Chapter Three
"I got all A's," Eliana announced proudly during dinner. She tossed a smirk in her sister's direction.
Evangeline shrugged. "I got all A's too." Not that it would matter to her parents. Mom and Dad never believed her, and even when she gave them her report card they would refuse to acknowledge the fact that Evangeline might be as good—or better than—their favorite daughter.
"No you didn't," Eliana snapped. "You never get good grades." It was like an ongoing charade—Evangeline was dumb and Eliana was smart. Of course Evangeline never got good grades. How could she? She wasn't the favorite.
The only thing that Evangeline knew was that her teachers knew she had good grades, and that's all that counted. She recalled hearing from a few of the girls at school talking about their grades. "My mom knows I tried my best, and that's what matters, not my one stupid B." That was never the case for Evangeline, it was always vice versa. If only her mother knew that she tried her best in order to someday impress her parents.
"You smell like you've been in the kitchen," Eliana said with a sniff in her sister's direction. She wrinkled her nose. "Don't tell me you've been hanging out with Martha and the rest of the cooks."
Yeah, I wish. "I doubt mother would allow me," Evangeline said, wishing she'd remembered to change her clothes and put on some perfume after coming home from the restaurant. "I've just gone out with some friends to a restaurant." She didn't mention the fact that it had been her cooking the food for her friends at the restaurant. She smiled at the fact.
"So…" Eliana said, leaning back on the couch and crossing her legs, "Have you been out with Daron lately?"
Evangeline's head snapped back to look at her sister with a frown. "I doubt that's any of your business."
"Oh, but I think it is," Eliana said with her usual level of confidence. Oh, she was very confident.
"Who I do or don't date is my business," Evangeline answered. "It has nothing to do with you." She'd never been mean to her sister in return, but Eliana was always nosy, and she didn't think it would hurt to state boundaries every once in a while. Plus Evangeline did not want to talk about dating someone who obviously considered her second best; ever since coming to work for her father Daron had not had any pretenses when it came to his feelings for Eliana. He just hadn't mentioned anything about them since returning, and although she wondered whether they were still the same, she still knew that it was the same old thing as it always was: "If you can't get Eliana, go for her sister. Second best but good enough."
"Well, you never know what will happen," Eliana said cheerfully and lightheartedly, then jumped up from her couch and flounced out the door.
Evangeline sipped her tea, wondering what her statement could mean. Don't even think about it. She just wants you to be confused. The girl's playing with your mind.
She heard her sister's voice from out in the hall. "Speaking of Daron, he's here to see you." Next she heard footsteps and he appeared in the doorway.
"Speaking of Daron?" he said with a grin, sinking into the cushy love seat next to her. "You've been speaking of Daron?"
Evangeline shrugged and gestured to the tray of teacups on the coffee table. "Have some tea." She turned toward him. "How'd you get to be over here anyway? I don't remember inviting you for tea," she teased.
"I just figured you'd enjoy my company," Daron said, leaning forward to take a cup from the tray before settling back in next to her. "But I was also wondering if you would do me the honor of coming with me to an art exhibit tonight. Unfortunately, there won't be a painting exhibit anytime soon but I thought you'd enjoy calligraphy."
Evangeline quickly put a finger to her lips and darted a nervous glance to the open doors. "I don't know, a museum doesn't sound too interesting."
Daron mouthed, "Oh, I forgot" then said, "Well, too bad, you're coming anyway. It will be fun. We'll go out to dinner before we go, and I'm sure you'll have a blast."
She stifled a laugh. "A blast, huh?" She mimicked his almost British accent. "Where'd you get that adorable accent?"
"Ah, so you think it's adorable?" Daron pretended to twirl an imaginary handlebar moustache. "I might use it more often now."
"Don't flatter yourself. I think all British accents are charming; it has nothing to do with you. Is it from your mother's side or your father's?"
"Both," Daron answered. "I might just forget trying to sound American if all the girls love accents as much as you do."
"Who said anything about loving them?" Evangeline smiled. "I called them charming."
"And adorable," he added.
She sighed and looked at her nails. "I guess I'll go to the art exhibit with you."
"Hey," Daron got up and put a hand out to her. "Take a walk with me around the lake."
