Redemption Hills: The Complete Collection

4. Eden

FOUR

EDEN

Rays of afternoon light streaked from the sun-kissed sky, the heavens the bluest blue. It wrapped our mountain town in a warmth that chased away the cool breeze that blew through the towering pines and oaks.

Lifting my face to it for a quick second, I inhaled and drew the crisp air into my lungs. Appreciating the things that I had and refusing the grief that wanted to squeeze out through the wobble in my spirit.

Squeals of joy rang out, and I returned my attention to the playground where my kindergarten class ran and played. I tried to hide my smile when Tessa started to saunter my way as her class joined mine for their last recess of the day.

My best friend was all sly smiles and curiosity as she sidled up next to me where I stood on the quad close to the playground.

“Someone looks like death warmed over.” She’d angled in close to my ear and whispered like it was a horrible secret.

“Wow. I appreciate that.” I drew it out with as much sarcasm as I could muster.

Tessa laughed, her strawberry ponytail swishing around her shoulders. “Hey, remember when we promised we would always be honest with each other? What kind of best friend would I be if I broke that pact now?”

“Um…a nice, good, sweet one?”

With a scoff, she knocked her shoulder into mine. “Hardly. You know you love me because you can count on me to tell it straight. And believe me, I’m telling it straight.”

She gagged like she was repulsed, all through the smile she was trying to suppress.

I laughed through the exhaustion. “Fine. Considering that’s exactly what I feel like, I’m not surprised in the least to know it’s showing.”

Last night I’d known I would be a walking zombie today. A very irate, disgruntled, broke-ass zombie.

But thanks to the guy who still had me feeling rattled—one who’d left me tossing and turning all night, unable to escape that strange energy that had seeped into my bloodstream—I was just a smidgen less broke.

I had no idea what to make of my new boss, other than the plain truth that I needed to stay as far away from him as possible. Yeah, I was a fool because I already knew I’d go crawling back there again tonight.

“But you got the job? That’s good, right?” she pressed.

No doubt, she’d been dying to ask me the details the entire workday, but we hadn’t had a second to ourselves. The first day of school was always chaos.

Parents late. Children crying and confused, while others refused to listen to the rules and tested just how far they could push it. Lunches were forgotten and little hearts were broken because some of them had been left for the first time.

I’d poured all my love and energy into each of them, showing them that this was a safe place. A place where they were going to learn and grow and have a blast while doing it.

It was what mattered.

Instilling hope and knowledge into the children who were offered into my care.

It was my greatest joy, the greatest gift.

My heart tremored with the thought of losing it. For this place to just be…shut down. Gone.

Tessa and I taught at a private Christian academy in Redemption Hills. A school my father owned. We had a wait list a mile long since we had a reputation of offering the best private education in the area. No, the tuition wasn’t exactly cheap, but we barely ran a profit since my daddy poured most of it back into the community.

I was proud to share in it. I helped out in every area that I could, but none of us were exactly raking in the dough.

We’d always made it work.

Dread wrapped around my ribs and squeezed tight.

Stretched thin was one thing. On the verge of losing it all was another.

The real possibility of it was what had sent me crawling into Absolution last night, even though I had doubted my meager efforts would really make that much of a difference.

But God, that stack of cash sitting in my purse was whispering that maybe I could pull it off. Earn enough to get us by until my daddy figured out what he was going to do.

How to recoup.

How to restore.

How to rebuild both his finances and his spirit.

Tessa nudged me out of the reverie. “Um, hello, Eden? You actually worked, right? I’ve been dying for the details.”

“Yep. I started last night.” I fought the flutter that buzzed in my chest. Every thought filled with the memory of the sharp angles of his face. As if they’d somehow cut in and taken hold.

Impossible.

Maybe it was a cruel side effect of sleep deprivation, the fact I couldn’t take my mind off the man.

I didn’t believe in insta-love or even insta-infatuation or…I guessed I had to admit I’d even given up on the belief of attraction. In the possibility that I could feel it.

I’d come to believe my devastated heart no longer beat quite right.

Tessa’s brow rose around her ice-blue eyes, and the freckles that matched her hair danced when she curled her nose. “And it left you looking like this? That sounds…brutal.”

