Redemption Hills: The Complete Collection

16. Eden

SIXTEEN

EDEN

The second Tessa turned her attention away, I ducked my head and tried to sneak out of the teachers’ lounge without being noticed.

“Um, excuse me? You stop right there, Eden Jasmine Murphy. There’s nowhere you can hide. I know where you live.”

I should have known I’d never be fast enough.

Whirling around, I found myself backed against the long prep counter. Two feet from the door. So close to my escape.

Trapped.

Tessa pointed at me as she advanced.

I swore, she was part bloodhound. Scenting out a secret like it was what God had created her to do.

I itched, gave her the most innocent, faked expression I could find. “Um…excuse me, what?”

There.

Play it off.

Act like I had no clue what she was talking about.

I was so not prepared for her inquisition this morning, but of course, I’d only made it worse with all my fumbling, rambling words and heated cheeks when she’d asked how my night was last night—in front of five other teachers, mind you. Then I’d gone and tried to sneak out without saying goodbye.

I might as well have tossed a yellow flag in the air.

Called a foul.

Pointed out my questionable, bad behavior.

I mean, at the time, it hadn’t felt wrong, but the moment he’d slipped out my door, every question and reservation I possessed had begun to invade.

My night had been spent twisted in my sheets.

Overheated.

Overwhelmed.

Overcome.

My heart thudding with the shout, What had I done?

Tessa cocked her head, purebred hunter that she was, her eyes widening and her mouth dropping open. Her words were held on a hissed whisper as she looked around to make sure the rest of the teachers weren’t paying us any attention. “You had s-e-x.”

Yeah, like she was speaking in code and there was no one else who could decipher what she said if they were to overhear it.

“I did not,” I hissed right back.

Her blue eyes narrowed. “Liar.”

I crossed my arms in defense. “I didn’t…exactly.”

She crossed hers in speculation. “Didn’t exactly what?” she pressed, brow shooting for the sky.

Ugh.

“I didn’t officially.” I tossed it out all offhanded like.

No big deal.

Like my best friend didn’t know me inside and out. Like she didn’t know it would be a really big deal .

Her jaw hit the floor, and she snatched me by the wrist, glancing behind us once before she dragged me into the large storage closet. The door snapped shut behind us at the same second the demand slung out of her mouth. “What did you just say?”

I fidgeted, the words so quiet I doubted they had volume. “I said, not officially.”

Her hand curled tighter around my wrist. “Oh my god…I was joking. Trying to get a rise out of you…and you did?!” The shriek she let go was barely contained.

“I already told you I didn’t.”

“But you did…you did. Like there was hot, hot nekedness going down? Tell me it’s true.” Her voice hitched like she’d been granted her greatest wish.

I smacked at her, wrangling out of her hold. “What is wrong with you? This is my daddy’s school and there are five other teachers on the other side of that door.” In emphasis, I jabbed a finger at it.

I was no little girl, but the last thing I needed was my father to catch wind of what I’d been up to last night. He had enough on his mind without my worrying him more.

And oh, would he worry.

“Um…our school, too. And newsflash, your dad just wants you to be happy, the same way as I do.”

“Ha. He’d get one look at Trent and lock me in a closet with lined padding.”

Certain I’d lost my mind.

I probably had.

“Look at you…our little Eden sleeping with her boss.” She said it like it was salacious. A straight-up scandal. All with a twinkle in her eye.

“Again, I didn’t sleep with him.”

She angled back in clear appraisal. “Well, whatever you did, the man clearly blew your mind.”

My teeth clamped down on my bottom lip, my chest nearly exploding as I was thrown back to it. I dropped my gaze, warring, before I peeked at my best friend. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt the way I did last night.”

Beautiful.

Wanted.

Something different than adored. Beyond it or maybe at the opposite of it.

An encounter so desperate that it verged on criminal.

A decadent sin.

It’d felt as if the man might die if he didn’t get a taste of me, the same way I’d felt about him.

A man who held the ugliest of secrets. One who’d let me take a peek into the skeletons buried in his closet, invited me into his confidence.

Trusted me.

Even then, I was betting I’d only scratched the surface of how corrupt it got.

In the end, it still hadn’t mattered.

The fact he was all wrong.

That he was dangerous.

Everything I shouldn’t want.

Everything I should fear.

I’d still surrendered to the pull.

“And you feel guilty?” Tessa surmised, softness winding into her tone.

“Shouldn’t I?”

Her expression deepened in profound encouragement. “It’s been six years, Eden.”

Old agony tightened my chest, all mixed up with this new beginning that I wasn’t sure could be real. Something I needed to snuff out before it burned me alive.

“But I always thought…” I trailed off.

Tessa inched closer, all her teasing gone, her understanding firm and fast. “What?”

The words rushed out on a shamed whisper, “I always thought if I felt something again…wanted someone again…loved someone again, it would be secondary. Less.”

“And you’re afraid this Trent guy could overshadow your memories of Aaron.”

I heaved a breath and gave her the bare truth. “I’m afraid he could consume me. Destroy me with a glance. And I know this time, I’m not going to come out okay on the other side.”

“He’s your wild card.”

My brow curled.

“The one you didn’t expect. The one you couldn’t have anticipated. The one you could love so much, you’re afraid to try. The ace. The winning number.” She leaned forward, and her tone slipped back into a tease. “Eden, he’s the cake.”

Her lips twitched at that, and tears blurred my eyes while an unamused laugh slipped up my throat. “What I’m afraid of is that he is a broken heart.”

I couldn’t bear to tell her the rest. His history. The evil that lurked. That he was doing little more than running. Hiding from his sins. From his pain. From his loss.

