A Time To Love (A Mill Creek Crossing Romance) (2 page)

“Well, hello to you too, Gracie,” Eva said a little sarcastically as she walked up the front porch stairs.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Gracie asked as she put her hand up in Eva’s face. It was starting to get dark as the fall evenings happened earlier and earlier.

“Come on, Gracie. I just want to talk to you. Please.”

“Seriously? Ever heard of a phone? Or email?”

“Would you have taken a call from me? Really?”

“No, but at least it would show you had some manners,” Gracie said.

“I figured my best chance of getting you to talk to me was to show up here so you couldn’t just tell me to kiss off.”

“Oh, trust me, I can tell you to kiss off in person too. One call to Officer Harrington and I can have your butt locked up for trespassing on our property.”

“Gracie, she just wants to talk…” Randy said, making the rookie mistake of getting between two sisters with his calm, male demeanor. Gracie’s evil-eye look made him step back and look down at his shoes.

“Hi. I’m Eva Cameron. And you are?” she said holding her hand out to Randy who was now far too afraid to look up. Eva slowly lowered her hand and looked back at Gracie. “Seems you’ve trained your poor husband well.”

“Eva, get the hell off my property. Last warning,” Gracie said as she opened the front door.

“I have nowhere to go,” Eva finally admitted. Arms crossed, she waited for her sister’s reaction.

Gracie stopped in her tracks and slowly turned around. Looking into her sister’s eyes, she could tell she was being serious.

“How is that possible? You got three hundred thousand dollars just six years ago. And a house on top of that!”

“Please let me come in so I can explain. It’s kind of a long story,” Eva said.

“Fine. Come in for a few minutes, but then you need to leave. If I wasn’t so damn curious about your inability to manage money, I wouldn’t let you in for anything.” Gracie glared at her sister as she crossed the threshold into her home, her safe place away from the craziness that was her family for so many years.

Eva walked into Gracie and Randy’s humble home, first wanting to judge them for not having as much as she had for the last six years. Quickly realizing her only option was to tell the truth - or at least some of it - about what she had experienced during the last few years, she sat down on their sofa and put her hands on her lap. Gracie sat across from her in the recliner while Randy put on a pot of coffee.

“Say what you came to say, Eva,” Gracie said directly.

“Boy, you still don’t mince words, do you?”

“No time for nonsense in my life.”

“Do you have kids?” Eva asked, which ripped a hole through Gracie’s heart. Trying not to look affected, Gracie simply shook her head.

“I also don’t have time for small talk, Eva. Get on with it.”

“Okay…” Eva said, suddenly nervous at how angry her sister seemed to be. “Where do I begin?”

“How about right after our mother died and left you everything?” Gracie said crossing her arms and sitting back.

“Gracie, I had nothing to do with what our mother left for you. She never told me.”

“Sure. Like I believe that, Eva.”

“Well, you can believe what you want, but it’s true. Look, it’s no secret you and Mom had a falling out years ago.”

“Because you were her favorite, Eva. My father died, and you became her favorite because your father was the new husband. Simple as that.”

“I don’t believe that’s true, Gracie. She loved you.”

“Funny way of showing it.”

“She felt like you abandoned her when she was sick. You barely came to see her,” Eva said.

“I came to visit as much as I could. We aren’t wealthy people, and we had to work.”

“I understand that, but Mom didn’t always understand it. That’s water under the bridge, Gracie.”

“Maybe it is for you, but I don’t have a chance to ask her why she did what she did. I have to live with the pain of knowing my own mother didn’t love me enough to leave me anything…” Gracie said trying to stifle her emotions. “Anyway, tell your story. I need to eat dinner.”

Eva looked at her sister and could see the pain in her eyes. For the first time in a long time, she felt a little bit of guilt over receiving the money from her mother and then wasting it all.

“After Mom died, I moved to Atlanta and bought a luxury apartment,” she started.

“Of course you did,” Gracie said with a sarcastic laugh.

“I bought a new car, new clothes, took a vacation or two… I even sold her house in Tennessee.”

“Lovely,” Gracie sneered.

“I invested some of the money into a business with a friend. Long story short, I got swindled. Before I knew it, my apartment was foreclosed, and my car was repossessed. I am broke, Gracie. I have nowhere to live, and that’s a rental car sitting in your driveway.” Although it felt good to get it all off her chest, Eva knew the onslaught was coming.

Gracie stood up and walked to a picture of her mother from her younger years that she had on a corner table. Picking it up, she shook her head and turned to Eva.

“So, let me get this straight. Our mother left you three hundred thousand dollars, and you went through all of it and lost it? It’s completely gone?”

“Yes.”

“I cannot believe you!” Gracie said as she put the picture back on the table and started pacing the room. “Do you realize how much good could have been done with that money?”