Air blew from between my lips. “I didn’t get home until two-thirty, and then I was too wired to sleep. This is all your fault, you know,” I ribbed.

Anything to take the attention off me.

She gasped, all feigned offense. “And how is that?”

“You’re the one who suggested I apply there when you saw the ad, saying it was where I could make the quickest money in Redemption.”

You know, without having to take off my clothes, but the second I’d stepped inside that bar, I’d started to question that. Which was why I’d suggested…

Heat flamed my cheeks at the memory. At the way I’d tossed out dancing like it would be my own lure. Like it would sway him or make him change his mind.

Ridiculous.

Except…it had, hadn’t it? It was what had made him stop and sit back down. Now I was wondering if I was a fool for being thankful he had.

Disbelief filled Tessa’s expression. “Um…I was joking. I never thought you’d have the balls to do it.”

“I’m pretty sure balls don’t have a thing to do with it. It’s called desperation.”

“Nah. I think it’s called my BFF is a badass.”

“Or stupid,” I tossed back.

She shrugged. “Only time will tell.”

I swatted at her upper arm. “I hate you.”

“You can’t hate your favorite person in the entire world. Your bosom buddy. Your number one homie. Your ride or die.” She sang them, getting louder with each one.

I was giggling by the time she got to the last.

“Fine, fine, I don’t hate you. But close.” I pinched my fingers close.

She grinned. “So, give me the goods. Is it wild in there? Did you make any money? Get hit on? I mean, you definitely got hit on, right? Tell me you got a few numbers. It’s about time my girl got herself some action.”

I almost smacked her again, only to stop when a little boy who’d been coloring by himself at a small table came racing our way—basically saving my life because…Tessa.

He waved a piece of paper over his head while his backpack that was three sizes too big for him bounced on his tiny shoulders. “Miss Murphy, Miss Murphy, look it what I made for you!”

He was all golden hair and sweet eyes and the cutest thing I’d ever seen. I swore, my heart had trembled in my chest the first time I’d seen him sitting at his desk.

Tessa called it a sickness—the fact I got attached to every child who came through my classroom door. But there were some kids—some who worked their way in so deep they would forever hold a piece of me. The part of me who longed for it so desperately, knowing it was likely impossible. My chance passed.

“What did you make for me?” I asked him, my voice light.

He skidded to a stop, beaming at me as he held up the paper. “This! What do you think?”

I knelt in front of him, taking the picture. My eyes caressed the crude drawing, a stick-figure depiction of what was clearly meant to be the two of us holding hands beneath a giant sun, standing on jagged grass.

Affection pulsed through my chest, a throb in the void. “I think it’s beautiful.”

His smile only widened. “Did I pass my test?”

Bewildered laughter filtered free. “Pass your test?”

“I have to get all As, Miss Murphy! Don’t you know, As are the best, best.”

I couldn’t stop it, my hand moved to run over the top of his head. “Don’t worry. You’re doing great.”

His grin widened. “That is really great news. I gotta tell my dad. Did you know my dad is the best dad in the whole wide world?” Somewhere in his ramble, he’d threaded our fingers together and had taken to standing at my side, a jumble of words flying from his mouth as he swung our hands between us. “He took me to the store and got me papers and pens and colors and all’uv the things I need so I can get all the As. I got new shoes, too.”

He kicked out his left foot.

Amusement flitted around my lips.

“He sounds like a good dad.”

“Yup. He is the best. But my uncle said he needs to get some so he can stop moping around being a d-i-c-k.” He lowered his voice when he uttered the letters like he was mimicking the way he’d heard them in the first place.

Tessa choked on the laughter that ripped from her throat, and I whipped around to give her a warning glare. She tossed her hand over her mouth to try to cover it, her eyes blinking furiously as she fought it.

She busted up, anyway, turning away for a beat to hide it.

I did my best to hold mine back, swallowing down the amusement that bounced around my chest.

Tessa turned back toward me, still snickering.

I straightened out the sundress I wore like I could stave off the giggles I could feel building between us, sure she was going to be rolling on the ground if I didn’t put a stop to this.

“Maybe you should go swing some more before school’s over?” I suggested. “I’m sure your dad will be here soon.”

