Eva grabbed Joey in a hard hug. “You, my friend, are a mom.”
Joey shook her head slowly. “I know. I can’t fucking believe it. And my daughter is in there getting ready for her first big thing, and I’m so nervous for her I might puke.”
Eva slid down the bench putting a few inches between her and Joey. “You just give me fair warning if that happens.”
Summer and Carter’s front door opened, and Reva appeared on the porch. She did a slow turn in her midnight blue dress to the whistles and the applause of the crowd in the yard. The sequined bodice caught the sunlight, and the flirty tulle lifted as she spun. Her hair, that lovely doeskin brown, was swirled up in a sassy updo courtesy of Emma’s competent fingers. Summer had outdone herself on Reva’s makeup. It was perfection. Light and bright and highlighting her youth and natural glow.
Joey was damn near chewing through her lip to keep from crying. “Shit. Why does it feel like my chest is caving in?” she muttered.
Eva patted her friend on the back. “I think it’s just love.”
Jax, on the other hand, was having an entirely different reaction.
He stormed up to the foot of the porch steps. “No. Oh, hell no. You’re not going anywhere like that!”
For a moment, Eva thought he was joking. But one look at his panicked face, and she knew he was dead serious.
“Jackson,” Joey said, standing up from the table. “Chill out. She’s practically an adult.”
“I can see that. The whole world can see that in that dress,” Jax argued, pointing accusingly at Reva’s dress. “It doesn’t even have straps! You’re not leaving this house dressed like that.”
Two months ago, Eva thought, Reva would have hung her head and shuffled back into the house. But her time with Jax and Joey had rubbed off on her. She put her slim hands on her hips and stared Jax down. “Yes, I am,” she said calmly.
Jax blinked at his daughter and then turned his rage on Joey. “You see this? This is your fault! She sounds just like you!”
“Me? You’re the one acting like a fucking moron. Sorry, Cale,” she said, tossing an apology at Reva’s little brother.
“That’s okay,” he said, waving amicably at Joey.
“I’m not acting like a fucking moron. Do you have any idea what 17-year-old boys are like?”
“If you’ll recall, I remember perfectly what they’re like,” Joey said, drilling a finger into his chest. “And from where I’m standing, late twenty-somethings aren’t much better!”
“Reva, you look lovely,” Phoebe said, stepping in to smooth it over. Caleb skipped over to her to get away from his shouting parents.
“Thanks, Gram. Joey helped me pick the dress,” Reva said, smoothing her hands over the skirt.
“You put her in that?” Jax shouted at his wife.
“Excuse me, but last time I checked, you didn’t want to go dress shopping because it was a ‘chick thing.’ So, if you don’t like this gorgeous dress that our gorgeous daughter picked out, you can just shut your damn eyes and your mouth and give the rest of us a break.”
Eva wasn’t sure if anyone else had caught the “our daughter” remark. Their family was so new that they were all still trying to get used to the relationships. On the steps, Reva was standing open-mouthed, watching the argument unfold, a pretty flush on her cheeks. Eva wondered what it must feel like for the girl. Going from being discarded by her own mother to being welcomed into—and maybe a little smothered by—a new family as if she’d belonged there the whole time.
It made her eyes just a little glassy with happiness for the girl who was loved. It’s what the Pierces and Blue Moon did. They welcomed people into the fold, blood or no blood, and made a place for them. They’d made a place for her, too, and in that place, she’d found Donovan.
And for the first time in her adult life, the pieces of a child’s broken heart were starting to mend themselves.
Donovan appeared at Eva’s side and sighed heavily.
“You gonna handle this situation, Sheriff?” Hazel asked, a hint of smile playing on her bare lips.
He sighed and turned to Eva. “Baby, listen. If he punches me, I’m cuffing him,” he told Eva before strolling over to where Jax and Joey stood, steaming mad.
“Jax, my friend, you’re outnumbered, and I think you should calm down before you ruin Reva’s night.”
“Calm down?” Jax spat the words out at Donovan. “Do you remember what you were doing at Homecoming and prom and after just about every football game?”
Eva bit her lip when the blush reached the tips of Donovan’s ears.
“I sure do. And I’m sure Reva has better judgement than any of us did back then.”
“Did you go to Homecoming, Bucket?” Aurora asked, wrapping her arms around Beckett’s legs.
He winced, presumably recalling memories of Moon Beam Parker, and lifted his daughter up to settle her on his hip. “I’m with Jax,” he announced. “We can’t let Reva go. Not with hormonal teenage boys oozing testosterone.”
“It’s about time you came to your senses,” Jax approved.
“Hang on, now,” Gia dipped a toe into the fight. “I’m not okay with you siding with Jax on this.”
“Sorry, Gianna, but these are our daughters. We have to protect them from idiots like we were.”
“Were?” Joey challenged.
“I hate to say it, but my stupid brothers might have a point,” Carter butted in. Meadow was cradled against his chest yawning.
“Stupid’s not a nice word, Uncle Carter,” Caleb said.
“You’re right. Sorry buddy,” he said, ruffling the boy’s hair. “My mentally deficient brothers,” he corrected.
“Carter,” Summer said. Her voice held a warning tone.
