WindSwept Narrows: #6 Eve Hastings Read online

  “You don’t have very many dresses in your collection,” Zach mentioned casually through the steaming cup of coffee in-between his palms. He watched her, a sudden nervousness that he wasn’t sure she had an awareness of.

  “I don’t go a lot of dress places,” she answered with a casual shrug, draining the glass of juice and setting it into the sink. “Twelve-thirty…bye…see you then…” And she was out of the house.

  ****

  At first Eve thought perhaps it was a new parent interview that she somehow missed. She left the floor when the stately, long legged and long haired blonde approached the main entrance. She knew Myra was off for a few minutes delivering some direct deposit slips to payroll so Eve went to the desk.

  “Can I help you?” She offered her palm. “Eve Hastings.”

  “Ah…just the person I’m looking for,” Came the cheerful response, her palm out with a firm shake. “Mallory West. Zachary Covington sent me to speak with you. Perhaps someplace a little more private.”

  Eve smiled, stepping toward her office. “Myra, I’m leaving at noon. You know how to reach me if you need to,” Eve walked forward, sinking into her chair. And it had been such a nice morning, she thought, watching the beautiful, professional woman close the door behind her. “Zach forgot to tell me you were coming to see me today.”

  “I’m sure with his attention and energy on his new project, it simply slipped his mind,” Mallory laid her briefcase on the desk and settled into one of the comfortable chairs. She pulled a small note book from inside. “I need the name and number of your attorney so we can iron out this prenup.”

  “Hmm…you’d think he’d remember sometime during dinner or at bedtime,” Eve wasn’t sure where her instincts were taking her, but the tense line along the woman’s jaw sent a good feeling through her. The attractive attorney wasn’t aware of their living arrangements. “Have you spoken to Zach in the last few days?”

  “Not since Tuesday,” she admitted slowly.

  “Perhaps you should give him a call,” Eve suggested softly. “And I don’t have or need an attorney for this.”

  “Nothing personal, Miss Hastings, but that isn’t a very financially sound way to approach…”

  “I don’t get the whole greed thing when it comes to a relationship,” Eve said honestly. “And it’s Dr. Hastings, please.”

  “Perhaps it’s because relationships are as unstable as a lot of the rest of the world,” Mallory West stared at the woman behind the desk. She looked young, much younger than her information stated. “Protecting your assets…or Zach protecting his assets, well it’s my job to make certain that he should maintain a status quo, as it were.”

  “I wouldn’t take anything from Zach, regardless.”

  “A romantic notion that doesn’t always play out when you’re hurt or angry, Dr. Hastings.”

  “Even angry or hurt, I wouldn’t forget. I think people tend to lose their dignity when they stoop that low,” Eve said thoughtfully. “I don’t intend to lose my dignity. I trust him.”

  “A novel approach.”

  “Have you been his attorney long?” Eve asked, very aware that Mallory West had more than a professional interest in Zach.

  “A few years.”

  “Did you date him?”

  “That wouldn’t be professional,” Mallory said flatly.

  “But you’re not denying it,” Eve said quietly.

  “He’s an attractive man.”

  “Yes…he is…and funny and intelligent…and he also trusts me,” Eve told her. “And when this project succeeds, he’ll be quite prominent, too. I didn’t seek him out, you know.”

  “You only met because of the property,” Mallory acknowledged.

  “Very true, though we’ve discovered we have a few mutual friends,” Eve leaned back in her chair. “I’m sorry you wasted your time this morning,” she tipped her wrist up. “I have to be going. I have a date at twelve-thirty.”

  “I must have missed an email or call from Zach about this,” Mallory West clicked the briefcase closed sharply. “Good day, Dr. Hastings.”

  Eve gathered her things, thinking over the attorney on the short drive home. She knew she was being sized up by the woman. She was surprised to see the large SUV already in the drive and parked off to the side, locking things down before going inside. She tipped her watch up when he walked from the other end of the house.