He just tightened his hold. “Nope. That’s okay. I like it right here.”

Right.

Okay.

Tessa kept giggling.

I widened my eyes at her. “ Would you stop it ,” I mouthed.

“What?” She shrugged. “That was hysterical. And seriously, get some? ” she mouthed back. “Um, did you see his dad? He dropped him off this morning, and oh my god .” She fanned herself. “I’m sure he’s getting plenty.”

I swatted at her with the hand that wasn’t wound with the child’s. “What is wrong with you?” I hissed.

But I guessed it didn’t matter because the little cutie had started to sing to himself, oblivious as he belted out his ABCs.

She shrugged again. “Like I told you before, I’m a teller of the truth. But did you?” she baited.

Exasperation filled my sigh. Tessa was relentless. “No. I was in a meeting with my daddy.”

Trying to save this school and his house. Not scoping out the new crop of dads.

That was enough to make Tessa frown, her voice lowering farther. “How is your dad?”

Sadness gathered tight in my chest. A sadness that struck me, lash after lash. Still unable to believe it. “Worried. Heartbroken. Not sure how we’re going to come up with the money, all while struggling to accept she would do that to him.”

I thought he still was in denial. Making excuses for my sister. Refusing to call the police even when we had clear proof that she was responsible.

My father was the most generous man alive. He had his ginormous heart set on saving the entire world, friends and strangers alike. Unfortunately, that meant he got trampled on, more often than not.

But when it was blood? His daughter? My sister? It’d been devastating. A blow neither of us had been prepared for.

Sorrow curled through my spirit, an ache so intense I felt it like a wound. Deep and throbbing.

With everything—with all we’d suffered—I didn’t understand how she could come here and inflict more pain. How she lived with herself after what she’d done.

What hurt the most was how much I still loved her. How much I missed the relationship we’d once had before she had lost herself.

But my daddy and I? We still had each other, and I was going to be sure I could make it right if I could. Hold some of his brokenness the way he’d always held mine.

I swallowed my own anxiety. “I promised him I was going to figure it out.” I made sure to keep the conversation between Tessa and myself since none of the other teachers knew the situation we were in. “I told him I would try to scrounge some money together to keep the foreclosure at bay at least until we can figure out a longer-term solution.”

How we were going to manage that, I didn’t know.

Tessa sighed. “You can’t fix everything, Eden. I’m worried about you.”

“Says the one who sent me into the lion’s den.” Voice wry, I sent her as much of a tease as I could.

“Well, since you would have tried to figure it out yourself, no matter what I said, I thought I might as well point you in the right direction. What was it like, anyway? Seriously, I still can’t believe they started you immediately. That’s a big break.”

I huffed out part of the disgruntledness I’d felt last night. “It was pretty clear the reason I’d had to start immediately was the owner was testing me.”

Speculation arched her brow. “How so?”

“Let’s just say he took it upon himself to prove I didn’t fit in.”

A flash of annoyance darted across her face. “And how exactly was he trying to do that?”

I squeezed the little boy’s hand who was still belting out his song, the child grinning as he stood there watching the other children play, as content as could be. I angled toward Tessa. “Some hunters love to play with their food before they go in for the kill.”

I let my brows raise for my hairline, letting her connect the dots.

“Ah…” she grumbled, picking up what I was laying down. “That kind.”

“Yup.”

“Let me guess, he’s ridiculously hot and thinks the world revolves around him?”

I vented out a raw sound. “That doesn’t even come close to describing whatever he is.”

Hot.

Gorgeous.

Terrifying.

A total jerk and somehow…protective, in this weird, overbearing way.

“Speaking of hot guys…” She angled her head in the direction of a white Porsche Panamera that pulled into the parent pick-up line on the other side of the wrought-iron fence. “There he is.”

And I wondered if I was seeing things.

Hallucinating.

If this was some kind of cruel, sick joke or if I’d just done something really terrible in another life and this was my punishment.

Because there was no mistaking the smoldering eyes staring me down through the windshield where he came to a stop at the curb.

The way shock blanched his unbearably gorgeous face before his jaw clenched in what appeared hatred.

Or maybe glee.

With the man, I was sure they were one and the same.

My hand tightened on the child’s.

Instinctual.

A gut reaction to protect him.

