Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 96850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
“You know, no matter what they printed, I’d be proud of you, Ruth. Okay?” Eve took a halting breath. “Never ashamed. Not for a second.”
Ruth gave her a watery look. “Same goes.”
“Good” was all Eve could muster up. “Should we go see the kids and explain everything?”
“Yes, please.” Her sister swiped at her eyes. “I can’t believe I haven’t held my babies in six weeks.”
“They missed you too. Believe me.” Eve swallowed hard. “When you get a chance, make some meatballs with Landon. Okay?”
“I can’t wait.”
Both sisters stood, turned, and walked slowly up the steps. “I might be returning them with slightly dirtier mouths and for that I apologize.”
Veda opened the door before Eve got the chance, her interested gaze bouncing between the sisters. “Uh, Eve. I’m sorry to interrupt.” She held up her phone, shaking it a little. “Is now a bad time to tell you Full Bush Rhonda called in sick tonight?”
“Full Bush who?” exclaimed her sister.
Eve never got a chance to explain because the twins came barreling out into the open at the sound of their mother’s voice, throwing themselves into her waiting arms, each of them promptly bursting into tears of joy. And it was one of the most beautiful sights Eve could remember witnessing and one she would carry with her for a lifetime. But she could also feel a dramatic shift happening inside her.
A perfect collision of grief, relief, and fear.
The pressure of holding it together too long.
The total lack of control of her own situation. The theft of her privacy.
Everyone in this town and now the world believed her to be something she wasn’t, and she couldn’t do anything about that, could she?
Unless . . .
She could find a way to reclaim her own story.
Take back control.
Show everyone they couldn’t dictate her shame if she refused to feel any.
Eve looked at Veda. “No worries. I’ll take her spot.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Eve sat in her car at the very edge of the parking lot outside the Gilded Garden, observing the utter chaos from a distance. A line of people waited to get inside and more were on the way, headlights appearing every other minute at the entrance to the lot. Some patrons were being interviewed by women in sleek pantsuits holding microphones, their cameramen close behind.
She cracked the driver’s-side window, catching the faint twang of a stand-up bass coming from inside the club. Presumably, the All-Nighters were warming up, preparing for their big fundraiser performance, but the clientele in line were such a mixture of ages, Eve deduced a lot of them were here to catch a glimpse of Bad Madden’s kissing partner.
They were going to catch a whole lot more than a glimpse.
Exhaling through her nose, Eve sank farther into the seat and watched the lights flicker on the Gilded Garden sign, trying with all her might to breathe through the emptiness. After a tearful goodbye, the kids were gone. Just like that. On the road to North Carolina. She’d softened the blow of their abrupt parting by explaining they needed to go on an adventure and report all the cool details to her in a weekly phone call. Thankfully, their excitement over seeing their mom cushioned the sudden separation for them, but Eve herself was adrift. The fact that they could disappear from her everyday life with so much speed proved they’d never really been hers to begin with, right?
Just when it had started to feel like they were. Hers.
Her phone buzzed in her lap, but she didn’t bother looking at the screen, her gaze still fastened on the flickering sign. Madden would be calling again. He had to stop eventually, though. A few hours ago, she might have been inclined to answer and talk through the reasons they needed to go their separate ways, but her grief over watching the kids vanish at the end of the driveway had left her lethargic.
Well, if she was going to give the performance of a lifetime, she needed to buck up. The public wanted her flesh and her soul and all her secrets? She’d hand them over in a way she chose. In a way she controlled. And her performance in front of all these lookie-loos would be the nail in the coffin on her relationship with Madden. Let the customers take their pictures, let the cameras roll. Post her all over the internet. Drive home the fact that she was bad for him. She was bad for everyone.
That she’d briefly thought otherwise during their night in Manhattan was laughable now. Look at the circus they’d attracted. If she remained married to Madden, the attention would only lead to more stories about her. Madden, a good man, would become the butt of a joke by association and Eve couldn’t bear it. This marriage needed to be over.