“I know. I made some mistakes,” Eva said.

“Mistakes? Seriously? You bought an apartment, a car, took vacations…”

“You don’t have to make me feel worse, Gracie. I already know I screwed up! Plus, there’s one more thing I didn’t tell you.”

Gracie steeled herself for whatever Eva had up her sleeve.

“What?”

“I was married.”

“Excuse me?”

“I got married three years ago. I met him on a crazy trip to Vegas with some former girlfriends of mine. We were only married for nine months, and he ran off with some of my money.”

“Good Lord…”

“I know, I know. I make bad decisions. I always have,” she said putting her face in her hands.

“Who was this guy?”

“I met him at a casino. His name was Nick, and he was sexy and cool and… sexy…”

“Is that all you cared about? Sex?”

“Of course not! He made me feel good about myself.”

“Oh, well that’s a great reason to get married. What do you want from me, Eva?” Grace finally asked.

“You’re my only family, Gracie. I need a place to start over.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me! You want to stay here? With me and my husband?”

“Yes. Please. I know it’s an inconvenience…”

“An inconvenience? It’s way more than that! I haven’t seen or heard from you in years. You didn’t even come to our wedding, for goodness sakes!”

“I know, and I felt terrible about that. I really did…”

“Where is Jack?” Gracie asked referring to Eva’s father.

“He passed away last year, Gracie. Heart attack. I was devastated,” Eva said, her eyes welling with tears.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Gracie said without looking at her.

“Thank you. So can I stay?”

“Look, Eva, this isn’t going to work. You’re going to have to make other arrangements.” Gracie stood up and walked to her kitchen to make a cup of coffee, hoping that her sister would walk out the front door and right out of her life.

“Gracie, I have nowhere to go. I have no money!” Eva said following her. “You’re my sister. We’re supposed to be there for each other!”

If looks could kill, Eva would have been dead. Gracie’s eyes were squinted as she leaned across her counter and stared at Eva.

“Sisters? You gave up the right to be my sister when you took our mother’s money and left me high and dry. You gave up your right to be my sister when you didn’t even show up for my wedding. You’re nothing to me now.”

The silence was deafening as Eva’s face became stained with tears. Without saying a word, she picked up her purse and walked out the front door.

***

As Gracie got ready for work the next morning, she thought back to Eva’s short visit. Was she too harsh? Maybe. Was she too nice? Probably not!

Randy had expressed some sympathy for Eva saying she seemed to be a lost soul who’d never experienced the right kind of love. Maybe that was true, but Gracie had given her chance after chance, and taking their mother’s money was the last straw.

Starting her car, Gracie drove down the long driveway heading for the main street when she noticed her sister’s rental car parked in an abandoned parking lot just outside of her driveway. She pulled up, partly out of concern for her sister’s safety. It had been a pretty cold fall evening, and she wondered if her sister had been picked up by someone.

As she walked to the window of the car, she saw Eva huddled up in a ball sleeping under a blanket in the driver’s seat.

“Eva! Wake up!” she yelled as she banged on the window. Slowly, Eva pulled her head out from under the cover and looked at Gracie. It was obvious she had cried herself to sleep. Her face was red and puffy, and her eyes were swollen.

Eva unlocked the car door, and Gracie swung it open.

“What are you doing?” Gracie asked.

“I had nowhere to sleep. I told you I was homeless,” Eva said shaking from cold and exhaustion.

“My God, Eva. I thought you were just being dramatic. Come on,” Gracie said holding out her hand. Eva took it, and the two women got into Gracie’s car after locking Eva’s rental.

“Where are we going?” Eva asked shaking.

“To the diner where I work. You can get some coffee and breakfast there.” Gracie couldn’t look at her sister, but from a humane perspective she just couldn’t leave her in that condition.

“Why are you helping me, Gracie?” Eva asked softly.

“Because I’m a nice person,” Gracie said as she drove into the parking lot of the diner. “But don’t think this changes anything. I will help you get on your feet, but then you have to go, Eva. I can’t allow you to screw up my life. Understand?” she asked as she stared straight ahead with her hands still on the steering wheel.

“Understand. Does this mean I can stay with you?”

“For a little while. You need to find a job and then get your own place as soon as possible. Preferably in another town.”

“I wish you didn’t hate me, Gracie.”

“I don’t hate anyone, Eva. But just because we’re related by blood doesn’t mean we have to have a relationship,” she said opening the car door.

Gracie walked Eva through their small house showing her where she would sleep. The bedroom wasn’t very big, but Eva wasn’t about to complain. Sleeping in her car for one night was a small price to pay for getting her sister to do what she wanted. It was unfortunate she needed her help, but her mother had made it difficult for some reason.