Miss Congeniality (35 page)
“Well, let’s just say he’s lucky he’s gorgeous…”
Read other books by Marie Garner
To all the people who have read this story, I hope you enjoy Brea and Lance’s journey as much as I loved creating it. If you would be so kind, please take a moment to leave a review.
It is not every day that you can merge your passion with your career, something that I have been very fortunate to do. There are not enough words to thank all the people who have been with me throughout this whole process. My family, friends, and all the wonderful people I have had the pleasure to work with and let me bounce ideas of them. To my cover and formatter extraordinaire E. M. Tippets, you always seem to take what I envision and make it come to life. I will forever be grateful for you. To Peggy and Becky at Hot Tree Editing, thank you so much for making the editing process as easy as possible, and helping me produce this amazing story. To all of the authors and bloggers I have had the pleasure to meet on this amazing journey, thank you for your love and support. And to everyone who picked up a copy of my book, thank you.
Continue reading for an excerpt from
Finding Eva
(Highland Creek Book 1) by Marie Garner
Available Now!
This letter is to notify you that at the behest of Ms. Matthews the property at 2502 Idols Road, Highland Creek, North Carolina is yours. You may pick up the keys at your earliest convenience…
The contents of the letter played over like a slow loop through Eva’s mind. Regardless of what she thought or believed, she couldn’t get away from it. How the hell did she get an inheritance from her mother? The same mother who was supposed to be dead for the past twenty years. There was only one explanation: her mother had been alive all this time, and her father was a liar, which was part of the reason she stood in her parents’ living room having it out with her father.
“Is it true?!” Green eyes flashed fire at the man sitting on the couch.
Hazel eyes calmly stared back, his lips curiously pursed. “Is what true?”
That was what she always remembered—the calming presence her father always brought no matter what was going on in their life. Suddenly, she loathed the one thing she always loved.
“My …” she stuttered, not wanting to say the words “… my mother was alive this whole time? The mother you said was dead!” She ended with a screech and her finger in his face to force him to react, anything to help her through the muddle that had become her life in the time it took to read a simple letter.
His eyes widened, letting her know everything she needed to in one look. Her father, her rock, had lied. About everything.
“Now, Eva …” he pleaded with arms raised, but nothing could sway her.
“No! I don’t want to hear it! Nothing you say to me will ever justify the fact that you lied to me … for years … about my mother. Did Mom know?” Eva called her stepmother
Mom
; it was the only one she remembered. His hesitation was all she needed to get her answer.
“Never mind, don’t worry about answering that. I need to think, and I need to be away from you.”
“You don’t mean that. I can explain.”
“It is a little late to explain now, Dad. I don’t know if I can ever forgive you for this.” She snatched her purse on the way out, ignoring the strangled cry from her father on her quest to get out of her childhood home, the place that suddenly seemed too stifling. Her father and her mother both called several times and left numerous texts. She didn’t care; she wasn’t in the mood to talk to them right now, so she ignored them.
Let them worry
, she thought. She would deal with them later. The only thing she knew was they lied about her biological mother, something she didn’t know if she could forgive. And what the hell was she going to do with a house from a woman who clearly didn’t want her enough to stay?
E
va Matthews collapsed in her chair with a heavy sigh of relief after the bell rang for lunch, her mind preoccupied by thoughts of her mother.
Her best friend Gwendolyn Martin popped her head in Eva’s classroom. “You coming?”
“No, I was going to eat here.”
“Hoping to avoid dumb-ass Davis? He had a sub today.”
Eva chuckled and thought of the English teacher down the hall. “No…” she brushed long brown hair behind her ear “…I just don’t feel like being with people right now.”
“You ok?” Gwen looked at Eva for the first time since coming into the room and noticed her normally full and wavy honey-blonde hair hung limply over her shoulder. Dark circles under her eyes stood out against her pale complexion while her usually bright green eyes now looked dull and listless. “Just had a rough weekend.”
“Want to talk about it?”
“Yeah, but I don’t want to get into right now. Come over tonight? We can talk over wine and takeout?”
“That should work. Nick called earlier and said he had to work late again.”
With their model good looks and unwavering devotion to each other, Nick and Gwen seemed like the perfect couple. The only downside: Nick was a workaholic, on the fast track to partner at his finance firm. He often worked late, which left Gwen alone most evenings. Eva wouldn’t be able to stand it, but Gwen didn’t seem to mind.
“It’s a date.”
“I’ll see you tonight, then. I have to go eat. We all be can’t be fortunate enough to have planning right after lunch, and I need to have sustenance before these students come.”
Eva laughed. “Have fun. Although, these last days before summer vacation are crowd control more than anything else.”
“Tell me about it. I’ll bring Chinese,” she said with a wave on the way out the door.
Eva shook her head ruefully as she heard the doorbell ring promptly at six. That was Gwen, never late and looking perfect. With long auburn hair and light blue eyes Gwen looked like a 1950s pinup girl. She was also so nice Eva often told her she would hate her if she wasn’t her best friend.
Gwen held up two bags once Eva opened the door. “I got shrimp fried rice, sesame chicken, and egg drop soup with wontons.”
“A girl after my own heart.” Eva grabbed the bags and led Gwen into the living room. “I decided to eat in the living room tonight. Red or white wine?”