Over the Fence (20 page)

She heard a light knock on her door. “Eva? Are you OK?”

Eva breathed deeply, got up, and nodded. It was time to talk to David. Continuing to cower in her bedroom wouldn’t get her anywhere.

“Yes, I’m fine,” Eva said as the door opened. She noted the look of concern on David’s face. “I begged off the company celebration.”

“You didn’t have to do that,” David said. “I could have waited here or at a bar.”

“After I let you sit in the stairwell for hours?” Eva shook her head. “Do you want something to drink?” She moved past him into the kitchen.

“A glass of water, please. I could stand a glass of red wine, too.” David followed her. “Can I help?”

“I’ve got it covered.” She opened the fridge and took out some water. As she did so, she took David’s photo off the fridge and hid it on a shelf.

“Was that photo of me so terrible?” David asked and grinned at her. He leaned against a kitchen cabinet as she uncorked the bottle of red.

Eva felt the heat in her face rise. She poured two glasses and pressed one into David’s hand. “I’ll bring you some water.”

David went into the living room and Eva followed.

“Have a seat,” she said. She sat down on an armchair, wanting to maintain her distance from David. That would be impossible on the small couch.

“I have to know why,” David began and took a seat across from her.

Eva looked down. “You live with Stefanie and your son, and I live in London,” she said and took a sip. “Isn’t that a good enough reason?”

“It doesn’t have to stay that way.” David looked at her and held his glass up to toast. “Do you always drink alone?”

“I’m sorry.” Eva tapped her glass to his without looking him in the eye.

“Why are you sorry?” David asked. “That you stole away from me in the morning or that you can’t look me in the eye when you make a toast?”

“Both,” Eva said and took another sip. “Why are you here?”

David leaned forward and placed his arms on his knees. He dipped his head to meet her eyes. “I need to explain to you what that night really meant to me.”

Eva pressed her lips together and remained silent.

“I’ve never cheated on Stefanie,” he said.

“You’ve already told me that. Yet you had condoms in the drawer of your nightstand,” Eva argued.

“I bought those a couple of days before in order to talk to Jonas about contraception,” David explained. “It was a happy coincidence—otherwise I wouldn’t have had any in the house. Stefanie and I . . . We haven’t slept with each other for years.”

“All men say that,” Eva said. “And I’m afraid I have no desire to be the mistress graced with a visit every now and then.”

“Eva. I’m moving out of the house.”

Eva shook her head. “I just can’t do it.”

“What can’t you do?” David asked.

“Take away Jonas’s father.” Eva sighed. “Even if you and Stefanie aren’t living together anymore, you have a son.”

“Who understands the situation.” David got up from the sofa, went around the coffee table, and got on his knees in front of the armchair. “I’ve already talked to Stefanie and Jonas about you. Stefanie met another man when she was on vacation, and she’s finally letting me go.”

Eva looked at him without speaking.

“I wanted to talk to you about our life together and was going to do it at breakfast, but you left.” He looked at her pleadingly. “I’ve wanted to move out of that house for years. Even though we weren’t married, she blackmailed me with Jonas. She said I would never see him again.”

Eva moved back. “David! There are laws and rules to handle that.”

David stood up and looked at the ceiling. “You still don’t believe me. OK, then let me back up. When my parents divorced, they fought over me for many years. It was terrible. That tug-of-war almost broke me. I couldn’t do that to Jonas.” David paced in the little room. “It’s the reason I didn’t move out and had my own bedroom instead. Jonas needed to grow up with both parents. I know that might sound strange to you, but it’s the truth.”

Eva stared at the wall. David’s explanation sounded logical, but it didn’t change anything about their situation. Eva’s body rebelled, though. Everything in her was vibrating. Her thoughts were racing. “And you really talked to both of them?” she said in a quiet voice.

“If you don’t believe me, you can call Stefanie. She knows I’m here with you.” David held up his cell to her.

Eva reached out to pick up her wineglass and nearly knocked it over because her hand was shaking so much. She pulled her hand back quickly and balled it into a fist to conceal the shaking.

David looked at her expectantly.

Even though he and Stefanie were separating, it didn’t change anything. What did he expect from her? Yes, she was in love with him. But did that mean she had to give up everything? Did she have to move back to her hometown again? She hardly knew him. Should she just throw everything overboard because of one beautiful night? A relationship with him threatened everything she had worked so hard for. On the other hand, part of her was rejoicing because David had come to her.

“David, I . . .” she began, then didn’t know what to say.

“It was a mistake to come here,” he said. He grabbed his travel bag and turned away. “It didn’t mean anything to you.”

Eva realized he had misread her silence and sprang to her feet. “Don’t go,” she begged.

David put his hand on the doorknob and looked at her. “Give me a reason to stay.”

Eva hesitated. She felt overwhelmed.

David turned the doorknob and opened the door. His hurt expression made Eva’s body tense up. “Dammit, David!” she yelled. “I fell in love with you!”

He dropped his hand from the doorknob and let his bag fall to the floor. He rushed to Eva and pulled her to him. He hugged her so tightly that she could hardly breathe, but she enjoyed being in his embrace. “And what’s so wrong about that?” David asked as he loosened his arms.

“I don’t want to leave London,” Eva whispered.

He pulled back to look in her eyes. “Did I ask you to do that?”

Eva shook her head.
Not yet,
she thought.

David held up her chin and kissed her. At first tenderly, then passionately, and Eva gave in. David steered her to the sofa, but Eva resisted and David let her stop him. Eva smiled, took his hand, and led him into the bedroom.

