Sometimes It Lasts(Sea Breeze #5)(36)

CAGE

Having an off-season and no social life meant my GPA was higher than it had ever been. My coach was thrilled. Not only had I just replaced their star pitcher, but I had stellar grades. I wish I cared. Somehow I’d managed to function without feelings. I was a f**king robot.

I had skipped going home for Thanksgiving. Low had begged me to, but I couldn’t. I’d had Thanksgiving with Eva last year. Home for the Holidays wasn’t happening for me. Except when Low’s baby was born. I’d have to go home for that. But I wasn’t going to my apartment. I would stay in a f**king hotel.

My phone rang ten times before I finally gave in and answered it. Glancing down at the screen, I saw Low’s number flash. Either she was going to try to get me to come home at the last f**king minute for Thanksgiving or she was in labor.

“You okay?” I asked

“Yeah, this isn’t about me,” she replied.

“What is it then? ’Cause ten damn rings is a lot of ringing. You had to have called three times in a row, at least.”

Low took a deep breath and I sat up straight from my relaxed position on the sofa. “Eva’s daddy passed away. Jeremy called me from her phone. He knew she wouldn’t call me. Or you. He thought. . . We. . . You should know.”

I felt like someone had kicked me in the stomach. Damn. Right at Thanksgiving. She loved Thanksgiving. “How is she?” I asked. I knew nothing and that only hurt worse. I wanted to know. I wanted to know how she dealt with her dad slowly dying in front of her. Did she have a shoulder to cry on? Did she need me? Did she even think of me?

“Jeremy said she’d been prepared for it. They had a Hospice nurse at the house with them. She got to spend a lot of time with him in the end.”

“When’s the funeral?” I asked, standing up. She wouldn’t want to see me. But how could I not go? I’d let her deal with this all alone, but I had to go to the funeral. He’d been a good man. He’d given me a chance when no one else wanted to.

“Saturday. Eva wanted to wait until after Thanksgiving. It’s a closed casket.”

I had to go. Even if she didn’t want me there. I had to go. She may not want me there, but, dammit, I’d given her what she wanted and it wasn’t getting any easier. My life was nothing. Meant nothing.

“Can I stay with you?” I didn’t have to explain to Low what I needed. She knew I couldn’t walk into that apartment I’d shared with Eva. With her piano now gone, it would feel haunted. She’d really be gone. I couldn’t.

“Of course. Drive careful.”

“See you Saturday,” I replied. I couldn’t go any earlier. I needed time to prepare myself for seeing her. Having my friends ask me a million questions about life since I’d checked out on them this summer wasn’t something I was up for.

My phone rang again and I looked down at it to see Low’s name again.

“I haven’t changed my mind,” I told her.

“I didn’t tell you one more thing that Jeremy told me. I wasn’t going to, but Marcus is making me call you back and tell you. He said you needed to know before you came.”

“What?”

“Eva’s engaged, Cage. She’s engaged to Jeremy.”

I didn’t hear anything else she said. My body went completely numb. Drawing a breath became impossible. My vision blurred. Eva was mine. I never imagined her with anyone else. Ever. Even though it had been six months, I hadn’t even glanced in another girl’s direction. Eva had been all I could see. How could she be engaged? To Jeremy? She didn’t love Jeremy like that. Did she?

Low was no longer talking in my ear, and I looked down to see my phone was smashed into a million pieces on the floor and there was a dent in my wall. The denial that ripped through me left my throat raw. Then I sank down on the sofa and, for the second time, I cried over Eva Brooks.

Chapter Fifteen

Present Day

EVA

I stood in front of the church, looking out at the solemn faces of family and friends. Standing up there so they could all look at me wasn’t what I wanted to do. I wanted to curl up in a ball beside the casket in front of me and cry like a baby. This all seemed so unfair. I’d done this before. Standing in front of a crowd of tear-stained faces and talked about a man I’d loved but that had been taken from me.

Now, there I stood again. I was expected to talk. To say something about the man in front of me. The one I’d trusted with my life. The one I’d clung to and wept on when I’d found out I was going to be a single mom. The one I’d known would never leave me. He was now gone.

I looked over to see Jeremy standing in his suit and tie watching me carefully. He was still there. He wasn’t going to leave me. I still had him. He gave me a silent nod, and I knew if I asked, he would come up there and hold my hand while I did this. I kept my eyes on him as I opened my mouth to speak. Seeing him there would give me the strength I needed to go on.

“In life one never expects to lose those who they love. We don’t plan on standing in front of our friends and family and talking about someone who meant the world to us. But it happens. It hurts. It never gets easier.” I stopped and swallowed the lump in my throat. Jeremy took a step toward me and I shook my head. I would do this without him. I had to.

“We aren’t promised tomorrow. My daddy taught me that when I was a little girl and I didn’t understand why my momma wasn’t coming home. Then again, when I lost the boy who I thought I’d grow old with, I was reminded of that fact one more time. Life is short.” I dropped my gaze from Jeremy. I couldn’t look at him while I talked about Josh. Seeing the pain in his eyes only made the tears burning my eyes sting worse.