I've been around the lake too many times to count. "Okay," Evangeline took his hand and stood beside him. They walked out into the hall then turned opposite of the main doors to the large doors going out the back of the house.
Daron was looking upward toward the chandeliers and the cathedral-like ceiling of the great hall. "You know, your house is beautiful. And I've only been on the first floor. What else fills the next three stories?"
"Bedrooms, libraries, nothing of import," Evangeline shrugged. "The fourth floor is just storage and dusty attic compartments. Even though Eliana and I used to think that this place was haunted, at least the attic, there's really nothing exciting up there."
"I'll bet you like the library. I know you enjoy reading."
She shook her head. "Nothing but nonfiction in those shelves. Nowhere in this house could you find a nice murder mystery. Not even any of those romance novels that your mother reads. Our family isn't big on fiction."
"I see," Daron nodded, and they stepped out into the nice weather.
The pavement was dry, but this part of the house reminded her almost of a rainforest or a vacation resort in Mexico or Hawaii. Palm trees were planted in the humid weather out on the lawn, and the pool was open on the days when the weather wasn't stormy. The garden branched off to the left and right; for the first half it only contained tropical plants. It was almost like a greenhouse, the way the thick wall of plants blocked out any cool weather. Every once in a while, a pipe coming from one of the hedges or a large tree would blow a huge cloud of mist and humidity into the air. That way, even on cool days you never got too cold swimming in the pool.
A water fountain bubbled into the pool from the pump up above the rock ledge on the other side of the swimming pool, and if you looked hard you could see that some of the plants were shaped as different animals.
"I love your house," Daron sighed, liking arms with her as they strolled leisurely around the pool. "You'll have to have me over sometime to swim. It's been so long since I've been swimming."
"Really?" Evangeline teased. "So then you won't mind if I do this—" She moved to shove him in but stopped short of pushing him.
Daron reacted quickly; he swung around, catching her arms so she wouldn't fall but making sure that she was the one on the side closest to the pool. With a grin he leaned her out dangling over the swimming pool, still holding onto her arms. He laughed and pretended to lose his grasp, sliding his hands to her hands.
She let out a loud screech, and he laughed again and pulled her back up.
Evangeline took a breath and looked up at him. He still hadn't let her go. His arm was around her back and he held her close. She frowned but didn't tell him to release her.
Before she realized what was happening, his face was inching closer to hers.
A voice cleared. Daron took his arm from behind her back and stepped away from her.
"I would be careful, Daron," Eliana said snidely, walking past them, her heels clicking on the white pavement. "You know you'd have been kissing virgin lips, don't you?"
Daron frowned and looked Evangeline. Eliana kept walking.
Evangeline didn't know what to do; she knew he would ask her if it was true or not, and she didn't want to give him the answer. Before he could speak to her, she slipped away into the garden, where he wouldn't be able to find her. It was a maze, and she'd known the way through it by heart since she was nine. She could hear him calling her name and knew he was following her, but she also was sure she would be to her cabin by the time he found his way out of it.
Evangeline felt a surge of pride as she put away her paints, not bothering to tear her gaze from her painting, her beautiful new painting. It was the one from those nights painting the sunsets with Daron, but she'd added the different shades of blue that led up to the burst of color, the characteristics of the night sky as dusk began turning to dark. She'd made buildings on the ground in order to make the art look more realistic, painting them with dark blacks and blues, shadows compared to the majestic sunset. The ground was a shade of dark green, the hills rolling into the horizon.
She wanted to show someone.
But then remembered that the one person she could show was probably thinking about her at this same moment—except with repulsion. What kind of girl went twenty years of her life without kissing anyone? Without giving away that one first kiss? Obviously someone who never had the chance to. And no, she had to realize, even if I would have had the chance to, I wouldn't have. Relationships with guys are useless.
At least that's what she told herself to believe, what she'd learned from experience in her life. But somehow, it only seemed true to her. In high school, she would walk down the street and see people holding hands and having fun together, sitting at Starbucks over a cup of coffee getting to know each other. Eliana always got something out of her relationships, either money or free meals or diamonds or simply the status of being the one to date this person or that person.