There, David pulled her close, and she felt his arousal as he stroked her back and undid the zipper of her dress. “This time, please don’t run away.”

Her cocktail dress fell to the floor. “Hmm, I could just throw you out instead.”

David laughed, and without letting go of each other, they sank onto Eva’s bed.

Eva lay smiling in David’s arms. It didn’t matter what happened to them; nobody could take this moment away.

“What are you thinking about?” David asked and kissed her neck.

Eva turned on her stomach, supporting herself with her arms, and looked at him. “About whether our relationship has a future.”

David smiled. “We have all the time in the world to find that out.” His smile grew broader. “The only thing is, you’ll also be saddled with Ruchti.”

Eva raised her eyebrows.

“Don’t worry. I don’t have him down on the street tied to a tree.” David kissed Eva on the tip of her nose. “But it’s a package deal, me and my dog.”

Eva rolled her eyes. “If I had known that, I would have already sent you packing.”

David threw himself on her and pushed Eva’s back onto the mattress. He held her hand. “You are the most impertinent woman I’ve ever known!” Then he tenderly put his lips to hers. “One of these days, I’ll convince you that I’m a keeper.”

Eva laughed. “You’ll have to prove it to me.” David let go of her hand, and Eva hugged his neck. “How long do stomach problems last?”

David tilted his head quizzically.

“Well, I should go back to work tomorrow . . .” Eva began, “but I’d rather do something else.” She let the tips of her fingers run across his back.

“An upset stomach can last days,” David confirmed, his expression serious. “So, today is Wednesday . . . I would say if you stay in bed with me until Sunday, you should be healthy again by Monday morning.”

“And what’s going to happen with us?” Eva dared to ask.

“We have four days to figure that out.”

Eva cuddled up to his chest. Four days. It really wasn’t a lot of time to figure out what the future would bring, but it was a start.

Three months later

Eva pressed the phone to her ear and looked out the window at Ruchti lying in the yard.

“I understand why you got fed up with the long-distance relationship. After a while, it can be exhausting,” Lena said on the other end.

“And expensive. Flying back and forth every weekend? We changed it, though, so David flew to London more often. It was stupid when I flew to Holzhausen. I felt like a prepubescent teen when David stayed with me in my parents’ house. And staying in his bedroom next door? That wasn’t for me at all.” Eva shuddered at the thought of sleeping at David’s house. It didn’t matter whether Jonas and Stefanie could accept it or not. She couldn’t handle it.

“By the way, how are your parents?” Lena asked. “Your mother must be back from rehab by now.”

“Yes, she has been for about three weeks, and she is thrilled about what my aunt Inge has been able to do with my father. Now he makes his own breakfast and sometimes even makes it for my mother. OK, sometimes he slices the bread unevenly and the coffee is too strong or too weak, but at least he’s making an effort. I could never have convinced him to do those things.”

“Your father is an extreme case. My dad’s never been much help in the kitchen, but he’s always been able to do little things.”

“I’m curious to see how long this transformation lasts. So far it’s working out.” Eva recalled a recent visit when her father had asked whether he could make her a cup of coffee. At first, she thought she had misheard him, but it turned out he was quite sincere.

“When is the moving van coming?” Lena asked.

“It should be here any minute. We should be able to finish by the end of the day. David’s coming soon, and he’ll have Jonas and Leonie in tow.”

“OK, we’ll talk again soon. Have fun unpacking all those moving boxes!” Lena joked.

“Very funny. See you soon.”

David came in and kissed Eva hello. Jonas and Leonie mumbled their hellos, then squeezed past her to explore the house.

“Hey!” David said. “There’s nothing to see yet! And you’re sleeping on the sofa anyway.”

“All right,” Jonas said in a sulky voice. “I know.”

“Do you think it was a good idea to bring them both here now? There’s so much that needs to be done.” Eva sighed.

David hugged her tightly. “They’ll have to pitch in—especially if they want to visit more often.”

“Slave driver.”

A honking horn interrupted their teasing.

“The moving van is here!” David called out.

The driver climbed out but looked reluctant to step onto the property.

“Put Ruchti in the backyard,” Eva said.

David whistled to his boxer and put him in the back.

Leonie hopped down the front steps. “This is a really cool place. I’m going to have my own bedroom!”

“Are you dreaming? That’s going to be David’s office.” Eva put her arm around Leonie’s shoulder. “I’m glad you’re here, but it would have been better if you’d waited a couple of days for us to get settled in.”

“Yes, we could have waited longer, but then it would have been Christmas. As if Mama would have let me fly to London over the winter holidays!”

“You two wouldn’t have wanted it any other way,” David said. “Come on; help us empty out the van.”

Eva’s cell phone rang. “Caro!” she said when she answered.

“Hi, Eva. Are you in the middle of unpacking?”

Eva smiled. “The moving van just got here.”

“I still can’t believe David quit his job. The soccer moms are not saying nice things about you.” Caro chuckled. “You’re the talk of the village gossip mill. But it’s just pure envy, that’s all.”

“Let them talk. I was also surprised when David decided to move to London, but we didn’t really have a choice after my boss offered to give me another raise if I signed a three-year contract. Besides, David wants to focus on creating his apps, which he can work on anywhere, though I have no idea how he does it.” Eva beamed with excitement. “Fortunately, we found the town house quickly.” She sighed and squinted at David. “There’s only one problem. Now I have to live with a wild beast twenty-four seven.”