  “I am not late…”

  “Guilt complex?” Zach asked, rolling the sleeves up on his shirt and sliding his wallet into the pocket of a heavier jacket. “We’ll be staying over night somewhere along 90, so pack what you need and let’s get going. I’ll get you some lunch on the way over the mountains.”

  Eve scowled at him. “You’re in a bossy mood,” she announced, striding into the bedroom and pulling a small tote from the closet, tossing things inside and turning to find him watching her. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” Zach answered, reaching to take the tote when she went to hook it on her shoulder. He had thought about giving her a chance to change her mind. Or was it a chance for him to change his? He had decided he didn’t want her to have that choice. He’d done nothing but talk to himself all morning long. At the car dealer, at the jeweler….he knew he would never have doubt enter his mind where his relationship with Eve was concerned. And that thought alone gave him a sense of odd peace he hadn’t known before in relationships.

  “Zach…” Eve stepped up to him, her palm out and taking his. “If you don’t want to do this, it’s okay…honestly…something has you upset, I can feel it.”

  “Actually…” His fingers tightened around hers. “I don’t think I’ve felt this good in a long time. Road trip time,” he told her, leading her toward the door. She reached for him this time.

  “Zach…I can’t climb into that thing…I have pretty long legs, but…” Eve frowned at the large SUV.

  “I’ve seen those contortions you do in the name of yoga,” Zach countered, leading her to the passenger side. He leaned close to her ear when he opened the door. “I had a step put on this morning for you.”

  “I…” Her eyes swept from the new chrome step back to him as he jogged lightly around to the driver’s side. “I…that was…thank you,” was all she could think of to say. “You saw…when have you seen me do my yoga? You’re sleeping in the mornings…you peeked?” She cleared her throat, really disliking the way her voice rose.

  “I did not peek…” He said with a grin at the shocked expression on her face. “To be honest, I stared like a twelve year old.” Zach let the deep laughter free when her mouth opened and closed, a pink tinge flaming in her cheeks. “Eve…you are an attractive, sweetly curved woman…I’m not going to pretend I don’t notice.”

  “I…thank you…that’s a very nice thing to say,” Eve stared out the window, watching the white caps whipping across the lake beneath them. “Your attorney came to see me today.”

  “Mallory? What for?” Zach frowned, looking over to see her slip her feet from her shoes and curl her legs cross legged beneath her on the large seat. She wore soft pink socks and jeans that stopped at her knees. He reached for her hand where it rested on her knee. “Eve, I did not send her to talk to you.”

  “I figured that out. She said you sent her, but…you would have told me,” Eve said aloud, glancing down at the hand she held on her knee, her other palm coming over and surrounding his. “I don’t think she’s happy with your decision.”

  “Mallory? Why the hell would she care?”

  “Because she finds you attractive, Zach,” Eve looked over at him, watching the dark lashes widen. “Did you date her?”

  “I…yeah…a few times we had dinner.”

  “But she didn’t appeal to you? She’s beautiful.”

  “She needs a politician or…or some guy who’s interested in reaching the top of Microsoft,” he said with a dry laugh. “She’s after power and I’m way past that point in my life. I honestly don’t think I ever had that kind o
f emotional need for power in my life.”

  “You didn’t have things in common?”

  “She works for the law firm I use, Eve. Mallory wants high end parties and a huge mansion,” Zach shook his head. “We didn’t have much of anything in common. What did she want?”

  “To know who my attorney was for the prenup. That it was smart business and it was her job to protect your assets,” Eve recalled the brief encounter. “To be honest, I think she was making an assessment of the competition.”

  “The competition? You? You think Mallory considers you her rival?”

  “I believe Mallory intends to cause you a problem, Zach,” she said quietly.

  “I sent her an email the…the afternoon after our short disagreement,” Zach searched quickly for the right words. “I told her there would be no prenup. End of discussion. I haven’t been in touch with her about anything else.”