Evangeline shook her head, refusing to think about all those things. It only made her sad, and why should she be down considering all the things she had? She should be grateful, not mourning over the things that didn't belong to her. Besides, whatever she had with Daron was good for the few days it lasted.
The phone rang, causing her to jump again. She frowned, knowing it was Daron. She knew what he was going to say, and she didn't want to answer his questions. Don't run, Evangeline, she heard her conscience say. "Hello?" It was like peer pressure, except it was her conscience and her heart persuading her brain and her hands to do what they wanted.
"I'm sorry."
Evangeline frowned. It was Daron, but what should he apologize for? She had been the one to run away from him, away from the situation. Mentally she scolded herself for being a wimp and running away. "Sorry for what?"
Sigh. "For making you run away."
"Nothing but my brain and my legs made me run away," she replied. "And I should be the one apologizing."
"I must have scared you half to death, nearly kissing you like that. That is what scared you witless," Daron said, and she smiled at his British accent, "and it had only been what—three, four days?"
"Five," sighed Evangeline. "And, if you remember, I didn't exactly pull away when it happened."
"You couldn't," replied Daron. She didn't ask what he meant by that, but she knew that he was right.
Before the conversation went any further and any more questions were asked, Evangeline knew she had to change the subject. "Are you at home?"
"Yeah, why?"
"I have something to show you," she was unable to curb the excitement in her voice. "I've been working on it for the past five hours."
"I'll come over and see it if you tell me it's still on for the art display tonight."
"I ruined the entire thing. They were about to kiss by the pool, and I walked by, mentioning to both of them that Evangeline had never kissed anyone before. Then I went behind a tree and watched her sprint as fast as she could into the garden maze. You should have sent the look of terror on her face—and the expression of disbelief on his." Eliana was narrating her own story to Richard, face animated as she told him.
Richard was wondering why she became so interested in ruining her sister's life. Was there no love between them? "So that's all you're going to do?" Richard asked, not sure whether to be bummed or hopeful, the same way he was unable to decide what was so disturbing about Eliana's love of dramatics.
"Oh, no, of course not," Eliana said, waving away the question with her hand. "I overheard them talking on the phone yesterday afternoon, and of course he'd called to apologize, and she'd apologized in return, and it's all patched up. She even invited him over again today to show him something."
"Do you know what time it was that he was supposed to come over?" asked Richard, unable to disguise his curiosity.
Eliana's expression took on an evil angel look as she tapped her watch with her bright red fingernails, "Right now."
Richard didn't even want to know her plan. And yes, he knew she had a plan, because as of now they were supposed to be upstairs playing a game with Mr. and Mrs. Summer, and Eliana had faked a headache and said she'd rather be downstairs taking a nap on the couch in the parlor.
Daron rang the doorbell, expecting Evangeline to answer. She'd said that her parents had scheduled a family game morning, 'forgetting' to invite her and that they'd all be upstairs so she could show him her painting without interruption.
When Eliana opened the door, he knew that something was different, but couldn't quite place his finger on it. "Hello, Daron!" She greeted him almost overly cheerfully. "Why don't you come and sit down in the parlor. I'm sure Evangeline will be here in a little bit. She didn't mention anything about you visiting. Are you sure she's going to meet you here?"
"That's what she told me," Daron shrugged, feeling somewhat like a puppy as he followed her into the parlor, wondering where Richard was. He was always with her. He was almost glad the monster of a man wasn't there—for some reason, Eliana was swinging her hips back and forth as she walked, at least more than usual this time.
She sat on the couch and crossed her legs, making sure he didn't miss the way the slit up her skirt went nearly wall the way up her thigh. When he moved to sit across from her on the love seat, she pouted and patted the space next to her. When he didn't make any move to sit by her, she automatically got up, walked around the coffee table to sit—slowly and seductively—next to him. He had to avert his eyes as she crossed her legs. She's sitting so close. Why?
"Listen, I had a few questions to ask you," she said in a low voice. "Questions I've wanted to ask since you first came back."
Daron tried to sound cheerful and oblivious to the fact that she'd lowered her eyelids and was looking at him. He half-expected her to purr like a cat and stroke his leg as he shrugged and said, "Go ahead."
"Why are you dating Evangeline?"
