Maddy’s brow creased. ‘You found me.’
‘Yeah, I’m sure you don’t want to see me right now,’ Eva said softly. ‘But if we’ve got any chance of making this day come out as planned, then I need to…’ She faltered, looking unsure. Then she straightened and stepped forward. ‘Look, I’m sorry. I need to tell you that I’m sorry.’
‘For the kiss?’ Maddy said, her voice angrier than she intended.
Eva swallowed. ‘Yes. For the kiss. And for… everything. I didn’t mean to make it complicated, but I…’ She broke off, exhaling heavily. ‘I just want to fix it. Make this, whatever it’s supposed to be… Right. The wedding. Everything.’
Maddy stared at her, stomach churning. She wanted to believe Eva could do it. That she could fix things. She always had. That was the thing about Eva. She solved problems. Could she really fix the trouble in Maddy right now? Aftershe’dput it there?
Maddy stepped back, shaking her head. ‘Why did you have to do it?’
Eva sighed and didn’t answer.
‘This isn’t hypothetical. Ineedan answer,’ Maddy demanded.
Eva still didn’t answer, and in fact, looked a little scared. Maddy had never seen a nervous side of her. It was odd and appealing. But Maddy didn’t care if she was scared. She wouldn’t stop until she got an answer from the woman who was wrecking her life of late.
‘Well?! Why?!Answerme!’ Maddy shouted.
‘You kissed me first,’ Eva said with an insolent shrug.
Maddy couldn’t help but laugh at Eva trying to use a defence utilised by toddlers throughout history. ‘Really, that’syour excuse? I kissed you for like a second, and it wasn’ttoday. It wasn’t ten seconds before I was supposed to get married, was it? And it wasn’t like…that.’
‘You didn’t stop me,’ Eva pointed out. ‘You could have stopped me.’
‘In theory.’
Eva stepped forward again, then paused. ‘What do you mean, “In theory?” If you had wanted it to stop, you could have used the word “Stop.” Or pushed me off. Or just not responded to it…’
‘Yes, but Icouldn’treally, could I?’
‘Why not?’
‘You know, don’t you? You must know by now.’
Eva froze.
Maddy’s hands clenched into fists at her sides. ‘I can’t… I can’t handle this. You have to go. I can’t be near you anymore.’
‘If you want me to,’ Eva agreed. ‘But I need to know, before I go, what is it that you think I know?’
Maddy looked at her. Her chest rose and fell rapidly. Her eyes glistened with tears she wouldn’t quite let out. ‘Look, if you’re not leaving, then I will.’
Before Eva could respond, Maddy turned and ran, the stairwell echoing with the rapid sound of her footsteps.
She thought that would be the end of the conversation. But then she heard Eva giving chase. Running after Maddy, calling after her, voice rising over the distant laughter from below. ‘Maddy! Wait! Please!’
Maddy picked up the pace, calling, ‘Stop chasing me, you bloody menace!’
‘I’m not letting you run off like this!’ Eva called back. ‘Not in those shoes!’
Maddy didn’t answer. Her breath came sharp and uneven as she turned another corner, the corridor stretching long and dim ahead of her. She slowed only when she realised that she couldn’t keep going. Not because Eva would catch her, but because there was nowhere left to go. Dead end.
She stopped.
A moment later, Eva caught up with her.
Maddy didn’t turn around. ‘You should go back downstairs,’ she said to the damask wallpaper.
