Eva looked horrified. ‘I’m having an emotional crisis, Maddy.’
‘Yeah, but it’s a really lovely one.’
That made Eva laugh again, softer this time. Her shoulders loosened slightly.
Maddy took a step closer. Then another.
The wind shifted around them, carrying faint sounds from the house. Somewhere in the distance, somebody yelledsomething about cutting off the booze supply. The world was still moving, somehow, despite the fact that Maddy felt like hers had tilted entirely onto a new axis.
Eva looked at her like she was something precious and dangerous all at once. ‘You have no idea,’ she said softly, ‘how badly I want to kiss you right now.’
Every nerve ending in Maddy’s body lit up. ‘Well,’ she replied, voice slightly breathless, ‘I did just call off a wedding. I think I’m allowed one mental breakdown activity.’
Eva let out one startled laugh, and then she was moving towards Maddy. Her hand slid against Maddy’s jaw carefully at first, giving her every possible chance to pull away. Maddy leaned into it immediately.
And then Eva kissed her, making a sound against Maddy’s mouth like she was letting go of something she’d been holding onto for her entire life. Maddy’s brain ceased functioning. All she could process was warmth and relief and Eva, Eva, Eva.
Fifty
Eva was the one who finally pulled back. Not far. Just enough to look at Maddy. Her makeup was basically gone, her ash-blonde hair was sticking out of her wedding do in a scarecrow fashion, and she looked emotionally and physically exhausted. God, she was beautiful.
No,exquisite.
Her lips were parted slightly, her breathing uneven, her sparkly green-blue eyes enormous in a way that made Eva want to rip that silly dress off her body. She knew she was in love with Maddy. She’d known for a while. But now she was prepared to face it. All of it.
She had lost control, and it felt amazing and frightening and confusing. But she was in it, this thing. She would do her best to see it through. To let the madness of love take her.
But that didn’t mean that she wasn’t still Eva. ‘So… what now?’ she asked.
Maddy blinked, like she was trying to reset her brain. ‘Well, I’ve just left someone at the altar.’
‘I know, I was there.’
‘But I’m just realising that… I mean, I can’t go back in there,’ Maddy continued, glancing toward Hawthorne Manor as if it might bite her. ‘That’s not an option. And I can’t exactly go home, can I?’
Eva frowned slightly. ‘Why not?’
Maddy gave her a look. ‘Because Adam lives there.’
Eva winced. ‘Good point.’
‘So that’s great,’ Maddy went on, pacing now, her energy shifting from overwhelmed to actively spiralling. ‘I’ve just publicly humiliated my fiancé, discovered he may or may not have slept with Mary…’
‘He did,’ Eva said.
‘…And now I’m technically homeless. In a wedding dress.’
‘You’re not homeless,’ Eva said quickly. ‘You’re temporarily displaced.’
Maddy stopped pacing to stare at her. ‘Stop rebranding my life.’
Eva held up her hands slightly. ‘Sorry.’
Maddy exhaled, dragging a hand through her hair, which only made it more chaotic. ‘There was a house and a husband and a very predictable future, and now…’
‘You could still go on your honeymoon,’ Eva said.
Maddy blinked. ‘What?’