  “She must have missed the memo.” Eve stared out into the emerging flats of Eastern Washington. “Grape fields,” she said with a smile. “So perfectly aligned.”

  “Hmmm…I found some interesting wineries along the way,” Zach said after a few minutes of silence.

  “I like wine now and then,” Eve agreed. “I haven’t visited a winery before.”

  “They give samples,” Zach told her. “And we could easily find some we like.”

  “I can take a turn driving if you like…it’s a little over a five hour drive, Zach,” Eve stared down at his palm, her finger tracing a line over the blue veins.

  “I…you drive this…”

  “Zach…I’ve driven half tracks and other vehicles much larger than this,” Eve told him with a laugh at the expression on his face. “It’s okay…I understand your relationship with your SUV is special…”

  “You’ve driven a half track?” Zach asked carefully.

  Chapter Ten

  “Several of the places we…we built schools and safe havens for the kids we rescued, were in areas with mud for roads. The Philippines and Thailand have horrid road conditions during the monsoon seasons,” Eve recalled quietly.

  “How’d you get them?” He looked over and saw her shrug.

  “You can get anything in those countries with money,” she answered sourly. “We built the sanctuaries in the hopes the girls and boys could learn trades and…and self-worth…and put them far away from where they would be taken. We even put guards on them…but we couldn’t stop the kids from leaving on their own.”

  “And some did?”

  “It’s very difficult to undo the…the mental and emotional brain washing they’ve endured. Some believe they’re being disloyal to their parents or they have some hope if they remain, and do whatever is asked of them, their parents will come and take them back,” Eve shook her head. “I don’t know…it’s taken a lot of time for me to accept that you can’t save anyone unwilling to save themselves; even children…all you can do is hope they seek something better at some time in their life.”

  “Is that why you left?” Zach felt her hands tighten on his. “Eve, you don’t have to…”

  “You have a right to know what’s…what’s messed up in my head, Zach,” she looked away, staring out the front window, but not releasing his palm. It was like a lifeline to her.

  “I don’t think your head is messed up.”

  “The key thing we didn’t plan for…was that the brothel owners would band together…and out buy some of our sources,” Eve began slowly, recalling the last few days. “They found out not only where we were staying, but also our last…the last attempt we made to get some kids out…the timing…somehow they got the information and they knew where and when we were going to go in.” Eve was staring out the front window, almost not blinking and not seeing a thing of the fall foliage or mountains laid out before her. She saw shanties and rain soaked streets; she could smell the cooking food and the stench of sewage as if she were there again.

  “Two of our people…friends…volunteers…were killed that night,” she said quietly. “Sam was shot…I don’t know how, but I got the rest of us away from there and we didn’t rescue any kids that night. We got the bodies and Sam on the transport we had waiting and they were taken immediately below radar to Hawaii. I made the decision to close down the whole thing and we were taking what supplies and stuff we had to the school we’d built for the kids. I…I made a stupid move…”

  Her head shook, her voice self depreciating.

  “A stupid move…I took what cash we had left and was going to buy things for the school before we pulled out. I was grabbed off the street…thrown into the back of a truck and taken….I’m not even sure where to this day…I hit my head and I know I blacked out for a little while. I came to on a dirty cot in this tiny room. I’d seen the rooms before…it’s what they use for the brothels…”

  “Eve…please don’t…I don’t want you upset…or sad or…hell…”

  “It’s funny, Zach,” she smiled and looked over at him, her head tipped to face him. “It’s like it was so far away…another life…even another person until the nightmares…or…or an anxiety attack takes control…”

  “Then stop. Just forget the conversation…”