“What?” he challenged her. “We’ve all got girls, except for Niko, but I bet he’d agree with us.” They all turned to look at Nikolai.
He muttered a curse. “Sorry, babe,” he said, dropping a kiss on Emma’s cheek. “But I’ve got to go where the testosterone goes.” He stepped over the invisible line dividing the camps. A line that Eva noticed Donovan was straddling.
Franklin pulled up a couple of lawn chairs so he, Phoebe, and Evan could sit and enjoy the entertainment. Caleb climbed into the safety of Franklin’s lap, and Michael and Hazel stood behind them ready to act if necessary or at least capture the fight on video.
“Doesn’t anyone care what I want?” Reva demanded from the front porch.
“No!” shouted the men.
“Yes!” the women announced.
“This is Uranus right here, isn’t it?” Eva hissed at Donovan.
“Uranus and a couple of remorseful post-teenagers,” he whispered back. “You want to help me out here?”
“Let me talk Jax down, and you take the ladies.”
“They’re more likely to take a swing at me,” he grumbled. But he took Joey by the arm and dragged her a few feet away to listen to her complaints.
Eva slipped an arm through Jax’s. “Jax, Jax, Jax. We’re like step-brother and sister-in-law, right?”
He was still glaring at Reva’s dress. “Huh? Yeah, I guess so.”
“Good, because this would sting if it were coming from someone who wasn’t family.”
“What would—”
Eva slapped him upside the head. “Listen to me. You are this close to ruining what’s got to be one of the happiest days of your daughter’s life.”
“It’s fucking Homecoming, not her damn wedding day. Oh, God. She’s going to get married—”
She smacked him again. “Stay with me. This is a girl who’s been abandoned by her parents. Who probably didn’t have a great life with her mother before she left. And now she’s part of this big, amazing family, and you’re making her feel like shit for her choices.”
“No, I’m not!” he argued.
“The dress, the date. She chose those, and you’re not trusting her decisions.”
Jax sputtered, but Eva cut him off. “Listen to me. How did you feel the first time your dad handed you the keys to his car? Or let you stay out past curfew? Or talked to you like an adult?”
That shut him up.
She laid a hand on his shoulder. “You need to tell Reva that you trust her and her decisions. She’s a great kid. An amazing one, and you’re lucky enough to have her in your life. Don’t take her special day and turn it into a guilt-fest for your idiocy when you were her age. Trust her to make better choices than you did.”
“What if she doesn’t? I was convincing as hell when I was her age. Ask Joey,” he pointed at his wife who was staring stonily up at Donovan and possibly growling.
“And look how you two ended up,” she pointed out.
“Yeah, but that’s different. What are the odds of that happening? One in a trillion?”
“What are you trying to protect Reva from?”
“Guys like me!”
Carter and Beckett stepped in to flank him, still juggling their daughters.
“Guys like us,” Beckett corrected him.
Eva looked heavenward and groaned. “Okay, listen to me. All of you. You are good men. You’ve grown up, you’ve married amazing, patient women—except for Joey—and you’re raising awesome kids. All you can do is be good examples for your kids. Do you think Reva is going to settle for some loser jerk when she sees what you and Joey have?” she asked Jax. “Or what Beckett and Gia and Carter and Summer and my dad and Phoebe have? She sees all of this and knows that she can have this, too. You just need to trust her to make the right decisions.”
Oh shit. She wasn’t just talking about Reva anymore.
“Our step-sister-in-law makes sense,” Beckett mused.
“I just want her to be happy and safe… and stay a virgin forever,” Jax sighed.
“She will. Minus the virgin part,” Eva promised.
“What’s a virgin?” Aurora wanted to know.
“I get what you guys are trying to do. It’s sweet, but so, so misguided. Trust her to be her. Okay?”
“You’re a wise woman. Bring it in, Eves,” Carter said. They surrounded her in a manly group hug. Aurora jumped from Beckett to Eva and wrapped her arms around her neck.
“Why isn’t anyone telling me what a virgin is?” Aurora asked.
“It’s a Madonna song, short cake,” Beckett told her.
“Guys, I can’t breathe,” Eva said, her face smashed up against someone’s chest. “And you should be hugging Reva.”
They moved as one, a dozen-legged organism climbing the porch stairs and enfolding Reva into their ridiculousness. Waffles and Baxter danced around them, sensing a game.
“Guys, please don’t mess up my makeup,” Reva grumbled.
“Or her hair,” Emma shouted from the yard.
Phoebe shot her fist into the air. “I finally feel like the Mother’s Curse is kicking in. Now you all get to suffer through everything you put me through.”
The men released Eva, Reva, and Aurora to jump off the porch and wrap Phoebe and then Franklin in a sloppy, testosterone-filled hug.
“We’re so sorry, Mom,” Jax lamented.
“We were horrible human beings,” Carter added.
“You’re a saint,” Beckett decided.
“You’re crushing me!” Phoebe yelped. “I don’t think this chair can hold this much—”
The lawn chair gave way under her, and they all landed in a laughing pile on the ground.
“Nice work, deputy,” Donovan said, slipping his arm around her waist.
“Are those scratch marks on your arm?” Eva asked.
“Joey’s mean.”