Vi and Charlie had never been able to have children. And Vi was still touchy about the topic.
“I’m sorry.” Mom stared into her coffee mug. “I just assumed your impending wedding was one of those shotgun affairs.”
“You’re pregnant?” Vi wheezed, moving ever closer.
“No.” Eve found her voice. “And it’s not Steven I’m marrying.”
“Then why the sad face?” Vi circled Eve, probing with her gaze.
“Because I don’t want to hurt you. Because it’s Hayden,” Eve blurted. There was no relief in that admission. “I’m marrying Hayden.”
With a squeak, Vi collapsed in a corner chair. Dad’s old chair. “I must be dreaming.”
Mom had frozen, her coffee mug halted midway to her mouth.
This was feeling very much like the day Vi had chosen Charlie over Hayden.
The French door to the backyard opened. Katie stood in the doorway holding the pieces of one of Mom’s garden gnomes. “I’m sorry, Grandma. But we need to rush Gary the Gnome into surgery. He was hit by a soccer ball and his arm broke off.”
“Hey, bug.” Eve rushed to Katie, easing her around in a U-turn. “We’ll get Gary into the operating room as soon as the grown-ups finish talking.”
“Here’s a treat, love.” Mom hurried over and handed Katie a cookie from a plate on the kitchen table. Then she gently shooed Katie out the door. “We’ll call you when the surgery is ready.” She pushed the door closed, then turned to Eve. “You’re marrying Hayden? Hayden Bennett?”
Eve nodded.
“But…” Vi chewed her cuticle, looking rattled. “How did this happen? Why didn’t we know you were…involved?”
“Um…” Eve’s stomach ached, protesting the need for another lie. “It was all kind of rushed. Hayden asked me to marry him on Wednesday.”
“You’ve barely been back a month,” Mom said in a tight voice. “And Hayden hasn’t been back much longer.”
“I ran into him at Oak Hill.” Eve explained about Irene’s condition. “We started talking and… We just sort of…collided,” she said, thinking of the way she’d run into his arms at the Coffee Corner.
“When is the wedding?” Mom went to sit in the corner of the couch.
“Monday. Nine a.m. at the courthouse.” Hayden had made all the arrangements.
Eve’s announcement was met with silence.
“Too soon,” Vi muttered, moving to sit in the other corner of the couch across from Mom. “It’s too soon. You can’t do this. You can’t even be sure he loves you.”
Eve’s chin rose. “He loves me enough to propose.”
“I…” Mom gave Eve a searching look. “Is this what’s been bothering you all week?”
Eve nodded, biting her lip.
“Listen. Sit with us.” Vi extended a hand toward Eve, drawing her down to the middle of the couch. “We need to take a beat. I know Hayden. He’ll steamroll you to get his way.”
“You knew him, Vi. Ten years ago.” Eve had expected pushback from her sister, assuming her marriage would hurt Vi’s feelings. She hadn’t expected Vi to shoot Hayden down as if he wasn’t deserving of Eve’s love.
But Vi was on a mission to do just that. “Marriage is about compromise. You know this, Eve.” Vi’s hold on Eve’s hand tightened. “And Hayden… He likes things his way. On his schedule.”
That rang true. But it didn’t change Eve’s mind. “He can compromise.” Their marriage bargain was proof of that. He hadn’t gotten everything he wanted.
“He’s intense,” Vi went on. “And quiet when he should be talking. It’s what made me feel I wasn’t good enough for him the way I was back then.” Vi ran a hand over Eve’s bare ring finger, the finger that should have been bound by an engagement ring. “You think Steven made you feel insignificant? Hayden—”
“He’s different now,” Eve cut Vi off, staunchly defending her fiancé.