  “No…it has to be finished. I wouldn’t eat anything they gave me. I knew it was how they got drugs into the children. I was scared…I was angry…I was furious I was so stupid,” she admitted with a sigh. “For two very long days and nights…I was there…I could hear them discussing what to do with me…I was too old for their brothel but they had connections in the larger city brothels that would pay well for a white woman…if they could break me in and train me…then listening to the children…men coming to pay for them…the crying and screaming…I didn’t sleep…half way through the second night, I dismantled the cot and began sharpening the poles. I thought…how many kids could I get to come with me…would they come with me…I’m not really sure my brain was functioning well at that point. I was so tired…and so very hungry…it was about eight a.m. the beginning of the third day when the commotion started. Allen managed to bribe a man with a herd of very large cattle…and stampede them through the small village. Morning is a good time for things to happen, since they were most up the night before into the wee hours catering to the clients,” she looked down at his palm, turning it over and tracing her nail over the lines and creases.

  “The door was busted down and I remember hands guiding me…almost carrying me, my legs wouldn’t work…but I remember their voices…I remember being put into a helicopter and we all left before anyone could come searching for us,” she fit her palm against his.

  “You have small hands,” Zach commented quietly, watching the tears fall over her cheeks. He reached into his pocket and offered the handkerchief to her. He watched her look at the white square with a puzzled frown, her palm up and touching her face before she swiped them aside. “Where did they take you?”

  “A friend in Monterey runs a hospital. I spent almost a month there, trying to find my way back,” Eve told him. “Eating and sleeping again were the most difficult…she would knock me out every other day with a shot…just so I could sleep.”

  “That’s who the prescription is from?” He remembered the name on the vial. “Julia Holiday.”

  “Yes…it is my intent to take one at least on Fridays. I can’t…it’s too difficult to shake off the effects on work mornings,” she tried explaining.

  “We can cut them in half, Eve,” Zach told her easily.

  “I slept fine last night,” she pointed out, looking up with a shuddering breath. “Someone promised me lunch.”

  “I think the sky is falling…the girl said she’s hungry,” Zach grinned at the wrinkled nose she offered and nodded to a sign coming up. “We can find a place here, get a couple bottles of water and fill up before we finish the drive.”

  Zach wasn’t surprised that one or the other of them frowned at the choices available to them. He pulled the SUV to the gas pump, watching Eve bounce out and stretch.

&
nbsp; “I think the thing about junk food…is knowing it’s not…” Eve stopped and turned to the handle of the SUV. “I need my purse,” she called out above the highway noise around them. The car was chirped, she reached inside and slipped the backpack on her shoulders before going to where he stood. “I’m going in there,” she told him, heading toward the large grocery store at a light jog.

  “Eve!”

  “You’ll find me!” She called back with a bright laugh.

  “Your girl’s got a mind of her own,” commented an older man in the next lane with a rich chuckle.

  “Yeah…no kidding,” but Zach had a smile on his face as he said it.

  “It’s not a bad thing,” the older man said with a grin. “Beats the hell out of a sheep that never thinks. Been with my girl over fifty years now and she still manages to make me laugh or curse.”

  Zach laughed out loud. “Now that one I know first hand.”

  “Yeah, but it’s all good, ‘cause she makes you think,” he returned with a knowing nod. “How long you been married?”

  “We’re not…yet…that’s where we’re headed now,” Zach replied.

  “Smart man…pretty little girl you got there. You take good care of her,” he closed his gas cap with a snap. “Congratulations and have a great day.”

  “Thanks…” Zach watched him walk toward the quickie mart, his palm out to take the hand of the woman striding gingerly toward him, their heads close together as they climbed into the pickup truck. He offered a light wave before climbing into the SUV and driving around to the grocery store to search for his girl.

  He walked through the sliding doors and sighed. They guided you to the right, so he just began walking, the various scents making his stomach growl with demand. Heading toward the sign marked deli, Zach relaxed once she was in his sight and a deep golden glow began in his gut when she turned and smiled at him, her palm out to him as he approached. He took her palm, pulling her into his arms and surrounding her from behind as they stared at the sandwich selections.