Marianne's words startled Eva from her thoughts and she turned to her friend. "Huh?"
Marianne nodded at the now packed rear of Eva's Honda Pilot. "We work in silence. We move as one. We are the Borg."
Eva rolled her eyes. "Sorry. Mind wandering."
"We've done six weddings since you found that stupid letter, and each one has sent you into a tailspin."
Eva's brows rose. "I am not in a tailspin. Distracted, maybe. But that's where I draw th
e line."
Marianne closed the hatch and leaned against the car. "Have you decided what to do? I mean, I know you're going to tell him, but have you decided how?"
Eva lifted a shoulder. "Not yet."
"You've known for a month." Marianne's voice was soft, yet chiding. "It's not going to get easier."
"I know. It's just--I don't know."
"Well, that's clear."
"Elena thinks I should just call him up. My romantic daughter thinks that he'll hear my voice, fly to San Diego, and we'll jump right in where we left off." Her half-smile was a little sad. "Except with a full-grown daughter instead of a bun in the oven."
"It might work out that way." Considering Marianne's usual brash snark, her voice was surprisingly gentle.
"Don't you start, too. Elena's still young enough to believe that love lasts forever. That people don't change. Get married. Have lives." He would have, she knew. Tyree would have a life. And while he deserved to know he had a daughter, she didn't want to mess up what he had. And, maybe, just maybe, she didn't want to stand outside his life and know that he was happy without her.
"Sure he has a life," Marianne said. "But you need to tell him."
"I know. I will."
"Sooner rather than later," Marianne said. Then hastily added, "That's only fair," when Eva narrowed her eyes at her friend.
"That's my plan, too. We don't have any shoots the rest of the week. I thought I'd see if I could track him down. Maybe see if I can get the military to give me his address."
"That might take awhile."
"Probably not that long." Eva dug her keys out of the pocket of the black jeans she always wore to shoot weddings. Coupled with a blouse and a jacket, it was just nice enough to blend, but durable enough that she could crawl around on the ground if that got her the killer shot.
She opened the driver's side door and climbed in, then waited for Marianne to get in on the passenger side.
"And a few more days won't matter. He's not exactly waiting by the phone pining for my call about a daughter he knows nothing about."
Besides, the more days that passed, the more she could work on controlling her nerves.
"Well, yeah, but..."
"But what?" Eva asked, her hand stalling on the key before firing up the ignition.
"Nothing."
"Oh, hell." Eva sat back, the key forgotten. She knew her friend well. Every expression. Every tone in her voice.
And she knew trouble.
"What's going on? And do not even try to pretend that I'm imagining things. Tell me."
Marianne licked her lips, her pale skin seeming paler against the cream colored leather. "Right. Sure. Well, it's just--okay, you know how you always told Elena that a girl needed to go after what she wanted? To not hold back or let other people decide for her?"