"Because I like her. Why else would I be dating her?"
"The last time I checked, you and my father were in cahoots, trying to get me to date you," Eliana stated.
"That was before I left. I've changed since then—a lot," Daron sighed, wondering where this was going, and her motives for asking these crazy questions. "Besides, you made it unmistakably clear that you didn't have any interest in you."
Eliana's eyes sparked. "What if I told you that it had changed?"
"Then I would get up, apologize to you and say that it couldn't happen. Evangeline has already entrusted many things to me, and I have her trust. I can't ruin that at one word from you," Daron heard footsteps in the hallway, and he got up to leave.
Eliana grabbed his hand, tugged him down hard. Before he could pull away, she'd grabbed his jaw and pressed his lips to hers.
Evangeline tried to steady her steps, excitement filling her veins. She'd never showed a complete painting to anyone, and she had a feeling that his was her best one yet. Her fingers were turning white; she'd carried the canvas all the way from her bungalow in the woods, and they were tired. But it was worth it. So worth it.
She heard voices from the parlor and wondered who was talking. She was hoping that since she was late Daron would let himself in, but who would he be talking to? Fear took over, and she set her painting down before opening the door to the parlor, in case one of her parents were there talking to him. They would see her painting and wonder who it was by. She'd already signed the bottom of it, and they would know it was by her.
Instead, as she walked into the parlor, she did not see Daron and her parents sitting politely in the chairs chatting. In fact, she did not see anyone chatting.
What she did discover was heart stopping. Her sister and her boyfriend—well, her half-boyfriend—sitting in the love seat. Not talking. Not glaring at each other, as usual. But kissing.
Too late, she stifled a gasp. Daron's eyes opened, and she was sure he had seen her. She slipped off her shoes to be able to run faster, and sprinted down the hall. As she hopped in a gator and drove off as fast as the vehicle would go, she heard Daron calling her name from inside her house.
But there would be no reconciliation this time.
Daron pushed Eliana away as he stood in the back doorway to the hall, watching as Evangeline sped past the pool and into the woods on the path. He didn't feel anger, not even toward Eliana. He felt horrible. Even though he hadn't meant to, he'd completely spoiled her trust. He'd ruined everything.
Evangeline pressed on the brake, the tires screeching to a noisy halt in front of her bungalow. Her emotions, her heart, her entire body were numb. She didn't know what to feel as she ran to her door.
To her surprise, there was a note on the door, attached to a few train tickets to Colorado. On the note was Scott Kincaid's address in Colorado, probably the one that he'd left the night he'd had dinner with the family before leaving. She frowned, wondering who had left it. The person had paid for a first class ticket, one that had probably been very expensive.
"I suppose I have to take it since its first class," Evangeline grumbled to herself. She glanced around the woods, wondering if anyone was watching. Who had left the train ticket and the note? Whoever did was trying to send her on a huge guilt trip. If she went somewhere else on a bus, she would sit all day on the uncomfortable seats thinking about first class on a train. "All right, I'll take it."
She didn't stop to think about the fact that the person who had purchased the tickets and left the note on her door would be the one person who knew where she was, especially when people started looking for her.
But if they start looking for me, thought Evangeline as she stuffed two large duffel bags full of clothes, it's not like they can call the police and report kidnapping. I'm a full-grown adult. I should have done this two years ago when I first became an adult. Plus they know that I ran away willingly. At least Daron and Eliana know.
When she'd finished 'packing', she threw all of her bags of toiletries, clothes, and her one bag that held her easel and all of her art materials into the back of her car and sped off toward the bank. She would withdraw most of the money in her saving's account… maybe all of it, considering she had no clue what would be there.
Evangeline gasped when the teller told her how much money she had. She hadn't had any idea. Her parents always said that they gave Eliana a hundred dollars every time she got good grades and two hundred dollars per year every Christmas if she'd been good. Evangeline hadn't realized that her parents had done the same thing for her, but without telling her. That was more than five-hundred dollars per year since they'd started sixth grade! She withdrew all of it in cash, knowing that if she took bank notes her parents would be able to track her to where she cashed them.
She grabbed a quick sandwich at the train station before catching the one o' clock train to Colorado.