Shivers raced. This unsettled feeling that something was coming. Something I didn’t understand, but something I should fear.

The man climbed from the driver’s seat of the flashy car that I wouldn’t have thought would fit him at all but somehow right then looked like the perfect accent piece.

He straightened to his full, menacing height.

“There he is! There he is!” The child started jumping up and down and waving his hand in the air. “Hi, Dad, hi! Over here!”

That seething intensity flashed through the air. My head spun and my knees knocked, my mouth going dry.

Trent Lawson strode toward the gate, all dark swagger and don’t-give-a-shit attitude, even though there were at least fifteen signs asking parents to stay in their cars and their children would be escorted out.

I got the sense the man wasn’t exactly one to follow the rules.

Because there he was, dressed a lot like he’d been last night, black jeans and a black v-neck tee and black boots that were unlaced. All that exposed, inked flesh somehow appeared obscene.

I had the urge to wrap the child up and take him into hiding. Run to the rest of the children and usher them to safety.

Emergency evacuation.

But I just stood there.

Dumbfounded.

Finally, I mumbled, “That’s your dad?”

Gage Lawson.

Of course.

This really was some cruel, sick joke, and I was the very brunt of it.

“Yep! That’s him.” Gage was jumping and pointing. “Tell him I got an A, Miss Murphy! He’s gonna be so proud!”

Trent Lawson strode toward the gate with the clear intention of barging in.

Finally, I found my voice, calling out before he made it through the barrier. “Sir, you need to wait in your car. School isn’t over for a couple minutes, and we will bring your child to you. Parents aren’t allowed in this area without signing in at the office first.”

With his hand on the gate latch, he paused, an arrogant smirk ticking up like a threat at the corner of that plush mouth. “That so?”

I lifted my chin, still clutching his son’s hand. “Yes.”

He eyed me as if I were the enemy. “So, let me get this straight. I pay an ungodly amount of money for my son to come here, and you get to tell me when I can and cannot pick him up?”

“You’re paying for your child’s education, Sir, not for me to order you around.”

“Huh…would have been mistaken.”

My chin lifted higher. “It seems you are very, very mistaken.”

A war waged in the exchange. That same tension that had existed last night clear and present, his outright animosity unchanged. But there was something else lining it, too.

As if I’d gained some sort of power as we stared each other down.

“You’ve got to wait, Dad! I told you I got to get all the As, and you’re gonna ruin it by not followin’ the rules. Sheesh.”

Tessa giggled beside me.

One second later, the bell rang. It jarred me out of the trance the man held me under, my entire being jolted with the sound, as if time had been set to pause and it’d begun to speed to catch back up.

Children screeched their excitement and ran to grab their bags that were lined up against the wall.

“Please remain in your car tomorrow,” I called out, the words roughened shards as I reluctantly released Gage’s hand.

“I’ll see what I can do,” he returned, just as smug and cocky and infuriating as he’d been last night.

Gage went running that way, that giant backpack bouncing all over. He glanced at me, running backward for two steps, nothing but grins and belief. “Don’t worry, I’ll be back to see you tomorrow, Miss Murphy!”

When the child made it to him, Trent stretched out a hand for Gage to take.

For a flash, his entire demeanor shifted when he looked down at the child and the child smiled up at him.

Soft. Kind. Protective.

I had to be seeing things.

Then he turned to leave on those ridiculous boots, but not before he tossed out from over his shoulder, “See ya soon, Kitten.”

Anger rushed, my cheeks hot and my pulse wild and that irrational rage taking hold.

All mixed up with that feeling .

That impossibility.

They walked back to the Porsche, and I remained rooted to the spot as he helped Gage into the backseat and into a booster before he rounded the front of the car and slipped into the driver’s seat.

The man glared at me before he tossed his car back into drive and pulled from the curb.

Fingernails curled into my upper arm. “Holy shit, Eden Jasmine Murphy,” Tessa hissed. “What was that? And you better fess it up now, because I can already feel your denial coming on, and there is no denying whatever the heck that was.”

She waved a turbulent hand through the air as if she could capture that feeling.

Something unattainable but real.

“That?” I let my eyes follow the car that whipped out of the drive far too fast. “That was my new boss.”