The Strength of the Pack (Suncoast Society #30)(27)

Her smile returned and she picked up her fork to start on her salad. “Great.”

By the time he took her home that night, he hadn’t pressed any further about her dad, but if he wasn’t right in his guesses, he was really slipping.

Only time would tell if she’d trust him enough to let him in that deeply.

But he could wait. He was a very patient man.

He had to be. He’d raised Cherise.





Chapter Eleven


“ Mommy, mommy, mommy, Santa came!” Laurel had nearly landed right in the middle of Eva’s stomach, bouncing, before she vaulted from her bed, left the bedroom door open, and ran down the hall, where she pounded on Jesse and Leo’s bedroom door before running in and screaming at them.

I’m awake.

Eva lay there, eyes wide open now, and stared at the ceiling. From the light, it couldn’t be any later than seven-ish.

A moment later, she heard Laurel, jabbering non-stop and at light speed, and then her daughter dragged a half-asleep Leo down the hall behind her past Eva’s now-open door.

She sat up when Jesse leaned against her doorframe.

“Did you hear?” he mumbled. “Santa came. I hope he wore a condom. That glitter is a bitch to get out of the carpet.”

She laughed. She was a seasoned veteran of the Christmas morning present massacre. Poor Jesse wasn’t a morning person, and he and Leo had been up late the night before assembling a doll house that had been on Laurel’s Christmas list.

Normally they didn’t go too crazy at Christmas, opting for smaller gifts and one large one, meaning the budget didn’t get blown. This year, they made an exception. Jesse’s first with them, a celebration of Leo’s survival, and the drastic change in circumstances for them all warranted more of a celebration than Eva and Leo usually engaged in.

Eva dragged herself out of bed and pulled on a bathrobe. Leo had been wearing a T-shirt and shorts, while Jesse now wore flannel sleep pants and a robe, but no shirt. Leaning against him, their arms around each other’s waists, they made their way down the hall, through the living room, and to the kitchen.

“Coffee,” they both mumbled, laughing.

“Mommy! Poppa!” Laurel yelled from the living room. “Daddy said I can’t open presents until you’re out here!”

“Coffee first, honey,” Eva said, handing Jesse the bag of flavored coffee after he got a new filter installed. “Coffee always comes first.”

“Because coffee’s just rude in the sack like that,” Jesse mumbled.

“Fine,” Laurel huffed.

“Fine,” Jesse softly mocked as he scooped the coffee, making Eva giggle harder.

“I don’t have to wait for Uncle Nate to get here, do I?” Laurel called out.

Jesse bumped Eva with his hip. “No, sweetheart,” he called back. “Just give me and Mommy a minute to make the coffee.”

“Fine,” Laurel huffed.

“Fine,” Jesse and Eva said together, giggling.

He really was like a little brother in many ways. The little brother she would have loved to have known.

Her younger half-brother by birth, she’d never met. He didn’t even know she, or her two half-sisters she’d been raised with, even existed.

When they were finally settled out in the living room, Jesse taking Leo a cup of coffee, Laurel looked like she was about to bounce out of her Hello Kitty nightgown. Leo had turned on the TV to the morning news and looked half asleep himself.

“Okay,” Leo said. “We’re all here.”

Jesse grabbed his cell phone and took video and pictures of the day while Laurel handed out the stockings and presents.

There were even a couple of presents under the tree for Nate, Cherise, and Wade. Some gourmet chocolate and coffee Eva hoped they’d enjoy.

Nate had been over to the house several times during the past few weeks, eating dinner with them. And she’d gone to the club with him a couple of times on Friday nights, enjoying that he went only to work with and spend time with her, not others. He still went a few Saturday nights without her while she stayed at home with Laurel and Leo and Jesse went to the club, but she was okay with that.

Being with him felt right. And that she hadn’t rushed things with him sexually felt even more right.

Even her counselor agreed with her, encouraged her current progress.

Nate had not once tried to rush or pressure her, either.

Her parents had invited her and Laurel to drive up to Tampa for Christmas dinner, but Eva declined. Not if her father was going to be there. Not at their house, in enemy territory, so to speak.

The place she’d suffered the most, which held the worst memories for her.

She fibbed and said they’d already accepted an invitation to have dinner with close friends…only a partial lie. That they’d been the ones doing the inviting didn’t need to be discussed.

And also left no entry for her mother to try to suggest they could all come down there to eat.

No, she wasn’t ready to deal with that and fight that battle head-on yet, and she didn’t have to. The counselor told her that if she didn’t think any current crimes were being committed, then no, she had no moral obligation to anyone other than herself.

And herself wanted nothing to do with the f*cker, even if it was to confront him.