No question, willing to fight—to cut down—anyone who might get in his way. And somehow, I’d become the woman who wanted to stand with him through all of that.

Tessa reached out and wiped a tear that streaked down my face. “It’s the ones we’re afraid of that end up meaning the most.”

A heavy breath escaped my lungs, the words firm because I wasn’t going to start deluding myself. “I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want a life with me, Tessa.”

I doubted the man even knew how. He had one focus, and he didn’t know how to look outside of that. But last night…last night it’d felt as if maybe he could. As if maybe both of us could look outside ourselves, beyond what we thought we were destined for, and find each other.

Collide in the middle.

Her smile was soft. “Of course, he doesn’t think he would want that. I have no doubt he’s afraid of you, too. Of what you could mean.”

My heart shivered and shook, as fiercely as my head. “I let him touch me, knowing he was going to break me in the end.”

I could already feel it, trembling around me, the coming devastation.

Her lips thinned. “You let him touch you because you were taking a chance, Eden. Opening yourself up. Stepping out in your belief. He’d be a fool not to do the same for you. And considering his kid is like the smartest five-year-old I’ve ever met, this guy has to have something going for him.”

Playfully, she grinned.

I managed an awkward giggle. “Well, he has a couple things going for him.”

Her eyes widened with glee. “Oh, and I hope one of those things is a really big dick.”

She singsonged it.

I choked over the laugh that sputtered from my mouth. “I hate you.”

“No, you don’t…you love me. Like…mad love. Mad, mad love.” She gushed it as she wrapped her arms around me and pulled me to her chest. Her voice dropped. “Crazy, mad love, Eden. The kind you’re going to find, whether it’s with Trent or someone else. You aren’t done yet. I won’t let you be.”

My chest squeezed. Adoration thick. “I do love you, Tessa. Mad, mad love.”

I felt her grin against my head, and then she jumped back when the bell buzzed through the speakers. “Oh crap. We’re late.”

She spun around and jerked open the door, trying to hide her laughter when two fifth-grade teachers jumped in surprise with us bursting through, Tessa still towing me behind her. She let go of her laughter the second we busted through the lounge doors and out into the corridor.

“That was close,” she tossed out from the side, her hand still snug on mine, pulling me along and looking behind her as if we’d just gotten away with a jewelry heist.

“Just a warning, if my daddy needs to talk to me today, I’m blaming you and sending you in my place.”

“Pssh…” She waved me off. “Bring it on. That man adores me.”

Gratitude filled me as I squeezed her hand. My wild friend who always stood for me. Went to bat for me. Cared for me, no matter what.

“Of course, he does. How could he not?”

She gave a tight squeeze. “Back at you, baby,” she whispered right before we parted. Tessa went right down the intersecting hall and I went left. “Hope you have a great day, BFF,” she shouted out ahead, her voice fading the farther she went.

“Oh,” she hollered over her shoulder, slowing me. She had a glint in her eyes when I looked back. “Don’t think just because we got sidetracked you’re going to get off with not telling me about that cake. I want all the details. Just how yummy it was and how much you ate.”

I hate you , I mouthed.

She formed her hands into a heart, making it pound. Her smile turned into this massive, ridiculous grin.

A giggle slipped free, and I gave her a tiny finger wave before I turned on my heel and rushed in the direction of my classroom. One of the aides who’d been watching my students on the playground had them in a line and was leading them inside the room.

I followed right behind.

The clatter of children laughing and excited for their day filled my heart with joy. With a chaotic peace.

I’d always thought their little faces were the promise of something better. That they were the hope of this world when it felt like everything might fall apart.

But it was one little face that melted a crater through the middle of me. One that made my feet falter and my heart swell to overflowing. His giant backpack bounced all over his back as he came bounding for me through the classroom. “Miss Murphy, Miss Murphy!”

Gage had his arm in the air, waving his hand over his head, his precious smile dimpling his chubby cheeks and his caramel eyes dancing with his joy. “Look it, Miss Murphy. I made something for you! You wanna see? You wanna see?”

I knelt in front of him.

Unable to stand.

I swore, I could feel my spirit twining with his, the magnet that was this child winding me with his.

Spinning, spinning, spinning.

Until I no longer recognized myself anymore.

“You did?” I whispered. Affection rode out. Fierce and unstoppable.

I was in trouble. So much trouble.

He beamed up at me. “Yup. My dad even got up really, really early and helped me ’cause I told him it had to be way extra super special.”

He stuck out his tiny hand that he’d been waving in the air. In his palm was a thin bracelet made of blue string with beads tied haphazardly along it.

“Look it, Miss Murphy!” He scrambled to get closer as he hovered over where I held it. Excitement blazed from his little body as he started to explain. “It’s got a book because you’re a teacher and teachers love books, right, Miss Murphy, right?”

He looked at me for approval.

I gave him a soft nod.

Unable to speak.

“And then it’s got a ballet slipper for all your dances, and I think maybe I wanna go to one of those after school.”

My chest squeezed.

I could hardly breathe.

He pointed at the last. “And this one is a star because my dad said you’re like heaven and the stars are way, way up high in heaven, right?”

With that one, he looked at me, his eyes creased in question. Not quite sure.

My heart thudded. My breath short. My throat locked.

His nose scrunched up. “So, what do you think? You think it’s the best ever? Because you’re the best teacher in the whole worlds, and I want to stay right here with you forever! Would that be okay, Miss Murphy?”

Affection crushed through my being, tearing everything apart.

Destroying everything I’d known.

Rearranging.

Refiguring.

Restructuring.

I touched his face.

Overcome.

My favorite. My favorite.

Only it was more than that.

Terrifying and true.

I was falling for both Lawson men.

And I had no idea what I was supposed to do.