for a battle. The past forty-eight hours had been hellacious at best.
“Then say what you want to say and get out.”
He’d reached her now, but didn’t touch her. “I meant I wasn’t finished with us.”
Eve stared into those striking eyes that had first drawn her in. “There is no us. If that’s all, then leave.”
“Do you two want to go outside for privacy?” Grace asked from behind Eve.
“No,” both Eve and Graham said at the same time.
“I don’t care who hears me,” he went on, keeping his eyes locked on hers. “When you left yesterday I knew I had to take drastic measures to get you back. So, if I have to make a fool of myself in front of your family, then so be it.”
Eve didn’t want to hear it, though she wouldn’t mind him looking like a fool considering she’d been played for one.
“I’m not discussing the baby’s last name. I know that’s all you care about.” Eve stepped back because being this close, knowing she still loved him but couldn’t touch him was agonizing. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m visiting my father.”
Eve had just turned away when Graham’s soft, “I love you,” hit her hard.
Frozen in her steps, she looked to her sisters, her father, to see if she’d heard correctly. And saw three pairs of eyes wide with shock staring back at her. Yeah, he’d said that.
Eve looked back over her shoulder, her heart aching more than she’d ever known possible. “That was cruel,” she whispered as tears clogged her throat. “Throwing those words around won’t make me marry you.”
Graham reached for her, turning her to face him fully. “I’m not proposing. I love you, Eve. I want to be with you. Not for the baby, for you.”
If he’d said those words two days ago she’d have believed him. “Revelation has certainly come at a convenient time.”
His hands curled around her shoulders as he stepped in closer. Her entire body brushed against his, as if she needed the physical reminder of how much she’d missed his touch.
“Nothing about us has been convenient,” he told her. “I didn’t want a child, a relationship, but now I can’t live without either. I don’t want to try. I know I hurt you, I know I destroyed everything we’d started building, but I’m asking for another chance.”
Eve couldn’t say anything. What was there to say at this point? He was a shark in the courtroom because he knew the exact thing to say at precisely the right time.
If she even thought he was serious, she’d wrap her arms around him and start fresh. But she knew better. Graham was only looking out for his best interests where the baby was concerned.
“You need to go,” she whispered.
The muscle in his jaw clenched as he nodded, dropping his hands from her shoulders. “I’m not giving up, Eve. I love you. I’ve only had two women in my life who heard those words from me.”
His mother and Gerty.
Eve turned away from him and went back to her father’s bedside. She listened to Graham’s footsteps as he left the room. Once the door was closed behind him, Eve couldn’t stop the emotions from washing over her.
“I hate him,” she sniffed. “I’m sorry you had to see that.”
Her father reached for her, tipping her chin up so she could look him in the eyes. “I’m not sorry at all. I saw a man who loves a woman. I saw a man who stood in the same room as his sworn enemy and didn’t give a damn what anyone else thought.”
“He’s only saying those things because he wants to marry me so the baby will have his name.”
“The baby can have his name without marriage,” Grace pointed out. “He could fight you for custody in court and probably win, if that’s the way he wanted to go about it.”
Eve knew all of this. She wasn’t stupid, wasn’t ignorant when it came to laws. But she had been blindsided and refused to let Graham have another swipe at her.
“I’ll agree he didn’t go about things the right way,” her father said, swiping a tear from her face. “But men are fools when they’re in love. Most of the time they don’t even know it until they’ve lost someone.”
Eve knew her father was referring to Cynthia. There were no secrets about the fact that Eve’s parents didn’t love each other. Eve fully believed that her father was in love with Graham’s mother at one time. But he’d let her go.
“I can’t let him back in,” she whispered.
“You can’t let him out,” Nora countered. “He loves you, Eve.”
Eve met the eyes of her family. “Are you all defending him?”
Sutton smiled. “I’m just as shocked as you are, but I want my daughter and grandchild to be happy. When I saw the way he looked at you, the way he didn’t care how he laid his feelings on the line, I knew he loved you. Any man who is that strong and passionate is exactly what I want for you.”
Eve couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You want me to forgive him? Just like that? It’s that easy?”
When her fathered smiled, wrinkles formed around his sad eyes. “I want you to follow your heart. I don’t believe Graham will give up and that has everything to do with his feelings for you. Grace was right. He could fight you in court, where things would get ugly if he only wanted the child to have his name. I don’t think he realized how much he cared for you until you left.”
Eve shook her head. “I can’t just take him back. Right now, I only want to be here with you guys. I want to visit and laugh and... I don’t know. Pick out nursery themes.”
“I’m thrilled that’s your attitude,” Nora said, reaching over to squeeze Eve’s shoulder. “This baby will be perfectly healthy and come home to a beautiful room and a family who loves her.”
“Her?” their father asked, raising his brows.
“I think Eve is having a girl, too,” Grace laughed. “Another Winchester girl? That has a nice ring to it.”
Eve didn’t care about the sex, she just wanted a healthy baby. Now more than ever, she wanted that happiness in her life. She prayed her father would live long enough to see her child, but the odds were against them.
For now, though, she wouldn’t dwell on the sorrow. She’d live in the moment.
Later she’d deal with the ache...and she’d deal with Graham.
* * *
Three days had passed since she’d seen Graham...since he’d exposed himself before her family. But he’d texted her. He’d checked on her, asked if she was eating, joked that he’d send over some of the fried apples she loved. He didn’t tell her he loved her again, didn’t pressure her to meet him or to make a decision regarding this relationship they’d thrown