Daron strolled down the sidewalk to Evangeline's bungalow, fully repentant for what he'd done. Half the time he wanted to yell at Eliana, tell everyone—especially Evangeline—that it wasn't his fault. But the rest of the time he felt guilty. He knew that he'd kissed her back, that he still had dreams about saying "I do" with Evangeline's sister at the altar beside him. He also knew that it would never happen, and that the kiss had all been a trick to spite Evangeline. He'd fallen for it.
Eliana had walked right back into the dining room, where Richard had been waiting to hear how it went. Of course, she had a victory story to tell her boyfriend—poor Daron had fallen for her trick. Her sister had gone running.
And now Daron didn't know what to do. He'd scared her off twice, and he knew that this time was probably beyond apologizing, probably beyond reconciliation. He'd simply ruined it, and there was no way to correct it.
Daron walked up to her door, knowing all along that she was gone. When he tried the doorknob, he twisted it and realized that she'd left it unlocked. Was she inside? Some raw hope allowed him to think that perhaps she had decided to stay.
A very wrong hope.
Clothes were strewn across the room, some she'd decided to pack, some she didn't. Everything in her bathroom was gone. And, on top of everything, he knew she'd left because she'd taken her paints and her easel.
He hadn't missed the beautiful sunset painting by the door to the parlor. She'd obviously dropped it. He'd taken the care to bring it back to her cottage so nobody else in her family would discover it and wonder.
When he realized what had really happened, Daron felt horrible. She'd only wanted to show him her latest work, something she was obviously very proud of—and for good reason. She had never shown anybody a painting before, and she had actually been eager to trust him with it again. Thanks to him, she would never come out of her shell ever again.
He'd talked with her. She'd shared all her secrets about her family, about her sister. Why hadn't he just walked away from Eliana? He knew from his conversations with Evangeline that the woman was sinister and evil—no joke— and that he should stay away from her. But no. He had to be a dolt, falling into her trap the second he set foot in the hall. But never mind any of that.
He'd betrayed Evangeline. Again. And not only would he pay for that, but she would too, along with everyone else around her.
"So you like to draw?" asked the guy next to her. He'd seemed friendly enough, and they'd talked for the past fifteen minutes since getting on the train. Besides, she thought, now I can talk to whoever I want to. I'm free. She felt a surge of pride as she turned toward Braiden.
"I really do," she told him. "I've been doodling in my notebooks since second grade."
"I can see you're good at it," Braiden said, nodding to what she'd already sketched. They'd stopped a few minutes ago in a rather old-fashioned city. She'd fallen in love with the beautiful buildings there and picked one to sketch. She had picked out the details that she would need to finish the sketch and penciled in all the major lines. Now she was finishing it as they rode, and Braiden had volunteered to tell her when a large bump was coming up.
"Ah well, I've taken many classes to get to where I am," Evangeline said, not feeling like telling him otherwise.
She spent the rest of the afternoon alternating between talking to Braiden, drawing, reading, and dozing.
She's really quite beautiful, sitting there sleeping. Little does she know that I'm watching her. I've always been watching her. Not a day goes by without either sitting at her restaurant, observing her through the kitchen doors, or watching her with the kids at the theatre.
I knew that the man would be trouble. I knew since the moment I caught him looking longingly at the other sister. At her twin. It's really quite funny how Eliana can be so betraying. You'd think that the two of them would be closer to each other. No, they're not. It seems that even if they'd been born identical twins—which I wouldn't want—they would still be as far apart as ever. And that's just fine with me. I wouldn't want my beautiful Evangeline as dark and sinister as her sister is.
No, she's just fine, sitting there with a pencil in her slack hand, her sketchbook bouncing on her lap as the train rolls on. Her head has lolled to the window side, and although I would rather her facing me, I realize it's her comfort that matters most. I really should call for a pillow and a blanket for her.
I'm taking a risk, having her come to Colorado, buying the ticket for her. I really should have had her go somewhere else, somewhere not so risky. It was either have her come here and risk the Scott man, or go back and have her hook up with that Daron cad.
Either way, I'll be going with her to watch. Always, eternally watch. And I'll be right next door when we have to get a hotel in order to catch a train again the next day.