Finding Eden (A Sign of Love Novel)(75)

I looked back around at her and smiled. "Yeah, we did."
"And now," she whispered in my ear, "I'm going to cook you dinner and then you're going to sneak into my small, pink, twin-sized bed with me." She frowned slightly. "My mom made up the guest room for you, but we'll work around that." She kissed my ear and I chuckled softly.
I looked around for Carolyn, but she must have been showing the police out. "What does your mom think we've been doing for four days?" I whispered.
"I'm sure she's trying not to think about it," she said, standing and coming around in front of me. "She's sort of in denial about me being a woman. She can't help but regard me as a little girl, I think." She furrowed her brow. "I'm trying to be respectful of that. But there's no way you're going to be under the same roof as me and not be in my bed for at least part of the night," she said, sitting down on my lap.
I smiled at her and leaned forward, kissing her lips and feeling a calm joy descend over me. This wasn't ideal, but we were together. We were safe.
A woman cleared her throat and I looked up to see Carolyn standing in the doorway. Eden and I smiled at her and Eden stood up and went to her, hugging her.
"You did so well," Carolyn said when Eden had pulled away. She came into the room and sat down on the chair across from me. "Now there is going to be news coverage about this ad nauseam, just like there was after Acadia . . . just like there was after your father . . . " She trailed off, looking sad and worried, but then took a deep breath and continued. "The phone isn't going to stop ringing, and you're going to be hounded when you leave the house." She looked from me to Eden and back. "We all just have to be prepared. It will stop eventually, but not for some time. Are you going to be okay with this?"
I bent forward, my elbows on my knees and raked one hand through my hair. "No, I'm not okay with this," I said, sitting up. "But what choice do we have? We'll have to make the best of it."
Eden nodded, coming over to stand next to my chair, her hand reaching for mine. I grasped it, squeezing it three times unconsciously. And suddenly, a peace filled my heart, some inexplicable feeling I had trouble naming.
"Yes," Eden said softly, looking down at me. "We'll make the best of it." She looked at Carolyn. "Mom, obviously we don't want to watch all the news coverage, but is there a way someone can watch enough to give us any information on Clive Richter, or if someone comes forward about Calder?"
Carolyn glanced at me quickly and nodded. "Of course. I'll make sure that happens. So this is a no-TV zone for now. And we hole up for the next few weeks and wait until the worst of it has died down."
With that plan in place, we all went into the kitchen and Eden insisted I sit down at the table by the window while she cooked for me. I watched her move around the kitchen, somehow, unbelievably falling even more in love with her. I'd never had the pleasure of seeing Eden do something as normal as boil pasta and toss a salad together and it was almost magical to me, as ridiculous as that might have sounded to someone else. I watched as she interacted with Carolyn and Molly, too, laughing and listening intently to what they had to say. She was so damn good, so kind and filled with light. It was what Hector had seen in her all those years ago, surely. And yes, he had exploited it for his own sick and twisted idea, but he hadn't been wrong in his recognition of it in the first place. It was the quality that had attracted both of us to her. But I swore on everything I loved in the world that I would make her light shine even more brightly, and never, ever diminish it like he had.
She smiled over at me and I smiled back. Since I'd been outside of Acadia, I'd noticed how few people held that same, genuine gentleness of spirit that Eden exuded. And how was it that this girl, my girl, of all people, had managed to retain that quality? After everything she'd been through, the soul-stealing trauma, how had she hung on to that part of herself? Sometimes I felt like falling down on my knees in front of her in worship. She was so unbelievably beautiful in every possible way. Still. After all this time, and after everything, still. Only now, she not only held a gentle beauty, but that quiet strength I'd always seen in her was even more apparent.