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Chapter Sixteen
Over a week had passed since Eve had seen Beck. She was glad to be with her parents, but she missed Beck with a constant ache and she wanted to go home, back to Beck, to her house, to her gym, to the happy, ordinary life she and Beck had developed.
Her parents had no idea she’d fallen in love with Beck. They’d been focused on Paisley and only tried several dozen times to get the story of why she was there and why she was so morose. Her family was used to her being quiet and Paisley ate up their attention. Paisley said far too much about Beck and asked about him far too often, but Eve was able to play it off with her parents that Beck was just a good friend from the gym and she couldn’t count how many times she lied to Paisley and promised her daughter that she’d see him soon. Anyone but a five-year-old would see clean through the lie.
One evening, Eve was on a quiet walk through the woods while her parents played with Paisley on the playset. She stewed about missing Beck, wishing she would stop being such a wimp and answer one of his calls or texts, or at the very least read or listen to one of the many messages he’d left. She’d seen glimpses of his texts when they popped up, always asking for her to give him a chance, or apologizing.
She had no answers, but she thought she was ready to go face him. It wasn’t fair to not give him a chance. Though she was terrified that he’d dated her, and asked her to marry him, for all the wrong reasons, she still wanted to talk it out with him. Would she be able to see in his eyes if he was being truthful? If he loved her like she loved him? She prayed hard that she would.
As she walked back to the house she resolved that it was time to go home. Her parents would understand. Maybe she’d even confide in them and get their advice. They were logical, smart, faith-filled people and they’d be thrilled for any chance to help her. They might have insight for her.
She heard voices on the back patio and as she approached she was pleasantly surprised to see Rachel and Abe with her parents and Paisley. There was also some older gentleman that she didn’t recognize. Paisley was in Rachel’s arms talking away. Rachel looked beautiful with her long, dark hair in curls and her beautiful face beaming at Paisley. Eve thought the scars made Rachel even more beautiful, showed how tough and resilient she was. If only Eve could be as tough as the sister that she idolized. They were different, Eve recognized that. But now that Mark was arrested, Eve didn’t need to be so afraid of the media catching a picture of Paisley and maybe she could be brave and be the woman who could stand by Beckett Tanner’s side.
They all turned as Eve approached and her dad smiled at her. “Sweetheart. This is Jacob Tanner… Beckett Tanner’s grandfather. He’d like to speak with you.”
Eve felt the ground shift. She looked into Beck’s grandfather’s blue eyes and felt a jolt of recognition. He wasn’t as tall or broad as Beck but there were some definite similarities, including the dimples in his wrinkled cheeks that grew as he smiled. He walked slowly forward with the aid of a cane, extending his other hand. “Eve Jewel. I’ve been looking forward to this.” He was old, maybe late eighties but he seemed spry and his eyes twinkled at her.
“Thank you, sir.” She offered her hand and he held on to it.
“None of this “sir”. I think you should call me Papa.”
Eve blinked at him. “Um, I’m not sure about that.”
“Well, I am.” He turned to her family. “Can you give us a few minutes?”
They all nodded except for Paisley who put her little hands on her hips. “If you promise me I see my Beck soon.”
Jacob nodded. “I promise, little Princess.”
Paisley beamed. “Hey! Beck calls me Princess too.”
Jacob grinned. “I raised the boy right.”
Rachel looked to Eve. “You’re okay?”
Eve nodded. She watched her family walk into the large great room. The windows were two-story and encompassed the entire room to give the view of the forest beyond so they could all watch her and Beck’s grandpa if they wanted to.
Eve gestured to the patio chairs. Jacob sank into one and she sat perpendicular to him on a couch.
“You’re pretty good at keeping things from your family, aren’t you, pretty lady?” he asked.
Eve pursed her lips. “I deal with things on my own and don’t burden them.”
“That’s… dumb. You’ve got a great family. You should trust them.”
He paused as if to let that sink in. Eve knew she had a great family but she was private, what was wrong with that? How much did her family know? She liked her privacy but at the same time, she was sick of never sharing with anyone. She’d been able to share with Beck. What did this mean for her and Beck? His elderly grandfather. Traveling all this way. Had Beck sent him? Could it be possible he loved and ached for her like she loved and ached for him? Yet if that was true why hadn’t he come himself?
“You should also trust Beckett,” he said.
Eve froze. She should’ve known he’d get there quick. “I want to,” she said softly, “but I’m not sure why he initially started dating me, or why he proposed to me so quickly.” She waited with bated breath. Would his grandfather be blunt with her? That was what she wanted.
Jacob sighed heavily. “I demanded Beckett get married by August sixteenth, or all the billions of dollars he should inherit would go to the Save the Hyenas Foundation.”
“Save the…” This was a serious subject for her she couldn’t help but laugh. “Hyenas?”
He grinned. “I had to think of something really awful to spur him to find the right woman, stop messing around with empty-headed bimbos. I wanted him to find someone like you.”
“So he did only date me to save his fortune.”
